============================================================================== General Rulings Summary (CHANGES ONLY) Updated 07/20/98 ============================================================================== Rulings are collected from many sources. See credits and disclaimer at the end of the file for details. The most recent mtg-l digest used was "18 Jul 1998 to 19 Jul 1998". These rulings are updated monthly. The most recent version is available on the web (WWW) as either of the following: http://www.activesw.com/~sdangelo/rulings.html ftp://ftp.activesw.com/pub/sdangelo/magic/rule-general.txt The above files are also available via FTP to "ftp.activesw.com" under "pub/sdangelo/magic" as "rule-general.txt". If you have neither WWW nor FTP access, send e-mail to "dangelo@netcom.com" requesting a copy of the current Rulings Summaries. A '+' is used to mark changes since the last released version on 06/17/98. Thanx, Stephen. ---- Stephen D'Angelo | Official Magic: The Gathering Rules Summary dangelo@netcom.com | Network Representative for Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ============================================================================== Table of Contents: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. A - Abilities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A.1 - General Rulings on Abilities + A.1.8 - If a card says "all players", "each player" or "any player may" do something, then the ability is played by that player and not by the card's controller. [bethmo 02/21/97] For example, Howling Mine makes each player play the drawing ability during their draw phase. Also see Rule A.5.7, Rule A.8.11, and Rule A.8.12. + A.1.14 - The player playing an ability makes all choices, and they use that player as their reference. This player may be different from the controller of the permanent (which can happen with phase abilities, see Rule A.5.4). For example, Oath of Scholars says "During each player's upkeep, if that player has fewer cards in hand than target opponent, the player may discard his or her hand and draw three cards." The word "opponent" is interpreted as "opponent of the player of this ability", not the "opponent of the controller of Oath of Scholars". [WotC Rules Team 07/01/98] A.5 - Phase Abilities + A.5.7 - If a player is instructed to play a phase ability of a permanent they do not control, the controller of the permanent is still considered to be the controller of the ability. [WotC Rules Team 05/02/98] For example, Bottomless Pit. See Rule G.6.Ruling.2. A.8 - Triggered Abilities + A.8.11 - If a triggered ability gives a player other than the controller of the source of the ability an option to do something, that player is considered to play and control that triggered ability even though they do not control the source of that ability. [WotC Rules Team 07/01/98] For example, Zur's Weirding and Mana Breach. See Rule G.6.Ruling.3. + A.8.12 - If a triggered ability gives each player the option to do something, the controller of the source plays and controls the ability. The controller chooses what they do first, then other players do. [WotC Rules Team 07/01/98] For example, Noble Benefactor. See Rule G.6.Ruling.4. + A.8.Ruling.7 - Due to Rule A.8.11 and A.8.12, tiggered abilities are always played and controlled by the same player. Only phase abilities can get the odd case where they are played by one player but controlled by another. See Rule A.5.7. [D'Angelo 07/17/98] A.25 - Trample: + A.25.4 - If there are multiple sources of Trample damage that could be redirected, the attacking player decides which points are redirected. [Aahz 08/04/97] This is true even if the damaged creature has banding (see Rule A.11) or is in a band. Banding only affects which creature has damage assigned to it, not how damage gets redirected due to abiltiies such as Trample. [D'Angelo 06/17/98] C - Combat Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. D - DCI Tournament Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D.15 - Extended Tournament Format + D.15.9 - These cards are explicitly banned even though they are from legal sets: [Tournament Rules 10/01/97] [Update 06/01/98] Amulet of Quoz, Fastbond, Rebirth, Balance, Hypnotic Specter, Regrowth, Black Vise, Ivory Tower, Serendib Efreet, Braingeyser, Jeweled Bird, Sol Ring, Bronze Tablet, Kird Ape, Strip Mine, Channel, Land Tax, Tempest Efreet, Contract from Below, Mana Crypt, Timmerian Fiends, Darkpact, Maze of Ith, Wheel of Fortune, Demonic Attorney, Mind Twise, Zuran Orb, Demonic Tutor D.18 - Block Constructed Deck Formats + D.18.5 - Some cards are 'banned' for the Tempest/Stronghold/Exodus format so that none may appear in a deck or sideboard. These cards are: [Tournament Update 06/01/98] Cursed Scroll E - Extracted Rulings on Cards ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E.4 - Copy Cards + E.4.Ruling.14 - All text is copied, including "counts as" text. [bethmo 07/07/98] G - Game Terms and Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G.6 - Controller + G.6.Ruling.2 - If a player is instructed to play a phase ability of a permanent they do not control, the controller of the permanent is still considered to be the controller of the ability. [WotC Rules Team 05/02/98] For example, Bottomless Pit. + G.6.Ruling.3 - If a triggered ability gives a player other than the controller of the source of the ability an option to do something, that player is considered to play and control that triggered ability even though they do not control the source of that ability. See Rule A.8.11. [WotC Rules Team 07/01/98] For example, Zur's Weirding. + G.6.Ruling.4 - If a triggered ability gives each player the option to do something, the controller of the source plays and controls the ability. The controller chooses what they do first, then other players do. See Rule A.8.12. [WotC Rules Team 07/01/98] For example, Noble Benefactor. G.23 - Losing the Game + G.23.Ruling.2 - If both players want to concede (for some odd reason) and they cannot agree on who conceded first, then the duel is a draw. [Oracle 07/01/98] G.41 - Targeting--Announcing and Resolving + G.41.8 - Some permanents have a target selected when they are cast which cannot be changed afterwards. If this target becomes illegal, the permanent stays in play (unless it is a local enchantment) in case the target becomes legal again. For example, Black Vise, and Kismet target a player when cast. [Mirage, Page 35] A targeted permenent can be identified by the use of the word "target" in the first clause of an unactivated ability, which is usually the timing part of the abiltiy. For example, "At end of target opponent's upkpeep, do " or "As long as target opponent controls any , ...". [WotC Rules Team 07/01/98] K - Card and Permanent Types and Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ K.10 - Color of a Spell/Permanent + K.10.2 - The color of a permanent in play is the same as the color of the spell when it resolved. Thus, changing the color of a spell as it is being cast will change the color of the permanent that is put into play. [Mirage, Page 10] Note that cards which do color changes to a spell are effects and are not base changes, but these effects are in effect at the time the permanent enters play. [bethmo 07/07/98] K.12 - Creature Power and Toughness + K.12.5 - All asterisks (*) in the power/toughness of creature are considered to be zero when the card is not in play. [WotC Rules Team 07/01/98] K.19 - Legendary Permanents + K.19.2 - The burial is done as a Rule Effect (see Rule T.13). This will happen so quickly that there is no way you can use abilities (other than mana sources and replacement abilities) of the duplicate card or sacrifice it to something before it gets buried. M - Multi-Player Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. P - Phases of the Turn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No changes to this section. T - Timing of Spells and Abilities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ T.13 - Rule Effects + T.13.Ruling.4 - There is a chance to use mana sources and replacement abilities (see Rule A.7) prior to resolving Rule Effects. [D'Angelo 07/16/98] Z - Zones of Play ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Z.9 - Set Aside + Note - Oracle indicates that this zone is being removed from the rules and replaced with more "removed from game" usage. This change will be incorporated in this document in the near future. 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. "WotC Rules Team" marks official rulings from the rules team. "Mirage, Page " marks rules from the Mirage rulebook. "Tempest, Page " marks rules from the Tempest rulebook. "Fifth Edition, Page " marks rules from the Fifth Edition rulebook. "Encyclopedia, Page " marks errata from the Magic Official Encyclopedia. "bethmo" is Beth Moursund, the Rules Manager at Wizards of the Coast. "Barclay" is Paul Barclay, the network representative for the "mtg-l" mailing list. "DeLaney" is David DeLaney, the network representative for the "rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules" newsgroup. "D'Angelo" is Stephen D'Angelo, the Rules Summary network representative. "bethmo" was the previous "mtg-l" representative. "D'Angelo" was the previous "mtg-l" representative. "Peterson" is Paul Peterson, the previous "mtg-l" representative. "bethmo" was also the "mtg-l" representative before Paul. "Aahz" is Tom Wylie, the former Magic Rules Manager. "Snark" is Dave Howell of WotC. 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.