Author: basilisk

  • Judge’s Corner #2: Special Kaladesh Edition

    Welcome back to our semi-regular series Judge’s Corner. This week we have a special Kaladesh edition of Judge’s Corner where we go over some important rules notes and reminders about the new set in preparation for the upcoming prerelease.

    Kaladesh mechanics and general notes

    Vehicles

    skyskiff

    ● Vehicles are a new artifact subtype that can be “crewed” by creatures in a way similar to how Equipment can be equipped to creatures. To understand how Vehicles work, just think about what makes intuitive sense: e.g., a Blind Seer cannot crew a Vehicle, and so on.

    ● Note importantly that Vehicles are not creatures themselves. Thus they are not affected by summoning sickness and can tap and attack the turn they come into play.

    ● Vehicles can crew other Vehicles. In a pinch, a Vehicle can even crew itself! Step aside Google; in Kaladesh, self-driving cars are already a reality. :)

    Energy Counters

    attunewithaether

    ● Energy counters are a new resource in Magic: the Gathering. Certain cards in Kaladesh give you energy counters. Unlike mana, energy counters don’t go away at the end of the turn.

    ● We’ve created the following “energy economy” chart to show what you can do with energy counters:

    energyeconomy

    Thus at any time you may spend one energy counter to deal two damage to your opponent, spend two energy counters to put a +1/+1 counter on target creature, and so on.

    ● Players will need to keep track of their energy counter total at events. Unfortunately, energy counter token cards were inadvertently omitted from the initial print run of Kaladesh. They will appear in subsequent print runs. So for the prerelease, please use the following downloadable energy counter token:

    energyreserve

    The return of gold-bordered cards

    swordoffireandice

    ● Kaladesh marks the long-awaited return of gold-bordered cards, which will be randomly inserted in certain Kaladesh boosters.

    ● Gold-bordered cards, originally available in World Championship Decks from 1997 to 2004, are “official proxies”: they’re a great way to represent powerful cards like Sword of Fire and Ice when playing with your friends, but they are not legal for tournament play in any setting.

    Card-specific notes

    animationmodule

    Animation Module: We recommend stores running prereleases have some extra copies of Failed Inspection, Disappearing Act, etc. on hand to give to players lucky enough to open up an Animation Module.

    bomat-courier

    Bomat Courier: If the controller of a Bomat Courier accidentally looks at it he should be given a “looking at extra cards” penalty. Players may cover their Couriers with pieces of paper to avoid looking at them. At the professional REL, Bomat Couriers will be double-opaque-sleeved during drafts to avoid inadvertent looking.

    ceremoniousrejection

    Ceremonious Rejection: Remember that, even if they produce colored mana, lands are colorless.

    empyrealvoyager

    Empyreal Voyager: “That many” means with respect to the energy economy; e.g., if Empyreal Voyager deals 2 damage to your opponent, you get one energy counter.

    saheelirai

    Saheeli Rai: A token copy of an artifact created with Saheeli Rai’s -2 ability counts as two artifacts for the purposes of cards like Welding Sparks.

    Now go have fun at the prerelease!

    Submit your questions to @goodgamery on Twitter using #judgescorner.

  • Judge’s Corner

    Welcome to our new semi-regular series Judge’s Corner, where we will answer your rules questions.

    Q: I attacked my opponent with a dragon and he cast a Summary Dismissal and said my dragon was exiled because creatures are actually creature spells. Is that true?

    A: Actually, everything that isn’t a land is a spell, so all creatures, enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers, and even cards in your hand and graveyard are exiled. Lands stay around but since their mana abilities are countered they can no longer tap.

    Q: I cast Savage Punch targeting my Hooting Mandrills and my opponent’s Dripping Dead. Does the Mandrills survive the fight?

    A: This is something that confuses a lot of players: if you read Savage Punch closely, you’ll see that it gives the Mandrills +2/+2 “until end of turn before it fights”, i.e. until end of last turn. Thus the Mandrill is dealt four damage and dies.

    Q: What does the ◊ symbol mean?

    A: ◊ is the new colorless mana symbol. 1 is the old colorless mana symbol. For example, World Breaker’s ability reads “2 ◊, Sacrifice a land: Return World Breaker from your graveyard to your hand.” This indicates that you must pay 2 old colorless mana and 1 new colorless mana to use its ability. This is similar to how there is both old and new white mana.

    Q: At the pre-release yesterday, my buddy opened a mythic rare card. It was something I had never seen before, in the text line under the art, instead of creature or sorcery or enchantment it said planeswalker. Can you explain what that is and how it works?

    A: Mythic rare cards show up in boosters at a rate of 1 per 8 boosters. Your buddy only got 6 boosters in his pre-release box so if he claims he got a mythic rare card there, he’s cheating. You should contact the nearest judge as quickly as possible.

    Q: I cast Infinite Obliteration against an opponent, who then calls a judge claiming I must choose a number for “any.” What gives?

    A: This is correct; instances of “any,” “infinite,” et al. are considered to be arbitrarily large rational integers to avoid gameplay issues like gaining infinite life, etc. To avoid confusion, we are issuing errata to change the name of the card to Arbitrarily Large Obliteration, along with cards such as Pull from Eternity (now renamed as Pull from an Arbitrarily Long Stretch of Time) and Endless Horizons (which will now be named Arbitrarily Quantifiable Horizons).

    Submit your questions to @goodgamery on Twitter using #judgescorner.

  • Gram’mrakul: A linguistic guide to the Apocalypse

    Emrakul is learning about Grammar. from a "for dummies" book.

    Emrakul has risen on Innistrad! Of course you’ll want to tell your fellow townsfolk, city elders and lab projects about this exciting news, but don’t get caught out. Before you start jabbering in eldritch terror, you need to make sure you know your I’amrakul from your Be’mrakul. Don’t sit there gibbering like a tooth collector with delirium – get a clue with this handy grammatical guide to the ineffable terror that awaits us all.

    I Nominative pronouns
    I’amrakul
    You’rakul
    He’srakul / She’srakul / It’srakul
    We’rakul
    You’rakul
    They’rakul

    Examples:
    (1) Edith is summoning Emrakul at the coast of Nephalia. “I’amrakul!” she wails in doomed elation.

    (2) Two angels have become fused together into a terrifying ur-being. They’rakul now and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

    II Accusative pronouns
    Me’mrakul
    You’rakul
    Hi’mrakul / Her’rakul / It’rakul
    Us’rakul
    Y’allrakul
    Th’emrakul

    Examples:
    (1) How I long to become subsumed into your unknowable essence! Choose me! Me! Me’mrakul.

    (2) Tobias was always more devout than me – why don’t you subsume hi’mrakul instead?

    III To Be’mrakul
    I’amrakul
    You are’mrakul
    He / She / It is’mrakul
    We are’mrakul
    You are’mrakul
    They are’mrakul

    Examples:
    – Looking pretty bleak, what?
    – It certainly is’mrakul.

    IV Other verbs

    Verbs are usually expressed in the imperative, in a formulation known as an entreaty, formed thus:

    (1) Come’mrakul!

    (2) Abide’mrakul!!

    (3) Consume’mrakul!!!

    (4) Take’mrakul the second road on the right.

    V Numbers
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul
    One’mrakul

    Examples:
    (1) One’mrakul

    (1) One’mrakul

    (1) One’mrakul

    (1) One’mrakul

    (1) One’mrakul

  • HOW TO WIZARD—IN GRAPHICS

    ertai

    By Ertai, Professional Wizard

    Being a wizard can be a complex beast—and being a beast can be complex as well. Being a both a wizard and a beast at the same time? It can be downright overwhelming. Until you break it down. Below, Ertai breaks down four beastly wizard synergies into their component parts.

    swing-big-m

    make-history-m

    forge-a-new-path-m

    get-a-clue-m

  • Announcing… From the Vault: Dack Fayden

    dack-author
    Dack Fayden in a Wizards Polo

    Nothing is safe.

    Not your cards, not your mom, not even your face. For that matter, neither are the set lists for every unreleased set through 2018, including…

    dack-banner

    … because he stole them all.

    Coming this summer, From the Vault: Dack Fayden is a 15-card box set including all brand-new cards, plus a special version of the greatest thief in the multiverse, Dack Fayden*. You’ll want to think twice about leaving the table to get another can of Dew, or the consequences of turning your head after hearing a loud noise from your mom’s room, because in that instant you might just have the game stolen from you — with From the Vault: Dack Fayden, you can avoid fate and sleep sound knowing if anyone’s stealing anything from you, it’s Dack.

    * From the Vault: Dack Fayden will not include Dack Fayden, as every copy was stolen during a break-in at Carta Mundi. In its place will be a mail-in IOU once we are able to locate the missing copies.

    dack-steal-golem

    Each card includes a new anti-counterfeiting hologram, as well as the special foil process used in previous From the Vault sets, however this time we’ve gone above and beyond. You might notice a slight bulge in the middle of your cards, which comes from an RFID chip embedded inside of each card, so that you know if your copies get swiped or even switched out for someone else’s. Each card will be truly unique, a fitting prize for any great thief looking for the rarest artifacts and enchantments the world of Magic has to offer.

    dack-baby-got-dack

    dack-dack-ritualdack-sneak-a-dackdack-dack-to-the-futuredack-dank-faydendack-fayden-to-antiquitydack-polar-dackendack-smoke-dacksdack-sprouting-threedacksdack-drac-faydendack-dacktivision-blizzarddack-dack-attackdack-dack-lotus

    If you have any information about either the stolen set lists or stolen Dack Fayden cards, please contact us at mailto:[email protected].

    Until next time, reach out and take victory. And rubies.

  • Odric, Flippy Flappy Tactician

    Boy, Odric, Lunarch Marshal sure can grant a lot of abilities! Here’s a look at the original design. We shaved a number of keywords after development raised concerns about “rules confusion”, “tournament time limits”, “shuffling nightmares”, and “how on earth would you even print this”. Take a look for yourself if you want to really flip out!


  • UNCHARTED REALMS: VICTORY BY PROXY

    The setting sun glinted redly off a shirtless Gideon Jura’s hairless chest. Red, too, was the glow in Chandra Nalaar’s eyes, though it seemed a little brighter than one would expect from a sunset alone, even on Zendikar, the magical plane with a special kind of mana where the newly-formed Gatewatch, a super-cool team of four planeswalkers, had just defeated the unimaginably fearsome Eldrazi.

    “Way to go, Gideon,” said the fire mage (Chandra), resting her staff on a blackened tree stump. “Way to go everyone. At last the multiverse is free of the Eldrazi and I can get back to what I do best – makin’ peppy wisecracks and settin’ stuff on fire!”

    Jace Beleren smiled enigmatically. “It is so,” intoned his enigmatic voice. “I realised that there was one thing those plane-devouring beings from the blind eternities hadn’t reckoned on, and that was a team made up of a master telepath, a powerful pyromancer, a mighty soldier, and an elf.” The enigmatic mage smiled again, giving his face a somewhat enigmatic air.

    “Iffaith,” agreed Gideon, his muscles rippling where his shirt (or jacket etc) would have been if he was wearing one. “The bards of Zendikar will sing of our deeds for many moons. In time, mayhap, it will be we who are mistaken for gods.”

    “And goddesses,” he added ruminatively, his granite brow furrowing and his burly chest muscles moving as one would expect. “I do confess, ’tis passing strange that there should have been two women on our team. One is the usual number, in sooth.”

    Chandra Nalaar rolled her reddish-glowing eyes. “Zip it, Giddy. Those rules don’t apply here. The only tokens this multiverse needs are 3/1 elementals.”

    Nissa coughed slightly. Jace gave her an enigmatic look.

    Ever restless, Chandra stood and stretched herself, as if to planeswalk away in search of her next adventure and a new permutation of direct damage, looting and casting spells for free. She smiled and turned for a parting remark. “You know what’s funny, though? When I cast that final spell to flambé those Eldrazi guys for good?”

    Gideon smiled shirtlessly at the memory. Jace’s enigmatic visage took on an aspect of enigmatic curiosity as Chandra winked a fiery eye at each companion in turn.

    “I never had time to learn that spell properly, so I just sharpied FALL OF THE TITANS on a Magmatic Chasm. And those world-eating goombas will never know!”

    As she laughed her carefree, convention defying laugh, she didn’t notice that Nissa’s face, always somewhat ghostly, had turned a shade paler. Veins bulged visibly in Gideon’s neck, abdomen and left biceps, while Jace, ever the enigma, merely looked into the enigmatic distance.

    Quietly at first, a very low rumble began. A rumble that seemed to stir the bowels of the very plane of Zendikar.

    The rumble grew louder.

    Nissa turned colorless.

    The Gatewatch’s second challenge was approaching sooner than anyone had expected. And this time, even the combined awesome powers of the four happening and diverse mages would not be enough. They needed to recruit… a sexy necromancer.

  • Dueling Mages in Proxy Row

    Leading duelists Blugar the Callous and Zhazha Firegloves face suspensions today, following their involvement in an unsanctioned ‘proxy spell’ tournament. This controversial dueling format permits mages to duel using ‘proxies’ of rare artifacts, and of old spells from the 90s that can’t easily be learnt any more.

    In the match in question, instead of a sought-after Black Lotus, Blugar used an acre of local plains with LOTTUS written in 30ft letters using a ride-on lawnmower. Firegloves’ proxies included a selection of Mox jewels that were in fact spray-painted Juju bubbles, and a Tarmogoyf represented by a Goblin of the Flarg in a wig.

    Merfolk Spy with Jace written on it Stabbing the air with inky fingers, Blugar protested: “It’s completely unreasonable that we battle mages aren’t allowed to duel this way if we want to. If I summon a merfolk spy and tell him he’s Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Zhazha agrees to suffer a complete mental breakdown as if he really was Jace, then what’s the harm?”
    “The real Jace is kinda busy at the moment. Does that mean all duels, all over the multiverse, should take place without him? It just makes no sense.”

    Zhazha Firegloves claimed that she had only taken part for playtesting purposes. “Look, I know there are mages who can cast the real Ancestral Recall, if they’ve been dueling for 20+ years. But that’s not a test of dueling skill. If I decide I want to commit to this format, I’ll learn the spell for real. Until then, I should be able to use this Animate Wall instead. Look, it’s basically the same thing.”

    “Hey, where’s that outhouse going? Come back, you!”

    Defenders of ‘proxies’ claim that they are far preferable to more convincing counterfeit spells, citing the recent incident in a grand prix final where Kiki Jiki, Mirror Breaker turned out to be a troupe of ouphes in a long trenchcoat.

    But the Multiverse Duelist Convocation remained immovable. A spokesperson said: “We have always been clear: proxies are an attack on intellectual property. Duelists should continue to use low-powered spells to trade fetchlands from noobs, as they have always done, and not as stand-ins for playable effects.”

  • Banilisk

    DO NOT VIEW THIS CARD!

    You have been warned!

    Banilisk

    You are surprised and suspended by Helene Bergeot! She quickly shreds your flesh and devours you.

  • SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 COMMANDER BANNED LIST UPDATE

    Sheldon Menery

    BANNED LIST
    No changes

    RULES UPDATES
    Everybody buckle up, we’re tweaking how the rules for color identity work!

    With the upcoming introduction of the devoid mechanic in Battle For Zendikar, we’ve had a lot of questions about what this will mean for the deck construction rules. Since devoid cards have the colorless color identity, they can only be played if your general also has the colorless identity. It’s as simple as that. Note that the restriction on mana symbols still applies.

    There are three major points in how we arrived at this decision. None of them were individually enough to convince us, but together they managed to tip the scales. In alphabetical order:

    A) After the controversy over hybrid mana costs, we needed to ensure that players around the world have a consistent play experience. Whatever ruling we would eventually make, we knew it would be important to decide before players had an opportunity to provide their own input.

    B) The heart and soul of EDH is the flavor inherent in your deck. Your awesome general being restricted to only commanding cards of his or her (or its) color just makes sense to us. Similarly, restricting devoid cards to only colorless commanders feels like the most “right” decision. You wouldn’t see Nicol Bolas using eldrazi drones to do his bidding anyway.

    C) This cleans up some corner case rules that confused players. We will be applying this rules change to previous cards with characteristic setting abilities like Ghostfire, Transguild Courier, and Kobolds of Kher Keep. Not only does this clarify the rules by explicitly listing all of the exceptions, we feel like it will have a positive impact on the power level of the format as a whole.