E.12 - Templates


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E.12.1- The choice of wording on Magic cards is called templating. Here are some templates and cross-references to their related rules.

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E.12.Ruling.1- Something that affects "each X and Y" affects everything that counts as an X and/or counts as a Y. It will not affect anything twice. [WotC Rules Team 1995/11/10]

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E.12.Ruling.2- The text "(this still counts as a land)" means the same as "(if this was a land, it still is a land)". [bethmo 1999/04/10]

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E.12.Ruling.3- The template "Do A unless you do B" means the same thing as saying "You may do B. If you don't, do A." In other words, you choose whether or not to do B. If you don't do B (or can't do B), then you must do A. If you can't do A, you are not forced to do B. [CompRules 1999/11/01] For example "return a permanent you control to your hand unless you pay 2 life". You can pay 2 life. Or you can choose to not pay 2 life, in which case you return a permanent you control to your hand. If you have no permanent to return, you can still choose to not pay the 2 life.

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E.12.Ruling.4- The template "Before ~this~ comes into play" refers to something that is done before doing any "as ~this~ comes into play", "~this~ comes into play with something or in some state", and before "When ~this~ comes into play". [DeLaney 1999/08/09]

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E.12.Ruling.5- The three templates "Do A. Do B", "Do A and do B", and "Do A, then do B" all mean to do A first, then do B. If something is supposed to be simultaneous, the card should say "at the same time" or "simultaneously". [bethmo 1999/11/17]

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E.12.Ruling.6- If a spell or ability says you can do an action "as though" some condition were true, the condition is not considered true for any action other than the one specified. [CompRules 1999/11/01]

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E.12.Ruling.7- The template "any time you could play " means "if the rules of the game allow you to play a at this time, regardless of whether you actually have a to play". [CompRules 1999/11/01] For example, "any time you could play an instant" works out to mean the same thing as "any time you have priority" since you can always play an instant if you have priority (unless some effect is preventing you from playing an instant). [DeLaney 1999/12/11]

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