(Originally published on 2026-08-20; last reviewed on 2026-08-20; last updated on 2026-08-20)

With each new set release, Wizards of the Coast update the Comprehensive Rules (CR) and the Oracle text of any number of cards. These updates include support for new mechanics, error fixes, and improvements to the wording of rules and cards. Wizards of the Coast also publish an update bulletin which summarizes and explains these changes.

This article is my own version of such an update bulletin. It lists all changes the Secrets of Strixhaven update makes to the Comprehensive Rules, prerelease errata for Secrets of Strixhaven cards, changes to existing Oracle text, and changes to Gatherer rulings. For each item, I describe the change, its primary consequences, side effects, and anything else I find noteworthy. If I think that the update omits rules support or an erratum for a card or mechanic, the omission gets its own entry.

For the final section, I read Wizards of the Coast’s official bulletin and write down my impressions.

For more information, see Why Unofficial Update Bulletins?

Disclaimer: I have no special insight into the inner workings of Wizards of the Coast or their rules team; any observations are based solely on the published updates and my own knowledge and understanding of Magic’s rules system. While I strive for completeness and correctness, I may miss some changes; in particular, my process for archiving and comparing Gatherer revisions is constantly evolving, just like Gatherer itself. (Then again, Wizards of the Coast purposefully omit minor changes in their own bulletins, so I think I’m still ahead.)

• Changes to the Comprehensive Rules
  • Functional changes
  • Nonfunctional changes
• Prerelease errata and outdated text
• Changes to Oracle text
  • Functional changes
  • Nonfunctional changes
• Changes to Gatherer rulings (nonfunctional)
• A look at the official update bulletin

Changes to the Comprehensive Rules

For this section, I recommend having a Comprehensive Rules diff open in another window, such as the one found on Academy Ruins.

Rules support for preparation cards

The Secrets of Strixhaven release introduces preparation cards, a new kind of card that has an alternative set of characteristic values.

Preparation cards get their own top-level rule numbered 722; subsequent rules are renumbered accordingly. Rule 722 defines the alternative characteristic values of a preparation card, called the prepare spell; how this prepare spell is used; and the prepared designation which is connected to the prepare spell.

As befits a set’s flagship mechanic, the rules for preparation cards have many noteworthy aspects.

Perfunctory punctuation

Rule 722.3a uses a comma in place of a period to separate its two final sentences.

This is a prime example of the “motivate aspiring writers by pretending to suck at editing” method Wizards of the Coast regularly employ. When fans like me consider sharing their creations with the world, what could be more persuasive than seeing Wizards of the Coast apparently fumble basic proofreading and editing tasks? Thank you, Wizards of the Coast editors, for your encouraging actions.

Choose a card name, any card name

While choosing a card name, rule 722.5 allows a player to choose a preparation card’s alternative name if they so desire. This mirrors rules 715.5 and 720.5 for adventurer cards and omen cards, respectively.

What is not mirrored is rule 201.4f, which states that for scenarios where the chosen card name has to belong to a card with certain characteristic values, the alternative values of an adventurer card are used to determine if the Adventure’s name can be chosen. Without a corresponding rule for preparation cards, only the normal values of a preparation card are checked, even if the player chooses the prepare spell’s name [CR 201.4a].

For example, if Alex gets instructed to choose a creature card name, she may choose Emeritus of Ideation and she may also choose Ancestral Recall, the name of its prepare spell. Conversely, if Alex gets instructed to choose a noncreature card name, she could not name Heroic Stanza, the name of Abigale, Poet Laureate’s prepare spell.

(And yes, a corresponding rule for omen cards is also missing.)

Impossibly prepared spells

Due to the similarities with adventurer cards and omen cards, the text of rule 722 closely follows the text of rules 715 and 720. This goes so far that rule 722.2 states that a preparation card may have the alternative characteristic values while it’s a spell on the stack, despite rules 722.3 and 722.4 saying the exact opposite.

Another rule, 722.3d, talks about copying prepare spells and casting a spell “as a prepare spell.” The corresponding rules 715.3c and 720.3c talk about copying Adventure spells and Omen spells, and about spells cast as one of the two; those rules make sense, since adventurer cards and omen cards can be cast as Adventures and Omens, and since “Adventure spells” and “Omen spells” mean spells on the stack with one of those spell types.

Prepare spells, on the other hand, have an entirely different definition: a “prepare spell” is the inset frame of a preparation card, or the alternative set of characteristic values defined by such a frame [CR 722.2a]. As mentioned previously, a preparation card cannot be cast with these alternative values, so “casting a spell as a prepare spell” is either impossible or meaningless, depending on whether one interprets it as “casting the spell with the alternative values” or “casting the spell as a card frame.”

Likewise, copying “a prepare spell” on the stack is meaningless, because once the copy is cast from exile, it has no connection to the permanent anymore. The object on the stack is not a “prepare spell,” much less the prepare spell of any specific permanent; it is a regular spell and no special rules apply to it.

(“Copying a prepare spell” could also be interpreted in the context of a copy effect copying the alternative set of values while copying a preparation card. This is certainly possible; however, rule 722.2b already addresses this more elegantly.)

If a lesser company were involved, I would assume that the person(s) responsible had taken the rules for adventurer cards and simply replaced each instance of “adventurer” and “Adventure” with “preparation” and “prepare spell” respectively, without bothering to check whether these rules make sense for preparation cards. This is clearly not the case here, since Wizards of the Coast produce the world’s premier trading card game and the amount of work they invest into each release is practically unparalleled.

As such, the rules team must have written these rules deliberately, most likely in anticipation of future preparation cards or similar mechanics. I look forward to copying more card frames in a future “art world” set or perhaps in the fifth Un-set (the latter would also be a great choice for more nonsensical rules).

Stubbornly prepared permanents

Rule 722.3c creates a close link between a permanent having the prepared designation and a copy being in exile: the copy is created simultaneously with the permanent becoming prepared; if the permanent loses the prepared designation or ceases to be on the battlefield, the copy ceases to exist the next time state-based actions are performed; and conversely, if the copy is cast, the permanent loses the prepared designation as the spell becomes cast.

Based only on these statements, a handful of situations arise where the prepared designation and the copy’s existence are not aligned.

First, since the copy ceases to exist only as a state-based action, there are game states where the permanent has lost the prepared designation but the copy still exists. These game states don’t matter from a practical perspective though: if the permanent is not on the battlefield, there is no controller of the prepared permanent, so no player may cast the copy while it still exists; losing the prepared designation without leaving the battlefield can happen only when Biblioplex Tomekeeper’s ability resolves, so no player has priority between the permanent losing the designation and the next round of state-based actions. Furthermore, nothing cares about noncard objects in exile (apart from state-based actions), so the copy being in exile has no influence on the rest of the game state.

Second, if a prepared permanent phases out, its copy ceases to exist as a state-based action. When that permanent phases in, it is still prepared, so it does not become prepared. Rule 722.3c explicitly accounts for these situations and has the permanent’s controller create a new copy as the permanent phases in.

Third, there is the counterpart to the second scenario: instead of the permanent ceasing to be on the battlefield without leaving it, the copy leaves exile without being cast. This can happen relatively easily in multiplayer games.

Suppose Alex and Nona play against each other in a four-player Commander game. Alex temporarily gains control of Joined Researchers, which is owned by Nona, and while under Alex’s control, Joined Researchers becomes prepared. The permanent’s current controller, Alex, creates the copy of Secret Rendezvous in exile, but she does not cast it right away. Later, Alex leaves the game. What happens with the copy?

Alex created the copy, so she is its owner, and when Alex leaves the game, everything she owns leaves the game with her; this includes the copy of Secret Rendezvous [CR 800.4a]. Afterward, Joined Researchers is still a prepared permanent, but there is no copy in exile to be cast and no built-in way to make Joined Researchers unprepared again.

Given the popularity of multiplayer formats like Commander, I am surprised the rules team opted for rules that cover a relatively obscure mechanic like phasing while leaving intact a quirk resulting from basic multiplayer rules. Maybe this is a sign that Wizards of the Coast plan to move away from multiplayer play and back toward two-player duels. (I heard that Premodern is gaining in popularity, and phasing is an iconic part of early Magic.)

Then again, the copy of Secret Rendezvous might actually remain in exile when Alex leaves the game. Rule 112.2a, which defines the owner of a copy of a card, only applies if an effect creates the copy, and in the case of preparation cards, it is not an effect but a game rule that creates the copy.

Also, rule 112.2a restricts itself to situations where a player creates a copy and is given the permission to cast it. In this case, one might argue that Alex does not get permission to cast the copy; rather, Joined Researchers’s controller has permission to cast the copy, which at that moment just happens to be Alex.

Without rule 112.2a, there is nothing that explicitly defines the owner of the copy in exile, so by all accounts, the copy has no owner. While other objects with no owner exist—such as abilities on the stack—they are entire classes of objects, and the Comprehensive Rules account for those groups. Having some spells with an owner and some without an owner, on the other hand, seems a bad idea. Then again, Nita, Forum Conciliator becomes a whole lot better in Secrets of Strixhaven Limited.

Last but certainly not least, what if the permanent is represented by a token? In that case, a copy of a token is created, which is definitely not a copy of a card [CR 111.6]. So, rule 112.2a and all the other rules that care about copies of cards don’t apply to that copy of a prepared permanent. (Such as the state-based action that should cause the copy to cease to exist.)

Copy that

The first sentence of rule 722.3c deserves an award for its inscrutableness:

As a permanent with a prepare spell gains the prepared designation or phases in prepared, its controller creates a copy of that object in exile, except that copy has only the characteristics of that permanent’s prepare spell, ignoring other exceptions to the copying process that apply to that permanent.

So, a copy of the permanent is created in exile. Understood. That copy has only the alternative characteristic values of the permanent, i.e. the prepare spell’s characteristic values. Also understood; that’s what this whole mechanic is about. And ignore “other exceptions to the copying process that apply to that permanent.” What? What is this supposed to mean?

“Other exceptions to the copying process”? The copying process described in this sentence has no other exceptions; the sole exception specified is that the copy copies only the alternative values.

“That apply to the permanent”? How is anything supposed to apply to the permanent? If there are any exceptions to a copying process, they apply to the copy’s new values, but not to the copied object; a copied object is entirely unaffected by the copying process.

If not for the prior Release Notes and the rule’s example, I might never have understood that this sentence refers to other copy effects that copy a preparation card and that include exceptions to their copying process. Effects that are not mentioned before or after this sentence, and that have nothing to do with the rest of rule 722.3c. Brilliant.

So, if an effect like that of Croaking Counterpart copies a preparation card, it applies its exceptions only to the values copied from the “main” set of characteristic values, leaving the values copied from the alternative set intact; the two sets of copied values are then applied to the copy as usual. If that (permanent) copy becomes prepared, the copy created in exile uses that first copy’s alternative values, and this second copy process does not need to ignore any exceptions, because there are none: the exceptions were never applied to the alternative values in the first place.

The concept that rule 722.3c tries to express is pretty tame, but as far as readability is concerned, this rule is miles ahead of rules 613.8a and 614.12. Well done, Wizards of the Coast rules team.

Other exceptionally copied objects

Does the first part of rule 722.3c define how copy effects with exceptions behave when copying a preparation card, or does it merely describe their behavior? In other words, if that part of the rule did not exist, would Croaking Counterpart’s effect behave the same or would it apply its exceptions to the copied alternative set of characteristic values?

It never occurred to me before to apply copy exceptions like those of Croaking Counterpart’s effect to an adventurer card’s alternative set, and the idea of “frogifying” an adventurer card’s Adventure or a preparation card’s prepare spell seems quite unintuitive.

On the other hand, there are double-faced cards and flip cards. If a copy of a (non)modal double-faced object is created, the exceptions are applied to both faces of the copy, and applying exceptions to the alternative set copied from a flip object also seems natural. So, there doesn’t seem to be a universal way how copy effects treat objects with multiple sets of characteristic values.

One could argue that a distinction should be made between permanent sets and nonpermanent sets, and I think this idea has some merits; however, there is no rule that makes that distinction. Does this therefore mean that without rule 722.3c, a token created by Croaking Counterpart’s effect would have a frogified prepare spell? If it did, there would be implications for adventurer objects and omen objects, which do not have any such rule.

Suppose that Alex casts Lovestruck Beast as its Adventure, Heart’s Desire, and that she responds with Fork. When Fork resolves, Alex creates a red copy of the Adventure. More likely than not, that copy has both sets of characteristic values, even if it uses only the alternative set while on the stack. Nona, who controls Guile, casts Counterspell, targeting the copy of Heart’s Desire. When Counterspell resolves, Nona exiles the copy and chooses to play it. If she chooses to cast the copy as Lovestruck Beast, is the spell red?

Without an explicit rule, the exception made by Fork’s copy effect may well apply to both sets copied from Heart’s Desire, resulting in a red Lovestruck Beast.

The other direction has even more potential. Suppose that Alex instead casts Lovestruck Beast while she controls Tawnos, the Toymaker. After Tawnos’s ability resolves and Alex copies Lovestruck Beast, Nona again casts Counterspell targeting the copy. When Counterspell resolves, Nona exiles the copy and she may play it. The copy of Lovestruck Beast definitely has an Adventure, but did the copy effect’s exception apply to that alternative set?

If the answer is yes, Nona may cast the copy as Heart’s Desire, an artifact sorcery spell. How exciting! Resolving that spell will be quite an adventure though.

Copiable non-copy effects

Rule 722.3c has yet another aspect to it, which is that it addresses only copy effects. Which of course are not the only things that can manipulate an object’s copiable values.

Suppose that Alex controls Emeritus of Woe and she casts Sea-Dasher Octopus as a mutating creature spell targeting Emeritus of Woe. The “mutate effect” is applied as part of layer 1a, so it affects the permanent’s copiable values [CR 613.2a]. Does this include the copiable values of the alternative set?

If Sea-Dasher Octopus becomes the topmost component, the permanent takes its characteristic values from Sea-Dasher Octopus and adds the abilities of Emeritus of Woe [CR 702.140e]. Does that permanent still have an alternative set at all? If so, does that set now look like Sea-Dasher Octopus, with an additional “Search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then shuffle”? Or does it look like Demonic Tutor?

What seems most plausible to me is that the permanent does not have an alternative set anymore, so the other questions become moot. (Conceptionally, it’s a Sea-Dasher Octopus with some extra abilities, not an Emeritus of Woe with another name, mana cost, color, and so on. Thus, no prepare spell.)

If Sea-Dasher Octopus instead becomes the bottommost component, the permanent gains Sea-Dasher Octopus’s abilities. It should in all likelihood still have the alternative set of values. Are Sea-Dasher Octopus’s abilities added to that set? If so, the copy in exile will have flash (and some other abilities not relevant to a nonpermanent spell).

Suppose Emeritus of Woe does not become a mutated permanent, but a temporary copy of Aquamorph Entity. Emeritus of Woe is then turned face down and face up again, which creates a power- and toughness-setting effect that applies in layer 1a. Does that effect apply to the alternative set of values? And while Emeritus of Woe is face down in this scenario, does it still have the alternative set of values?

A comprehensive model for objects with multiple sets of characteristic values is beyond the scope of this article (and even the companion article), so I have no definite answers. It seems clear though that some of these things should be able to modify the values of the prepare spell—otherwise, why would Wizards of the Coast have chosen such restrictive language for rule 722.3c?

Conclusion

The rules for preparation cards have something for everyone. Whether you like rules that are trivial, thought-provoking, incomprehensible, or humorous, or rules that appear lazy, incomplete, or incompetently edited, rule 722 has you covered. Personally, I was unprepared for the wealth of material Wizards of the Coast’s rules team managed to cram into so few lines of text. Well done, rules team!

For additional material on this update, see the companion article.

Rules support for paradigm

The Secrets of Strixhaven release introduces the paradigm keyword ability.

Paradigm’s rules entry is 702.192. The keyword represents two spell abilities: one causes the spell with paradigm to exile itself and the other sets up the delayed triggered ability.

Notably, the delayed triggered ability creates a copy of the spell as it existed on the stack, so it copies any decisions made during the spell’s proposal, such as targets or alternative costs [CR 707.2]. From a practical perspective, this does not matter: if the copy’s creator decides to cast it, the copy moves from exile to the stack, thus becoming a new object with no memory of any decisions made for it [CR 400.7].

This also means that the last sentence of rule 702.192a refers to the wrong rule: the reference should be to rule 707.12 rather than rule 707.10.

Yet a third consequence of copying the spell on the stack is that, if that spell was itself a copy and the copy effect included modifications or exceptions, then the copies created by the delayed triggered ability have the same modifications or exceptions.

For example, if Alex casts Decorum Dissertation and Nona responds with Fork, the copy created by Fork’s effect is red. Whenever the delayed triggered ability created by that red copy’s effect resolves, the resulting copy is also red, so Nona casts red copies of Decorum Dissertation, while Alex casts regular black ones.

Another noteworthy thing is that the ability’s text uses “precombat main phase.” This phrase is still used in the Comprehensive Rules, but has been replaced in card text with “first main phase.” Usually, when a rule defines a keyword ability’s text, that text is written as if it appeared on a card: “enters the battlefield” is shortened to “enters,” mana is “lost” rather than emptied from a mana pool, etc. As such, rule 702.192a should use “first main phase.”

Finally, paradigm has the same issue regarding ownership of the copy as preparation cards. The delayed triggered ability creates a copy of the spell in exile, which is not copying a spell in the sense of rule 707.10. It is much closer to copying a card and then casting that copy, except that the copy is not created in the same zone as the card, and the copied object might not even be a card if the spell with paradigm was itself a copy. Thus, rule 112.2a and all the other rules that cover only copies of cards do not necessarily apply to copies created by the delayed triggered ability; among other consequences, the copy might not have an owner and it might not cease to exist as a state-based action.

For additional material on this update, see the companion article.

Rules support for increment

The Secrets of Strixhaven release introduces the increment keyword ability.

Increment’s rules entry is 702.191. I found two things of note.

One, the intervening “if” checks if the permanent is a creature, so the rulings published in the Release Notes are correct in stating that increment abilities won’t trigger or have an effect if the permanent with increment is not a creature.

Two, the trigger condition checks the total amount of mana spent to cast the spell, rather than the amount spent by the caster, as the reminder text and the rulings in the Release Notes claim. This is the standard wording for such rules and cards, and fans of assist can rejoice.

Additional rules support for hybrid mana symbols (functional)

The Duskmourn: House of Horror update introduced five hybrid mana symbols with a colorless mana symbol as one of their components. The Secrets of Strixhaven update adds further support for these mana symbols by incorporating them into rule 118.7e.

Previously, if a cost was to be reduced by an amount of mana represented by such a mana symbol and the appropriate player chose the colorless half, no part of that cost was reduced. Now, the cost is reduced by one colorless mana.

This update shines a spotlight on the complexity behind the term “colorless.” Objects are either colored or colorless; mana is either colored or colorless; a cost can have multiple colored mana components, a colorless mana component, and a generic mana component; finally, mana symbols can be colored, colorless, numeric, variable, or snow, while components of a hybrid mana symbol can be colored, colorless, or generic. Thus, lack of color does not always equal colorlessness, and care should be taken when using “colorless” and related terms.

A related rule, 106.8, covers adding mana to a mana pool based on a hybrid mana symbol. Like the old rule 118.7e, it addresses only colored components and generic components, but not colorless ones; unlike rule 118.7e, it has not been updated. This may indicate an upcoming ban of Elemental Resonance in all formats (since such a ban would make an addition to rule 106.8 unnecessary).

For additional material on this update, see the companion article.

Sagas and initial lore counters (functional)

Before the Secrets of Strixhaven update, the replacement effects that cause Sagas to enter the battlefield with lore counters on them were created by game rules. The Secrets of Strixhaven update changes this by introducing intrinsic abilities for Saga permanents; these abilities now generate those replacement effects.

In the rules entry for the read ahead keyword ability, subrule 702.155b now defines two intrinsic abilities for Sagas with read ahead, rather than creating a replacement effect itself.

In the rules section for Saga cards, rule 714.3a gets split up into two rules; subsequent rules are renumbered accordingly. The new text of rule 714.3a defines the intrinsic ability for Sagas without read ahead, and the new rule 714.3b mirrors the new text of rule 702.155b.

This update results in two functional changes.

First, since the replacement effects are now generated by a permanent’s abilities, they can be affected by effects that remove those abilities. For example, if Dress Down is on the battlefield as Summon: Shiva enters the battlefield, Summon: Shiva does not enter the battlefield with a lore counter on it anymore.

Similarly, if Founding the Third Path is affected by an ability-removing effect as it enters the battlefield, the Saga now enters the battlefield with no lore counters on it, rather than with one. This holds true only for ability-removing effects though; scenarios involving a type-changing effect remain unchanged.

Notably, if Blood Moon is on the battlefield as Urza’s Saga enters the battlefield, Urza’s Saga still enters the battlefield with a lore counter on it. The effect of Blood Moon’s ability causes Urza’s Saga to lose only its chapter abilities, but not its intrinsic ability, as per rule 305.7.

If an effect sets a land’s subtype to one or more of the basic land types, the land no longer has its old land type. It loses all abilities generated from its rules text, its old land types, and any copiable effects affecting that land, and it gains the appropriate mana ability for each new basic land type. Note that this doesn’t remove any abilities that were granted to the land by other effects. Setting a land’s subtype doesn’t add or remove any card types (such as creature) or supertypes (such as basic, legendary, and snow) the land may have. If a land gains one or more land types in addition to its own, it keeps its land types and rules text, and it gains the new land types and mana abilities.

CR 305.7

This rule clearly lays out which kinds of abilities are removed in association with an effect like that of Blood Moon’s ability. Namely, abilities generated from

• “Its rules text”: This covers abilities derived from the permanent’s printed rules text (or its defined rules text for tokens). If an effect changes the permanent’s rules text, the abilities derived from the new rules text are likewise affected.
• “Its old land types”: This covers intrinsic abilities associated with the five basic land types.
• “Any copiable effects affecting that land”: This covers abilities set or added in layer 1a (copy effects, the “mutate effect,” and Primal Plasma-style effects).

While this list is fairly extensive, it does exclude several kinds of abilities. The one relevant to this topic are other intrinsic abilities, such as the new abilities for Sagas. They are not derived from the permanent’s rules text, nor are they tied to a land type or generated by a copiable effect; rather, they are set by game rules.

Thus, Urza’s Saga keeps its intrinsic ability when the effect of Blood Moon’s ability is applied, and it enters the battlefield with a lore counter on it.

The second functional change is that the controller of a Saga with read ahead can now choose to have that Saga enter the battlefield with no lore counters on it. This is possible because the replacement effect for Sagas with read ahead has been split into two distinct effects: one makes the controller choose a number, and the other makes the Saga enter the battlefield with that many lore counters on it. These two replacement effects have the same “rank” [CR 616.1], so the Saga’s controller can choose to apply the counter-putting effect first; with no number chosen yet, this results in zero lore counters. Then, the Saga’s controller applies the other effect and chooses a number, which goes unused.

For additional material on this update, see the companion article. For a discussion of intrinsic abilities in general, see the second companion article.

Partial fix for sneak (theoretically functional)

The original rules for the sneak keyword ability came with a couple of issues, both functional and nonfunctional. The Secrets of Strixhaven update addresses some of them.

The actual definition of the sneak keyword in rule 702.190a was pretty much nonsensical. The updated definition reads much more like those of similar keywords; the biggest outlier is that “you may cast this spell” has not been moved to the start of the sentence.

Unfortunately, the ability still functions only on the stack, and as I detailed in my update bulletin, sneak needs to function in the zone from which the object with sneak is cast. So, while the new text is a clear improvement, sneak still does not work at all and fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are bound to be disappointed again. (Let it never be said that Wizards of the Coast didn’t do anything for Universes Beyond haters.)

In rule 702.190b, the conditions that a permanent spell with sneak must meet to enter the battlefield tapped and attacking have been relaxed. The original conditions were that the spell’s sneak cost had been paid and that the spell had been cast. That second condition was inconsistent with (most) other keyword abilities, and has been removed.

Now, if a permanent spell with a paid sneak cost gets copied, the copy enters the battlefield tapped and attacking, just like the original spell. Of course, without a way to actually pay a sneak cost, such a scenario remains entirely theoretical.

The other issues regarding grammatical tense, missing references, etc. remain unchanged.

To summarize, the rules for sneak still prevent the keyword ability from working in practice, but are now slightly less unpleasant to read.

107.3e: Manipulating the value of X (nonfunctional)

Rule 107.3 and its subrules govern the use of the variable X. The Secrets of Strixhaven update slightly alters the text of rule 107.3e by replacing an “X chosen or defined for the other object” with an “X used by the other object.”

At a guess, this change was made with Unbound Flourishing in mind. It is a nonfunctional change, as the general phrase “chosen or defined” also covered the doubling effect of Unbound Flourishing’s first ability (the value is now defined as twice the original value).

Additionally, if this were meant to be a functional change, rules 107.3a and 107.3h should have been updated in the same way to maintain a consistent treatment of spells with an X chosen for them.

508.4a: Attacking imaginary foes (overall nonfunctional)

Rule 508.4 and its subrules cover scenarios where a creature enters the battlefield attacking. Subrule 508.4a in particular covers scenarios where the creature is supposed to be attacking a specific player or permanent, but that player has left the game or that permanent has left the battlefield or is otherwise no longer a valid “target” for an attack, so to speak. In such cases, the creature enters the battlefield but is not attacking anything.

Before the Secrets of Strixhaven update, rule 508.4a applied only in scenarios where an effect puts the creature onto the battlefield and where that effect specifies who or what it attacks. The issue was with the second half: effects are the only things that put a creature onto the battlefield attacking, so the first half covers all existing scenarios; there are other things though that can specify who or what the creature is attacking, and rule 508.4a did not apply to those.

Namely, for the ninjutsu and the sneak keyword abilities, a game rule specifies that the creature attacks the same player or permanent as the returned creature.

The Secrets of Strixhaven update generalizes rule 508.4a so that it applies in all situations where a creature enters the battlefield attacking a specific player or permanent, regardless of what causes the creature to enter the battlefield and what determines the attacked player or permanent.

This is not a functional change overall though, as ninjutsu and sneak were already covered by related rule 506.3c; that rule covers situations where an effect puts a creature onto the battlefield and the creature attacks (or would attack) a specific player or permanent. Still, a bit of future-proofing never hurts, so the generalization is a good idea.

Other notable things about this change:

Rule 508.4a now uses the conditional (“if a creature would be put onto the battlefield”), which makes it consistent with the language of rule 506.3 and its subrules.

Rule 508.4a no longer states that an effect resolves, which had always been nonsense: spells and abilities on the stack resolve and generate effects during that resolution; effects themselves don’t go on the stack so they can’t resolve.

Rule 508.4a was introduced by the New Phyrexia update. The update bulletin mentioned ninjutsu as the primary use case and it even mentioned that in ninjutsu’s case, a game rule specifies the attacked player or permanent. The actual rule evidently fell short of what the bulletin promised, but fifteen years later, rule 508.4a is finally what it was always supposed to be.

The text of parent rule 508.4 still suggests that only effects may specify who or what a creature attacks. Specifically, the parenthesis in the first sentence could have benefitted from a similar generalization like “a rule or effect” or even just “something.”

Rule 509.4a, which covers the same situations except for blocking creatures, was not updated. While there are no situations where a game rule rather than the effect specifies the blocked creature, consistency and future-proofing would have dictated a corresponding update for rule 509.4a and its parent rule 509.4.

Overall, a great idea with a mediocre execution. I give it the Strixhaven equivalent of a C+.

603.10a: Looking back at zone changes (nonfunctional)

Rule 603.10 states that for some kinds of triggered abilities, the game state before an event is used to determine whether those abilities trigger from that event. Its subrules then list those kinds of triggered abilities, with subrule 603.10a listing several zone-change triggers.

The Secrets of Strixhaven update adds an explicit mention of sacrifice triggers to this list. This is a nonfunctional change, since sacrifice triggers are already covered implicitly under the umbrella of leaves-the-battlefield abilities—just like all other abilities that trigger from a keyword action that involves a permanent leaving the battlefield.

This is probably my least favorite kind of nonfunctional update: adding a specific example in an attempt to make a general rule or principle easier to understand. In this case, that rule is that abilities which trigger from a keyword action can be leaves-the-battlefield abilities. But rather than simply saying that outright, the singular example of sacrifice triggers is added to a list, with no further explanation.

A superficial reading of rule 603.10a can easily give the impression that sacrifice triggers were distinct from leaves-the-battlefield abilities—why would the rule single them out otherwise? And if sacrifice triggers are distinct, then destroy triggers, exile triggers, etc. must also be distinct from leaves-the-battlefield abilities; but since they are not listed, they do not look back in time. And just like that, a rule gets misunderstood.

Like the recent update to rules 603.2d–e, this update makes learning a singular interaction easier, at the expense of learning the underlying rule. As a rules enthusiast, I have to give this update the Strixhaven equivalent of an F.

701.17d: Milling a single card (nonfunctional)

The text of some cards, such as Heed the Mists, instructs a player to mill a single card and then refers to that card. If a replacement effect like that of Bruvac the Grandiloquent’s ability is involved, the player may actually mill multiple cards, but the card’s text obviously still uses language that describes a single milled card.

In such cases, the card’s text refers to all milled cards and operates on each of them: if some quality of the milled card is used, each milled card returns its own value, and if those values are numeric, they are summed up into one value (otherwise, each value is used separately); if an action is performed on the milled card (which includes creating an effect that affects the card), that action is performed on each card separately.

Rule 701.17d spells out this procedure and was introduced by the Core Set 2021 update. Its original text was copied directly from rule 607.3 (which handles similar situations for linked abilities and exiled cards), and received only minimal adjustments to make the new rule passable.

The Secrets of Strixhaven update gives rule 701.17d a much-needed overhaul. The new text reads a lot cleaner and despite many changes, this update is ultimately nonfunctional. The two more notable changes are as follows:

First, the original text only mentioned abilities, which entirely makes sense for rule 607.3, but less so for rule 701.17d. The new text uses “spell or ability” or “effect [of a spell or ability].” This is not a functional change, since “ability” can also mean “spell ability,” so the rule always covered the effects of abilities as well as those of spells. On the other hand, if a card gets milled and referred to in the context of paying the costs for a spell or ability, rule 701.17d does not apply anymore, due to the introduction of the term “effect.” This is not a functional change since no such card exists.

Second, the new text specifically mentions permissions to play or cast the milled card, as seen on Secrets of Strixhaven cards Tablet of Discovery and Ark of Hunger. This is not a functional change, since permissions are effects that affect the milled card, and creating such an effect counts as performing an action on the card.

My only complaints with this update are that rule 607.3 did not get a similar rewrite, and that rule 701.17d still uses some misleading language to identify the different kinds of effects: putting the words “that,” “the,” and “a” in quotation marks, with no further explanation, implies that these words are prescriptive, i.e. if a card uses any other word or phrase to identify the milled card, it won’t be covered by rule 701.17d. A phrase like “actions on ’the’ card, ‘that’ card, or similar” would have gone a long way to make rule 701.17d sound less prescriptive and more descriptive.

Notably, not a single card performs an action on “the card”; both Tablet of Discovery and Ark of Hunger use “that card,” which is also used by the single prior card, Sivriss, Nightmare Speaker, which makes the second-to-last sentence particularly bad. And is anyone actually confused by the phrase “a card” even when multiple cards are milled?

All in all, this is a great update though, so I give it the Strixhaven equivalent of a B.

Changes to card types, supertypes, and/or subtypes

New artifact type: Book.

New creature type: Giraffe.

New planeswalker type: Dellian.

Changes to ability words

New ability words: Infusion, opus, and repartee.

Changes to glossary entries

New glossary entries: Increment, Paradigm, Preparation Card, Prepare Spell, Prepared, and Unprepared.

The Increment entry uses the same imprecise language regarding mana spent as the reminder text and the Wizards of the Coast rulings. The entries Prepare Spell and Prepared get an extra line of space between them.

Renamed glossary entries: Removed from Combat becomes Remove from Combat.

Removed glossary entries: Paris Mulligan and Vancouver Mulligan.

Lexicographical reordering

Several entries get moved so that they appear in lexicographical order. These entries are: Alternate Name, Basic Landcycling, Characteristics, Colorless, Continuous Effect, Excess Damage, Exhaust, Frenzy, Legendary, Restart the Game, State-Based Actions, Tapped, Teammate, Triggered Ability, and Turn-Based Actions.

Two glossary entries were not moved and continue to be out of order. These are: Job Select and Junk Token.

Any Target

The text of the Any Target entry now mentions battles. Other glossary entries that omit battles were not updated. They include: Attack, Damage, Declare Attackers, Defending Player, Defending Team, Excess Damage, Redirection Effect, and Remove from Combat.

Map

The text of the Map entry now refers to rule 111.10 rather than the nonexistent rule 110.10. The entry’s name was not updated to match those for other predefined tokens, which all say “[Name] Token.”

Other glossary entries with incorrect rules references were not updated. They include: Anchor Word, Attacks and Isn’t Blocked, Control, Controller, Endure, Hybrid Card, Last Known Information, and Owner.

Restart the Game

The text of the Restart the Game entry now refers to rule 727, “Restarting the Game,” rather than rule 104, “Ending the Game.”

Padding

Four empty lines are removed from the end of the document.

Prerelease errata and outdated text

Note: Most of the time, I list only the changed parts of a card’s Oracle text, rather than the complete text of the card.

All subtypes removed (functional)

Wizards of the Coast have issued a large number of prerelease errata which change subtypes to (as yet undefined) card types. These errata affect all cards newly printed in the Secrets of Strixhaven release, as well as all reprint versions that are part of that release; this includes the forty-one Magic: The Gathering Foundations cards reprinted for the updated Welcome Decks.

The errata replace the em dash on the type line with a hyphen-minus. Since the Comprehensive Rules use a long dash to differentiate between card types and subtypes [CR 205.3b], removing the em dash automatically moves the former subtypes into the card-type part of the type line.

As a result, each card printed with the creature card type and the Human and Wizard subtypes now has the creature card type, two undefined card types named “human” and “wizard,” and no subtypes. Other cards and reprint versions are affected accordingly.

Slumbering Trudge (functional)

Wizards of the Coast have issued a prerelease erratum which changes the functionality of Slumbering Trudge’s ability.

As printed, if the ability’s replacement effect gets applied, Slumbering Trudge enters the battlefield untapped, and if it enters the battlefield with stun counters on it, Slumbering Trudge becomes tapped directly afterward.

The erratum changes this behavior in two ways: first, Slumbering Trudge enters the battlefield tapped rather than entering the battlefield untapped and then becoming tapped; second, the tap decision now depends on the value chosen for X rather than the number of stun counters Slumbering Trudge actually enters the battlefield with.

While the new version better matches similar abilities and is doubtlessly more elegant, it is also a major departure from the printed text. Usually, Wizards of the Coast refrain from such errata, as they prefer cards to do what their text says they do. Maybe the Secrets of Strixhaven update marks a change in that policy; whether the change is toward more consistent wordings or just about encouraging fans to look up Oracle text more often, I cannot say.

Printed text:

This creature enters with a number of stun counters on it equal to three minus X. If it entered with a stun counter on it, tap it. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)

---

Oracle text:

This creature enters with a number of stun counters on it equal to three minus X. If X is 2 or less, it enters tapped. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)

Choreographed Sparks (nonfunctional)

Choreographed Sparks’s effect copies a creature spell and grants that copy a triggered ability. The printed text of that ability includes the word “next,” which is normally used only by delayed triggered abilities.

Wizards of the Coast have issued a prerelease erratum which removes the word “next” from Choreographed Sparks’s text; the Oracle text matches the standard template for such abilities. This is not a functional erratum, since the presence (or absence) of the word “next” has no effect on when or how often the granted ability triggers.

Printed text:

* Copy target creature spell you control. The copy gains haste and “At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice this token.

---

Oracle text:

* Copy target creature spell you control. The copy gains haste and “At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this token.

Omitted erratum for Transcendent Archaic (nonfunctional)

The text of the Secrets of Strixhaven card Transcendent Archaic uses a self-reference that does not match the guidelines for self-references. The first sentence uses “this spell” rather than “this creature” or preferably “it.” (See Sundering Archaic.)

Current text:

Converge – When this creature enters, you may draw X cards, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast this spell. If you draw one or more cards this way, discard two cards.

Omitted erratum for Planar Engineering (nonfunctional)

Instructions to search for multiple cards with specific qualities use the template “[a player] searches [a library] for up to N [quality] cards.” The text of the Secrets of Strixhaven card Planar Engineering does not match that template.

Current text:

Sacrifice two lands. Search your library for four basic land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.

Omitted erratum for Ominous Harvest (nonfunctional)

If a keyword ability’s effect copies an instant or sorcery spell, the keyword’s reminder text contains a sentence like “[A player] may choose new targets for the copies” if the copied spell (potentially) has targets. The Secrets of Strixhaven Commander card Ominous Harvest has been printed without such a sentence.

Current text:

Gravestorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard from the battlefield this turn.)

Outdated text on Harmonic Prodigy (nonfunctional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven Commander version of Harmonic Prodigy has been printed with outdated rules text.

Harmonic Prodigy, along with four other cards, receives a nonfunctional update to its rules text with the Secrets of Strixhaven update (see below). The reprint version uses the previous text.

Outdated text on Currency Converter (nonfunctional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven Commander version of Currency Converter has been printed with outdated rules text.

The Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender update changed the text of the first instruction of the third ability to match the standard template for such actions. The reprint version uses the previous text.

Printed text:

{T}: Put a card exiled with this artifact into your graveyard. If it’s a land card, create a Treasure token. If it’s a nonland card, create a 2/2 black Rogue creature token.

---

Oracle text:

{T}: Put a card exiled with this artifact into its owner’s graveyard. If it’s a land card, create a Treasure token. If it’s a nonland card, create a 2/2 black Rogue creature token.

Changes to Oracle text

Note: Most of the time, I list only the changed parts of a card’s Oracle text, rather than the complete text of the card.

The bookish type (functional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update introduces the Book artifact type and adds it to forty-five previously existing artifact cards. (The Special Guests version of Codie, Vociferous Codex that is part of the Secrets of Strixhaven release does not have the type due to the subtype-removing errata listed above.)

This update applies to: Jayemdae Tome, Jalum Tome, Book of Rass, Mangara’s Tome, Thran Tome, Emmessi Tome, Fool’s Tome, Phyrexian Grimoire, Spellbook, Barrin’s Codex, Kyren Archive, Mercadian Atlas, Geth’s Grimoire, My First Tome, Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII, Illuminated Folio, Venser’s Journal, Grimoire of the Dead, Otherworld Atlas, Tamiyo’s Journal, Urza’s Tome, Arcane Encyclopedia, Tome of the Guildpact, Folio of Fancies, Tome of Legends, Mazemind Tome, Codie, Vociferous Codex, The Underworld Cookbook, The Book of Exalted Deeds, Wizard’s Spellbook, The Book of Vile Darkness, Mysterious Tome, Chilling Chronicle, Investigator’s Journal, Monster Manual, Sarevok’s Tome, Jodah’s Codex, Autograph Book, Tamiyo’s Logbook, Five Hundred Year Diary, River Song’s Diary, Tarrian’s Journal, Heirloom Epic, Marina Vendrell’s Grimoire, and Summoner’s Grimoire.

Old types (example):

Artifact – Clue

---

New types (example):

Artifact — Book Clue

The text of three additional cards whose abilities create an artifact token has been updated; those abilities now create Book artifact tokens.

This update applies to: Tamiyo, Compleated Sage, Volo, Itinerant Scholar, and Moira Brown, Guide Author.

Old text (example):

−7: Create Tamiyo’s Notebook, a legendary colorless artifact token with “Spells you cast cost {2} less to cast” and “{T}: Draw a card.”

---

New text (example):

−7: Create Tamiyo’s Notebook, a legendary colorless Book artifact token with “Spells you cast cost {2} less to cast” and “{T}: Draw a card.”

Hedron Crab (functional)

As part of the Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY update, Wizards of the Coast replaced all reminder text with identically worded rules text. Wizards of the Coast then reverted this change as part of the Edge of Eternities update, with the exception of Hedron Crab.

The Secrets of Strixhaven update reverts Hedron Crab’s Oracle text to its pre-Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY version: a single instance of Hedron Crab’s ability mills three cards rather than twice three cards.

Old text:

Landfall – Whenever a land you control enters, target player mills three cards. (They put the top three cards of their library into their graveyard.)

---

New text:

Landfall – Whenever a land you control enters, target player mills three cards. (They put the top three cards of their library into their graveyard.)

Storm-Kiln Artist (functional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update adds additional text to Storm-Kiln Artist’s triggered ability. The first half of that text is reminder text and matches the first half of the standard reminder text for Treasure tokens.

The second half is rules text that instructs the ability’s controller to sacrifice Storm-Kiln Artist and to add one mana of any color to their mana pool. (These instructions happen to be identical to the second half of the standard reminder text for Treasure tokens.)

Old text:

Magecraft – Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, create a Treasure token.

---

New text:

Magecraft – Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, create a Treasure token. (It’s an artifact with “{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.”)

Harmonizing Harmonic Prodigy and others (nonfunctional)

Abilities which cause abilities of specific objects to trigger an additional time used two slightly different templates: five abilities used “If an ability of [some object] triggers […]” and seven used “If a triggered ability of [some object] triggers […].”

The Secrets of Strixhaven update changes the text of the first group so that all abilities now use the second template.

Abilities that care about abilities triggering from specific events (“If [an event] causes a triggered ability of [an object] to trigger”) already used a unified template. The same is true for abilities that cause abilities to not trigger (“[Events] don’t cause abilities to trigger”); that template doesn’t match the other two though.

This update applies to: Sanctum of All, Harmonic Prodigy, Delney, Streetwise Lookout, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, and Splinter, Radical Rat.

Old text (example):

If an ability of a Shaman or another Wizard you control triggers, that ability triggers an additional time.

---

New text (example):

If a triggered ability of a Shaman or another Wizard you control triggers, that ability triggers an additional time.

“X is N or something” (nonfunctional)

Two cards used a nonstandard wording to check if the value of X matches or exceeds a specific value.

The Secrets of Strixhaven update aligns those cards’ text with the standard template.

This update applies to: Obsessive Pursuit and Roku’s Mastery.

Old text (example):

Whenever you attack, put X +1/+1 counters on target attacking creature, where X is the number of permanents you’ve sacrificed this turn. If X is three or greater, that creature gains lifelink until end of turn.

---

New text (example):

Whenever you attack, put X +1/+1 counters on target attacking creature, where X is the number of permanents you’ve sacrificed this turn. If X is three or more, that creature gains lifelink until end of turn.

Plumb the Forbidden (nonfunctional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update shortens the rules text of Plumb the Forbidden to match the new template for effects that draw cards in exchange for life.

Old text:

You draw a card and you lose 1 life.

---

New text:

You draw a card and lose 1 life.

Arni Metalbrow (nonfunctional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update shortens the text of the trigger event of Arni Metalbrow’s ability.

Old text:

Whenever a creature you control attacks or a creature you control enters attacking, you may pay {1}{R}. If you do, you may put a creature card with mana value less than that creature’s mana value from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.

---

New text:

Whenever a creature you control attacks or enters attacking, you may pay {1}{R}. If you do, you may put a creature card with mana value less than that creature’s mana value from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.

Spry and Mighty (nonfunctional)

As part of the Lorwyn Eclipsed release, Wizards of the Coast published two conflicting rulings for Spry and Mighty: one in the Release Notes and one on the card’s Gatherer page. Whenever two rulings conflict, at least one of them is bound to be incorrect. In my Lorwyn Eclipsed update bulletin, I detailed how both rulings are incorrect: if only one creature can be chosen, 0 is used for the other toughness, and the value of X is effectively the absolute value of the chosen creature’s toughness.

The Secrets of Strixhaven update adds the word “exactly” to the first sentence of Spry and Mighty‘s rules text. This is a nonfunctional change: if a player is instructed to “choose two [objects],” they are already instructed to choose exactly two objects. Three objects shall they not choose, neither choose one, excepting that they then proceed to two objects. Four objects are right out.

This holds true for any kind of instruction: if a resolving Mind Rot instructs the target player to “discard two cards,” that player has to discard exactly two cards. They cannot discard just one card simply because they want to keep their other cards. They cannot discard more than two cards even if they wanted to. And they certainly cannot discard one normal card and two halves of two other cards if they have split cards in their hand and a pair of scissors nearby. (This may be different in acorn games; ask your local Un-rules manager.)

Of course, if the target player has only one card in their hand, they cannot discard two cards. But rather than not discarding at all, the player discards their one card in hand, due to rule 609.3.

If an effect attempts to do something impossible, it does only as much as possible.

CR 609.3

Discarding two cards is impossible, so what is the closest alternative? Discarding one card. This rule is a fundamental aspect of the Comprehensive Rules and I would expect that every Magic player regularly applies it in their games; unconsciously and often without even knowing this rule exists. It is just that intuitive.

The Comprehensive Rules contain no rule specific to choosing objects that would contradict or overrule rule 609.3, so everything I wrote above applies equally to Spry and Mighty. If Spry and Mighty‘s controller controls only one creature, choosing exactly two creatures is impossible. But choosing (exactly) one creature is possible, so the controller does that. From there, everything proceeds as before and the value of X becomes the absolute value of the chosen creature’s toughness. Spry and Mighty’s controller then draws that many cards and the single chosen creature gets +X/+X and gains trample until end of turn.

The reason for this update eludes me, as it only increases the confusion over Spry and Mighty‘s functionality, making laypersons think that the card’s functionality now matched the ruling found on its Gatherer page. Like the Slumbering Trudge erratum, Wizards of the Coast usually avoid such text changes, for identical reasons.

Having two in one update is noteworthy, and whatever else may come of this, fans will be sure to check rules and Oracle text more closely in the future. If that is Wizards of the Coast’s intention, I wish them success with all my heart.

For additional material on this update, see the companion article.

Old text:

Choose two creatures you control. You draw X cards and the chosen creatures get +X/+X and gain trample until end of turn, where X is the difference between the chosen creatures’ powers.

---

New text:

Choose exactly two creatures you control. You draw X cards and the chosen creatures get +X/+X and gain trample until end of turn, where X is the difference between the chosen creatures’ powers.

Scry reminder text (nonfunctional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update adds the standard scry reminder text to the abilities of five cards.

This update applies to: Lorehold Campus, Prismari Campus, Quandrix Campus, Silverquill Campus, and Witherbloom Campus.

Old text:

{4}, {T}: Scry 1.

---

New text:

{4}, {T}: Scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.)

Perpetual Timepiece (nonfunctional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update adds the standard mill reminder text to Perpetual Timepiece’s first ability.

Old text:

{T}: Mill two cards.

---

New text:

{T}: Mill two cards. (Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard.)

Tyvar’s Stand (nonfunctional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update shortens the reminder text of Tyvar’s Stand.

Old text:

Target creature you control gets +X/+X and gains hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. (A creature with hexproof and indestructible can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control. Damage and effects that say “destroy” don’t destroy it.)

---

New text:

Target creature you control gets +X/+X and gains hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. (It can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control. Damage and effects that say “destroy” don’t destroy it.)

Ghoulish Impetus (nonfunctional)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update adds the standard goaded reminder text to Ghoulish Impetus’s second ability.

Old text:

Enchanted creature gets +1/+1, has deathtouch, and is goaded.

---

New text:

Enchanted creature gets +1/+1, has deathtouch, and is goaded. (It attacks each combat if able and attacks a player other than you if able.)

Changes to Gatherer rulings (nonfunctional)

Pain for All

The Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender update introduced a typo to the text of a ruling on Pain for All’s Gatherer page. The Secrets of Strixhaven update corrects this typo.

Old text:

If the enchanted creature leaves the battlefield before Pain for All’s second ability resolves, no damge [sic] will be dealt.

---

New text:

If the enchanted creature leaves the battlefield before Pain for All’s second ability resolves, no damage will be dealt.

Vampiric Tutor

The Secrets of Strixhaven release continues the trend of reprinting a card with a long outdated ruling and not correcting that ruling as part of the Gatherer update, but with a twist. This time, the card is Vampiric Tutor and instead of being merely outdated, the ruling was never correct in the first place.

The ruling in question claims that shuffling the library and putting the found card on top is one action. This is simply incorrect.

The “shuffle and put the card on top” is a single action. If an effect causes the top card of the library to be face up, the second card down is not revealed.

Applicable guidelines and rules

As a general guideline, each verb in the instructions of a spell or ability constitutes a distinct action. Two verbs thus equal two separate and sequential actions. This guideline is as simply as can be, but it produces clear and consistent answers, and it is vastly better than the alternatives, because if two verbs can be a single action or two distinct actions, then how do I decide which is which?

Basing the decision on the text structure results in extremely subjective and thus inconsistent outcomes. I expect most people to treat verbs in different sentences as distinct actions, but what if the verbs appear in the same sentence? Does a comma make them separate? What about an “and”? If those are different, what about three or more verbs (as in “do A, do B, and do C”)? Is “you draw a card and you lose 1 life” different from “you draw a card and lose 1 life”? (At least the word “then” should be a clear indicator of distinct actions.)

Any guideline based on such principles would also restrict Wizards of the Coast’s ability to edit Oracle text, as seemingly inconsequential changes might cause a card’s behavior to change.

Another point in favor of “one verb, one action” are translations. Other languages may structure sentences in a vastly different way than English, but the number of verbs is less likely to change. Differences still exist of course (e.g. German uses two verbs for instructions like “put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library”), but it is better than the alternatives.

Last but not least, the use of the word “simultaneously” in rules text supports the “one verb, one action” approach. The designers’ intention for cards like Breaking Wave or Time and Tide is quite clear, but those cards still use “simultaneously” in their rules text; this would hardly seem necessary if the two verbs could form a single action in some other way. (Time and Tide was even printed without that word.)

(Note that this guideline does not apply to instructions in replacement effects. Those should follow the exact opposite and be all processed simultaneously, if able.)

Now, how does this guideline fare when applied to Vampiric Tutor’s rules text?

Search your library for a card, then shuffle and put that card on top. You lose 2 life.

The rules text features four verbs, so there should be four distinct actions: search, shuffle, put, and lose.

That the search keyword action is distinct from the shuffle keyword action should be uncontroversial. It makes sense logically and the word “then” gets used. The “lose 2 life” instruction should also be clear, being in a completely different sentence.

This leaves the shuffle part and the “put on top” part, which are tough to explain in a vacuum: if I shuffle my library, that includes the card I just found. After the shuffle, I do not know the card’s new position in my library, so how can I put that card on top?

My first action in such cases would be to look up the Comprehensive Rules, and fortunately, the rules provide a clear and simple answer for how to handle the shuffled-away card: don’t shuffle it away.

In the aftermath of the Magic 2010 rules update, the Worldwake update introduced rule 701.24 (then 701.15) as a wrapper for several shuffle-related issues. One of them was the handling of Vampiric Tutor and similar cards:

Some effects cause a player to search a library for a card or cards, shuffle that library, then put the found card or cards in a certain position in that library. Even though the found card or cards never leave that library, they aren’t included in the shuffle. Rather, all the cards in that library except those are shuffled. Abilities that trigger when a library is shuffled will still trigger.

CR 701.15b

This rule spells out how to process the middle part of Vampiric Tutor’s effect: shuffle all the cards in the library, except for the card found, which remains in its current position. After the shuffle action, move the card from its unchanged position to the top of the library. (In a tabletop game of Magic, this is sufficiently approximated by setting the found card aside, shuffling the remaining cards, and then putting the set-aside card on top of those cards.)

So, the Comprehensive Rules do not merely make it possible to treat the “shuffle and put on top” part as two distinct actions, they even prescribe it. And this has not changed in the sixteen years since that rule got introduced.

The further history of rules and Tutor cards

In 2016, the Eternal Masters update added the erroneous ruling to Vampiric Tutor’s Gatherer page. There was no accompanying rules update, so the ruling was plainly incorrect. This becomes even more apparent when looking at the other two Eternal Masters reprints that received the same ruling: Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor.

Apart from the instruction to reveal the found card, these two cards use the same template as Vampiric Tutor. This was not always the case though: before the Strixhaven: School of Mages update shortened the shuffle instruction, Tutor cards of the reveal variety used the following template (emphasis mine):

Search your library for a [quality] card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.

So, Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor instructed their controllers to shuffle, then put the card on top. And the ruling claims that “The ‘shuffle and put the card on top’ is a single action.” Taking the ruling at face value would mean that the word “then” in the rules text of those two cards translated to “and simultaneously”—a bold interpretation of that word. Especially when compared with the one thousand other cards that used the word in its regular meaning.

In 2021, the Strixhaven: School of Mages update shortened many shuffle instructions from “shuffle your library” to just “shuffle.” As part of that update, the template for Tutor cards with reveal instructions was aligned with the one used by non-revealing Tutor cards, resulting in the current template. There was no accompanying rules update, so again, nothing changed about the behavior of the Tutor cards. (And for those craving a second opinion, here’s a random person’s comment on the topic: “This is not a functional change.”)

Finally, the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty update changed the text of rule 701.24b to its current form. Besides rearranging a few words, it expanded the rule to also cover the effect of Ecological Appreciation. Its existing functionality remained the same though, and so did that of the Tutor cards. (To quote the random person again: “This is not a functional change to any card unless you were playing Ecological Appreciation in a very strange way.”)

Conclusion

The quoted ruling conflicts with guidelines for interpreting card text, with the standard English meaning of the word “then,” and with the section of the Comprehensive Rules written specifically for such scenarios. Thus, there is no rules basis for this ruling; it is simply incorrect.

Slumbering Trudge

One ruling on Slumbering Trudge’s Gatherer page claims that the card’s erratum clarifies its function. This ruling is misleading since the erratum actually changes the card’s behavior, rather than simply making the existing behavior clearer.

Slumbering Trudge has received an update to its rules text to clarify its function. Its updated Oracle text appears above.

Paradigm

One of the standard rulings for the paradigm keyword ability mentions the “learn ability.” Such an ability does not exist; rather, there is the learn keyword action.

The same ruling states that effects may refer to the Lesson spell type. This is misleading insofar that multiple cards, such as Walltop Sentries, refer to the subtype as part of something other than an effect.

Each spell with paradigm has the Lesson subtype. The Lesson subtype appears on instants and sorceries and has no inherent rules meaning. Other effects (such as the learn ability from the original Strixhaven release) may refer to it.

Converge

The standard list of rulings for the converge ability word repeatedly uses “spell with converge” rather than the correct “spell with a converge ability.” (Converge is an ability word rather than a keyword ability, so a spell cannot “have converge” or be a spell “with converge.”)

The Secrets of Strixhaven update does not change this.

The maximum number of colors of mana you can spend to cast a spell is five. Colorless is not a color. Note that the cost of a spell with converge may limit how many colors of mana you can spend.

Unless a spell or ability allows you to, you can’t choose to pay more mana for a spell with a converge ability just to spend more colors of mana. Likewise, if a spell or ability reduces the amount of mana it costs you to cast a spell with converge, you can’t ignore that cost reduction in order to spend more colors of mana.

If you cast a spell with converge without spending any mana to cast it (perhaps because an effect allowed you to cast it without paying its mana cost), then the number of colors spent to cast it will be zero.

Tenured Concocter

One ruling on Tenured Concocter’s Gatherer page refers to “a spell or ability” in its first sentence. The second sentence does not mention the ability anymore, only the spell.

Tenured Concocter’s second ability resolves before the spell or ability that caused it to trigger. It resolves even if that spell is countered or otherwise leaves the stack.

Kirol, History Buff

The first ruling on Kirol, History Buff’s Gatherer page uses a redundant “first” (Kirol has only one ability).

If multiple cards leave your graveyard at the same time, Kirol’s first ability will trigger only once.

Silverquill, the Disputant

One ruling on Silverquill, the Disputant’s Gatherer page features a typo; the first quotation should omit the period.

Casualty N means “As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may sacrifice a creature with power N or greater.” [sic] and “When you cast this spell, if a casualty cost was paid for it, copy it. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for the copy.”

Nev, the Practical Dean

One ruling on Nev, the Practical Dean’s Gatherer page uses “him” to refer to Nev. Outside of Universes Beyond sets, legendary creatures use neuter pronouns, so “his last ability” should be “its last ability,” or preferably “Nev’s last ability,” to remove ambiguity.

If you cast your first spell with {X} in its mana cost during a turn before Nev is on the battlefield, casting another spell with {X} in its mana cost later in the turn won’t cause his last ability to trigger.

Archmage Emeritus

The Secrets of Strixhaven Release Notes feature a ruling that has not been added to Archmage Emeritus’s Gatherer page.

Archmage Emeritus’s ability does not trigger when the delayed triggered ability created by a spell with paradigm creates copies in exile at the beginning of each of your first main phases, nor does it trigger when you create a copy of a creature’s prepare spell in exile as that creature becomes prepared. However, Archmage Emeritus’s ability will trigger when those copies are cast from exile.

Morph

The Secrets of Strixhaven update changes the standard list of rulings for the morph keyword ability. The new list mostly matches the standard rulings for the disguise keyword ability.

This update applies to the Gatherer pages of: Master of Pearls, Sage-Eye Harrier, War Behemoth, Watcher of the Roost, Dragon’s Eye Savants, Glacial Stalker, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Mistfire Weaver, Monastery Flock, Mystic of the Hidden Way, Thousand Winds, Grim Haruspex, Krumar Bond-Kin, Ruthless Ripper, Sidisi’s Pet, Ainok Tracker, Ashcloud Phoenix, Canyon Lurkers, Horde Ambusher, Jeering Instigator, Hooded Hydra, Kin-Tree Warden, Pine Walker, Rattleclaw Mystic, Sagu Archer, Temur Charger, Woolly Loxodon, Abomination of Gudul, Abzan Guide, Efreet Weaponmaster, Icefeather Aven, Ponyback Brigade, Sagu Mauler, Snowhorn Rider, and Witness of the Ages.

The new list has three additional rulings.

If a face-down creature loses its abilities, it can’t be turned face up because it will no longer have a morph ability (or a morph cost) once face up.

Because face-down creatures don’t have a name, they can’t have the same name as any other creature, even another face-down creature.

Turning a permanent face up or face down doesn’t change whether that permanent is tapped or untapped.

One ruling has been removed despite appearing on the disguise list.

You must ensure that your face-down spells and permanents can easily be differentiated from each other. You’re not allowed to mix up the cards that represent them on the battlefield in order to confuse other players. The order they entered the battlefield should remain clear. Common methods for doing this include using markers or dice, or simply placing them in order on the battlefield.

The text of six rulings has been altered.

Old text:

Morph lets you cast a card face down by paying {3}, and lets you turn the face-down permanent face up any time you have priority by paying its morph cost.

The face-down spell has no mana cost and has a mana value of 0. When you cast a face-down spell, put it on the stack face down so no other player knows what it is, and pay {3}. This is an alternative cost.

When the spell resolves, it enters the battlefield as a 2/2 creature with no name, mana cost, creature types, or abilities. It’s colorless and has a mana value of 0. Other effects that apply to the creature can still grant it any of these characteristics.

At any time, you can look at a face-down spell or permanent you control. You can’t look at face-down spells or permanents you don’t control unless an effect instructs you to do so.

A permanent that turns face up or face down changes characteristics but is otherwise the same permanent. Spells and abilities that were targeting that permanent, as well as Auras and Equipment that were attached to the permanent, aren’t affected.

If a face-down permanent leaves the battlefield, you must reveal it. You must also reveal all face-down spells and permanents you control if you leave the game or if the game ends.

---

New text:

A morph ability lets you cast a card face down by paying {3}. It then also lets you turn the face-down permanent face up any time you have priority by paying its morph cost.

The face-down spell has no mana cost and has a mana value of 0. When you cast a face-down spell, put it on the stack face down so no other player knows what it is, and pay {3} to cast it. This is an alternative cost.

The creature spell is a 2/2 creature spell with no name, mana cost, creature types, or abilities. The resulting creature is a 2/2 creature with no name, mana cost, creature types, or abilities. Each of them is colorless and has a mana value of 0. Other effects that apply to the spell or creature can still grant it any characteristics it doesn’t have or change the characteristics it does have.

At any time, you can look at a face-down spell or permanent you control. You can’t look at face-down spells or permanents you don’t control unless an effect instructs or allows you to do so.

A permanent that turns face up or face down changes characteristics but is otherwise the same permanent. Spells and abilities that were targeting that permanent, as well as Auras and Equipment that were attached to the permanent, aren’t affected unless the new characteristics of the object change the legality of those targets or attachments.

If a face-down spell leaves the stack and goes to any zone other than the battlefield (if it was countered, for example), you must reveal it. Similarly, if a face-down permanent leaves the battlefield, you must reveal it. You must also reveal all face-down spells and permanents you control if you leave the game or if the game ends.

Magecraft

The Secrets of Strixhaven update removes one ruling from the standard list of rulings for the magecraft ability word.

For example, if you control Archmage Emeritus and cast an instant or sorcery spell, Archmage Emeritus’s magecraft ability will trigger and you will draw a card.

This update applies to the Gatherer pages of: Clever Lumimancer, Eager First-Year, Leonin Lightscribe, Archmage Emeritus, Symmetry Sage, Professor Onyx, Sedgemoor Witch, Storm-Kiln Artist, Dragonsguard Elite, Karok Wrangler, Extus, Oriq Overlord, Jadzi, Oracle of Arcavios, Elemental Expressionist, Lorehold Apprentice, Lorehold Pledgemage, Prismari Apprentice, Prismari Pledgemage, Quandrix Apprentice, Quandrix Pledgemage, Silverquill Apprentice, Silverquill Pledgemage, Witherbloom Apprentice, Witherbloom Pledgemage, Spell Satchel, Veyran, Voice of Duality, Zaffai, Thunder Conductor, Deekah, Fractal Theorist, and Octavia, Living Thesis.

Berserk

The wording of one ruling on Berserk’s Gatherer page has been updated.

Old text:

If the permanent stops being a creature before the end of the turn, it is still destroyed.

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New text:

If the target permanent stops being a creature before the next end step, it is still destroyed when the delayed trigger resolves.

Culling the Weak

One ruling has been removed from Culling the Weak’s Gatherer page.

You sacrifice a creature when casting the spell and you can’t sacrifice more than one creature to get extra mana.

Crop Rotation

One ruling has been removed from Crop Rotation’s Gatherer page.

You can’t cast Crop Rotation without sacrificing a land, and you can’t sacrifice additional lands.

Replenish

Two rulings have been added to Replenish’s Gatherer page. The second is a more concise version of an existing ruling.

If an Aura is put onto the battlefield without being cast, the Aura’s controller-to-be chooses what it will enchant as it enters the battlefield. An Aura put onto the battlefield this way doesn’t target anything (so it could be attached to an opponent’s permanent with hexproof, for example), but the Aura’s enchant ability restricts what it can be attached to. If the Aura can’t legally be attached to anything, it remains in its current zone.

An Aura put onto the battlefield this way can’t enchant an enchantment that’s also being put onto the battlefield with Replenish.

One ruling has been removed.

It determines what enchantments to return when its resolution starts. If more enchantments go to the graveyard during the resolution, those additional enchantments are ignored.

Daze

The wording of one ruling on Daze’s Gatherer page has been updated.

Old text:

If another effect causes Daze to cost more, you must pay that additional cost even if you pay its alternative cost.

---

New text:

To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you’re paying (such as the alternative cost of Daze), add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined by only its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast that spell was.

Glimpse of Nature

One ruling has been added to Glimpse of Nature’s Gatherer page.

The delayed triggered ability created by Glimpse of Nature resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger. It resolves even if that spell is countered or otherwise leaves the stack.

Magus of the Library

The wording of one ruling on Magus of the Library’s Gatherer page has been updated.

Old text:

You may tap multiples of these in response to each other because the requirement for 7 cards is checked only at the time the ability is announced and not again when it resolves.

---

New text:

Once you’ve activated Magus of the Library’s last ability, it doesn’t matter if the number of cards in your hand changes. The ability will still resolve as normal.

Ad Nauseam

The wording of one ruling on Ad Nauseam’s Gatherer page has been updated.

Old text:

If a card in a player’s library has {X} in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.

---

New text:

If a card in a player’s library has {X} in its mana cost, X is 0 for the purpose of determining its mana value.

Essence Scatter

The wording of one ruling on Essence Scatter’s Gatherer page has been updated.

Old text:

A “creature spell” is any spell with the creature type, even if it has other types such as artifact or enchantment.

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New text:

A “creature spell” is any spell with the card type creature, even if it has other types such as artifact or enchantment.

Pyretic Ritual

Two rulings have been removed from Pyretic Ritual’s Gatherer page.

Pyretic Ritual is not a mana ability and doesn’t behave like one. You cast it as a spell. It uses the stack. It can be responded to, and it can be countered.

In the same vein, you can cast Pyretic Ritual only at a time when you could cast any other instant, not at a time when you could activate a mana ability. For example, you can’t cast Pyretic Ritual in the midst of casting another spell; you’d need to cast Pyretic Ritual first.

Murmuring Mystic

The wording of one ruling on Murmuring Mystic’s Gatherer page has been updated.

Old text:

Murmuring Mystic’s triggered ability resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger. It resolves even if that spell is countered.

---

New text:

Murmuring Mystic’s triggered ability resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger. It resolves even if that spell is countered or otherwise leaves the stack.

Jeska’s Will

One ruling has been removed from the Gatherer page of Jeska’s Will.

Jeska’s Will isn’t a mana ability, even if you select the first mode (or both modes). It uses the stack and can be responded to.

Two rulings have been merged.

Old text:

You must follow the normal timing permissions and restrictions for the exiled cards. You can’t play lands this way unless you have land plays available.

You’ll still pay all costs for a spell cast this way, including additional costs. You may also pay alternative costs if any are available.

---

New text:

You pay all costs and follow all timing rules for cards played with the permission from the last mode of Jeska’s Will. For example, if one of the exiled cards is a land card, you may play it only during your main phase while the stack is empty and only if you have an available land play remaining.

Expressive Iteration

One ruling has been added to Expressive Iteration’s Gatherer page.

If there are fewer than three cards in your library, follow the instructions in the order given for any cards that are there. For example, if there are two cards in your library, you’ll put one of them into your hand and one of them on the bottom of your library. You won’t have the option to exile either of them.

One ruling has been removed.

Cards exiled are always exiled face up unless specified otherwise by the effect that exiled it.

Codie, Vociferous Codex

One ruling has been added to Codie, Vociferous Codex’s Gatherer page.

Book is an artifact type, not a creature type. It has no intrinsic rules meaning.

The wording of one ruling has been updated.

Old text:

A permanent spell is an artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker spell. You may still play lands and cast instant and sorcery spells. Other effects can still put permanents onto the battlefield.

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New text:

A permanent spell is an artifact, battle, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker spell. You may still play lands and cast instant and sorcery spells. Other effects can still put permanents onto the battlefield.

Gandalf the White

One ruling has been removed from Gandalf the White’s Gatherer page.

An ability of a permanent that triggers when a card is put into a graveyard “from anywhere” triggers twice only if Gandalf the White and that permanent are both still on the battlefield immediately after the legendary permanent or the artifact has been put into the graveyard from the battlefield. For example, say you control both Gandalf the White and Soulcipher Board. If another legendary creature you control dies, Soulcipher Board’s last ability will trigger twice. But if Gandalf the White dies, Soulcipher Board’s last ability will trigger only once.

Helping Hand

One ruling has been added to Helping Hand’s Gatherer page.

If a card in a graveyard has {X} in its mana cost, X is 0 for the purpose of determining its mana value.

Version-specific rulings

Continuing a trend started by the Lorwyn Eclipsed update, the Secrets of Strixhaven update features more card versions with unique lists of rulings: Gatherer pages for specific reprint versions contain duplicates of existing rulings, which do not appear on pages for older versions.

This update applies to the Gatherer pages of the Secrets of Strixhaven versions of: Ancestral Anger and Seize the Spoils.

Related, the pages for some reprint versions list the same rulings as pages for older versions, but in a different order.

This update applies to the Gatherer pages of the Secrets of Strixhaven Commander versions of: Bloodghast, Faithless Looting, and Sevinne’s Reclamation.

A look at the official update bulletin

Having listed all the changes the Secrets of Strixhaven update brings to the Comprehensive Rules and to Gatherer, it is time to conclude this article with my impressions of the official update bulletin. Defying the current norm, the Secrets of Strixhaven bulletin was released before the Comprehensive Rules were updated, so it may have merit as a gap filler between the Release Notes and the actual rules.

In that role, it did a mixed job: it lists almost all changes to the Comprehensive Rules’ main part but contains no new information on the new mechanics; it does a good job of describing the changes themselves but is often misleading about their impact on gameplay.

Onward to individual items of note.

118.7e

Reducing costs of spells or abilities by referencing a particular mana symbol can be complex in cases involving hybrid symbols. We’ve updated this rule to make it clear that reducing a cost by a hybrid symbol that involves {C} ({C/G}, for example), can reduce a cost by {C} rather than just one generic mana.

Using the phrase “make it clear” for a functional change continues to amaze me. It’s not inaccurate, since the new rule makes the new functionality clear indeed, but I’d still label it as misleading.

508.4a

This rule defines what happens when a creature is put onto the battlefield attacking a player, planeswalker, or battle that is no longer around to be attacked (or isn’t a planeswalker or battle anymore). These wording updates clarify that it applies to creatures that enter via ninjutsu or sneak.

Again! Why does an update that changes a rule’s functionality merely “clarify” that rule? Does Wizards of the Coast pay a bonus each time an employee uses “clear” or “clarify” in a sentence?

603.10a

The list of zone-change triggers that look back in time has been clarified to specifically include abilities that trigger when a player sacrifices a permanent. While this was previously included under the umbrella term of “leaves-the-battlefield abilities,” we believe it is helpful to be more specific in this case.

As the saying goes: “Give a player a ruling and you feed them for a match; teach a player the underlying rules and they won’t ask a judge ever again.” Can’t have that.

701.17d

This rule handles situations where a spell or ability asks for information about a milled card but more than one card was milled due to an effect like that of Bruvac the Grandiloquent. We expanded this rule to apply to effects that give permission to cast or play the milled card so that the permission will apply to each of the milled cards.

And here we have a change described as “expanding” a rule to do additional things, despite it being a nonfunctional change. As a nonnative speaker, I’m beginning to wonder whether it’s me who misunderstands the meaning of “clarify” versus that of “expand.”

702.155b, 714.3a, and 714.3b

We’ve made a small change to how Sagas work. The mechanism that adds lore counters to Sagas now better matches planeswalkers and battles. Specifically, we’ve made the ability that causes Sagas to enter with lore counters on them an intrinsic ability. We did the same for the ability that allows the controller of Sagas with read ahead to choose a number of lore counters. This makes some interactions more intuitive: Doubling Season will now double the number of lore counters a Saga enters with. Urza’s Saga will now enter with zero lore counters instead of one while Blood Moon is on the battlefield.

You lost me after “planeswalkers and battles.” Let’s unpack this.

Specifically, we’ve made the ability that causes Sagas to enter with lore counters on them an intrinsic ability.

Before this change, there was a rule rather than an ability. So a nonexistent ability was turned into an intrinsic ability. Creative in the truest sense of the word.

We did the same for the ability that allows the controller of Sagas with read ahead to choose a number of lore counters.

Another nonexistent ability was turned into an intrinsic ability.

This makes some interactions more intuitive: Doubling Season will now double the number of lore counters a Saga enters with.

Which is what Doubling Season already did before this update. So, not changing anything makes a thing more intuitive? I should try that strategy the next time my boss instructs me to add a usability feature to our product.

Urza’s Saga will now enter with zero lore counters instead of one while Blood Moon is on the battlefield.

Entirely accurate, except for the number of lore counters, as anyone who has read the “Blood Moon rule” 305.7 clearly knows.

702.190a

Sneak needed a small wording tweak to better define the cast permission it provides. Saying nothing about this would have been more in the spirit of sneak, but it turns out I’m not that sneaky.

I guess defining a cast permission that was previously undefined counts as “better” defining that permission; still, another entry on the “true but misleading” list. Also, you managed to not mention the other tweak the rule still needs, as well as the change to rule 702.190b, so I’d say you’re at least two-thirds sneaky.

Oracle Updates

We’ve been hitting the Biblioplex all semester to prepare for this update, and we’ve got a few you’ll find interesting.

Not this again. I really thought the bulletins’ authors had stopped patronizing their readers by declaring what those readers find interesting.

The reference to the Biblioplex, located at the meeting point of five streets that symbolize “the path toward learning and an escape from ignorance,” where “doorless, arch-shaped entrances […] welcome inquisitive minds,” makes a nice contrast to the rest of the sentence. I guess the set is called Secrets of Strixhaven for a reason.

Sleeping in Class

The second sentence of Slumbering Trudge‘s replacement effect contains phrasing that does not function properly as part of a replacement effect. We’ve updated Slumbering Trudge‘s Oracle text to solve this issue. While the original text doesn’t use the value of X to determine whether Slumbering Trudge should be tapped, this updated text best approximates how most players would understand the printed text in most situations.

Here we go again . . .

It would be exceptionally helpful if Wizards of the Coast substantiated wild claims like this one. What part of that sentence is supposed to “not function properly”? Is it the part where Slumbering Trudge gets tapped after it enters the battlefield? Is it that the replacement effect has an additional instruction that gets carried out after the modified event?

Well, if that’s the case, Bewitching Leechcraft shouldn’t function either and Enduring Angel joins in solidarity. Ordinarily, Time Vault and similar cards would point to rule 614.10b, but I assume that rule is now in sleep mode; the same goes for prevention effects that do something “if damage is prevented this way” and rule 615.5; last but not least, rule 121.7 used to cover cases where part, but not all, of an event gets replaced by a card draw. None of which function properly anymore, somehow. I guess?

The one positive thing I can say about this paragraph is that it acknowledges this update as a functional change.

Gym Buddies

Spry and Mighty asks you to choose two creatures you control, but sometimes it’ll resolve when you only control one creature. What happens in that case? Well, the answer is confusing and we don’t expect you to know it, but the card now has errata. With the updated wording, if you can’t choose exactly two creatures you control, the spell just won’t do anything. Remember, you need a spotter when you lift, even if you’re as tall as a Treefolk.

And one last unsubstantiated claim before we close the books on this bulletin. Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast provide guidance on resolving such issues:

If there should be a discrepancy between this summary and the official rules, the official rules take precedence.

And just like that, all the confusion vanishes. What doesn’t vanish though is the miscapitalization of “treefolk.” And the pervasive use of “make clear” and “clarify” for functional changes.

Well, I look forward to the next Banned & Restricted announcement: “For these reason, the Standard banned list receives a small tweak to its wording to make Badgermole Cub’s legality clear.” Or how about “Join me next week for another installment of Clarifying Magic.” Clear as mud.