K.21 - Snow-Covered Lands


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K.21.1- Snow-Covered lands are treated like non-Snow-Covered lands of the same type. Being Snow-Covered does not change the land's land type. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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K.21.2- Snow-Covered is an ability of a land and can be granted or removed as any other ability. The Snow-Covered ability doesn't do anything, however. It is merely a marker. [CompRules 2001/07/23 - 502.14a]

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K.21.3- If a land's type is changed, the Snow-Covered ability will be removed just as any other ability would be. For example, if you use Phantasmal Terrain to change a Snow-Covered Plains into a Mountain, you end up with a card named Mountain without the Snow-Covered ability. [D'Angelo 2001/09/17]

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K.21.4- Any effect that looks for a Snow-Covered land will look for one with the Snow-Covered ability. Effects may look for more specific lands. For example, an effect looking for a Snow-Covered Forest will find any Forest with the Snow-Covered ability. [CompRules 2001/07/23 - 502.14a]

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K.21.5- Adding or removing the Snow-Covered ability does not change the name of a land. For example, a card named Snow-Covered Forest which has the Snow-Covered ability removed is still named Snow-Covered Forest but it also is not considered to be Snow-Covered any more. [CompRules 2001/07/23 - 502.14c]

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K.21.6- The cards Snow-Covered Forest, Snow-Covered Island, Snow-Covered Mountain, Snow-Covered Plains, and Snow-Covered Swamp are considered basic lands of the appropriate type. This is true even when they are out of play. So Land Tax can be used to select such lands. [CompRules 2001/07/23 - 502.14b]

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K.21.Ruling.1- Because of Rule K.21.1, anything which affects Plains will affect Snow-Covered Plains, and Forestwalk will work if the opponent controls a Snow-Covered Forest. Since the land type is not changed, things which check land type will see the actual land type. [Duelist Magazine #6, Page 132, 1995/08/01]

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K.21.Ruling.2- Cards which look for a kind of Landwalk ability work only if it is the exact same kind of Landwalk ability. For example, an effect that targets a creature with Islandwalk ability will not work on one with Snow-Covered Islandwalk ability. [D'Angelo 2001/09/17]

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K.21.Ruling.3- If you give a non-basic land the Snow-Covered ability, it does not become a basic land. [Duelist Magazine #7, Page 8, 1995/10/01]

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K.21.Ruling.4- Swamp and Snow-Covered Swamp are different card names. The same is true for the other snow-covered land types. [D'Angelo 1996/01/07] For example, Nebuchadnezzar's effect could have you name either one of these names.

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K.21.Ruling.5- To be Snow-Covered, a land must say that it is Snow-Covered, or an effect must make the land Snow-Covered. Just having snow in the card art does not make it Snow-Covered. [D'Angelo 1998/02/03]

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K.21.Ruling.6- If a spell or ability asks you to select a land type, you cannot restrict the land type with an ability like Snow-Covered, just like you cannot restrict the land type by color. In other words, Snow-Covered Swamp and Red Swamp are not valid land type choices. [WotC Rules Team 1998/05/01]

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K.21.Ruling.7- Snow-Covered is an ability and will be removed by an effect that removes abilities. [D'Angelo 2001/08/31]

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