Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules
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200.7a The owner of an ability on the stack is the player who controlled its source when it was played or triggered. The controller of an ability on the stack is the player who played the ability, or the player who controlled the ability’s source when it triggered.
200.8. An object is an ability on the stack, a card, a copy of a card, a token, a spell, or a permanent. The term “object” is used in these rules when a rule applies to abilities on the stack, cards, tokens, spells, and permanents. Combat damage on the stack is also an object, although many uses of the term “object” in these rules don’t apply to it.
200.9. If a spell or ability uses a type or subtype without the word “card,” “spell,” or “source,” it means a permanent of that type in play.
200.9a If a spell or ability uses a type, supertype, or subtype in conjunction with the word “card” and the name of a zone, it means a card with that type in the stated zone.
200.9b If a spell or ability uses a type, supertype, or subtype in conjunction with the word “spell,” it means a spell of that type on the stack.
200.9c If a spell or ability uses a type, supertype, or subtype in conjunction with the word “source,” it means a source of that type-either a source of an ability or a source of damage. See rule 419.8 “Sources of Damage.”
200.10. A counter is a marker placed on an object or player, either modifying its characteristics or interacting with an ability. A counter is not a token, and a token is not a counter. A +X/+Y counter on a permanent, where X and Y are numbers, adds X to that permanent’s power and Y to that permanent’s toughness. Similarly, -X/-Y counters subtract from power and toughness. Counters with the same name or description are interchangeable.
201. Characteristics
201.1. The parts of a card are name, mana cost, illustration, type line, expansion symbol, text box, power and toughness, illustration credit, legal text, and collector number. Some cards may have more than one of any or all of these parts.
201.2. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, type, subtype, supertype, expansion symbol, rules text, abilities, power, and toughness. Objects can have some or all of these characteristics. Any other information about an object isn’t a characteristic. For example, characteristics don’t include whether a permanent is tapped, a spell’s target, an object’s owner or controller, what an Aura enchants, and so on.
202. Name
202.1. The name of a card is printed on its upper left corner.
202.2. Text that refers to the object it’s on by name means just that particular object and not any other duplicates of it, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects.
202.2a If an ability of an object uses a phrase such as “this [something]” to identify an object, where [something] is a characteristic, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn’t the appropriate characteristic at the time.
Example: An ability reads “Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Destroy that creature at end of turn.” The ability will destroy the object it gave +2/+2 at the end of the turn, even if that object isn’t a creature anymore.
202.2b If an ability of an object grants to another object an ability that refers to the first object by name, the name refers only to the object whose ability grants that ability, not to any other object with the same name.
Example: Saproling Burst has an ability that reads “Remove a fade counter from Saproling Burst: Put a green Saproling creature token into play. It has ‘This creature’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of fade counters on Saproling Burst.’” The ability granted to the token only looks at the Saproling Burst that created the token, not at any other Saproling Burst in play.
202.3. Two cards have the same name if the English versions of their names are identical, regardless of anything else printed on the cards.
203. Mana Cost and Color
203.1. The mana cost of a card is indicated by mana symbols printed on its upper right corner. If a card has no mana symbols printed in its upper right corner, it has no mana cost. Paying an object’s mana cost requires matching the color of any colored mana symbols as well as paying the generic mana indicated in the cost.
203.1a Lands normally have no mana cost. Tokens have no mana cost unless the effect that creates them specifies otherwise. A copy of an object copies that object’s mana cost.
203.2. An object is the color or colors of the mana symbols in its mana cost, regardless of the color of its frame.
203.2a Objects with no colored mana symbols in their mana costs are colorless.
203.2b An object with two or more different colored mana symbols in its mana cost is each of the colors of those mana symbols. Most multicolored cards are printed with a gold frame, but this is not a requirement for a card to be multicolored.
203.2c The five colors are white, blue, black, red, and green. The white mana symbol is represented by {W}, blue by {U}, black by {B}, red by {R}, and green by {G}.
Example: An object with a mana cost of {2}{W} is white, an object with a mana cost of {2} is colorless, and one with a mana cost of {2}{W}{B} is both white and black.
203.2d If a player is asked to choose a color, he or she must choose one of the five colors. “Multicolored” is not a color.
203.2e An object with one or more hybrid mana symbols in its mana cost is each of the colors of that mana symbol, in addition to any other colors the object might be. Most cards with hybrid mana symbols in their mana costs are printed in a two-tone frame. See rule 104.3.
203.3. The converted mana cost of an object is a number equal to the total amount of mana in its mana cost, regardless of color. Some effects ask a player to pay mana equal to an object’s converted mana cost; this cost may be paid with any combination of colored and/or colorless mana, regardless of the colors in the object’s mana cost.
Example: A mana cost of {3}{U}{U} translates to a converted mana cost of 5.
203.3a The converted mana cost of an object with no mana cost is 0.
203.4. Any additional cost listed in an object’s rules text or imposed by an effect isn’t part of the mana cost. (See rule 409, “Playing Spells and Activated Abilities.”) Such costs are paid at the same time as the spell’s other costs.
204. Illustration
204.1. The illustration is printed on the upper half of a card and has no game significance. For example, a creature doesn’t have the flying ability unless stated in its rules text, even if it’s depicted as flying.
205. Type Line
205.1. The type (and subtype and supertype, if applicable) of a card is printed directly below the illustration. (See rule 212, “Type, Supertype, and Subtype.”)
205.2. Types
205.2a The types are artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, and sorcery.
205.2b. Some objects have more than one type (for example, an artifact creature). Such objects satisfy the criteria for any effect that applies to any of their types.
205.3. Subtypes
205.3a A card can have one or more subtypes printed on its type line.
205.3b Subtypes are always single words and are listed after a long dash. Each word after the dash is a separate subtype.
205.3c Subtypes of a [type] object are also called [type] types. For example, creature subtypes are also called creature types. Objects may have multiple subtypes.
Example: “Basic Land – Mountain” means the card is a land with the Mountain subtype. “Creature – Goblin Wizard” means the card is a creature with the subtypes Goblin and Wizard. “Artifact – Equipment” means the card is an artifact with the subtype Equipment.
205.3d Most card types each have their own unique set of possible subtypes. (You can find complete lists of subtypes in the glossary at the end of this document under “Creature Types,” “Land Types,” and so on.) However, instants and sorceries can share subtypes. Collectively, instant and sorcery subtypes are called spell types.
205.3e If an artifact creature card ha
s subtypes printed on its type line, those subtypes are creature types. If an artifact land card has subtypes printed on its type line, those types are land types.
205.4. Supertypes
205.4a A card can also have one or more supertypes. These are printed directly before the card’s types. If an object’s types or subtypes change, any supertypes it has are kept, although they may not be relevant to the new type.
205.4b Any land with the supertype “basic” is a basic land. Any land that doesn’t have this supertype is a nonbasic land.
Example: Note that cards printed in sets prior to the Eighth Edition core set didn’t use the word “basic” to indicate a basic land. Cards from those sets with the following names are basic lands: Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, Swamp, Snow-Covered Forest, Snow-Covered Island, Snow-Covered Mountain, Snow-Covered Plains, and Snow-Covered Swamp.
205.4c Any permanent with the supertype “legendary” is subject to the state-based effect for legendary permanents, also called the “legend rule” (see rule 420.5e).
205.4d Any permanent with the supertype “world” is subject to the state-based effect for world permanents, also called the “world rule” (see rule 420.5i).
205.4e Any permanent with the supertype “snow” is a snow permanent. Any permanent that doesn’t have this supertype is a nonsnow permanent, regardless of its name.
206. Expansion Symbol
206.1. The expansion symbol indicates which Magic set a card is from. It’s normally printed below the right edge of the illustration.
206.2. The color of the expansion symbol indicates the rarity of the card within its set. A gold symbol indicates the card is rare. A silver expansion symbol indicates the card is uncommon. A black or white expansion symbol indicates the card is common or is a basic land. A purple expansion symbol signifies a special rarity; to date, only the Time Spiral™ “timeshifted” cards, which were rarer than that set’s rare cards, have had purple expansion symbols. (Prior to the Exodus™ set, all expansion symbols were black, regardless of rarity. Also, prior to the Sixth Edition core set, Magic core sets didn’t have expansion symbols at all.)
206.3. A spell or ability that affects cards from a particular set “looks” only for that set’s expansion symbol. A card reprinted in the core set receives the core set’s expansion symbol. Any reprinted version of the card no longer counts as part of its original set unless it was reprinted with that set’s expansion symbol. The first five editions of the core set had no expansion symbol.
207. Text Box
207.1. The text box is printed on the lower half of the card. It usually contains rules text defining the card’s abilities.
207.2. The text box may also contain italicized reminder text (in parentheses), which summarizes a rule that applies to that card, and italicized flavor text, which has no game function, but like the illustration, adds artistic appeal to the game.
207.3. A guild icon appears in the text box of many Ravnica™ block cards. These cards either have the specified guild’s exclusive mechanic or somehow relate to the two colors associated with that guild. Guild icons have no effect on game play.
208. Power/Toughness
208.1. A creature card has two numbers separated by a slash printed on its lower right corner. The first number is its power (the amount of damage it deals in combat); the second is its toughness (the amount of damage needed to destroy it). For example, 2/3 means the object has power 2 and toughness 3. Power and toughness can be modified or set to particular values by effects.
208.2. Some creature cards have power and/or toughness of *, where * is a value determined by the abilities of that object. As long as the object is in play, the ability sets the value of *. The * is 0 while the object is not in play.
208.3 A noncreature permanent has no power or toughness, even if it’s a card with a power and toughness printed on it (such as a Licid that’s become an Aura).
209. Illustration Credit
209.1. The illustration credit for a card is printed directly below the text box. The credit has no effect on game play.
210. Legal Text
210.1. Legal text (the fine print at the bottom of the card) lists the copyright information. It has no effect on game play.
211. Collector Number
211.1. Some card sets feature collector numbers. This information is printed in the form [card number]/[total cards in the set], immediately following the legal text. These numbers have no effect on game play.
212. Type, Supertype, and Subtype
212.1. General
212.1a Cards, tokens, permanents, and spells can all have types, supertypes, and subtypes. Abilities don’t have types, supertypes, or subtypes. Instead, there are various categories of abilities. (See rule 402, “Abilities.”)
212.1b. When an object’s type changes, the new type(s) replaces any existing types. Counters, effects, and damage affecting the object remain with it, even if they are meaningless to the new type. Similarly, when the subtypes of one of an object’s types change, the new subtype(s) replaces any existing subtypes of that type. If an object’s type is removed, the subtypes of its old type don’t exist in any way under the new type. Those subtypes disappear completely for the entire time the object’s type is removed. Removing an object’s subtype doesn’t affect its types at all.
212.1c Some effects change an object’s type, supertype, or subtype but specify that the object retains a prior type, supertype, or subtype. In such cases, all the object’s prior types, supertypes, and subtypes are retained. This rule applies to effects that use the phrase “in addition to its types” or that state that something is “still a [type].” Some effects state that an object becomes an “artifact creature”; these effects also allow the object to retain all of its prior types and subtypes.
Example: An ability reads, “All lands are 1/1 creatures that are still lands.” The affected lands now have two types: creature and land. If there were any lands that also had the artifact type before the ability’s effect applied to them, those lands would become “artifact land creatures,” not just “creatures,” or “land creatures.” The effect allows them to retain both the artifact type and the land type.
Example: An ability reads, “All artifacts are 1/1 artifact creatures.” If a permanent is both an artifact and an enchantment, it will become an “artifact enchantment creature.”
212.1d An object’s supertype is independent of its type and subtype. Changing an object’s type or subtype won’t change its supertype. Changing an object’s supertype won’t change its type or subtype. When an object gains or loses a supertype, it retains any other supertypes it had.
Example: An ability reads, “All lands are 1/1 creatures that are still lands.” If any of the affected lands were legendary, they are still legendary.
212.1e If an instruction requires choosing a subtype, you must choose one, and only one, existing subtype, and the subtype you choose must be for the appropriate type. For example, you can’t choose a land type if an instruction requires choosing a creature type. (Use the Oracle card reference to determine whether a creature type exists; see rule 200.2. You can also find complete lists of subtypes in the glossary at the end of this document under “Creature Types,” “Land Types,” etc.)
Example: When choosing a creature type, “Merfolk” or “Wizard” is acceptable, but “Merfolk Wizard” is not. Words like “artifact,” “opponent,” “Swamp,” or “truck” can’t be chosen because they aren’t creature types.
212.2. Artifacts
212.2a A player may play an artifact card from his or her hand during a main phase of his or her turn, when he or she has priority and the stack is empty. Playing an artifact as a spell uses the stack. (See rule 409, “Playing Spells and Activated Abilities.”)
212.2b When an artifact spell resolves, its controller puts it into play under his or her control.
212.2c Artifact subtypes are always a single word and are listed after a long dash: “Artifact – Equipment.
” Artifact subtypes are also called artifact types. Artifacts may have multiple subtypes.
212.2d Artifacts have no characteristics specific to their type. Because artifacts have no colored mana in their mana costs, they’re colorless. Effects can give artifacts one or more colors, however, and colored objects can become artifacts without losing any colors they had.
212.2e Artifact creatures combine the characteristics of both the creature and artifact types and are subject to spells and abilities that affect either or both types.
212.2f Artifact lands combine the characteristics of both the land and artifact types, and are subject to spells and abilities that affect either or both types. Artifact lands can only be played as lands. They can’t be played as spells.