Subject: [MAGAUS] [O] December Rules Group Rulings Date: Sun, 21 Dec 1997 11:01:38 +1100 (EST) From: Beth Moursund December 1997 Magic Rulings & Errata A Summary of Recent, Significant Rulings compiled by Tom Wylie General Rules The following are meant to clarify the rulebook, and how the game in general works. 1) CORRECTION: Continuous abilities that apply when damage is assigned take effect when damage is redirected, just like abilities that trigger on that damage. The most asked-about example is the way Furnace of Rath's effect interacts with trample damage. Because redirected damage is actually reassigned, Furnace of Rath doubles damage that gets redirected. For example, here's what happens when a Ball Lightning (power 6, trample) is blocked by an Ophidian (toughness 3) while Furnace of Rath is in play: Normally, Ball Lightning would assign 6 damage to the Ophidian, but because the Furnace is in play, it assigns 12 damage. Ophidian's toughness is 3, so 9 of the 12 damage "tramples through," meaning it's redirected to the defending player. When that 9 damage is assigned to the defending player, it is doubled again because of the Furnace's effect, for a total of 18 damage. 2) If an ability says that a creature is destroyed but can't be regenerated, then players can play spells and abilities that would regenerate the creature, but the attempt at regeneration will fail, so none of the side effects of regeneration happen either--the creature is still destroyed, it doesn't become tapped, and so on. Errata 1) Cold Storage's first ability should read, "3: Remove target creature you control from the game." The second ability should read "Sacrifice Cold Storage: Put into play under its owner's control each creature removed from the game with Cold Storage." Similar language applies for similar abilities, like Safe Haven's. 2) Cursed Scroll's ability requires you to reveal the card your opponent chooses to all players. 3) Ertai's Meddling should state the obvious: although the target spell is considered successfully cast, it does not resolve at the normal time. 4) Every licid should say that it becomes a creature enchantment "instead of any other type of permanent," not just instead of a creature. 5) Magnetic Web's first ability is a constraint on attack, not a triggered ability. It should therefore read, "Each creature with any magnet counters on it attacks if able if any other creatures with any magnet counters on them attack." 6) Torture Chamber's last ability should read, "1, Tap, Remove all pain counters from Torture Chamber: Torture Chamber deals 1 damage to target creature for each pain counter removed in this way." 7) Verdant Force's controller plays its upkeep ability and therefore controls the Saproling token put into play. In other words, Verdant Force's controller puts a Saproling token into play under his or her control once during each player's upkeep. Specific Card Rulings 1) Coffin Queen's second ability has two effects. First, it puts a creature card into play; this is a one-time effect. Second, it sets up an ongoing effect that tracks what happens to the Coffin Queen. If a creature is put into play by Coffin Queen and then phases out, the ongoing effect that links the creature to the Coffin Queen's status will end. After it phases back in, it'll be unaffected by the Coffin Queen's status. Remember that the creature doesn't actually depend on Coffin Queen to stay in play. Once the one-time effect mentioned above resolves, the creature is simply in play, just like any other creature. This means that it'll phase in and out normally, just as if it were a creature brought back into play by, say, Strands of Night. 2) If a spell is targeted by more than one Ertai's Meddling, the spell will still only resolve once. The other Meddlings will attempt to have the spell resolve, but their effects will be ignored, because a spell can resolve only once each time it's successfully cast. 3) When Escaped Shapeshifters check to see which abilities they copy, they evaluate everything that's in play, ignoring the presence of other Escaped Shapeshifters. They then gain abilities based on whether opposing creatures have them. Escaped Shapeshifters don't give each other abilities, much like Reflecting Pools don't enable each other to produce mana. Effects such as Radjan Spirit's can remove an Escaped Shapeshifter's copied abilities just as if the Shapeshifter had those abilities naturally. 4) If a licid targets itself with its ability, the effect turns the licid into a creature enchantment targeting itself. Because it is no longer a creature, the licid is then destroyed because its target is illegal. 5) REVERSAL: Abeyance prohibits you from playing activated abilities of cards that are out of play, because it restricts what players can do rather than trying to affect cards or permanents directly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- __ Next Eastwood (Sydney) Tournament is on |\/| _. _ /\ | |(_ 20th of December and is Type 1 (Classic) | |(_|(_|/--\|_|__) Check the Tournament Calendar on the website _| MAGAUS @ http://www.magic.net.au/calendar/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------