IMPORTANT UPDATE: This article has been updated as of the prerelease of Magic 2014 on July 13; Please refer to the revisions below.

Some cards such as the recently reprinted card Evil Presence change a land into a basic land type.

When an effect says that a land becomes one of the basic land types (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain or Forest), it has several aspects.  The card’s text is completely replaced with the relevant mana ability — “Tap: add {color} to your mana pool.” Finally, and most confusing, is the actual type change.  The subtype of the land changes to the named type, but not any supertypes or core types.

What this means is that a nonbasic land is still nonbasic and hence can be the target of a Tectonic Edge; a snow land still has snow and produces snow mana, a legendary land is still legendary and is subject to the legend rule, and an artifact land is still an artifact and can be shattered.

Note that a Legendary land with the type Swamp will not be put into the graveyard just because there are other swamps.  If a second Legendary land with the same name is on the battlefield, they will both go to the graveyard as a state-based action.

Magic 2014 has updated the Legendary Rule; the rules now only look at each player’s side of the battlefield independent from that of other players, and all but one Legend will be put into the graveyard. For example, both you and your opponent can control a Gaea’s Cradle, but if you were to play a second copy, one of your two Cradles (you choose which one… probably the one you already tapped!) must be put into the graveyard as a State-Based Action.

Today’s Rules Tip was submitted by David Hibbs, a level 2 judge from League City, Texas, United States.