Rules
Comprehensive Rules
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Additional Rules34 chapters
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700General701Keyword Actions702Keyword Abilities703Turn-Based Actions704State-Based Actions705Flipping a Coin706Rolling a Die707Copying Objects708Face-Down Spells and Permanents709Split Cards710Flip Cards711Leveler Cards712Double-Faced Cards713Substitute Cards714Saga Cards715Adventurer Cards716Class Cards717Attraction Cards718Prototype Cards719Case Cards720Omen Cards721Station Cards722Preparation Cards723Controlling Another Player724Ending Turns and Phases725The Monarch726The Initiative727Restarting the Game728Rad Counters729Subgames730Merging with Permanents731Day and Night732Taking Shortcuts733Handling Illegal Actions
700. General
700.1
Anything that happens in a game is an event
700.10
Some cards refer to a permanent “that was activated this turn.” This means that the permanent was the source of an ability that was activated this turn, regardless of whether that permanent still has that activated ability or the player who activated it is still in the game.
700.11
Some cards refer to whether a player has “descended this turn.” This means that a permanent card has been put into that player’s graveyard from anywhere this turn. “The number of times [a player] descended this turn” means “the number of permanent cards put into [that player’s] graveyard from anywhere this turn.” In both cases, no permanent cards put into the player’s graveyard that turn are required to still be in that graveyard.
700.12
The term outlaw refers to an object that has the Assassin, Mercenary, Pirate, Rogue, and/or Warlock creature types.
700.13
Some cards refer to committing a crime
700.14
Some abilities trigger “Whenever you expend N.” A player expends N if they pay a cost to cast a spell and the amount of mana that player spent this turn to cast spells prior to paying that cost was less than N and became at least N after paying that cost.
700.15
The term enter[s] is short for “enter[s] the battlefield.”
700.16
Some cards refer to worthy creatures
700.2
A spell or ability is modal if it has two or more options in a bulleted list preceded by instructions for a player to choose a number of those options, such as “Choose one —.” Each of those options is a mode. Modal cards printed prior to the Khans of Tarkir™ set didn’t use bulleted lists for the modes; these cards have received errata in the Oracle card reference so the modes do appear in a bulleted list.
700.3
Some effects cause objects to be temporarily grouped into piles.
700.4
The term dies means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.”
700.5
A player’s devotion to [color] is equal to the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents that player controls. A player’s devotion to [color 1] and [color 2] is equal to the number of mana symbols among the mana costs of permanents that player controls that are [color 1], [color 2], or both colors.
700.6
The term historic refers to an object that has the legendary supertype, the artifact card type, or the Saga subtype.
700.7
If an ability uses a phrase such as “this [something]” to identify an object, where [something] is a characteristic or other quality, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn’t the appropriate quality at the time.
700.8
Some cards refer to a player’s party
700.9
Some cards refer to modified permanents