January 2000
*Magic*(R) Rulings & Errata
A Summary of Recent Rulings
compiled by Brady Dommermuth

GENERAL RULES

1) Some creatures have abilities that involve "attacking alone" or "blocking
alone." For example, Reckless Ogre's ability reads, "Whenever Reckless Ogre
attacks alone, it gets +3/+0 until end of turn." For a creature to be
attacking or blocking alone, it must be the only creature you attacked or
blocked with that combat.

2) Any text on a card that tells you what to do in the event of a tie should
be rules text, not reminder text. This is because there's no default rule
for which way ties go, so each card must specify how to resolve them. The
cards affected are Drop of Honey and a soon-to-be-released white
_Nemesis(TM)_ card.

ERRATA

Overall, the following list of errata provides wordings that make cards work
as most players think they should.

1) Gilded Drake should read, "When Gilded Drake comes into play, choose one
-- sacrifice Gilded Drake; or exchange control of Gilded Drake for target
creature an opponent controls. If you don't make the exchange, sacrifice
Gilded Drake. This ability can't be countered."
     The purpose of this wording is to make the Drake work more like it did
under _Fifth Edition(TM)_ rules--you must either exchange control of it for
a creature your opponent controls or sacrifice it. There's no way you can
keep it.
     The ability is both triggered and modal. When the Drake comes into
play, the ability triggers and you choose one of the two modes. If you
choose the second mode, you then choose a target. If you can't choose a
target (for example, if your opponent controls no creatures), you must
choose the "sacrifice Gilded Drake" mode.
     If the target creature you chose is no longer in play when the Drake's
ability resolves, you can't make the exchange and must therefore sacrifice
the Drake. Normally, if a spell or ability's targets are all invalid when it
resolves, it's countered. This ability can't be countered, however, so it
resolves even if all its targets are invalid on resolution.

2) Undiscovered Paradise should read, "T: Add one mana of any color to your
mana pool. During the next untap step of Undiscovered Paradise's controller,
as that player untaps his or her permanents, he or she returns Undiscovered
Paradise to its owner's hand."
     This wording makes Undiscovered Paradise work the way it always has
with Winter Orb in play. If you tap it for mana, it always returns to its
owner's hand the following turn.

3) Coral Atoll should read:

     "Coral Atoll comes into play tapped.
     If Coral Atoll would come into play, return
     an untapped island you control to its owner's
     hand instead. If you do, put Coral Atoll into
     play. If you don't, put it into its owner's
     graveyard.
     T: Add U and one colorless mana to your mana pool."

This wording applies to all the _Visions(TM)_ "bounce lands" (Coral Atoll,
Dormant Volcano, Everglades, Jungle Basin, and Karoo). It makes it so you
can't avoid returning a land to your hand.
     Some players have asked whether playing one of these bounce lands
counts as their one "land play" per turn, because the bounce lands'
replacement ability affects that rule. The answer is yes, because the bounce
lands' ability replaces only the "put into play" part of the land-play
action, not the whole action. (The ability doesn't replace the announcement
part of the land play.)

4) Each Licid's ability includes a sentence that reads, "As long as [this]
Licid enchants that creature, you may pay [some mana] to end this effect."
That sentence should read, "As long as [this] Licid enchants *a* creature,"
not "enchants *that* creature." This makes the ability work properly if the
Licid is an enchantment and is moved by an effect such as Enchantment
Alteration's.

5) Vesuvan Doppelganger should read:

     "Vesuvan Doppelganger comes into play as a
     copy of target creature, except it retains
     its color and abilities.
     At the beginning of your upkeep, you may
     have Vesuvan Doppelganger become a copy of
     target creature, except it retains its color
     and gains this ability."

This wording makes it so the creature doesn't keep the Doppelganger creature
type when it copies something. (The rules team decided it shouldn't way back
in March '98.) It also fixes some very obscure problems with effects that
cause permanents to lose abilities.

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