Hi, Everybody. Here are the _March_ Rulings for Magic: the Gathering. They go into effect immediately (as of 19/03/99). #2 solves an old Licid problem. #3 solves a Mask of the Mimic problem. #4 solves the Goblin Welder problem. #5 to #8 solve various Mana Ability problems. The first piece of errata functionally changes Second Chance. You can no longer "bounce" it and get the extra turn (if it's not sacrificed, you don't get the extra turn). It also means that the Mogg Bombers/Sengir Autocrat combo no longer works. Paul. - ------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Paul Barclay -- pb207@cam.ac.uk -- Magic: the Gathering List NetRep - - Churchill College, Cambridge, England CB30DS -- (Tel: 0958-980-180) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- March 1999 *Magic*(R) Rulings & Errata A Summary of Recent Rulings compiled by Beth Moursund These rulings are for the current _(Fifth Edition(TM))_ *Magic* rules, but will also apply to the _Classic(TM)_ (Sixth Edition) rules that go into effect on June 1. GENERAL RULES 1) The creature type "legend" and the adjective "legendary" mean the same thing for *Magic* rules purposes. A spell or ability that affects all legends will affect both legends and legendary permanents. A spell or ability that targets a legend (such as Karakas's) can target legends or legendary permanents. If a creature of type legend stops being a creature (with Soul Sculptor's ability, for example), it retains its "legendary status"--it's still subject to the legend rules. If two legends or legendary permanents in play have the same name, the one that came into play most recently is put into its owner's graveyard, even if the two permanents are of different types. For example, turning a legend into an enchantment with Soul Sculptor's ability doesn't mean a legend with the same name can remain in play. 2) Local enchantments always have a description of what they enchant--"enchanted artifact," "enchanted land," and "enchanted nonblack creature" are all examples. These enchantments only generate their effects if the enchanted permanent matches that description without considering the enchantment's own effect. Animate Artifact is an example of an enchantment that would contradict itself without this ruling. It reads, "Enchanted noncreature artifact is an artifact creature . . . ." This means it has an effect only when enchanting a noncreature artifact, but then immediately makes the enchanted permanent into an artifact creature. This in turn would make the enchanted permanent contradict the fact that the enchantment can only enchant noncreature artifacts. This ruling means that Animate Artifact only has an effect if the enchanted permanent is a noncreature artifact without the "is an artifact creature" effect applied to it. Transmogrifying Licid is another example that would have a different kind of problem: Let's say you make a land you control into a creature until end of turn. Then you enchant the creature with Transmogrifying Licid ("enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and is an artifact creature"). At end of turn, the enchanted creature would normally revert to being a land, but it's hard to figure out whether the Licid keeps it an artifact creature, thereby enabling the Licid to keep enchanting the "land" rather than being destroyed. This ruling clears up situations like this; the "enchanted creature" part of the Licid no longer interacts with the "is an artifact creature" part to keep the Licid-enchantment on the permanent. This ruling is a REVERSAL of a previous one regarding the "self-validating" nature of Transmogrifying Licid's enchantment form. 3) If a spell or ability enables you to search your library for a copy of a card, you search for a card with the same name as that card currently has or last had, regardless of its type. For example, if your "awakened" Opal Gargoyle goes to your graveyard when you have Remembrance in play, you may search your library for an Opal Gargoyle enchantment. If your Clone goes to your graveyard, you search for a card with the same name as whatever the Clone copied, not for another Clone. This ruling also applies to Mask of the Mimic, and is a REVERSAL of some previous rulings about Clone. 4) To "exchange" a card in play for one in the graveyard means to put the card from the graveyard into play under the specified player's control and simultaneously to put the card that was in play into its owner's graveyard, regardless of whose graveyard the other card came from. The exchange triggers all applicable "comes into play" and "leaves play" abilities. Enchantments and counters on the card leaving play don't move onto the card coming into play. 5) An ability that can produce mana under some circumstances still counts as a mana-producing ability, even if it wouldn't produce any in the current game state. For example, the ability of Gaea's Cradle is still a mana-producing ability while you control no creatures. 6) Abilities that copy the color and/or type of mana a land could produce (those of Fellwar Stone and Reflecting Pool, for example) take replacement effects into consideration but not triggered abilities. For example, if Contamination is in play, Fellwar Stone can produce only black mana, even if one of the opponent's lands is enchanted with Fertile Ground. Mana-producing abilities that can produce mana only in certain game states, such as Gaea's Cradle's ability, still count as being able to produce mana of the specified color for "mana-copying" abilities like Reflecting Pool's. 7) Abilities that trigger when a land is tapped for mana (such as those of Wild Growth and Mana Flare) trigger even if the land currently produces no mana. They also take replacement effects into consideration. For example, if Hall of Gemstone is in play, Mana Flare causes Gaea's Cradle to produce one mana of the color chosen for Hall of Gemstone even if the Cradle's controller controls no creatures. 8) For both "mana-copying" abilities and abilities that trigger on mana-producing abilities being played, if any choices are called for, the player playing the land ability (the one on which the mana-copying or mana-producing abilities rely) chooses--regardless of who controls the triggered abilities, replacement effects, or other permanents. For example, if an opponent plays Fertile Ground on your land, you choose the color of the additional mana when you tap the enchanted land for mana. 9) If an effect changes a permanent's type, the permanent's abilities don't change unless the effect says that they do. Under _Fifth Edition_ rules, this means mana-producing abilities of lands that become another type are still played as mana sources, even though that's not printed on the card. This ruling is irrelevant under _Classic_ rules, in which all mana abilities are played the same way. ERRATA 1) Booby Trap, Brink of Madness, Defense of the Heart, Hesitation, Impending Disaster, Mogg Bombers, Planar Collapse, and Second Chance each have a triggered ability that reads, "sacrifice and ." All these cards should read, "sacrifice _to_ ." This change means when the triggered ability resolves, it creates a mandatory ability for which sacrificing the permanent is a cost. Under _Fifth Edition_ rules, the ability is played and resolved immediately, with nothing except mana sources able to intervene. Under _Classic_ rules, the ability will go on the stack only after the permanent is sacrificed, and can then be responded to. In either case, if you are unable to sacrifice the permanent (if it has already left play, for example), the rest of the effect won't occur. 2) On Cloud of Faeries, Great Whale, Palinchron, Peregrine Drake, and Priest of Gix, "When comes into play, . . . " should read, "When comes into play, if you played it from your hand, . . . ." With this wording, these "comes into play" abilities won't trigger if the card comes into play by other means, such as with the abilities of Recurring Nightmare, Sneak Attack, and so on. They also won't trigger if it is played from some other location, such as with Yawgmoth's Will, Temporal Aperture, Elkin Bottle, and so on. Note that this change applies only to these five cards. Other comes-into-play abilities, such as Nekrataal, are not affected. 3) On Humility, "and is a 1/1 creature" should read, "and is 1/1." On Humble, "and is a 0/1 creature" should read, "and is 0/1." (Without these errata, the effects technically would change artifact creatures to nonartifact creatures.) 4) On Sword of the Chosen, "target legend" should read, "target legend creature." (The rules team decided that being able to give noncreature permanents +2/+2 would cause confusion.) ###