Flashback, a keyword ability that appears on instant and sorceries, is making its third trip back to Magic expansions tomorrow when Innistrad is released. To get you prepared for the prerelease here are some general rules on how Flashback works. Flashback is actually two different static abilities. The first creates an alternate play cost and […]
Author: krizriktr
Timely Reinforcements determines what it does when it resolves.
can give its controller six life, put three 1/1 soldier tokens into play or both of those effects depending on what the game looks like when it resolves. If the controller of Timely Reinforcements has a life total that is less than any opponent in the game, then this player will gain six life. If […]
When types and subtypes are removed and when they are not.
There are a lot of effects in Magic that take away or add types and subtypes. The important tip to remember is that when an effect changes the type of subtype of an object, that object loses all other types and subtypes unless the effect specifically states that it keeps previous types.* For example, will […]
Special actions do not use the stack and cannot be responded to.
Currently in Magic there are six special actions, one of them only applies when playing the Planechase variant (rolling the planar die). The most common special action would be playing a land. However you may come across one of the other special actions from time to time, they are, turning a face down card face […]
Once Goblin Tunneler’s ability resolves the targeted creature is unblockable even if it gets bigger.
has an activated ability that makes a creature with power of two or less unblockable for the remainder of the current turn. This ability does have a targeting restriction which requires that the targeted creature have a power of two or less. In other words this creature’s power must be two or less in order […]
What ‘cast’ means
Casting a spell means to take a card (and sometimes a copy of a card) from the zone that it is in and put it on the stack, pay all necessary costs and wait for it to resolve and affect the game. Cast was initially an informal term and the official phrase was to ‘play […]
Rusted Sentinel’s ability applied as it enters the battlefield
has one ability which causes it to enter the battlefield tapped. This is a static ability that generates a replacement effect that is applied to the action of putting the Sentinel into play. (This will most often happen as the Rusted Sentinel spell resolves.) The Sentinel does not enter the battlefield and then become tapped. […]
The ‘Failure to Maintain the Game State’ infraction should not be upgraded.
The responsibility to make sure that everything is legal in an individual game falls down to the players themselves. While we do not expect players to know every aspect of the rules, we do want them to keep track of the game and make efforts that nothing illegal happens. This applies to making efforts so […]
Warstorm Surge uses last known information if needed.
has a triggered ability that triggers when a creature enters the battlefield under the control of the controller of the Surge. When this trigger goes on the stack a target creature or player is chosen. When this trigger resolves the target will receive damage equal to the power of the creature that entered the battlefield […]