_Magic_(R) Rulings & Errata May 2001 A Summary of Recent Rulings Compiled by Paul Barclay GENERAL RULES 1) Some spells replace an event that comes from the spell itself. For example, Memory Lapse counters a spell and then replaces the event of putting the countered spell into its owner's graveyard with putting it on top of its owner's library. In technical terms, this kind of spell creates a one-shot replacement effect, not a continuous one. We call such effects "self-replacements." To make these spells work properly with other replacement effects, we've created a new rule: Self-replacements apply first, before any other replacement (or prevention) effects. EXAMPLE: Suppose a player plays Urza's Rage with kicker targeting an opponent. That opponent plays Healing Salve to prevent the next 3 damage dealt to him or her this turn. Urza's Rage Urza's Rage can't be countered by spells or abilities. Urza's Rage deals 3 damage to target creature or player. If you paid the kicker cost, instead Urza's Rage deals 10 damage to that creature or player and the damage can't be prevented. Healing Salve Choose one -- Target player gains 3 life; or prevent the next 3 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn. With this new rule in effect, Urza's Rage replaces its own effect first, so Healing Salve's damage-prevention effect can't prevent the unpreventable Urza's Rage damage. 2) When you reveal cards from the top of a library, they're revealed in the same order they were in on top of that library. For example, if you use Vampiric Tutor to put a card on top of your library, then play Fact or Fiction, your opponent will be able to work out which card you searched for with Vampiric Tutor. 3) As the final step of playing a spell or ability, its controller determines its total cost (which includes its mana or activation cost, additional or alternative costs, and so on). Once the total cost is determined, it becomes "locked in," and the player then pays all costs in any order. If effects would change the total cost after this time, they have no effect. For example, if you play Tinker and sacrifice Sapphire Medallion to pay its additional cost, Tinker will still cost 1 less, because its total cost was locked in before the Medallion was sacrificed. 4) A spell or ability is modal if it contains "Choose one -- ." Spells and abilities that contain "[Specified player] chooses one -- ," such as Library of Lat-Nam, are also modal. 5) Mana with restrictions on how it may be spent can be spent on any cost of something that matches the restriction. For example, mana from Food Chain may be spent only to play creature spells. That mana can be used for any costs to play creature spells, including kicker costs, additional costs, alternative play costs, and costs imposed by effects. 6) The rules for "last known information" (see rules 402.6 and 413.2f of the Magic Comprehensive Rules) do not apply to static abilities at all. They apply only to spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities that are currently resolving. Rule 412.5 in the upcoming Comprehensive Rules update will reflect this clarification. 7) The normal once-per-turn draw each player gets during his or her draw step has been changed. Rule 304.1 of the Comprehensive Rules stated that it's a triggered ability controlled by the player whose turn it is. This is no longer true. The draw-step action isn't written on a card, so no player controls it. The game simply puts it on the stack, on top of any other abilities that trigger at the beginning of that draw step. The main effect of this change is to make cards such as Teferi's Puzzle Box work the same way for all players in a game. ERRATA 1) The following cards have received minor errata in the recent _Oracle_(TM) update. Corrected wordings are not given here but can be found in the Oracle card reference. Arcum's Sleigh Grizzled Wolverine Ashnod's Transmogrant Harsh Judgment Benthic Explorers Hidden Retreat Blood Lust Impending Disaster Bosium Strip Keeper of the Dead Brink of Madness Keeper of the Flame Catacomb Dragon Lat-Nam's Legacy Coffin Queen Nature's Chosen Defense of the Heart Phyrexian Devourer Desperate Gambit Planar Collapse Drought Snowblind Dwarven Sea Clan Suffocation Elvish Spirit Guide Temporal Aperture Frenetic Efreet Tombstone Stairwell Freyalise's Winds Witch Engine 2) The following cards have received errata to correct unlikely interactions with other cards: Bounty of the Hunt You may remove a green card in your hand from the game instead of paying Bounty of the Hunt's mana cost. Choose one -- Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn; or target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn and another target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn; or three target creatures each get +1/+1 until end of turn. Celestial Dawn Nonland cards you own that aren't in play and nonland permanents you control are white. Lands you control are plains. Spells and abilities you control produce white mana instead of any other color. You may spend white mana as though it were mana of any color. Dream Thrush Flying T: Target land's type becomes the basic land type of your choice until end of turn. Lobotomy Target player reveals his or her hand, then you choose a card other than a basic land card from it. Search that player’s graveyard, hand, and library for all cards with the same name as the chosen card and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library. Recycle Skip your draw step. Whenever you play a card, draw a card. Your maximum hand size is two. Relentless Assault Untap all creatures that attacked this turn. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase. Skyship Weatherlight When Skyship Weatherlight comes into play, search your library for any number of artifact and/or creature cards and remove them from the game. Then shuffle your library. 4, T: Choose a card at random that was removed from the game with Skyship Weatherlight. Put that card into its owner's hand. Search for Survivors Remove your graveyard from the game. An opponent chooses a card at random from among those cards. If it's a creature card, put it into play. Otherwise, it remains removed from the game. Then return the rest of those cards to your graveyard and shuffle them. SPECIFIC CARD RULINGS 1) Some spells' mana costs and some abilities' activation costs require mana of a particular type. For example, only black mana can be spent on the X portion of Drain Life's mana cost, and only white mana can be spent on Atalya, Samite Master's ability. When these spells or abilities have additional or imposed costs, the mana requirements don't apply to those extra costs -- the requirement applies only to the mana cost or activation cost of the spell or ability. 2) The ability that sets Alloy Golem's color sets its *initial* color (just as Kobolds are initially red, not colorless with an effect that makes them red). If the Golem comes into play while Shifting Sky is in play, for example, the Golem's initial color will be overwritten by Shifting Sky's continuous effect. 3) Cycling is an activated ability. Even though it's playable only from your hand, the cycling ability continues to exist on cards while they're in play. That means lands with cycling won't untap normally if Tsabo's Web is in play because cycling is an activated ability that doesn't produce mana. If cycling were written out on cards, it would read, "2, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card. Play this ability only if this card is in your hand." 4) Confound targets a "spell that targets one or more creatures." That means at least one of the target spell's targets must be a creature when Confound is played *and* when it resolves. If none of the spell's targets are creatures when Confound resolves, Confound will be countered entirely (its controller won't draw a card). REVERSALS/RULES ELIMINATIONS 1) To simplify triggered ability interactions, the second half of rule 410.2 has been changed. In the past, if a triggered ability's effect was optional (that is, it contained the word "may"), the player who was given the option controlled the ability. This is no longer true. A triggered ability is now always controlled by the player who controlled its source when the ability triggered. Any player called on by the ability to make choices for it simply does so, even though he or she may not actually control the ability. The following cards will be reworded in the Oracle reference to clarify that the player with the option is the one who chooses any targets: Chain Stasis, Ley Line, Oath of Ghouls, Oath of Mages, and Pandemonium. 2) Part of Rule 418.3c has been eliminated. It stated that modifications to power and toughness that aren't simple pluses and minuses -- such as doubling or halving -- are converted to simple pluses or minuses on resolution. This rule affected virtually nothing. (C)2001 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.