Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules

These rules are effective as of October 1, 2012.

Introduction

This document is designed for people who’ve moved beyond the basics of the Magic: The Gathering® game. If you’re a beginning Magic™ player, you’ll probably find these rules intimidating. They’re intended to be the ultimate authority for the game, and you won’t usually need to refer to them except in specific cases or during competitive games.

For casual play and most ordinary situations, you’ll find what you need in the Magic: The Gathering basic rulebook. You can download a copy of that rulebook from the Wizards of the Coast® Magic rules website at www.wizards.com/Magic/rules. If you’re sure this is where you want to be, keep reading.

This document includes a series of numbered rules followed by a glossary. Many of the numbered rules are divided into subrules, and each separate rule and subrule of the game has its own number. (Note that subrules skip the letters “l” and “o” due to potential confusion with the numbers “1” and “0”; subrule 704.5k is followed by 704.5m, then 704.5n, then 704.5p, for example.)

We at Wizards of the Coast recognize that no matter how detailed the rules, situations will arise in which the interaction of specific cards requires a precise answer. If you have questions, you can get the answers from us at www.wizards.com/customerservice. Additional contact information is on the last page of these rules.

In response to play issues and to keep these rules as current as possible, changes may have been made to this document since its publication. See the Wizards of the Coast Magic rules website at www.wizards.com/Magic/rules for the current version of the official rules.

Contents

1. Game Concepts

100. General

101. The Magic Golden Rules

102. Players

103. Starting the Game

104. Ending the Game

105. Colors

106. Mana

107. Numbers and Symbols

108. Cards

109. Objects

110. Permanents

111. Spells

112. Abilities

113. Emblems

114. Targets

115. Special Actions

116. Timing and Priority

117. Costs

118. Life

119. Damage

120. Drawing a Card

121. Counters

2. Parts of a Card

200. General

201. Name

202. Mana Cost and Color

203. Illustration

204. Color Indicator

205. Type Line

206. Expansion Symbol

207. Text Box

208. Power/Toughness

209. Loyalty

210. Hand Modifier

211. Life Modifier

212. Information Below the Text Box

3. Card Types

300. General

301. Artifacts

302. Creatures

303. Enchantments

304. Instants

305. Lands

306. Planeswalkers

307. Sorceries

308. Tribals

309. Planes

310. Phenomena

311. Vanguards

312. Schemes

4. Zones

400. General

401. Library

402. Hand

403. Battlefield

404. Graveyard

405. Stack

406. Exile

407. Ante

408. Command

5. Turn Structure

500. General

501. Beginning Phase

502. Untap Step

503. Upkeep Step

504. Draw Step

505. Main Phase

506. Combat Phase

507. Beginning of Combat Step

508. Declare Attackers Step

509. Declare Blockers Step

510. Combat Damage Step

511. End of Combat Step

512. Ending Phase

513. End Step

514. Cleanup Step

6. Spells, Abilities, and Effects

600. General

601. Casting Spells

602. Activating Activated Abilities

603. Handling Triggered Abilities

604. Handling Static Abilities

605. Mana Abilities

606. Loyalty Abilities

607. Linked Abilities

608. Resolving Spells and Abilities

609. Effects

610. One-Shot Effects

611. Continuous Effects

612. Text-Changing Effects

613. Interaction of Continuous Effects

614. Replacement Effects

615. Prevention Effects

616. Interaction of Replacement and/or Prevention Effects

7. Additional Rules

700. General

701. Keyword Actions

702. Keyword Abilities

703. Turn-Based Actions

704. State-Based Actions

705. Flipping a Coin

706. Copying Objects

707. Face-Down Spells and Permanents

708. Split Cards

709. Flip Cards

710. Leveler Cards

711. Double-Faced Cards

712. Controlling Another Player

713. Ending the Turn

714. Restarting the Game

715. Subgames

716. Taking Shortcuts

717. Handling Illegal Actions

8. Multiplayer Rules

800. General

801. Limited Range of Influence Option

802. Attack Multiple Players Option

803. Attack Left and Attack Right Options

804. Deploy Creatures Option

805. Shared Team Turns Option

806. Free-for-All Variant

807. Grand Melee Variant

808. Team vs. Team Variant

809. Emperor Variant

810. Two-Headed Giant Variant

811. Alternating Teams Variant

9. Casual Variants

900. General

901. Planechase

902. Vanguard

903. Commander

904. Archenemy

Glossary

Credits

Customer Service Information