Cards that instruct you to play a card from your Main Deck must first banish that card, then play it from banish. This gives the game a defined zone for the card while it is being played and a place to return it if it cannot be played for any reason. This applies to Rek'Sai Swarm Queen, Void Burrower, Void Rush, and Reinforce.
Citaat uit de bron: “banishing the card ensures that the game has a place to put the card until it's actually played, and a place to send the card back to if it can't be played”
When a Brush token is swapped back, the Brush token ceases to exist. A player can choose to swap back to any object that was replaced, including the original battlefield, because a replacing game object inherits all statuses and conditions of the game object it replaced (438.1).
Citaat uit de bron: “The Brush token will cease to exist. When swapping back, a player can choose to swap back to any object that was replaced, including the original battlefield.”
Gear cards enter play in the Ready state (not Exhausted), so they can be used immediately; Gear always enters at the controller's Base.
community (2 bronnen, trust 0.75, officieel bevestigd, status=unreviewed — nog niet gereviewd)
“Gear cannot hold or conquer battlefields, and can only exist in base. If a Gear card is played at a battlefield, it is immediately recalled to the base.”
Baron Nashor's passive generates a delayed replacement effect ('I enter there') that replaces his entering any other location with entering the Baron Pit, bypassing play-location restrictions such as Mageseeker Warden. Dragon Roost is only a permission on play location, not a replacement effect, and therefore cannot bypass such restrictions.
Citaat uit de bron: “Baron Nashor's passive ability generates a delayed replacement effect...This replacement effect replaces the event of him entering to any other location with him entering to the Baron Pit.”
During the Beginning Phase, each player channels 2 Runes from the top of their Rune Deck; the second player channels 3 Runes on their very first turn to compensate for going second.
community (1 bron, trust 0.50, officieel bevestigd, status=unreviewed — nog niet gereviewd)
“If you're going second on your very first turn, you get 3 Runes instead to help catch up.”
When a player controls the battlefield but has no units there (achievable via Hostile Takeover or Stormbringer), the current rules have a gap with no obvious outcome. The interim ruling is to start a noncombat showdown as the least disruptive way to handle this scenario.
Citaat uit de bron: “starting a noncombat showdown is the least disruptive way to handle this scenario”
Each Battlefield can only award 1 point per turn; moving a unit away and replacing it with another unit in the same turn does not grant additional points.
community (2 bronnen, trust 0.75, officieel bevestigd, status=unreviewed — nog niet gereviewd)
“Moving away from a battlefield and back to it with another unit the same turn will not gain you a bonus point.”
Ravenborn Tome's Bonus Damage effect now applies only to the next spell played 'this turn,' preventing the bonus from carrying forward to future turns.
community (1 bron, trust 0.50, officieel bevestigd, status=unreviewed — nog niet gereviewd)
“The next spell you play this turn deals 1 Bonus Damage.”
Yone's ability checks the control status of the battlefield immediately before he conquers it. He triggers at the end of a noncombat showdown in which he conquers an uncontrolled battlefield. He also triggers in 'surprise defense' scenarios where units move during a showdown and he ends up defending a battlefield he doesn't control—if he conquers it, the battlefield was uncontrolled before he conquered it.
Citaat uit de bron: “We're tweaking his text to cue off the control status of the battlefield immediately before conquering it.”
Units with the Ganking ability may move directly from one Battlefield to another, whereas normal units can only move between their controller's Base and a Battlefield.
community (2 bronnen, trust 0.75, officieel bevestigd, status=unreviewed — nog niet gereviewd)
“only units with the Ganking ability may move between battlefields”
Rule 323.6 is corrected to read: 'Players lose control of any controlled Battlefields without their Units occupying them if the turn is in an open state and there is no Showdown or Combat ongoing there.' This replaces the old wording, which incorrectly made unoccupied battlefields with no Showdown or Combat become universally Uncontrolled rather than stripping control only from the player whose units are absent.
Citaat uit de bron: “Players lose control of any controlled Battlefields without their Units occupying them if the turn is in an open state and there is no Showdown or Combat ongoing there.”
When Baited Hook resolves, kills the targeted unit (the sole unit at a battlefield), and the player plays a unit from the top 5 cards, that unit goes pending on the chain. The outstanding cleanup cannot strip battlefield control while a chain item is pending, so the finalized unit can be played to the same battlefield where the kill occurred.
Citaat uit de bron: “I can't lose control of the battlefield because the played unit is on the chain pending”
When an Attacker destroys all Defending units and still has units remaining, they conquer the Battlefield and immediately score 1 point; additionally, every time a Battlefield is conquered without winning the game, the conquering player draws a card.
community (1 bron, trust 0.50, officieel bevestigd, status=unreviewed — nog niet gereviewd)
“every time you conquer a Battlefield but it doesn't win you the game, you get to draw a card”
Battlefield Control (open state, rule 187.4.c) (§187.4.c)
Per rule 187.4.c, a player loses control of a battlefield only in a cleanup that occurs while the turn is in an Open state and they have no units there (and no Combat/Showdown is ongoing). Control cannot be lost during a cleanup while items remain on the chain, enabling effects that kill or banish a unit and then play a new one to target that same battlefield.
Citaat uit de bron: “If a player has no Units at a Battlefield and the turn is in an Open state, they lose Control of that Battlefield in the following cleanup”
Dragon Form sets a unit's base Might to 5 via the Trait-Altering layer; existing arithmetic modifiers (e.g., Stupefy's -1) are applied in the Arithmetic layer. Layer evaluation is instantaneous—there is no window where the unit momentarily exists at 5 Might before the modifier is applied. A unit under both Dragon Form and Stupefy is immediately 4 Might; Fiora, Grand Duelist will not trigger.
Citaat uit de bron: “this process happens instantaneously; there is no window while evaluating layers for the unit to see itself become 5 M and then go down to 4 M”
Action Spells may be played during the controller's turn or during a Showdown; on an opponent's turn, a player may only play Action Spells during Showdowns.
community (1 bron, trust 0.50, officieel bevestigd, status=unreviewed — nog niet gereviewd)
“Most Spells are labeled Action, which means you can play them during your turn or during a Showdown. If it's not your turn, you can only play Action Spells during Showdowns.”
When two mandatory positive requirements conflict on where to play a unit (e.g., Elder Dragon's AA instructing play to Dragon Roost and another effect specifying a different location), the player chooses one requirement and ignores all others. This only applies to mandatory positive requirements that specify a location or method without also preventing play elsewhere.
Citaat uit de bron: “the player chooses one of those requirements and ignores all others”
Arise! is revised to use a reflexive trigger: it first plays a 2 M Sand Soldier unit token for each Equipment you control, then 'Then do this:' readies up to two of them, allowing players to respond between the two effects.
Citaat uit de bron: “Play a 2 M Sand Soldier unit token for each Equipment you control. Then do this: Ready up to two of them.”
If a player kills their only unit at a battlefield to pay Cruel Patron's additional cost, a cleanup is triggered, but control of the battlefield is not lost because Cruel Patron is on the chain. The player may then choose to play Cruel Patron to that same battlefield.
Citaat uit de bron: “because there is an item on the chain (Cruel Patron) I don't lose control of the battlefield”
Signature Cards are Legend-specific cards that can only be included in a deck matching their designated Legend, with a maximum of 3 total Signature Cards permitted across the entire deck.
community (1 bron, trust 0.50, officieel bevestigd, status=unreviewed — nog niet gereviewd)
“You can only use them with their matching Legend, and you can't put more than 3 total Signature Cards in your deck.”
If Temporary is granted to an attached Spinning Axe, it has two instances of Temporary: one inactive (the printed keyword, does not trigger) and one active (the granted keyword, does trigger). The active granted Temporary will kill the Spinning Axe at the start of its controller's Beginning Phase.
Citaat uit de bron: “The Spinning Axe will have two instances of the Temporary keyword - one that is active and one that is inactive. The inactive keyword will not trigger”
Blood Rush was printed without 'this turn' in its effect. The Assault 2 bonus it grants a unit is temporary and lasts only this turn, matching design intent and the pattern of Convergent Mutation.
Citaat uit de bron: “the phrase 'this turn' was accidentally omitted … Give a unit Assault 2 this turn.”
When Deceiver's reflexive trigger copies Zilean, Time Mage, the two Reflection tokens resolve and become copies of Zilean. However, there is no subsequent 'play token' game action for Zilean's replacement effect to apply to, so no further tokens are produced and the loop does not repeat.
Citaat uit de bron: “there is no subsequent play game action involving tokens to apply their replacement effects to”
Swain, Visionary's conquest ability scores 1 extra point by checking whether you've played a non-token unit, a non-token gear, and a spell this turn. These three conditions can be satisfied by different cards; a single card satisfies only its own types.
Citaat uit de bron: “Swain only checks whether you've played a non-token unit, a non-token gear, and a spell. Checks like that do not care whether they were satisfied by multiple cards or a single card.”
Spinning Axe (Temporary while attached) (§816.2.a)
When Spinning Axe is attached to a unit, its printed rules text—including its printed Temporary keyword—becomes inactive. If Spinning Axe is separately granted Temporary, only that granted instance is active. Because only one active instance exists, rule 816.2.a does not prevent it from triggering; the inactive printed Temporary is treated as if it did not exist.
Citaat uit de bron: “the grey Temporary doesn't have any function. We can treat it as if it didn't exist for the purposes of rule 816.2.a.”
As of the Unleashed rules update, when Glasc Mixologist dies alone at a battlefield it controls, the unit from its Deathknell can be played to that same battlefield regardless of whether Combat is occurring. Previously this was only possible during an active Combat.
Citaat uit de bron: “whenever Glasc Mixologist dies alone at a battlefield with the same controller, regardless of if there is a Combat there or not.”