Magic: The Gathering Rules FAQ, v3.06 (main J-Z)

Archive-name: games/magic-t-g/rules/part3
Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.claymore.nu/mtgrules

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Section J: Abilities in general

J.01 Q: If I kill a creature in response to it using its ability, does the 
ability still take effect?
      A: Yes. The Silver Rule of Magic states that an ability, once played, 
exists independently of its source. If a Prodigal Sorcerer taps to deal 1 
damage, it doesn't help to kill the Prodigal Sorcerer in response; the 
ability will resolve.

J.02 Q: Can I Counterspell a permanent's ability?
      A: No. Counterspell can only counter spells, not abilities. To 
counter an ability, you need a Bind.

J.03 Q: If something is tapped, can it still use abilities that don't 
require it to tap?
      A: Yes. For example, Hate Weaver reads "2: Target blue or red 
creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn". Since this ability does not require 
tapping, it can be used while Hate Weaver is tapped.

J.04 Q: Can use an ability multiple times, e.g. use Pestilence several 
times in a row?
      A: Yes. Unless the ability itself has a restriction, you can play it 
as many times as you can pay the cost.

J.05 Q: Do the abilities of artifacts work while they're tapped?
      A: Yes, these days they do, apart from the few that got errata to 
state that they "shut off" when tapped. These artifacts are Howling Mine, 
Static Orb and Winter Orb.

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Section K: Timing

K.01 Q: What happens first, if two things say they happen "when" or 
"whenever" an event occurs? Can I cast instants in-between them?
      A: Since such abilities are triggered abilities, it depends on who 
controls them. If the same player controls them, he or she decides the 
order in which they go on the stack and, by extension, the order in which 
they resolve. If different players control them, the ones controlled by the 
active player go on the stack first, followed by the ones controlled by the 
inactive player, meaning that the ones controlled by the inactive player 
will resolve first.

K.02 Q: Both players want to cast Shock, and both are on 2 life. Who dies?
      A: The player who cracks first, generally speaking. When he announces 
his Shock, his opponent can respond to it with her own Shock. Things 
resolve in Last In First Out (LIFO) order, so the responding Shock will 
resolve first. If each player knows that the other has a Shock, this 
situation is a stalemate until one player draws another Shock.

K.03 Q: If events in the end of turn step cause something to happen "at end 
of turn", when will that actually be?
      A: At the end of the next turn. "At end of turn" means "at the 
beginning of the end of turn step", which has already happened this turn. 
Therefore the effect will wait until the next end of turn step that comes 
around. Don't confuse this with...

K.04 Q: If events in the end of turn step start an effect that lasts "until 
end of turn", when will that actually wear off?
      A: During that same turn. "Until end of turn" effects wear off during 
the cleanup step, which will be repeated if anything unusual happens. In 
other words, it's not possible to get an "until end of turn" effect to last 
until the following turn.

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Section L

L.01 Q: Where's section L?
      A: There is no section L. Move along. These aren't the droids you're 
looking for.

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Section M: Targeting and enchanting

M.01 Q: How do you know if a spell or ability targets?
      A: It targets if it a) says it targets or b) is a local enchantment 
spell. Nothing else targets. Ever.

M.02 Q: If Agonizing Demise's (destroy target nonblack creature) target 
becomes black before it resolves, will it still destroy it?
      A: No. Target legality is checked twice, once on announcement and 
once on resolution. If one of a spell's or ability's targets is illegal on 
resolution, nothing is done to that target; if all of a spell's or 
ability's targets are illegal on resolution, the spell or ability is countered.

M.03 Q: Can I cast Reckless Spite (destroy two target nonblack creatures) 
targetting only one creature, or the same creature twice?
      A: No, you have to target a separate creature for each target, and 
have to have enough legal targets; otherwise you're not allowed to play the 
spell.

M.05 Q: How well does Blurred Mongoose's (Blurred Mongoose can't be the 
target of spells or abilities) ability protect it?
      A: It cannot be targeted, and so is safe from everything that says it 
targets, and everything that is a local enchantment spell. Everything else 
(Wrath of God, Earthquake etc) affects it just fine.

M.06 Q: Do "Enchant Foo" cards fall off when their enchantee stops being a Foo?
      A: Yes. That means the local enchantment is enchanting an illegal 
enchantee, which in turn means the enchantment goes to the graveyard as a 
state-based effect.

M.07 Q: Will an enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection from 
its color?
      A: Yes. That means the local enchantment is enchanting an illegal 
enchantee, which in turn means the enchantment goes to the graveyard as a 
state-based effect.

M.08 Q: Will +1/+1 counters fall off if they're not on a creature?
      A: No. They won't have any effect on it, but they will stay on.

M.09 Q: Do enchantments & counters fall off when something regenerates?
      A: No. Regeneration replaces destruction, so the destruction never 
happens.

M.10 Q: What is a global enchantment?
      A: Any "Enchant World" or "Enchantment" card.

M.11 Q: What is a local enchantment?
      A: Any "Enchant Foo" card that isn't an "Enchant World" card.

M.12 Q: If I try to counter an Urza's Rage (or something else that is 
uncounterable) with an Absorb/Undermine, will I still gain 3 life/will my 
opponent still lose 3 life?
      A: Yes. Urza's Rage can be targeted by Absorb and Undermine perfectly 
well, and so they won't be countered upon resolution. They resolve alright 
(although they do nothing to Urza's Rage), and the extra effect of 
lifegain/lifeloss will occur.

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Section N: Specific cards

N.01 Q: Can I play Orim's Chant in response to a spell, stopping that spell?
      A: No. By the time you can respond to a spell, that spell has already 
been played, and Orim's Chant prevents a player from playing spells. It can 
in no way, shape or form counter spells. If it could, it would say so on 
the card.

N.02 Q: If I control a Sanctuary and a single permanent that is both of the 
appropriate colors, do I get the "big effect"?
      A: Yes. The game doesn't check for two different permanents, it just 
asks "Do you control a <color> permanent?" for both colors, and if it gets 
two positive replies back, you get the big effect.

N.03 Q: How do Flagbearers work again?
      A: Basically, if your opponent controls a Flagbearer, you have to 
target it if able. If you cannot target the Flagbearer (you're playing a 
Shock and the Flagbearer has protection from red) the Flagbearer doesn't 
affect you.

N.04 Q: If a creature becomes a Flagbearer and gets the Flagbearer ability 
in response to a spell, is the spell countered due to illegal target?
      A: No. The Flagbearer ability only affects spells and abilities 
during announcement, not at any other time.

N.05 Q: If I turn a creature into a Flagbearer, does it automatically gain 
the Flagbearer ability?
      A: No. Only two creature types have special rules attached to them, 
Legends and Walls. If there isn't a natural Flagbearer in play, giving a 
creature the Flagbearer type does nothing special.

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Section O: Tournaments and rulebooks

O.01 Q: What is a sideboard?
      A: Something you only use in a tournament. In a Constructed 
tournament, it's 15 extra cards you bring with you, in a Limited 
tournament, it's all the cards you have drafted or opened but isn't using 
in your deck. After the first round of a match you can exchange cards in 
your main deck for cards in your sideboard on a 1:1 basis.

O.02 Q: What is a mulligan?
      A: If you draw your starting hand and aren't happy with it, you can 
take a mulligan, which means shuffling your hand into your library and 
drawing a new hand of one less card than the last one. You can mulligan 
down to a zero card hand if you wish.

O.03 Q: Can I use newer cards in the same games as older ones, despite the 
changes to the rules?
      A: Certainly, yes. Many of the problems they had when writing the 6th 
edition rules came from ensuring that old cards would still work.

O.04 Q: What cards can I play with in a tournament?
     A: That depends on the tournament. In a sealed-deck or draft 
tournament, you just get to play with the cards you're given on the day, of 
course.

In a Type 1 tournament, your deck may consist of cards from all Magic card 
sets, any extension of the basic set, and all promotional cards released by 
Wizards of the Coast, Inc, but not cards listed on WotC's site as being 
banned in Type 1. Also, you may only have one each of the cards on the 
restricted list as given on WotC's site.

In a Type 1.5 tournament, your deck may consist of cards from all Magic 
card sets, any extension of the basic set, and all promotional cards 
released by Wizards of the Coast, Inc, but not cards listed on WotC's site 
as being banned in Type 1.5.

In an Extended tournament, your deck may consist of cards from Sixth 
Edition, Seventh Edition and any expansion sets from Tempest onward. 
Expansion sets older than Tempest are not legal in Extended. There is a 
short banned list on WotC's site for Extended, and those cards are not 
legal for use in Extended.

In a Type 2 tournament, your deck may consist of cards from the following 
sets: Seventh Edition, Odyssey, Torment, Judgment, Onslaught, Legions and 
Scourge, but not cards listed as being banned on WotC's site. Currently, no 
cards are banned in Type 2.

O.05 Q: In a tournament where (for example) Ice Age isn't legal, am I 
allowed to play with an Ice Age card that was reprinted in a legal set?
      A: Yes. Note that it will be treated as if it were a copy of the card 
from the legal set. For example, if you play with a copy of Squall from 
Starter, which has casting cost 1G, then it will be treated as if it were 
the Squall from Mercadian Masques, which has casting cost 2G.

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