============================================================================== General Rulings Summary (CHANGES ONLY) Updated 01/05/23 ============================================================================== Rulings are collected from many sources. See credits and disclaimer at the end of the file for details. This release is under rules used by SIXTH EDITION and SEVENTH EDITION. Both of these editions use the same rules. These rulings are updated monthly. The most recent version is available on the web (WWW) as the following: http://www.crystalkeep.com/magic/rules/index.html A '+' is used to mark changes since the 01/04/18 release. Thanx, Stephen. ---- Stephen D'Angelo | Official Rulings Summary NetRep dangelo@crystalkeep.com | Network Representative, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ============================================================================== Table of Contents: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. A - Abilities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A.4 - Triggered Abilities + A.4.11 - This rule has been removed. [Rules Team 01/05/01] Previously, a triggered ability's controller could be different from the permanent's controller if the other player got a choice. + A.4.12 - This rule has been removed. [Rules Team 01/05/01] Previously, if a triggered ability offered both players a choice, it put separate abilities on the stack for each player. Now only one ability is placed on the stack and is resolved for all players. A.11 - Cycling + A.11.2 - The ability means "Pay , discard this card from your hand: Draw a card. Play this ability only when this card is in your hand." [Rules Team 01/05/01] + A.11.Ruling.3 - The activated ability remains while the card is in play even though it cannot be used. [Rules Team 01/05/01] C - Combat Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. D - DCI Tournament Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D.16 - Standard Tournament Format + D.16.2 - Decks can be composed of cards from the most recent edition of The Gathering (currently Seventh Edition) and all sets from the two most recent "blocks" (currently Mercadian Masques/Nemesis/Prophecy and Invasion/Planeshift). A "block" is a stand-alone set and the two expansion sets which follow it. This means that cards stay in use for approximately two years. [Tournament Rules 97/10/01] + Note - Apocalypse will become legal on 01/07/01. E - Extracted Rulings on Cards ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. G - Game Terms and Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G.24 - Modal Spells and Abilities + G.24.5 - Spells which have a specific player "choose one -- " are also modal. [Rules Team 01/05/01] G.31 - Reveal + G.31.3 - If cards are revealed in a zone that is ordered, the order does not change. For example, when revealing cards from the top of a player's library, all players can see the order and this order will not be changed if they become un-revealed. [Rules Team 01/05/01] K - Card and Permanent Types and Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ K.6 - Characteristics + K.6.7 - If a spell or non-static ability is to check the characteristics of something and that something is no longer in play at the start of resolution, use the last value that something had before it left play. [CompRules 99/04/23] Static abilities never use last known information. [Rules Team 01/05/01] This same rule applies for any zone change. If the card is not in the zone it was expected to be in, use its last known state in that zone. [CompRules 99/11/01] K.10 - Creature Power and Toughness + K.10.Ruling.7 - There was a rule at one time that effects which doubled or halved power and toughness were converted to +X/+Y or -X/-Y on resolution. This rule was removed. [Rules Team 01/05/01] Note that most cards that used to say they they doubled or halved values now have textual errata so they work as +X/+Y or -X/-Y now anyway. K.20 - Play Cost + K.20.5 - Mana that is generated with a restriction on how it is spent may be spent on any play cost that meets the restriction. This means that it can be applied to increases due to Kicker, etc. For example, mana from Food Chain, which is limited to only being used for creature spells, may be used to pay the Kicker cost on a creature spell. [Rules Team 01/05/01] M - Multi-Player Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. P - Phases of the Turn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ P.7 - Draw Step + P.7.1 - The game has a "built-in" triggered ability (see Rule A.4) for this step that reads: "At the beginning of your draw step, draw a card." This places a "draw a card" ability on the stack (see Rule T.2) on top of any other abilities that trigger on the start of this step. No player controls this ability and it is placed after all ones controlled by players have been placed. [Rules Team 01/05/01] T - Timing of Spells and Abilities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ T.4 - Step 1: Announcing a Spell or Ability + T.4.13 - You determine the total cost of playing spell or ability at the beginning of step 'i' in Rule T.2.2, then you pay the costs. Any actions made while paying the cost will not alter the cost. [Rules Team 01/05/01] T.8 - Continuous Effects + T.8.3 - A continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability will "lock in" any variables and calculations when it resolves. [CompRules 99/04/23] For example, "target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of cards in your hand" counts the cards in your hand when the spell resolves. The bonus is not recalculated if your hand size changes. Similarly, an effect which is limited in some way (as with Blood Lust) also gets locked in this way and does not change later even if other effects change. [CompRules 99/11/01] T.10 - Replacement and Prevention Effects + T.10.13 - Some spells and abilities have replacement abilities that modify themselves. Any self-replacement is applied before any external replacements. This modifies rule T.10.11 slightly. [Rules Team 01/05/01] T.11 - State-Based Effects + T.11.5 - The state-based effects are: [CompRules 99/11/01] a) A player with zero or less life loses the game. b) A creature with toughness of zero or less is put into its owner's graveyard and it cannot regenerate. c) A creature with lethal damage (see Rule K.10.4) (which does not also have zero or less toughness) is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event. [bethmo 99/07/27] d) A local enchantment that enchants an illegal or non-existant permanent is put into its owner's graveyard. e) Duplicate legends are put into their owner's graveyard. See Rule K.17. f) A token in a zone other than "in play" ceases to exist. g) A player who was unable to draw a card due to their library being empty loses the game. h) If more than one Enchant World is in play, all or all-but-one are put into their owner's graveyard. See Rule K.12.10. i) A player with 10 or more poison counters loses the game. See Rule E.9.2. U - Unglued ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. Z - Zones of Play ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. Index ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. Acknowledgements and Disclaimers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ While this work is not officially issued by Wizards of the Coast, it is the official collected rulings from official sanctioned representatives of and publications by Wizards of the Coast. This summary is collected from rulings made by officials and network representatives of Wizards of the Coast, along with a number of unofficial rulings also collected from the net. Whenever a source for a ruling is known, the name of that person is listed with the ruling. "Aahz" is Tom Wylie, the former Magic Rules Manager. "Barclay" is Paul Barclay, the previous MTG-L mailing list NetRep. "bethmo" is Beth Moursund, the Rules Manager at Wizards of the Coast, and former MTG-L mailing list NetRep. "CompRules" marks rules from the Sixth Edition Comprehensive Rules. "D'Angelo" is Stephen D'Angelo, the Rules Summary network representative, and former MTG-L mailing list NetRep. "DeLaney" is David DeLaney, the network representative for the "rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules" newsgroup. "Dommermuth" is Brady Dommermuth. "Encyclopedia, Page " marks errata from the Magic Official Encyclopedia. "Fifth Edition, Page " marks rules from the Fifth Edition rulebook. "Jackson" is Collin Jackson, the DCI Rules Documentation NetRep. "Jordan" is Jeff Jordan, the MTG-L mailing list NetRep. "Mirage, Page " marks rules from the Mirage rulebook. "Peterson" is Paul Peterson, a previous MTG-L mailing list NetRep. "Tempest, Page " marks rules from the Tempest rulebook. "WotC Rules Team" marks official rulings from the rules team. These files may be freely copied and posted anywhere you'd like. The contents can also be included in other formats (such as HTML or databases) or in products, but there are two restrictions. I insist that the files are not sold for profit. Anything you put them in must be available at no more than cost of duplication. Also, you must give credit to me and list the version date your work is derived from. Thanks. Every attempt has been made to make this summary accurate, but errors do creep in. Nothing in this work is guaranteed to be accurate. Use at your own risk. Magic: The Gathering and all of the cards listed herein are copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast.