Control-changing is a continuous effect, which means we turn to the good old Layer system to figure out disputes. The layer system exists so you know in what order to apply these continuous effects! Without going into too much detail on it, what you really need to know here is that when two continuous effects are warring it out in the same layer, the newest one wins. So what does that have to do with our current topic?
Let’s take a look at Gruul Charm. One of the Charm’s modes is to gain control of all permanents you own, so you can use it to steal back your stolen guy. But what confuses some players here is that they think that the Soul Ransom’s “you control enchanted creature” will just start working again as soon as you get your creature back. But, like we covered just a moment ago, the layer system says the newest timestamp wins! So the Gruul Charm’s timestamp ‘beats’ the Soul Ransom’s timestamp. Soul Ransom stays on the creature, and you can still discard 2 cards to get rid of the Ransom and let your opponent draw 2 cards, but there’s no real need to: you have your creature back already.
Today’s Rules Tip written by Trevor Nunez