(Originally published on 2025-05-18; last reviewed on 2025-05-18; last updated on 2025-05-18)
Somewhere between mid-February 2025 and mid-March 2025, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) updated the Gatherer page layout for several kinds of cards; for some, this included changes to their Oracle text.
Specifically, the pages for the back faces of double-faced cards were updated so that they display information about that back face only; previously, they displayed information for both the front and the back face. This update affects double-faced cards from the following sets: Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Magic Origins, Shadows over Innistrad, Eldritch Moon, Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan, Core Set 2019, Zendikar Rising, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Alchemy, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, The Brothers’ War, The Brothers’ War Transformers Cards, March of the Machine, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander, Jurassic World Collection Cards, and Modern Horizons 3. It also affects the Pathway lands from Kaldheim; other cards from Kaldheim and from Strixhaven: School of Mages were excluded. For meld pairs, the page for the card with the meld ability got the same update; the page for the pair’s other half remains unchanged. All other pages, such as those for front faces, did not change and still display information for both faces.
The pages for cards with the “partner with” ability originally printed in Battlebond or Ikoria Commander were updated to display information about the specific card only; previously, they also showed the card named in the “partner with” ability.
Besides the layout, the information displayed on these pages also changed. I assume that these changes are solely due to the switch from two-face pages to one-face pages, and that there wasn’t any update in the underlying database. Still, the displayed information is the only publicly available official Oracle text, so I will list any relevant changes as Oracle text changes.
Disclaimer: While I strive for completeness and correctness, I may have missed some changes; my process for archiving and comparing Gatherer revisions is still a work in progress.1
- Loyalty added (functional)
- Mana value removed (nonfunctional)
- Letters in collector numbers removed (nonfunctional)
- Irrelevant rulings removed (nonfunctional)
- Other changes (nonfunctional)
Loyalty added (functional)
For cards or faces that are planeswalkers with a printed loyalty value, the Oracle text now includes that loyalty value. For these cards, judges don’t need to overrule the official Oracle text anymore.
This update applies to: Gideon, Battle-Forged, Jace, Telepath Unbound, Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Chandra, Roaring Flame, Nissa, Sage Animist, Will Kenrith, Rowan Kenrith, Nicol Bolas, the Arisen, Arlinn, the Moon’s Fury, Urza, Planeswalker, Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir, Ajani, Nacatl Avenger, Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar, Sorin, Ravenous Neonate, Ral, Leyline Prodigy, and Grist, the Plague Swarm.
The following cards were not updated: Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor, Lukka, Wayward Bonder, Rowan, Scholar of Sparks, and Will, Scholar of Frost.
Mana value removed (nonfunctional)
The updated pages for back faces no longer display a mana value. The mana value is not part of the Oracle text, so this information had been just for convenience. In the case of the modal double-faced cards from Zendikar Rising and from Modern Horizons 3, the pages had shown an incorrect mana value (that of the front face), so this update is an overall improvement.
Letters in collector numbers removed (nonfunctional)
The updated pages now display the collector number without a letter. The pages for the two halves of B.F.M. (Big Furry Monster) also got this update.
Irrelevant rulings removed (nonfunctional)
The updated pages now display only the rulings specific to that card or face; rulings which belong to the other card or face have been removed.
Other changes (nonfunctional)
Several other pages belonging to split or adventurer cards had some of their information updated; I suspect that this information had also existed previously, and that it was just incorrectly displayed.
Artist credits corrected (nonfunctional)
Several pages now show the correct artist credit for their version of a card.
This update applies to: The twenty showcase versions of adventurer cards from Wilds of Eldraine, Kellan, the Fae-Blooded (borderless), Kellan, Daring Traveler (borderless), Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy (borderless), and the normal versions of Room cards with a borderless version.
Incorrect flavor text removed (nonfunctional)
Several pages no longer display a flavor text which doesn’t belong to their version of a card.
This update applies to: Illithid Harvester (extended art), Monster Manual (extended art), Heartflame Duelist (showcase), Pollen-Shield Hare (showcase), and Twining Twins (showcase).
Collector numbers corrected (functional)
Several pages now show the correct collector number for their version of a card.
This update applies to: The front faces of the borderless versions of the ten Pathway lands (specifically the letter), Road // Ruin (showcase), Tlincalli Hunter, Horn of Valhalla (extended art), Illithid Harvester (extended art), Altar of Bhaal (extended art), Monster Manual (extended art), the twenty showcase versions of adventurer cards from Wilds of Eldraine, Kellan, the Fae-Blooded (borderless), Kellan, Daring Traveler (borderless), Promise of Aclazotz (extended art), Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy (borderless), James, Wandering Dad (extended art), Crime // Punishment from Outlaws of Thunder Junction Breaking News (textured foil), Brightcap Badger, and the normal versions of Room cards with at least one alternate version.
Artist credits changed (nonfunctional)
Each of the split cards originally released in Invasion or Apocalypse has two (previously) identical Gatherer pages for that version.
For the four split cards with two different artist credits, the pages listed one of them for both illustrations; now, one page continues to list that artist credit for both illustrations, while the other page lists the second artist credit for both illustrations.
This update applies to: Fire // Ice, Illusion // Reality, Life // Death, and Night // Day.
New community ratings (nonfunctional)
Each of the split cards originally released in Invasion or Apocalypse has two (previously) identical Gatherer pages for that version.
For each of these ten split cards, one page now shows a different community rating.
- Then again, WotC often omits minor changes in their own bulletins, so it’s par for the course. ↩︎