Morningtide Rules Primer.

_Morningtide_(TM) Rules Primer Compiled by Mark L. Gottlieb, with contributions from Laurie Cheers, Jeff Jordan, and Lee Sharpe Document last modified January 9, 2008 _Morningtide_ Prerelease tournaments: January 19-20, 2008 _Morningtide_ official release date: February 1, 2008 The _Morningtide_ set becomes legal for sanctioned Constructed play on its official release date. See "Change to the _Magic_(TM) Floor Rules" below. The _Morningtide_ set contains 150 cards (60 common, 40 uncommon, 50 rare). The Rules Primer is intended to support the _Morningtide_ Prerelease tournaments. It covers major changes to the _Magic: The Gathering_(R) game rules and the most complicated of the set's new mechanics. If the wording of a card contradicts the rules or Oracle, assume that the printed card is correct. The more comprehensive _Morningtide_ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document will be posted on <MagicTheGathering.com> on Monday, January 21, 2008. _Morningtide_ cards will appear in the Gatherer database and the Oracle(TM) card reference at that time. ----- GENERAL NOTES ***Change to the _Magic_(TM) Floor Rules*** A significant change to the rules that govern sanctioned Magic events was announced on December 1, 2007. New _Magic_ sets will now become legal for Constructed play on the day of the product's official release (rather than on the twentieth of the month following its release). The first set affected by this change is the _Morningtide_ set, which will become legal for Constructed play on February 1, 2008. ***Keyword Ability: Prowl*** Prowl is an alternative cost that appears on some Rogue cards. Latchkey Faerie {3}{U} Creature -- Faerie Rogue 3/1 Flying Prowl {2}{U} (You may play this for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Faerie or Rogue.) When Latchkey Faerie comes into play, if its prowl cost was paid, draw a card. The official rules for prowl are as follows: 502.76. Prowl 502.76a Prowl is a static ability that functions on the stack. "Prowl [cost]" means "You may pay [cost] rather than pay this spell's mana cost if a player was dealt combat damage this turn by a source that, at the time it dealt that damage, was under your control and had any of this spell's creature types." Paying a spell's prowl cost follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 409.1b and 409.1f-h. 502.76b If a source that assigned combat damage left play before combat damage resolved, its last known information is used to determine its controller and its creature types. * At the time you play a spell that has prowl, you look back over the course of the turn to check if the prowl condition has been met. What matters is whether you controlled a permanent with any of the relevant creature types at the time it dealt combat damage, or whether you controlled such a permanent at the time it left play and its combat damage was on the stack. It doesn't matter whether you still control the permanent or if its creature types are still the same. * Playing a card for its prowl cost doesn't change the timing of when you can play it. Only the cost is different. * Although the prowl reminder text lists specific creature types, this is done for convenience only. The prowl card's current creature types are what actually matter. For example, if a card such as Conspiracy causes a prowl spell to be an Elf, then you can pay its prowl cost rather than its mana cost only if an Elf you controlled dealt combat damage to a player that turn. * Prowl is optional. If you want, you can pay a spell's normal mana cost rather than pay its prowl cost. * Some prowl cards have comes-into-play abilities or additional effects if their prowl costs were paid. You'll get them if you played the card by paying its prowl cost rather than its normal mana cost. ----- ***Keyword Ability: Reinforce*** Reinforce is an activated ability you can play from your hand. Hunting Triad {3}{G} Tribal Sorcery -- Elf Put three 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature tokens into play. Reinforce 3--{3}{G} ({3}{G}, Discard this card: Put three +1/+1 counters on target creature.) The official rules for reinforce are as follows: 502.77. Reinforce 502.77a Reinforce is an activated ability that functions only while the card with reinforce is in a player's hand. "Reinforce N--[cost]" means "[Cost], Discard this card: Put N +1/+1 counters on target creature." 502.77b Although the reinforce ability is playable only if the card is in a player's hand, it continues to exist while the object is in play and in all other zones. Therefore objects with reinforce will be affected by effects that depend on objects having one or more activated abilities. ----- ***Ability Word: Kinship*** Kinship is an ability word that indicates a group of similar triggered abilities that appear on _Morningtide_ creatures. Each of them works the same way except for the bonus you might get. Wandering Graybeard {3}{W}{W} Creature -- Giant Wizard 4/4 Kinship -- At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with Wandering Graybeard, you may reveal it. If you do, you gain 4 life. * The first two sentences of every kinship ability are the same (except for the creature's name). Only the last sentence varies from one kinship ability to the next. * You don't have to reveal the top card of your library, even if it shares a creature type with the creature that has the kinship ability. * After the kinship ability finishes resolving, the card you looked at remains on top of your library. * If you have multiple creatures with kinship abilities, each triggers and resolves separately. You'll look at the same card for each one, unless you have some method of shuffling your library or moving that card to a different zone. * If the top card of your library is already revealed (due to Magus of the Future, for example), you still have the option to reveal it or not as part of a kinship ability's effect. ----- ***Cycle: Bannerets*** The _Morningtide_ set has a cycle of creatures with "Banneret" in their names. Each one makes certain other spells you play cheaper to play. Frogtosser Banneret {1}{B} Creature -- Goblin Rogue 1/1 Haste Goblin spells and Rogue spells you play cost {1} less to play. * A spell you play that's both a Goblin and a Rogue costs {1} less to play, not {2} less. * The effect reduces the total cost of the spell, regardless of whether you chose to pay additional or alternative costs. For example, if you play a Rogue spell by paying its prowl cost, Frogtosser Banneret causes that spell to cost {1} less. ----- ***Cycle: Tribal Equipment*** The _Morningtide_ set has a cycle of tribal Equipment, each of which is affiliated with a creature type. Obsidian Battle-Axe {3} Tribal Artifact -- Warrior Equipment Equipped creature gets +2/+1 and has haste. Whenever a Warrior creature comes into play, you may attach Obsidian Battle-Axe to it. Equip {3} * Each of these Equipment has two subtypes listed on its type line. The first one is a creature type, which in this case is also a subtype of tribal. The second one is Equipment, which is a subtype of artifact. * Each of these Equipment has a triggered ability that says "Whenever a [creature type] creature comes into play, you may attach [this Equipment] to it." This triggers whenever any creature of the specified creature type comes into play, no matter who controls it. You may attach your Equipment to another player's creature this way, even though you can't do so with the equip ability. * If you attach an Equipment you control to another player's creature, you retain control of the Equipment, but you don't control the creature. Only you can play the Equipment's equip ability, and if the Equipment's ability triggers again, you choose whether to move the Equipment. Only the creature's controller can play any activated abilities the Equipment grants to the creature, and "you" in any abilities granted to the creature refers to that player. ----- ***Theme: "Clashback" Spells*** The _Morningtide_ set has a number of spells with clash that you return to your hand if you win the clash. Titan's Revenge {X}{R}{R} Sorcery Titan's Revenge deals X damage to target creature or player. Clash with an opponent. If you win, return Titan's Revenge to its owner's hand. (Each clashing player reveals the top card of his or her library, then puts that card on the top or bottom. A player wins if his or her card had a higher converted mana cost.) * If you win the clash, the spell moves from the stack to your hand as part of its resolution. It never hits the graveyard. If you don't win the clash, the spell is put into the graveyard from the stack as normal. * If the spell is countered for any reason (for example, if all its targets become illegal), none of its effects happen. There is no clash, and the spell card won't be returned to your hand. * See the _Lorwyn_(TM) FAQ for a complete explanation of the clash keyword action. ----- ***Theme: "Counter Boosters"*** A few _Morningtide_ cards have abilities that say that certain other creatures you control come into play with additional +1/+1 counters on them. Sage of Fables {2}{U} Creature -- Merfolk Wizard 2/2 Each other Wizard creature you control comes into play with an additional +1/+1 counter on it. {2}, Remove a +1/+1 counter from a creature you control: Draw a card. * If a creature of the specified creature type would normally come into play with a certain number of +1/+1 counters on it, it comes into play with that many +1/+1 counters plus one on it instead. If a creature of the specified creature type would normally come into play with no +1/+1 counters on it, it comes into play with one +1/+1 counter on it instead. * The creature gets the counter if it would come into play under your control. It doesn't matter who owns the creature or what zone it comes into play from (such as your opponent's graveyard, for example). * The creature gets the counter if its copiable characteristics as it would exist in play include the specified creature type. For example, say you control Conspiracy, and the chosen creature type is Wizard. If you put a creature into play that isn't normally a Wizard, it won't get a counter from Sage of Fables. * If a copy effect would change a creature's copiable characteristics as it's coming into play under your control, you apply that effect and the effects from cards such as these in the order of your choice. For example, Clone reads, "As Clone comes into play, you may choose a creature in play. If you do, Clone comes into play as a copy of that creature." If you apply Clone's effect first, choose a Wizard to copy, and apply Sage of Fable's effect second, Clone comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on it. If you apply Sage of Fable's effect first, Clone doesn't get the +1/+1 counter. * The effects from more than one of these cards are cumulative. That is, if you have two Sage of Fables in play, Wizard creatures you control come into play with two additional +1/+1 counters on them. * If one of these creatures comes into play at the same time as a creature of the specified creature type (due to Living End, for example), that creature doesn't get a +1/+1 counter. ----- ***Theme: "Choose a Creature Type"*** A number of _Morningtide_ cards tell you to choose a creature type, then base their effect on how many permanents of the chosen type you control. Distant Melody {3}{U} Sorcery Choose a creature type. Draw a card for each permanent you control of that type. * You choose any targets for the spell when you play it, but you don't choose a creature type until the spell resolves. * Note that these spells count the number of permanents you control of the chosen type, not just the number of creatures you control. They'll also take your tribal permanents into account. ----- ***Returning Keyword Ability: Evoke*** The evoke ability makes a return appearance in the _Morningtide_ set. Although the ability is exactly the same as it was in the _Lorwyn_ set, the creatures it appears on are different. All _Lorwyn_ creatures with evoke have comes-into-play abilities. All _Morningtide_ creatures with evoke have leaves-play abilities! Slithermuse {2}{U}{U} Creature -- Elemental 3/3 When Slithermuse leaves play, choose an opponent. If that player has more cards in hand than you, draw cards equal to the difference. Evoke {3}{U} (You may play this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it comes into play.) * As far as evoke is concerned, there's very little difference between the _Lorwyn_ creatures and the _Morningtide_ creatures. In both cases, paying the evoke cost means you'll get just the ability, not the creature -- though the creature will appear in play for a short amount of time. * Playing a _Morningtide_ creature by paying its evoke cost results in only one comes-into-play ability: the sacrifice ability from evoke. After the creature is sacrificed, its leaves-play triggered ability is put on the stack. * Evoke doesn't change the timing of when you can play the creature that has it. If you could play that creature spell only when you could play a sorcery, the same is true for playing it with evoke. * If a creature spell played with evoke changes controllers before it comes into play, it will still be sacrificed when it comes into play. Similarly, if a creature played with evoke changes controllers after it comes into play but before its sacrifice ability resolves, it will still be sacrificed. In both cases, the controller of the creature at the time it left play will control its leaves-play ability. * When you play a spell by paying its evoke cost, its mana cost doesn't change. You just pay the evoke cost instead. * Effects that cause you to pay more or less to play a spell will cause you to pay that much more or less while playing it for its evoke cost, too. That's because they affect the total cost of the spell, not its mana cost. * Whether evoke's sacrifice ability triggers when the creature comes into play depends on whether the spell's controller chose to pay the evoke cost, not whether he or she actually paid it (if it was reduced or otherwise altered by another ability, for example). * If you're playing a spell "without paying its mana cost," you can't use its evoke ability. ----- All trademarks are property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries. (c)2008 Wizards.