Judgment(TM) Frequently Asked Questions Compiled by Paul Barclay, David DeLaney, and Jeff Jordan This FAQ has two sections, each of which serves a different purpose. The first section ("General Notes") explains the new mechanics and concepts in the set. The second section ("Card-Specific Notes") contains answers to the most important questions players might ask about a given card. Items in the "Card-Specific Notes" section include full rules text for your reference. Not all cards in the set are listed. GENERAL NOTES Green and White * The Judgment set is the green and white set, which balances out the bias towards black created by the _Torment_(TM) set. There are more green cards and white cards than any other color. There are fewer black cards (green and white's shared enemy) than any other color. All the multicolored cards are both green and white, and all the lands are related to green and white. ----- Flashback The official rules for the flashback ability are as follows: 502.22. Flashback 502.22a Flashback is a static ability of some instant and sorcery cards that functions while the card is in a player's graveyard. The phrase "Flashback [cost]" means "You may play this card from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost. If you do, remove this card from the game instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack." Playing a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 409.1b and 409.1f. * When you play a spell from your graveyard by paying its flashback cost, its mana cost doesn't change. You just pay the flashback cost instead. * Effects that cause you to pay more or less for a spell will cause you to pay that much more or less for its flashback cost, too. That's because they affect the total cost of the spell, not just its mana cost. * When a spell played with flashback resolves, it never goes to its owner's graveyard, so abilities that trigger on cards being put in a graveyard won't trigger. The card is removed from the game instead. Countered spells played with flashback are removed from the game, too. * Cards with the flashback ability have a gray tombstone icon in the upper left corner. This icon makes it easier for you to see which cards in your graveyard can be played again. ----- Threshold The official rules for the threshold ability are as follows: 502.23. Threshold 502.23a Threshold is a static ability, written "Threshold -- [text]." The text can be a static ability, activated ability, triggered ability, characteristic-setting text, spell text, or any combination of the five. The phrase "Threshold -- [text]" means "As long as you have seven or more cards in your graveyard, this card has '[text].'" 502.23b Cards and permanents with threshold have the threshold text only if their controller has seven or more cards in his or her graveyard. Otherwise, the text after "Threshold --" is treated as though it did not appear on the card or permanent. 502.23c An instant or sorcery card with threshold has the threshold text only while the card is on the stack (that is, while it's a spell). An artifact, creature, enchantment, or land card with threshold, or any permanent with threshold, has the threshold text only if the card or permanent is in play. * Instants and sorceries with threshold check if seven or more cards are in your graveyard when they resolve, not when they're played or put on the stack. * Activated and triggered abilities that permanents have at threshold check the number of cards in your graveyard only when the abilities are played or triggered. Even if you have fewer than seven cards in your graveyard when an ability resolves, that ability will resolve normally. * Static threshold abilities are simply "on" when you have seven or more cards in your graveyard and "off" when you don't. ----- Nightmares * The Judgment set includes nine new creatures with creature type Nightmare: three in red and six in blue. All of the red Nightmares have "-gorger" in their names. All of the blue Nightmares have "Wormfang" in their names. Like the Torment Nightmares, these creatures all remove something from the game when they come into play, only to give it back again when they leave play. The difference is that instead of affecting your opponent, they affect you. Wormfang Newt {1}{U} Creature -- Nightmare Beast 2/2 When Wormfang Newt comes into play, remove a land you control from the game. When Wormfang Newt leaves play, return the removed card to play under its owner's control. * Wormfang Crab's wording has been corrected so it is no longer conducive to infinite loops that end the game in a draw. See the "Card-Specific Notes" section for the updated text. * Six Judgment Nightmares remove cards or permanents you control from the game. If one of these Nightmares leaves play before its comes-into-play ability resolves, its leaves-play ability will trigger and resolve first. The leaves-play ability will have no effect, then the comes-into-play ability will resolve. The cards that are removed from the game will never come back. * If a Nightmare's comes-into-play ability removes a token from the game, its leaves-play ability won't return it. Tokens cease to exist as soon as they leave play. When a removed card comes back, it's treated as a new version of the card. * Of the remaining three Nightmare creatures, one (Soulgorger Orgg) causes you to lose all but 1 of your life, another (Wormfang Manta) causes you to skip a turn, and the third (Spellgorger Barbarian) causes you to discard a card at random. What happens if any of these creatures leaves play before its comes-into-play ability resolves is discussed in the "Card-Specific Notes" section. * The Nightmares are Soulgorger Orgg, Spellgorger Barbarian, Worldgorger Dragon, Wormfang Behemoth, Wormfang Crab, Wormfang Drake, Wormfang Manta, Wormfang Newt, and Wormfang Turtle. See the "Card-Specific Notes" section for comments on Soulgorger Orgg, Spellgorger Barbarian, Wormfang Crab, and Wormfang Manta. ----- Advocates * The five Judgment Advocates are creatures with abilities that both return cards in your opponent's graveyard to his or her hand and give you a beneficial effect. They're all green or white. Nullmage Advocate {2}{G} Creature -- Insect Druid 2/3 {T}: Return two target cards in an opponent's graveyard to his or her hand. Destroy target artifact or enchantment. * The ability targets a number of cards in an opponent's graveyard, as well as whatever else will be affected by the ability. You must choose a different card for each target. If one or more of the targets are illegal when the ability resolves, you still do as much of the effect as you can. * You can't play the ability unless a single opponent has enough cards in his or her graveyard for you to target. * The Advocates are Forcemage Advocate, Nullmage Advocate, Pulsemage Advocate, Shieldmage Advocate, and Spurnmage Advocate. ----- Phantoms * The six Judgment Phantoms are creatures that come into play with a number of +1/+1 counters on them. All damage dealt to them is prevented, and one +1/+1 counter is removed each time the Phantom would be damaged. They're all green and/or white. Phantom Nomad {1}{W} Creature -- Nomad Spirit 0/0 Phantom Nomad comes into play with two +1/+1 counters on it. If damage would be dealt to Phantom Nomad, prevent that damage. Remove a +1/+1 counter from Phantom Nomad. * Each time a Phantom would be dealt damage, prevent all of that damage. Then remove one +1/+1 counter from it. It doesn't matter how much damage would be dealt to the Phantom at any one time. You still remove only one +1/+1 counter from it. * Each Phantom has a base toughness of 0. When a Phantom has no more +1/+1 counters on it, unless some other effect is raising its toughness, it has 0 toughness and is put into its owner's graveyard. * A Phantom's ability prevents damage even if there are no more +1/+1 counters on it. So if a Phantom's toughness is raised by some other effect, it becomes impossible to destroy with damage unless an effect like Flaring Pain (see the "Card-Specific Notes" section) states that damage can't be prevented. * The Phantoms are Phantom Centaur, Phantom Flock, Phantom Nantuko, Phantom Nishoba, Phantom Nomad, and Phantom Tiger. See the "Card-Specific Notes" section for more information about Phantom Centaur. ----- Incarnations * The Incarnations are creatures that have an effect while they are in your graveyard. Anger {3}{R} Creature -- Incarnation 2/2 Haste As long as Anger is in your graveyard and you control a mountain, creatures you control have haste. * The five uncommon Incarnations give creatures you control a simple keyword ability as long as the Incarnation is in your graveyard and you control the appropriate basic land type. The ability starts working as soon as the Incarnation goes into your graveyard. If the Incarnation is in play, it has that ability itself, but it doesn't give it to any of your other creatures. * The two rare Incarnations are Genesis and Glory. Genesis has a triggered ability that returns a creature card from your graveyard to your hand. Glory has an activated ability that gives your creatures protection from the color of your choice. * Riftstone Portal is a land with an ability that works just like the Incarnations' abilities. When it's in your graveyard, it gives lands you control the ability to tap for {G} or {W}. * If it matters (because another effect cares about the granted ability or wants to remove the granted ability), the timestamp of the granted ability is set when the Incarnation is put into your graveyard. This is an extension of Rule 418.5c, which says in part, "A permanent's timestamp is the time it came into play." * The Incarnations and Riftstone Portal have the tombstone icon. This icon makes it easier for you to see them in your graveyard. * The Incarnations are Anger, Brawn, Filth, Genesis, Glory, Valor, and Wonder. See the "Card-Specific Notes" section for more information about Genesis, Glory, and Riftstone Portal. ----- Wishes * The five Judgment Wishes let you go get any card you own and put it into your hand. Burning Wish {1}{R} Sorcery Choose a sorcery card you own from outside the game, reveal that card, and put it into your hand. Remove Burning Wish from the game. * With a Wish, you can retrieve either a card that has been removed from the game or one of your other _Magic_(R) cards that didn't start the game in your deck. The Wishes work in a slightly different way depending on whether you're playing in a DCI(TM)-sanctioned tournament or not. * Outside DCI-sanctioned play, "a card you own from outside the game" is one of the following things: (a) A card you own that's in the removed-from-the-game zone. It can be in that zone for any reason. (b) Any card in your collection. Go find the card that will help you most in the situation you're in. * In DCI-sanctioned play, "a card you own from outside the game" is one of the following things: (a) A card you own that's in the removed-from-the-game zone. It can be in that zone for any reason. (b) A card that's in your sideboard. If you get a card from your sideboard, you must put the Wish into your sideboard instead of just removing it from the game. This makes sure that your sideboard has the correct number of cards in it at all times. * The Magic Floor Rules do not allow you to look at your sideboard during a game. The Wishes are an exception to this rule. While a Wish is resolving (and only while a Wish is resolving), you're allowed to look at your sideboard. You must make sure that the cards in your sideboard can't be confused with any other cards you have. * The Wishes are Burning Wish, Cunning Wish, Death Wish, Golden Wish, and Living Wish. ----- CARD-SPECIFIC NOTES Anurid Brushhopper {1}{G}{W} Creature -- Beast 3/4 Discard two cards from your hand: Remove Anurid Brushhopper from the game. Return it to play under its owner's control at end of turn. * When the Brushhopper is removed from the game, any local enchantments on it fall off and any counters on it are removed. When it returns to play, it comes back untapped and is treated as a new version of the card. * Normally, the Brushhopper will return to play at the end of the same turn it's removed. But if it's removed during the end-of-turn step, it's too late to return it this turn. It has to wait to return to play until the next end-of-turn step. ----- Balthor the Defiled {2}{B}{B} Creature -- Zombie Dwarf Legend 2/2 All Minions get +1/+1. {B}{B}{B}, Remove Balthor the Defiled from the game: Each player returns all black and all red creature cards from his or her graveyard to play. * Just like the Balthor the Stout in Torment, Balthor the Defiled helps a creature type other than its own. In this case, it helps Minions. * When the second ability resolves, each player looks at each creature card in his or her graveyard. If it's black, return it to play. If it's red, return it to play. If it's both black and red, return it to play. * A Balthor the Stout and a Balthor the Defiled can be in play at the same time. Since these are different cards (even though they're the same character), the Legend rule doesn't apply. ----- Battlefield Scrounger {3}{G}{G} Creature -- Centaur 3/3 Threshold -- Put three cards from your graveyard on the bottom of your library: Battlefield Scrounger gets +3/+3 until end of turn. Play this ability only once each turn. (Play this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.) * Having threshold only matters just before you play the ability. If playing the ability makes you lose threshold, it will still resolve normally. You won't be able to pay for and play the ability again until you have at least seven cards in your graveyard again. ----- Book Burning {1}{R} Sorcery Unless a player has Book Burning deal 6 damage to him or her, put the top six cards of target player's library into his or her graveyard. * Any player can have Book Burning deal 6 damage to him or her, not just the player targeted by Book Burning. ----- Browbeat {2}{R} Sorcery Unless a player has Browbeat deal 5 damage to him or her, target player draws three cards. * Any player can have Browbeat deal 5 damage to him or her, not just the player targeted by Browbeat. ----- Cabal Therapy {B} Sorcery Name a nonland card. Target player reveals his or her hand and discards from it all cards with that name. Flashback--Sacrifice a creature. (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.) * The card is named on resolution, then your opponent reveals his or her hand. Your opponent can't do anything between you naming the card and seeing his or her hand. ----- Commander Eesha {2}{W}{W} Creature -- Bird Soldier Legend 2/4 Flying, protection from creatures * Protection from creatures means that this creature can't be blocked by creatures, it can't be the target of abilities from creatures, and all damage that would be dealt to it from creatures is prevented. ----- Dwarven Bloodboiler {R}{R}{R} Creature -- Dwarf 2/2 Tap an untapped Dwarf you control: Target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn. * Dwarven Bloodboiler's ability doesn't include the {T} symbol. You can play the ability even if you haven't controlled Dwarven Bloodboiler since the beginning of your most recent turn. ----- Elephant Guide {2}{G} Enchant Creature Enchanted creature gets +3/+3. When enchanted creature is put into a graveyard, put a 3/3 green Elephant creature token into play. * The player who controlled the Elephant Guide is the player who gets the 3/3 Elephant token. This may not be the player who controlled the creature. * If Elephant Guide is put into a graveyard but the creature it's enchanting isn't, an Elephant token isn't created. ----- Epic Struggle {2}{G}{G} Enchantment At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control twenty or more creatures, you win the game. * To win the game, you must control twenty or more creatures both at the beginning of your upkeep and when Epic Struggle's ability resolves. ----- Exoskeletal Armor {1}{G} Enchant Creature Enchanted creature gets +X/+X, where X is the number of creature cards in all graveyards. * Exoskeletal Armor works a lot like Empyrial Armor from the _Weatherlight_(TM) set. The value of X changes each time a creature card goes to a graveyard or leaves a graveyard. ----- Flaring Pain {1}{R} Instant Damage can't be prevented this turn. Flashback {R} (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.) * Flaring Pain negates all kinds of damage prevention. After Flaring Pain resolves, no damage can be prevented. Players can still play damage prevention spells and abilities, but none of them will work. Any damage prevention shields that are already in place when Flaring Pain resolves become useless. * Circles of Protection and similar cards won't do anything at all. * Protection abilities won't prevent damage, but their other effects will still work normally. So, for example, a creature with protection from red couldn't be targeted by Blaze, but it could be damaged by Earthquake. * If a Phantom is dealt damage, the damage won't be prevented and a +1/+1 counter must still be removed. * Spells and abilities that replace or "redirect" damage will work normally. Only spells and abilities that use the words "prevent" or "protection from" are affected. ----- Flash of Insight {X}{1}{U} Instant Look at the top X cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library. Flashback--{1}{U}, Remove X blue cards in your graveyard from the game. (You can't remove Flash of Insight to pay for its own flashback cost.) * When you play Flash of Insight using its flashback ability, the first thing you do is put the spell card on the stack. This is why you can't remove Flash of Insight to pay for its own flashback cost. It's not in the graveyard when you pay its cost, so you couldn't possibly remove it from there. ----- Funeral Pyre {W} Instant Remove target card in a graveyard from the game. Its owner puts a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying into play. * The removed card's owner puts the token into play under his or her control. ----- Genesis {4}{G} Creature -- Incarnation 4/4 At the beginning of your upkeep, if Genesis is in your graveyard, you may pay {2}{G}. If you do, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. * Unlike the five uncommon Incarnations, Genesis has a triggered ability, not a static ability. For its ability to work, it must be in your graveyard both at the start of your upkeep and when its ability resolves. * You choose the target creature card when you put the ability onto the stack. You do this before you pay {2}{G}, and you do this even if you have no intention of using the ability. The creature card must be in your graveyard at the start of your upkeep, or else Genesis won't be able to target it. Genesis may target itself, and if you have no other creature cards in your graveyard, Genesis must target itself. * Pay the cost and return the creature card when the ability resolves. A single Genesis allows you to return one creature card each turn. If you want to return more than one creature card per turn, you need more than one Genesis in your graveyard. ----- Glory {3}{W}{W} Creature -- Incarnation 3/3 Flying {2}{W}: Creatures you control gain protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Play this ability only if Glory is in your graveyard. * Unlike the five uncommon Incarnations, Glory has an activated ability, not a static ability. If Glory leaves your graveyard before its ability resolves, it will still resolve normally. As with any other activated ability, you can play it more than once each turn. * Each time its ability resolves, you can choose what color to give your creatures protection from. Glory only gives protection to the creatures that are in play when its ability resolves. It doesn't give protection to creature cards in your graveyard or creatures that come into play after its ability resolves. * Glory's ability isn't targeted, so you can use Glory's ability to give your creatures protection from a color even if you've already used Glory's ability to give your creatures protection from white. ----- Grip of Amnesia {1}{U} Instant Counter target spell unless its controller removes his or her graveyard from the game. Draw a card. * You can choose to remove your graveyard from the game even if there are no cards in it. ----- Grizzly Fate (3}{G}{G} Sorcery Put two 2/2 green Bear creature tokens into play. Threshold -- Instead put four 2/2 green Bear creature tokens into play. Flashback {5}{G}{G} (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.) * If Grizzly Fate is played from the graveyard, the Grizzly Fate card doesn't count toward threshold. Threshold is checked when the spell resolves, so Grizzly Fate will be on the stack, not in the graveyard. ----- Guiltfeeder {3}{B}{B} Creature -- Horror 0/4 Guiltfeeder can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures. Whenever Guiltfeeder attacks and isn't blocked, defending player loses 1 life for each card in his or her graveyard. * You count the number of cards in the graveyard when the ability resolves. It resolves during the declare blockers step, before any creatures are destroyed by combat damage. ----- Harvester Druid {1}{G} Creature -- Druid 1/1 {T}: Add to your mana pool one mana of any color that a land you control could produce. * If you have a Riftstone Portal in your graveyard, you'll be able to tap the Druid for {G} or {W} in addition to any colors of mana your lands could normally make. ----- Hunting Grounds {G}{W} Enchantment Threshold -- Whenever an opponent plays a spell, you may put a creature card from your hand into play. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.) * Hunting Grounds has no abilities at all if you don't have threshold. If you do have threshold, it will trigger off spells played by each of your opponents. ----- Infectious Rage {1}{R} Enchant Creature Enchanted creature gets +2/-1. When enchanted creature is put into a graveyard, choose a creature at random Infectious Rage can enchant. Return Infectious Rage to play enchanting that creature. * Infectious Rage will return to play if the enchanted creature goes to a graveyard for any reason. This includes if the Rage's +2/-1 effect causes the creature it's enchanting to have 0 toughness. * If Infectious Rage is put into a graveyard but the enchanted creature isn't, it won't return to play. * When Infectious Rage returns to play, it can come into play enchanting one of your creatures or one of your opponent's creatures. You choose what it will enchant at random. * When Infectious Rage returns to play, it doesn't target the new creature it enchants, so it can be put onto a creature that can't be the target of spells and abilities. However, it can't be put onto a creature it can't enchant, such as a creature with protection from red. Ignore those creatures when choosing a creature at random. * Choosing a creature at random can be tricky. The simplest fair way to do it is to find a die with more sides than the number of creatures in play (ignoring any creatures Infectious Rage can't enchant). Give each creature a different number, and roll the die. Reroll any number that's higher than the number of creatures in play. (Don't start counting again at the beginning or the selection will be biased toward the lower-numbered creatures.) Put the Rage on the creature whose number was rolled. ----- Krosan Reclamation {1}{G} Instant Target player shuffles up to two target cards from his or her graveyard into his or her library. Flashback {1}{G} (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.) * You choose the cards that will be shuffled back into the player's library. * If the target player becomes illegal before the spell resolves, Krosan Reclamation can't make the player shuffle the cards into his or her library. The cards stay in his or her graveyard. ----- Krosan Verge Land Krosan Verge comes into play tapped. {T}: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. {2}, {T}, Sacrifice Krosan Verge: Search your library for a forest card and a plains card and put them into play tapped. Then shuffle your library. * Krosan Verge lets you search for both a forest and a plains, not just one or the other. It doesn't specify that the lands must be basic, so it can find "dual lands" such as Tundra and Tropical Island. * You may choose not to find the plains, the forest, or both. ----- Krosan Wayfarer {G} Creature -- Druid 1/1 Sacrifice Krosan Wayfarer: Put a land card from your hand into play. * When you use this ability, you must put a land card from your hand into play if you have one in your hand. ----- Laquatus's Disdain {1}{U} Instant Counter target spell played from a graveyard. Draw a card. * Cards played using the flashback ability are played from a graveyard, and can be countered by Laquatus's Disdain. It can also counter spells played using Yawgmoth's Agenda, Yawgmoth's Will, and similar cards. * When a card played using the flashback ability is countered, it's still removed from the game. * Laquatus's Disdain can't counter cards played using the madness ability. Those cards are played from the removed-from-the-game zone, not from the graveyard. ----- Lightning Surge {3}{R}{R} Sorcery Lightning Surge deals 4 damage to target creature or player. Threshold -- Instead Lightning Surge deals 6 damage to that creature or player and the damage can't be prevented. Flashback {5}{R}{R} (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.) * Lightning Surge either deals 4 or 6 damage. It never deals 10 damage. If it deals 4 damage, that damage can be prevented. * "Damage can't be prevented" means that damage prevention shields and effects are useless. Circle of Protection: Red won't prevent the damage. If a Phantom is targeted by Lightning Surge, it will take 6 damage and then lose a +1/+1 counter. * If Lightning Surge is played from the graveyard, the Lightning Surge card doesn't count toward threshold. Threshold is checked when the spell resolves, so Lightning Surge will be on the stack, not in the graveyard. ----- Lost in Thought {1}{U} Enchant Creature Enchanted creature can't attack or block and its activated abilities can't be played. Its controller may remove three cards in his or her graveyard from the game to ignore this ability until end of turn. * The second sentence in Lost in Thought's ability is just part of the card's static ability. It isn't a separate activated ability, and thus its effect doesn't use the stack. You can remove the three cards from your graveyard any time you have priority. * If you remove three cards from your graveyard, you ignore Lost in Thought's whole ability until the end of the turn. You therefore can't remove three cards from your graveyard again during the same turn. ----- Masked Gorgon {4}{B} Creature -- Gorgon 5/5 Green creatures and white creatures have protection from Gorgons. Threshold -- Masked Gorgon has protection from green and from white. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.) * Green creatures and white creatures have protection from anything with the creature type Gorgon, not just from Masked Gorgon. * A creature with protection from Gorgons can't be blocked by Gorgons, it can't be the target of abilities from Gorgons, and all damage that would be dealt to it from Gorgons is prevented. ----- Mirari's Wake {3}{G}{W} Enchantment Creatures you control get +1/+1. Whenever you tap a land for mana, add one mana to your mana pool of any type that land produced. * Mirari's Wake produces exactly one extra mana each time a land is tapped for mana. * If you tap a land for more than one mana, and that mana is of different types, you choose which one of those types Mirari's Wake adds to your mana pool. * If the land you tap produces no mana, Mirari's Wake produces no mana. ----- Mist of Stagnation {3}{U}{U} Enchantment Permanents don't untap during their controllers' untap steps. At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player untaps a permanent for each card in his or her graveyard. * When the triggered ability resolves, the player whose turn it is counts the number of cards in his or her graveyard. Then that player chooses that many permanents and untaps them. * You may untap an untapped permanent with this ability. If you do, nothing happens to that permanent. * You can untap any permanents, not just ones that you control. And you must untap as many permanents as you can. So, if the cards in your graveyard outnumber the permanents you control, you must untap some of your opponent's permanents. You choose which ones to untap. ----- Morality Shift {5}{B}{B} Sorcery Exchange your graveyard and library. Then shuffle your library. * Here's what you do when this spell resolves: Take the cards in your graveyard and the cards in your library. Turn the cards that were in your graveyard face down and put them where your library was. Turn the cards that were in your library face up and put them where your graveyard was (in any order). Then shuffle your new library. * If you have no cards in your graveyard, or no cards in your library, you can still make the exchange. ----- Nomad Mythmaker {2}{W} Creature -- Cleric 2/2 {W}, {T}: Put target enchant creature card from a graveyard into play enchanting a creature you control. (You control that enchantment.) * You target the enchantment when you play the ability, but you don't pick which creature to put it on until the ability resolves. * You can't put the enchantment on a creature it can't enchant. So, for example, you can't put a black enchantment onto a creature with protection from black. * The Mythmaker's ability doesn't target the creature, and neither does the enchantment that's coming into play. This means that you can put the enchantment onto a creature that can't be the target of spells and abilities. ----- Phantom Centaur {2}{G}{G} Creature -- Centaur Spirit 2/0 Protection from black Phantom Centaur comes into play with three +1/+1 counters on it. If damage would be dealt to Phantom Centaur, prevent that damage. Remove a +1/+1 counter from Phantom Centaur. * If damage would be dealt to Phantom Centaur by a black source, its controller chooses which of its abilities will prevent that damage. If the damage is prevented by protection from black, the Centaur will not lose a +1/+1 counter. If the damage is prevented by the Phantom ability, the Centaur will lose a +1/+1 counter. ----- Planar Chaos {2}{R} Enchantment At the beginning of your upkeep, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, sacrifice Planar Chaos. Whenever a player plays a spell, that player flips a coin. If he or she loses the flip, counter that spell. * Planar Chaos forces all players to flip a coin to see if their spells work, including you. ----- Quiet Speculation {1}{U} Sorcery Search target player's library for up to three cards with flashback and put them into that player's graveyard. Then the player shuffles his or her library. * The cards you search for have to have the flashback ability. Just having a tombstone icon isn't enough. * If you target another player, you get to search that player's library. * You can choose not to find any cards if you don't want to. ----- Riftstone Portal Land {T}: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. As long as Riftstone Portal is in your graveyard, lands you control have "{T}: Add {G} or {W} to your mana pool." * Riftstone Portal is related to the Incarnations. It gives all your lands the ability to produce {G} or {W} as long as it's in your graveyard. ----- Scalpelexis {4}{U} Creature -- Beast 1/5 Flying Whenever Scalpelexis deals combat damage to a player, that player removes the top four cards of his or her library from the game. If two or more of those cards have the same name, repeat this process. * Each time you remove four cards, if two of those cards have the exact same name, you remove another four cards. It doesn't matter whether a card has the same name as one that was removed from the game in a previous batch of four cards. Unlike many similar abilities, this ability does look at basic land cards. ----- Seedtime {1}{G} Instant Play Seedtime only during your turn. Take an extra turn after this one if an opponent played a blue spell this turn. * You only get the extra turn if your opponent has already played a blue spell this turn. * "Played" means "put on the stack," so if the only blue spell your opponent played hasn't resolved yet when you play Seedtime, you'll still get the extra turn. * You only get one extra turn for each Seedtime you play. It doesn't matter how many blue spells your opponent has played this turn. ----- Selfless Exorcist {3}{W}{W} Creature -- Cleric 3/4 {T}: Remove target creature card in a graveyard from the game. That card deals damage equal to its power to Selfless Exorcist. (A * on a card not in play is 0.) * You can remove any creature card in any graveyard from the game. You can't remove other types of cards from the game. * A creature *card* is dealing the damage, not an actual creature. (Creatures only exist in play.) Giving the Exorcist protection from creatures won't prevent the damage. But giving the Exorcist protection from red would prevent the damage from a red creature card because that creature card is a red source of damage. * The damage dealt to the Exorcist always equals the power printed on the removed card. Though some effects can alter the power of a creature, no effects can alter the power of a card. ----- Shaman's Trance {2}{R} Instant Until end of turn, other players can't play cards from their graveyards, and you may play cards from other players' graveyards as though they were in your graveyard. * Shaman's Trance doesn't give you any special power to play cards from graveyards. Something else (a flashback ability, Yawgmoth's Will, or the like) must independently let you play cards from a graveyard. Shaman's Trance just increases the number of graveyards you could play cards from. * You can play any cards with flashback that are in any player's graveyard. These cards will be removed from the game when they resolve, just like normal. * If you've played Yawgmoth's Will this turn, you can play any cards in your graveyard or your opponents' graveyards. Cards played from your graveyard will be removed from the game. Cards played from an opponent's graveyard will return to that graveyard when they resolve because the Will's replacement ability doesn't apply. You can play those cards over and over, as long as you have mana available. * Shaman's Trance doesn't allow you to play any abilities of cards in other players' graveyards (such as Glory's ability), and it doesn't prevent other players from playing any abilities of cards in their graveyards. ----- Solitary Confinement {2}{W} Enchantment At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Solitary Confinement unless you discard a card from your hand. Skip your draw step. You can't be the target of spells or abilities. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you. * If you sacrifice Solitary Confinement at the beginning of your upkeep, all its effects go away. You'll draw a card normally that turn, but you can be targeted by spells and abilities again, and damage is dealt to you normally. ----- Soulgorger Orgg {3}{R}{R} Creature -- Nightmare Orgg 6/6 Trample When Soulgorger Orgg comes into play, you lose all but 1 life. When Soulgorger Orgg leaves play, you gain life equal to the life you lost when it came into play. * When the Orgg comes into play, if you have 1 or more life, your life total becomes 1. Note how much life you lost because of this effect. When the Orgg leaves play, you gain that much life. If you've gained life after it came into play but before it left play, you'll end up with more life than you started with. * If the Orgg leaves play before its comes-into-play ability resolves, its leaves-play ability will resolve first. The leaves-play ability lets you gain life equal to the life you lost, but since you haven't yet lost any, you'll gain 0 life. Then your life total will become 1. * If your life total is 0 or less when the Orgg comes into play (due to Transcendence's effect, for instance), then your life total will stay the same. The Orgg doesn't allow you to gain life when it comes into play. ----- Spellgorger Barbarian {3}{R} Creature -- Nightmare Barbarian 3/1 When Spellgorger Barbarian comes into play, discard a card at random from your hand. When Spellgorger Barbarian leaves play, draw a card. * Spellgorger Barbarian works a little differently than the other Nightmares. Instead of removing and returning the same thing, it operates on different things. (The card you discard won't be the card you get back.) Also, the card goes to the graveyard, not the removed-from-the-game zone. * If you don't have any cards in your hand when the Barbarian's comes-into-play ability resolves, nothing happens. This doesn't affect the Barbarian in any way. You'll still draw a card when it leaves play. * If the Barbarian leaves play before its comes-into-play ability resolves, its leaves-play ability will resolve first. First you'll draw a card, then you'll discard a card at random. ----- Spelljack {3}{U}{U}{U} Instant Counter target spell. If it's countered this way, remove it from the game instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard. As long as it remains removed from the game, you may play it as though it were in your hand without paying its mana cost. If it has X in its mana cost, X is 0. * Once you've played Spelljack on a spell, that spell stays removed from the game until you decide to play it. When you play it, even though you don't have to pay the mana cost, you still must pay any additional costs. You have to follow all the normal rules for playing a spell; for example, you can't play a Spelljack-removed sorcery on your opponent's turn. Also, if the removed card has any play restrictions, you must follow them. * If you play an instant or sorcery spell that was removed from the game with Spelljack, it will go to its owner's graveyard when it resolves. * If you play a creature, enchantment, or artifact spell that was removed from the game with Spelljack, it will come into play under your control. When it's destroyed, or at the end of the game, it will go to its owner's graveyard. * You can Spelljack a spell that was played with flashback. It will be removed from the game, and you can then play it yourself. When it resolves, it will go to its owner's graveyard, because the flashback effect no longer applies to the spell. * If you play Spelljack targeting a copy of a spell (one created by Mirari's ability, for instance), the spell will be countered. However, as soon as it's removed from the game, it ceases to exist. * Your opponent can retrieve a spell that's been removed from the game by making the appropriate Wish. ----- Stitch Together {B}{B} Sorcery Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. Threshold -- Instead return that card from your graveyard to play. (You have threshold if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.) * If exactly seven cards are in your graveyard when Stitch Together starts resolving, the target card will wind up in play even though you'll lose threshold when that card leaves your graveyard. Stitch Together checks for threshold just before it starts resolving, and once its effect is determined, it can't be changed. ----- Sutured Ghoul {4}{B}{B}{B} Creature -- Zombie */* Trample As Sutured Ghoul comes into play, remove any number of creature cards in your graveyard from the game. Sutured Ghoul's power is equal to the total power of the removed cards and its toughness is equal to their total toughness. (A * on a card not in play is 0.) * The Ghoul's power and toughness are both set when it comes into play. If a Wish returns one of the removed cards to your hand, the Ghoul's power and toughness won't change. * The power and toughness of the Ghoul are based on the characteristics printed on the removed cards. Though some effects can alter the power or toughness of a creature, no effects can alter the power or toughness of a card. ----- Swelter {3}{R} Sorcery Swelter deals 2 damage to each of two target creatures. * You must target two creatures with Swelter. If there's only one creature for Swelter to target, you can't play it. ----- Swirling Sandstorm {3}{R} Sorcery Threshold -- Swirling Sandstorm deals 5 damage to each creature without flying. (You have threshold if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.) * This card does nothing if you don't have threshold when it resolves. ----- Sylvan Safekeeper {G} Creature -- Wizard 1/1 Sacrifice a land: Target creature you control can't be the target of spells or abilities this turn. * This card was designed by Olle Rade after winning the 1997 Duelist Invitational in Hong Kong. He's pictured in the card's art. ----- Test of Endurance {2}{W}{W} Enchantment At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 50 or more life, you win the game. * To win the game, you must have 50 or more life both at the beginning of your upkeep and when Test of Endurance's ability resolves. ----- Treacherous Vampire {4}{B} Creature -- Vampire 4/4 Flying Whenever Treacherous Vampire attacks or blocks, sacrifice it unless you remove a card in your graveyard from the game. Threshold -- Treacherous Vampire gets +2/+2 and has "When Treacherous Vampire is put into a graveyard from play, you lose 6 life." * If you can't remove a card from your graveyard when the Vampire attacks or blocks, you have to sacrifice it. * Treacherous Vampire's second ability checks to see whether you have seven cards in your graveyard just before the Vampire goes there itself. If you don't, the ability won't trigger. ----- Treacherous Werewolf {2}{B} Creature -- Minion Wolf 2/2 Threshold -- Treacherous Werewolf gets +2/+2 and has "When Treacherous Werewolf is put into a graveyard from play, you lose 4 life." (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.) * Treacherous Werewolf's ability checks to see whether you have seven cards in your graveyard just before the Werewolf goes there itself. If you don't, the ability won't trigger. ----- Unquestioned Authority {2}{W} Enchant Creature When Unquestioned Authority comes into play, draw a card. Enchanted creature has protection from creatures. * Protection from creatures means that the enchanted creature can't be blocked by creatures, it can't be the target of abilities from creatures, and all damage that would be dealt to it from creatures is prevented. ----- Venomous Vines {2}{G}{G} Sorcery Destroy target enchanted permanent. * This spell can destroy any permanent which has an enchantment on it. If the permanent is destroyed (and is not regenerated), the enchantment is put into its owner's graveyard because it has nothing to enchant. * If all local enchantments on the target permanent are removed in response to playing Venomous Vines, Venomous Vines will be countered due to having an illegal target. ----- Wormfang Crab {3}{U} Creature -- Nightmare Crab 3/6 CORRECTION The Magic rules team recently discovered a problem with this card. In combination with some other cards, its ability can cause the game to go into an infinite loop and end in a draw. The printed wording is: Wormfang Crab is unblockable. When Wormfang Crab comes into play, an opponent chooses a permanent you control and removes it from the game. When Wormfang Crab leaves play, return the removed card to play under its owner's control. Therefore, the rules team has decided that the ability should read as follows, and future Oracle(TM) updates will reflect the correction. Wormfang Crab is unblockable. When Wormfang Crab comes into play, an opponent chooses a permanent you control other than Wormfang Crab and removes it from the game. When Wormfang Crab leaves play, return the removed card to play under its owner's control. The change means that Wormfang Crab can no longer remove itself from the game. ----- Wormfang Manta {5}{U}{U} Creature -- Nightmare Beast 6/1 Flying When Wormfang Manta comes into play, you skip your next turn. When Wormfang Manta leaves play, you take an extra turn after this one. * Wormfang Manta causes you to skip a turn when it comes into play, then gives you an extra turn when it leaves play. * If the Manta comes into play and leaves play in the same turn, the abilities cancel each other out. (It doesn't matter which ability resolves first.) Its comes-into-play ability will create an effect that tells you to skip your next turn. And its leaves-play ability gives you an extra turn immediately after this one. When the current turn ends, you'll get to the extra turn, but the "skip a turn" effect kicks in. The extra turn will be the one you skip. ----- All trademarks, including character names, are property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (Copr.)2002 Wizards. Chris Zantides DCI Policy Manager