A.1 - General Rulings on Abilities


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A.1.1- An "ability" is any instruction described in the card's text area. For token permanents, any abilities are described in the spell or ability which created the token (see Rule K.25). The result of an ability is called its "effect". [CompRules 1999/04/34] Note that the text describing the effects of a spell (see Rule K.23) that is not going to be a permanent are not considered abilities. [D'Angelo 1999/05/01]

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A.1.2- A permanent may have the same ability more than once. For activated abilities (see Rule A.2), only one can be used at a time. For triggered abilities (see Rule A.4), all of them trigger. For static abilities (see Rule A.3), they may or may not be cumulative. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.3- Abilities of a card apply only when the card is in play, unless explicitly stated otherwise. For example, Protection from Black on a White Knight does not apply while the Knight is in the graveyard. And effects of abilities only apply to things in play unless explicitly stated otherwise. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.4- Abilities on a card are normally separated by a paragraph break, but in the case of keyword abilities (abilities which can be described with just one word, such as "Flying") they may be listed on a single line separated by commas or semicolons. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.5- Any effect which removes an ability removes all instances of that ability. For example, if a creature had Flanking twice, then removing Flanking would remove both instances of the ability. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.6- Text on a card stating that the card "is" or "counts as" a particular type or color is not an ability. Such text applies no matter what zone the card is in and is not removed by effects that cause a permanent to lose its abilities. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.7- An additional or alternative cost to play a card isn't an ability of the card. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.8- An effect that defines a characteristic of a permanent is not granting an ability. For example, "Enchanted creature is unblockable" is an ability of the enchantment but does not give the creature an ability. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.9- A permanent is given an ability if the effect says the permanent "gains" or "has" an ability. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.10- An ability may state that it can be played while its card is not in play. For example, "Play only when this card is in your graveyard." This is a card ability. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.11- This rule is no longer in use. [D'Angelo 2002/08/28]

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A.1.12- Any text on a card which describes what to do when a tie occurs in a calculation is rules text, not reminder text. This is because there is no default rule for how to resolve ties. [WotC Rules Team 2000/01/11] If you get to make a choice and more than one item qualifies due to a tie, you can choose among them. [D'Angelo 2000/02/25]

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A.1.13- An ability added to a permanent through the use of quoted text does not actually add that quoted text to the card. It adds the ability described by the text. [WotC Rules Team 2001/06/07] This rule means that you cannot alter the text on the affected card using Sleight of Mind and similar cards.

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A.1.Ruling.1- An ability may be beneficial or detrimental. For example, "This creature can't block" is an ability. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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A.1.Ruling.2- An ability is not a spell, so it cannot be countered by something that only counters a spell. See Rule K.23. [CompRules 1999/04/23]

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Note- Also see Types of Spells and Abilities, Rule T.1.

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