Cryptic Spires

Well, that's a little cryptic. Cryptic Spires is a card that requires you to make a choice during deck construction. While we have some precedence for this with Conspiracy, this is the first time that multiple cards in the deck with the same name could have different choices made for them. Usually, the choice is made before the event begins and does not change, but in events using Continuous Construction rules, that choice may be changed between games. How that choice is conveyed is up to the

Read more.

Policy Update for Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

There's only one thing to talk about this update, but it's something I know a lot of you have been waiting for. How will Companions work in paper play? In Magic it is Great Comfort to Have a Companion I'll start with my usual advice: Don't Panic. I've seen some fears of constant deckchecks and impossible enforcement. We had discussions with the Design team way back when these were in early development, and one of the things that they wanted to make sure was that these would be functional

Read more.

Policy Update for Theros Beyond Death

There's not a lot of changes to worry about this time. No TBD jokes even, promise! So, we'll jump straight to: Quick Hits * Last update, we clarified that the upgrade path for Tournament Errors only considered previously issued Warnings (as opposed to previously issued Game Losses). We moved the same language over to Game Play Errors to be consistent, though it's extremely unlikely to be relevant here. * If you took a mulligan and only drew six cards, put one on the bottom, then started

Read more.

Policy Changes for Throne of Eldraine

Dark Times in the Land of Cornercase "I have kidnapped Princess Artemis and cast an illusion upon her. She cannot be found," the Evil Queen cackled. "Also, the rules for drafting have been updated and the players will always leave the basic lands in the packs when they draft. This provides consistency and players won't have to remember whether this is one of the sets that requires it. Just remove anything that isn't a Magic card and draft the rest" Banished from the land, Prince Heffernan

Read more.

Policy Changes for Core 2020

Evil schemes. Blue-coated figures. Carnage in the streets. Sacrifices being made to save the day. Yeah, Narset has been interesting. Narset Many people have been worrying about Narset and, more generally, the static abilities on the War of the Spark planeswalkers. It turns out that they're really easy to miss, and several of them alter game rules directly. They're generating frequent judge calls and Game Rule Violations (or, in the case of Narset, Hidden Card Error violations). I

Read more.

Policy Changes for War of the Spark

You'd think with how big War of the Spark is, as culmination of years of story, we'd have a big policy update to go with it. Not so! This is the smallest update in the history of the IPG. The changes are on the level of things I'd usually debate whether they were worth mentioning in the Quick Hits. So, we'll put up a block we can pretend is the detailed explanations, then skip to the Quick Hits. Then we'll go back to fighting undead on the streets of Ravnica and return for a larger update

Read more.

Policy Changes for Ravnica Allegiance

Ravnica Allegiance is here, which means it's time for us to let our Simic flag fly. Open the cloning vats! Prepare the splicers! Two New Match Losses Bet that got your attention. I'm going to announce something big, but it's not as big as you might initially think. Deep breath. Improperly Determining a Winner and Bribery and Wagering are now Match Losses. Breathe. Use your gills if you have to. Here's the really important thing to remember: If the player knew they weren't allowed

Read more.

Trolling

Fun fact: Charnel Troll has a template that hasn't been used before. (Well, technically on one un-card, but I'm not about to use that for precedent!) This has led to a question of whether the "otherwise" on the trigger means "if you don't" or "if you can't". This matters because the former is a trigger with a default action, while the latter is an ordinary trigger. If it's a default action, then missing the trigger means that the Troll will meet an untimely death when it's discovered. After

Read more.

Policy Changes for Guilds of Ravnica

I was all ready to do a Guild-themed announcement update, until I discovered that most of the guilds I identify with were in the next set. So there are no changes this time; see you with Ravnica Allegiance. Kidding! There's a few worthy guilds kicking around, another new Communication section, and lot of little cleanups. Onwards! Baby Got Takeback There's only one change that merits more than a line or two this time around. We've added a section on take-backs. Before anyone panics

Read more.