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Magic: The Gathering Rules FAQ, v4.03 (part 2)
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Message-ID: <games/magic-t-g/rules/part2_1236493191@rtfm.mit.edu> X-Last-Updated: 2008/08/29 From: mtgfaq@daeghnao.com (Zoe Stephenson) Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules Subject: Magic: The Gathering Rules FAQ, v4.03 (part 2) Keywords: magic the gathering rules faq Last-modified: 29th August 2008 Version: 4.03 Summary: FAQs about rules of the game "Magic: The Gathering(R)". URL: http://www.daeghnao.com/magic/faq/ Date: 08 Mar 2009 06:20:43 GMT Archive-name: games/magic-t-g/rules/part2 Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days URL: http://www.daeghnao.com/magic/faq/
Subject: 2.0: Returning Player Questions This part of the FAQ deals with players returning to the game after a time away. It notes when particular changes were made to the rules, card templates or game philosophy so that returning players can catch up without being caught out.
Subject: 2.1.00: 1993 Sets released: Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, Arabian Nights The rules were in quite a state of flux, with many interactions unexplored and undefined.
Subject: 2.1.01: 1994 Sets released: Antiquities. Revised Edition, Legends, the Dark, Fallen Empires Major changes: - The types 'poly artifact' and 'mono artifact' were dropped for Revised Edition. - The tilted-T tap symbol was introduced in Revised Edition. - Legends introduced Enchant World, the Legend creature type and Legendary lands, as well as gold-bordered cards with more than one color. Trivia: - The original 'legend rule' restricted Legend cards to maximum one of each name per deck as well as maximum one of any name in play.
Subject: 2.1.02: 1995 Sets released: Fourth Edition, Ice Age, Chronicles, Homelands Major changes: - Fourth edition contained a batch timing system that delayed damage dealing until the end of the batch and contained an interrupt window and a damage-prevention bubble.
Subject: 2.1.03: 1996 Sets released: Alliances, Mirage Major changes: - The card templating for instants and sorceries with an additional cost changed in Mirage to writing the cost in the one-shot effect, separated by a colon. Trivia: - Mirage was the first set that was designed as a block and with limited play in mind as well as constructed. It also had 'theme decks', the first preconstructed decks for an expansion.
Subject: 2.1.04: 1997 Sets released: Visions, Fifth Edition, Portal, Weatherlight, Tempest Major changes: - Fifth Edition tightened up the timing rules even further, bringing in phase abilities, phase costs, pre-series and all sorts of long-forgotten concepts. - The card templating changed again; abilities with non-mana and non-tap costs used to be phrased '{0}: <other cost> to <effect>'. This was changed to the more modern '<other cost>: <effect>' to keep all the costs on the same side of the colon. - Fifth Edition saw the introduction of mana source cards. - Fifth Edition forced players to play interrupt cards that targeted a permanent using the timing rules for instant cards. - Fifth Edition removed an older rule about 'pumping' that allowed a player to announce and pay for multiple activations of an effect at once. - April 1997 introduced the modern 'Paris mulligan' rule; previously a mulligan required either all land or no land in the hand and could be taken only once, now the mulligan can be taken as many times as desired with any hand, but reduces starting hand size by one each time the mulligan is taken. Trivia: Portal was a vastly simplified version of the game, using just creatures, sorceries and lands. Iconic creatures Serra Angel and Sengir Vampire were dropped from the base set for Fifth Edition.
Subject: 2.1.05: 1998 Sets released: Stronghold, Exodus, Portal: Second Age, Unglued, Urza's Saga, Anthologies Major changes: - Exodus brought in a change to the card design to denote the card rarity with the colour of the expansion symbol and the card number and set size. Trivia: - Several cards from Urza's Saga were given errata to prevent their comes-into-play abilities working unless they were played from your hand; the errata were removed in 2006.
Subject: 2.1.06: 1999 Sets released: Urza's Legacy, Sixth Edition, Urza's Destiny, Portal: Three Kingdoms, Starter, Mercadian Masques Major changes: - Sixth edition was a pretty complete rethink of the whole timing system and card templating, ending up with the 'Grand Unified Timing System' - No more batches, interrupt windows, damage prevention bubbles, pre-series, phase abilities or phase costs. - No more interrupt or mana source cards, these can be played as instant cards under the new system. - The stack was introduced. - The term 'fast effect' was dropped from the rules. - The term 'pseudospell' was dropped from the rules. - The concept of setting up a prevention or replacement shield was introduced. - The term 'bury' was dropped from Magic vocabulary. - The term 'successfully cast' was dropped as well. - The ability 'haste' was introduced and the term 'summoning sickness' was dropped. - No more summon cards, replaced with creature cards instead. - Creature cards with multiple-word creature types now count as each separate creature type individually, with many older types being hyphenated. - No more 'fizzle', replaced with 'countered on resolution'. - No more 'cast', replaced with 'play'. - No more 'total mana cost', replaced with 'converted mana cost'. - Triggered abilities never resolve at the pauses during a spell, they all use the stack and resolve independently. - Players lose from having 0 life almost immediately, rather than waiting until the end of the phase. - Combat became a phase of its own. - Combat damage uses the stack. - Protection no longer absorb all trample damage, as the damage assignment ignores the protection ability. - Tapped blockers now deal combat damage, they previously didn't. - Tapped artifacts don't automatically turn off; Howling Mine, Static Orb and Winter Orb got errata to preserve their turning off behaviour. - The end of turn step / until end of turn wear-off distinction is introduced. - The Oracle was introduced. - The core set has its own expansion symbol as of Sixth Edition. - Urza's Legacy introduced premium (foil) cards. - Urza's Legacy also marked a trend for effects that tap or untap something to change from only being "target creature, artifact or land" to "target permanent" Trivia: - No cards with trample were printed in Sixth Edition.
Subject: 2.1.07: 2000 Sets released: Nemesis, Starter 2000, Prophecy, Invasion, Beatdown Major changes: - Invasion introduced the split cards and rules for checking characteristics of split cards.
Subject: 2.1.08: 2001 Sets released: Planeshift, Seventh Edition, Apocalypse, Odyssey Trivia: - Some time around here the rule on creature type changed, so that when asked to name a creature type, only an existing creature type could be chosen.
Subject: 2.1.09: 2002 Sets released: Torment, Judgement, Onslaught Major changes: - Onslaught brought back face-down creatures with more comprehensive rules support. Trivia: - Torment contained more black cards at the expense of green and white cards. - Judgment contained more green and white cards at the expense of black cards. - Judgment introduced the cycle of Wishes, cards that retrieve other cards from outside the game - an effect not seen since the Ring of Ma'ruf.
Subject: 2.1.10: 2003 Sets released: Legions, Scourge, Eighth Edition, Mirrodin Major changes: - Eighth Edition brought a new card frame with room for more artwork and text. The frame for artifacts was considered too close to the frame for white cards in appearance. - Eighth Edition introduced the 'basic' supertype to identify basic lands by their type. - Mirrodin block introduced the Equipment subtype. Trivia: - Legions contained only creature cards. - Legions introduced the first creatures with double strike. - Mirrodin block saw a change to the card distribution across the block.
Subject: 2.1.11: 2004 Sets released: Darksteel, Fifth Dawn, Unhinged, Champions of Kamigawa Major changes: - Darksteel introduced 'indestructible'. - Fifth Dawn introduced a darker artifact frame to help distinguish artifact cards from white cards. - Champions of Kamigawa introduced a new Legend rule (if Legends share a name, they are all put into their owners' graveyards, not just all but the first) and removed the Legend creature type, creating 'Legendary Creature'. - Champions of Kamigawa introduced flip cards, cards with a compressed card face on either end and a suitable picture in the middle. - Champions of Kamigawa introduced a modification to the targeting rule (targets only need to be unique for each instance of the qualifier 'target') to assist with splice cards. - Champions of Kamigawa introduced the 'defender' ability, retroactively added to all of the creatures with creature type Wall, to eliminate the direct link between creature type and not being able to attack.
Subject: 2.1.12: 2005 Sets released: Betrayers of Kamigawa, Saviors of Kamigawa, 9th Edition, Ravnica: city of Guilds Major changes: - Ravnica: City of Guilds introduced hybrid mana costs that can be paid with one point of either of two specific colors of mana. - Ninth edition introduced the Aura subtype and the enchant keyword.
Subject: 2.1.13: 2006 Sets released: Guildpact, Dissension, Coldsnap, Time Spiral Major changes: - Coldsnap changed the 'snow-covered' supertype to 'snow' and expanded its use to nonland permanents. - Time Spiral introduced a rule to make +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on a permanent disappear in pairs. - With the online release of Mirage block cards, the rules for phasing were updated. Phasing out no longer triggers leaves play abilities. - Time Spiral introduced suspend, a way of playing a card for less mana by having it resolve some turns in the future. - Time Spiral introduced split second, an ability that prevents players from responding to the spell that it's on. The flavour is similar to that of the pre-6th Edition interrupts.
Subject: 2.1.14: 2007 Sets released: Planar Chaos, Future Sight, Tenth Edition, Lorwyn Major changes: - Future Sight introduced the idea of players being more like objects in the game. For example, protection was extended so that it could be gained by a player. - Future Sight introduced new card types ostensibly from the future: - The Planeswalker type was referred to but not used. - The Tribal type was used - it attaches a creature type to a non-creature card. - Future Sight introduced new keyword abilities for exising functionality: - The ability reach was introduced to represent the ability of a creature without flying to block a creature with flying. - The ability deathtouch was introduced to represent the ability of a creature to destroy creatures that it damages non-lethally. - The ability shroud was introduced for permanents or players that can't be the target of spells or abilities. - The ability lifelink was introduced to cover some of the cases where a creature's combat damage triggers life gain. - Lorwyn introduced the Tribal type "properly", using it on a number of cards to improve the flow of the "creature type matters" theme. - Lorwyn introduced the changeling ability, which grants all creature types. - Lorwyn introduced actual Planeswalker cards. These cards have abilities that you can play one of, once, during your main phase. The card has a loyalty score and comes into play with that many loyalty counters, and its abilities cost an increase or decrease of a certain number of counters. The Planeswalker may be damaged by effects that would deal non-combat damage to you (as a redirection chosen by the effect's controller) and may be attacked (you assign blockers for the Planeswalker as normal). Minor changes: - Planar Chaos introduced a "parallel universe" card frame. - Future Sight introduced a "future worlds" card frame. - Future Sight created a lot of combinations of ideas that had not been tried before, and may never be tried again, such as a land, an enchantment and an artifact with morph, and more general typecycling abilities such as slivercycling. - Some terms appeared on only a few cards in Future Sight: delve, gravestorm, aura swap, grandeur, transfigure, fateseal, frenzy, - Abilities champion, hideaway and evoke appeared in Lorwyn. - The Kithkin and Treefolk creature types were used more in Lorwyn block than ever before.
Subject: 2.1.15: 2008 Sets released: Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide Minor changes: - The abilities prowl, reinforce and kinship appeared in Morningtide; conspire, wither and persist in Shadowmoor and retrace in Eventide. - Shadowmoor introduced the untap symbol. - Shadowmoor introduced costs that are paid with a number of mana of any color or just one mana of a particular color, e.g. {2/B} can be paid as {2} or {B}.