DTK Mechanics

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Happy Monday (again) MTG peeps,

As promised, we have a second post for you today to cover off the freshly revealed mechanics of the next Magic: the Gathering set - Dragons of Tarkir.  We suggest, that if you have not yet already, pop on over to our previous post here to catch up with the big flashy rare / mythic rare Dragons of Tarkir previews.

Anywhoos, straight to business - lets get down to the new and returning mechanics for Dragons of Tarkir.  In today's article on the mothersite, Magic: the Gathering's Rules Gurur, Matt Tabak ran through the mechanics and provided a new Dragons of Tarkir preview card for each - 
• Bolster - Sandcrafter Mage
• Rebound - Ojutai's Summons
• Exploit - Silumgar Butcher
• Dash - Sprinting Warbrute
• Formidable - Stampeding Elk Herd
• Megamorph - Aerie Bowmasters
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Bolster - signature ability of the green-white Dromoka clan
Reminder text - Choose a creature with the least toughtness among creatures you control and put a +1/+1  counter on it.
To bolster, first find the creature you control with the least toughness. If there's a tie, choose one of those creatures. Then put a number of +1/+1 counters on that creature equal to the bolster number. Bolster doesn't target any creature. You don't determine which creature is getting the counters until you're taking the bolster action.

Rebound - signature ability of the white-blue Ojutai clan
Reminder text - If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.
Rebound lets you cast an instant or sorcery spell a second time for free. If you cast a spell with rebound from your hand, you exile it instead of putting it into your graveyard. Then, at the beginning of your next upkeep, you can cast the spell again without paying its mana cost. After casting it from exile, it's put into your graveyard. If you manage to have several spells rebound during the same upkeep, you can cast those spells in any order.

Exploit - signature ability of the blue-black Silumgar clan.
Reminder text - When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice a creature.
Each creature with exploit has another ability that gives you a benefit when it "exploits a creature." This means when you sacrifice a creature because of its exploit ability. That ability doesn't trigger if you sacrifice a creature for any other reason, including the exploit ability of a different creature.

Dash - signature mechanic of the black-red Kolaghan clan
Reminder text - You may cast this spell for its dash cost. If you do, it gains haste, and it's returned from the battlefield to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.
Dash is an alternative cost found on creature spells. As you cast a spell with dash, you can pay its dash cost instead of paying its mana cost. If you do, the creature will have haste, so it can attack that turn. At the beginning of the next end step, you'll return the creature from the battlefield to its owner's hand.

Formidable - signature mechanic of the red-green Atarka clan
Reminder text - specific with reference to a total power of 8 or greater.
Formidable is the signature mechanic of the red-green Atarka clan. Formidable is an ability word, so every formidable ability is different, but they all care in some way about controlling creatures with total power 8 or greater. Read each one carefully to see exactly what it does.

Megamorph - keyword ability shared with all clans
If you understand how morph works, megamorph is almost exactly the same. The only difference is that if you turn a face-down creature with megamorph face up by paying its megamorph cost, not only will it suddenly have its normal characteristics, but you'll put a +1/+1 counter on it as well! Note that if you turn a face-down creature face up some other way (for example, say you manifest a card with megamorph and turn it face up by paying its mana cost), it doesn’t get the counter.

Turning a creature face-up doesn't use the stack and it can't be responded to. So if I controlled a face-down Aerie Bowmasters and turned it face up, it would be a 4/5 (3/4 with the +1/+1 counter) before any player could do anything.
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Fate Reforged Spoiler 12-29

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Happy Monday indeed as this day marks the first official day of Fate Reforged spoilers on the mothersite.  Magic: the Gathering players have had a few previews ahead of this the PAX Austrial MTG panel and elsewhere but today we are definitely getting down to business.  Please pop over to the Wizards of the Coast page to get all the latest including a run down of all the new and returning mechanics for Fate Reforged.

We've got new cards to look at so lets go !

Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury, 3BR
Legendary Creature - Dragon, Rare
Flying
Whenever a Dragon you control attacks, creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Dash 3BR (You may cast this spell for its dash cost. If you do, it gains haste, and it's returned from the battlefield to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.)
4/5


In addition to the five clans, five dragon broods appear in Fate Reforged. Each brood is led by a mighty dragon, particularly revered by one of the five clans. Cards closely associated with one of the clans or one of the dragon broods each have a unique icon that appears in their text boxes. We're gonna need to pre-order all of these we think from MTG Mint Card.  These icons don't affect game play.  This card also showcases the new tech - 'dash' which is associated with the red-white-black Mardu Clan.  Dash is an alternative cost found on creature spells. As you cast a spell with dash, you can pay its dash cost instead of paying its mana cost. If you do, the creature will have haste, so it can attack that turn. At the beginning of the next end step, you'll return the creature from the battlefield to its owner's hand.
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Sage-Eye Avengers, 4UU
Creature - Djinn Monk, Rare
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
Whenever Sage-Eye Avengers attacks, you may return target creature to its owner's hand if its power is less than Sage-Eye Avengers's power.
4/5

Here's a lovely Jeskai (blue-red-white clan) spell featuring the returning mehanic 'Prowess' which has not changed since its appearance in Khans of Tarkir.  Creature spells won't cause prowess to trigger, even if those spells have other card types, such as an artifact creature spell. Instants work particularly well, as they become combat tricks that boost your attacking or blocking creatures in addition to whatever they normally do.

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Whisperwood Elemental, 3GG
Creature, Elemental, Mythic Rare
At the beginning of your end step, manifest the top card of your library. (Put it onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it's a creature card.)
Sacrifice Whisperwood Elemental: Until end of turn, face-up non token creatures you control gain "When this creature dies, manifest the top card of your library."
4/4

This lovely creature introduces the new 'manifest' tech.  When you manifest a card, you put it onto the battlefield face down. This disguises its true identity from your opponents. While face down, it's a 2/2 colorless creature with no name, no abilities, and no creature types. There is also a handy token to use as well.  Face-down creatures are creatures in every way. They can attack and block, and spells and abilities that target creatures can target them. They can be enchanted by Auras and equipped by Equipment.  There are three enchantments in Fate Reforged that manifest a card and then become an Aura attached to it.
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Soulflayer, 4BB
Creature - Demon, Rare
Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for 1 colorless mana.)
If a creature card with flying was exiled with Soulflayer's delve ability, Soulflayer has flying. The same is true for first strike, double strike, death touch, haste, hex proof, indestructible, lifeline, reach, trample, and vigilance.

With Soulflayer, we see the return of delve, the signature ability of the black-green-blue Sultai Clan.  Spells with delve may have a high mana cost, but you usually won't be paying all of it with mana. As you're paying for a spell with delve, you can exile cards from your graveyard.  Delve can't pay for any colored mana in the spell's mana cost. Also, you can't exile more cards than the amount of colorless mana in the mana cost. 
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Outpost Siege, 3R
Enchantment, Rare
As Outpost Siege enters the battlefield, choose Khans or Dragons.
• Khans - At the beginning of your upkeep, exile the top card of your library. Until end of turn, you may play that card.
• Dragons - Whenever a creature you control leaves the battlefield, Outpost Siege deals 1 damage to target creature or player. 

As previewed recently with Valorous Stance back on the 16th, we can expect a number of modal spells.  Modal spells are all 'Enters-the-Battlefield Abilities'.  This is a cycle of creatures that offer you a choice when they enter the battlefield: put a +1/+1 counter on the creature or get some other effect.  You choose which mode you are using when you put the ability on the stack. Once you choose a mode, you can't change to the other mode no matter what happens before that ability resolves.

Stay tuned to MTG Realm for MOAR Fate Reforged goodness.
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Journey into Nyx Spoiler 1

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We are off to a fast start with the first day of official Journey into Nyx spoilers and previews on the mothersite.   Journey into Nyx, the third and last expansion set in Theros block will deliver 165 cards when it releases on 2 May, 2014 and continues with the epic Greek mythology theme.  For today's post, we'll cover off a select number of new cards as well as a summary of mechanics / key word abilities  both new and returning for Journey into Nyx.  Let's get to some new cards first -

Iroas, God of Victory, 2rw
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God, mythic rare
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to red and white is less than seven, Iroas isn't a creature.
Creatures you control can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.
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Heroes' Bane, 3GG
Creature - Hydra, rare
Heroes' Bane enters the battlefield with 4 +1/+1 counters.
2GG: Put X +1/+1 counters on Heroes' Bane, where X is its power.
0/0
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Dawnbringer Charioteers, 2ww
Creature - Human Soldier, rare
Flying, lifelink
Heroic - Whenever you cast a spell that targets Dawnbringer Charioteers, put a +1/+1 counter on Dawnbringer Charioteers.
2/4
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Eidolon of Blossoms, 2gg
Enchantment Creature – Spirit, rare
Constellation - Whenever Eidolon of Blossoms or another enchantment enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.
2/2
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Extinguish All Hope, 4bb
Sorcery, Rare
Destroy all nonenchantment creatures.

Its the tres amigos - Erebos, Phenax and Pharika doing what they do best, sending things to the underworld.
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Hall of Triumph, 3
Legendary Artifact, rare
As Hall of Triumph enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Creatures you control of the chosen color get +1/+1.
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Now let's yatter about the new 'n' returning tech for Journey into Nyx -

• Constellation (new)
• Strive (new)
• Bestow (returning)
• Heroic (returning)
• Scry (returning)
• Monstrosity (returning)
• Devotion (returning)

Constellation is a mechanic that triggers whenever the card it's on (always an enchantment), or another enchantment, enters the battlefield.


Strive lets you pump more mana into it to increase the number of targets. As you cast a spell with strive, you can choose any number of targets, paying an additional cost for each target beyond the first.


Bestow is a static ability introduced in Theros, where it was connected to the god theme of the set. A creature with bestow gives you the option to cast it as an Aura that enchants a creature, granting that creature its power, toughness, and abilities.


Heroic is an ability word introduced in Theros. A creature with heroic gives the controlling player powerful benefits every time he casts a spell that targets it.

Scry is a keyword action that allows a player to look at a certain number of cards at the top of his or her library and put them back in any order.


Monstrosity is a keyword action introduced in Theros, where it is connected to the monster theme of the set. It is defined as giving the creature the ability to become monstrous only once per game. Monstrosity is an activated ability you can activate any time you can pay for it. When it resolves, it checks whether the creature is already monstrous. If it's not, the ability puts a number of +1/+1 counters on the creature and causes the creature to become monstrous.

Devotion is a mechanic introduced in Theros, where it was connected to the god theme of the set. It always appears as Devotion to the stated color, where color is either white, blue, black, red or green. Devotion to a color is defined as a numerical value that a player has, equal to the number of mana symbols of that color in the mana costs of permanents he controls. There are cards that count devotion to each of the five colors, and they have many different effects based on that devotion. 

That's it for now, if we get some late day Journey into Nyx spoilers, we'll amend this post.
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Theros Mechanics

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

First up - One of our sponsors here at MTG Realm is having a pretty damn nice MTG 'end of summer' clearance sale.  MTG Mint Card is bundling 2 bulk card lots, sleeves and dice for a really decent price, so drop on over and check it out.  

Second up - Over on the mothersite, WotC staffers put up a Theros Mechanics article and we suggest you give it a read.  We do have a quick 'n' dirty summary below and will definitely look forward to the standard FAQ Document which usually comes out just before the pre-release.  Anywhoos - here's the brief - 
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The slick new tech for Theros essentially is:
• Bestow
• Devotion
• Enchantments
• Heroic
• Monstrosity
• Scry 

Bestow - Some enchantment creatures feature the new keyword mechanic 'Bestow' which allows the player cast that card as an aura with enchant creature for its stated Bestow cost. The card then provides a bonus to that enchanted creature. If the creature that it enchants dies or is removed from the battlefield, the enchantment itself is then able to become a creature, typically with similar features as the abilities it provided while it was an aura. 

Devotion - Some players who had gmaed with the Eventide set, will remember the ability keyword 'Chroma' which is somewhat similar to the new Theros 'Devotion'.  Devotion requires the player to count of the number of specific colored mana symbols on cards and then provides a scaled effect based on this number. 

Enchantments - Theros has a strong enchantment theme with widespread use of the Enchantment type alongside other card types such as artifacts and creatures.  Enchantment creatures and enchantment artifacts in the Theros block all have a unique card frame that shows the starfield of Nyx, home to the realm of the gods.

Heroic - This keyword ability provides a beneficial effect each time you, but not your opponent casts a spell, such as an instant or sorcery which targets it.  Activated abilities, such as equip, do not cause heroic abilities to trigger.

Monstrosity - This new keyword mechanic found on creatures is an activated ability you can activate any time you can pay for it.  You can have a creature become monstrous by paying the mana cost, adding the stated number of +1/+1 counters on the creature which may also provide a triggered ability.

Scry - is a keyword action that allows a player to look at a certain number of cards at the top of his or her library at which time you may have some options.  For 'Scry 1', you're simply looking at the top card and deciding whether you want to replace it or put it on the bottom.  For 'Scry 2' or greater, you are able to order the given number of those cards back on top or at the bottom or split.
 
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Dragons Maze FAQ

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

A happy Monday indeed as Magic: the Gathering players now have the entire list of the latest card set, Dragon's Maze.  Today on the mothersite, the remaning cards were loaded up on the Dragon's Maze Visual Spoiler page.  All 156 Dragon's Maze cards have now also been posted on MTG Mint Card as well which means we can finalise our pre-orders.  We've already got our name on a list for the prerelease at OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario and we suggest you talk to your local games store for arrangements.  For today's post, we want to provide a summary of the Dragon's Maze (FAQ) Frequently Asked Questions document.  Drop by the mothersite for the full document.

Release Information
The Dragon's Maze set contains 156 cards (70 common, 40 uncommon, 35 rare, and 11 mythic rare). In lieu of a basic land card, each Dragon's Maze booster pack has a nonbasic land card, which can be one of the ten Dragon's Maze Guildgates, one of the ten Return to Ravnica or Gatecrash dual lands with basic land types, or the mythic rare Dragon's Maze card Maze's End.

Prerelease events: April 27–28, 2013
Launch Weekend: May 3–5, 2013
Game Day: May 25–26, 2013 

Reprinted cards - Guildgates, Feral Animist, Putrefy, Wind Drake.

Shocklands - All ten 'shocklands' from Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash are included within Dragon's Maze but are printed with thier original set symbol and are not considered reprints.

New Mechanic: Split Cards with Fuse
Split cards, featured prominently in the original Ravnica block, are back with a new twist: the fuse ability.  All split cards have two card faces on a single card. You can choose which half of the card you want to cast, pay that half's mana cost, and only that half will go on the stack. The characteristics of the half of the card you didn't cast are ignored while the spell is on the stack.  Fuse introduces a third option if you're casting a Dragon's Maze split card from your hand: cast the entire card as a single spell by paying both of its mana costs.

Returning Mechanics: Guild Keywords, Keyword Actions, and Ability Words
Return to Ravnica: detain (Azorius), overload (Izzet), unleash (Rakdos), scavenge (Golgari), and populate (Selesnya)
Gatecrash: extort (Orzhov), cipher (Dimir), bloodrush (Gruul), battalion (Boros), and evolve (Simic)

Cycle: Guildgates
The Dragon's Maze set includes a cycle of nonbasic lands with the subtype Gate. Each guild has a Gate card with Guildgate in its name that taps for mana of either of that guild's colors. These cards were previously printed in the Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash sets; they appear here with new art. 

Cycle: Gatekeepers
The Dragon's Maze set includes a cycle of Gatekeepers with enters-the-battlefield abilities that give you a bonus for controlling two or more Gates.

Cycle: Cluestones
There are one of these common artifacts for each Guild with a casting cost of 3.  They tap for either of that guild's mana or pay one of each guild mana and sacrifice to draw a card.

Cycle: Guild Champions
There are ten of these rare legendary creatures, one for each Guild.  They are Emmara Tandris (Selesnya), Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch (Rakdos), Lavinia of the Tenth (Azorious), Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker (Dimir), Melek, Izzet Paragon (Izzet), Ruric-Thar, The Unbowed (Gruul), Tajic, Blade of the Legion(Boros), Teysa, Envy of Ghosts (Orzhov), Varolz, the Scar-Striped (Golgari), and Vorel of the Hull Clade (Simic).

Cycle: Uncommon Fuse Spells
There are ten of these split cards featuring the new fuse mechanic which feature a different monocolour spell on each side. These are Protect/Serve (Azorius), Far/Away (Dimir), Toil/Trouble (Rakdos), Armed/Dangerous (Gruul), Alive/Well (Selesnya), Profit/Loss (Orzhov), Down/Dirty (Golgari), Give/Take (Simic), Turn/Burn (Izzet) and Wear/Tear (Boros).

Cycle: Rare Fuse Spells
There are five of these split cards featuring the new fuse mechanic which feature a different multi-colour spell on each side.  These are  Beck/Call (Simic/Azorius), Breaking/Entering (Dimir/Rakdos), Flesh/Blood (Golgari/Gruul), Catch/Release (Izzet/Boros), and Ready/Willing (Selesnya/Orzhov).
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Return to Ravnica Mechanics

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Happy Sunday MTG peeps,

Following up on our two previous posts, PAX Ravnica Party and the Return to Ravnica Spoiler List, we think we now have all the Return to Ravnica keywords / mechanics for a proper post to publish.  Let's go . . .

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Return to Ravnica revisits five of the ten Ravnica block bi-colored guilds, each of which with its own keyword or ability word that is similar but not identical to the original one.

Azorius Senate         blue / white    
Golgari Swarm         black / green   
Izzet League         blue / red   
Cult of Rakdos         black / red   
Selesnya Conclave     green / white   

• Multicolored: Gold and Hybrid

 These cards require mana from two or more different colors to be played. Multicolored cards tend to combine the philosophy and mechanics of all the colors used in the spell's cost.  Hybrid mana (also known as half-half mana) is a type of mana first introduced in Ravnica: City of Guilds and featured throughout the Ravnica and Shadowmoor blocks. Each hybrid mana symbol represents a cost which can be paid with one of two colors. The hybrid mana symbol can be of any combination of two colors, or any color of mana and two generic mana.

• Detain (Azorius Senate)
When you detain an opposing permanent, until your next turn, that permanent's activated abilities can't be activated and (if it's a creature) it can't attack or block. 
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• Overload (Izzet League)
Overload provides an alternate and more expensive mana cost for a card which can be used when casting it, and upon doing it increases the whole effect of the card.
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• Unleash (Cult of Rakdos)
One may choose to have a creature with unleash enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter it. As long as it has one or more +1/+1 counters on it, it can't block—no matter how it got +1/+1 counters.
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• Scavenge (Golgari Swarm)
The reminder text for Scavenge reads 'Exile this card from your graveyard: Put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to this card's power on target creature. Scavenge only as a sorcery.'  You can activate the scavenge ability of a creature card in your graveyard any time you could cast a sorcery by exiling it and paying its scavenge cost.
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• Populate (Selesnya Conclave)
The reminder text for populate is 'Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of a creature token you control'.  Populate doesn't target anything, and you don't have to choose a token to copy until you're actually populating.
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• Gates
Gold cards can put a strain on your mana, so Return to Ravnica features common "dual lands" - lands that can tap for either of two different colors of mana - called Gates.  
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SoM Primer Videos

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Just when you thought you have just returned to school and were hitting the books, you get hit with this - a new set with new cards to familiarize yourself with and new mechanics and keywords to learn - dammit. But this kind of learning is fun AND there's videos.

Following are the Scars of Mirrodin Planeswalker Primer videos for your review to get up to speed before you head out to a pre-release this weekend or release / launch party next weekend.
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Set Overview
Scars of Mirrodin will return to the plane of Mirrodin, previously the setting of the block and the set of the same name. As Mirrodin is an artificial plane, the number of artifacts and cards relating to that permanent type is larger than in other sets and mechanically reflects the themes already explored in the previous sets. The set describes the conflict between two major factions - one being Mirrodin, and the other being the invading forces of Phyrexia.

Metalcraft
Metalcraft is a new ability word introduced in this Scars of Mirrodin set and gives a bonus to a permanent if its controller also controls three or more artifacts.

Imprint
Imprint is a keyword ability that is featured on a number of artifact cards within the original Mirrodin block and now making a reappearence in the new Scars of Mirrodin set. Some imprint abilities are triggered, commonly by entering play, and some are activated abilities, but both remove cards from some zone to the removed from the game zone, where they are referred to as "imprinted" on the artifact.

Infect
Infect is a new keyword introduced in this Scars of Mirrodin set. It is centered in black and green with some artifacts having the keyword. The damage is still dealt as damage, and as such it can be prevented or redirected as normal. If not prevented or redirected, it turns into -1/-1 counters. However, damage to a player is dealt in poison counters.

Proliferate
Proliferate is a new keyword introduced in this Scars of Mirrodin set. It is only seen in the colour blue. When a player proliferates, he or she chooses any number of players and/or permanents with a counter on them, then puts another of those counters on these players or permanents. For example, a player proliferates and chooses an opponent with a Poison counter, a Planeswalker card with a loyalty counter, a creature with a -1/-1 counter and an artifact with a charge counter on it. Then that player gets another poison counter, the planeswalker gets another loyalty counter, the creature now has two -1/-1 counters and the artifact two charge counters on it. Thematically, the Proliferate mechanic is tied in with the Phyrexia faction in Scars of Mirrodin and its related Infect mechanic.

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As the entire set has now been spoiled / previewed, be sure to check out our Scars of Mirrodin Spoiler list which is constantly updated - linky is HERE. Also - from MTG Mint Card you can now pre-order card lots for Scars of Mirrodin.
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Owl For You

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A simple choice - or perhaps not so simple. There is now raging a great battle between the forces (fans) of Augury Owl, the new Magic 2011 cycler and that of Sage Owl. The fate of gamers at kitchen tables and FNM around the world hang in the balance on the outcome of this battle.

Just kidding - we felt like a bit of drama. The conclusion, if you are interested is that Augury Owl wins and a much loved mechanic returns.



Anywhoos - let's have a closer look before we carry on . .

new hotness

Augury Owl, 1u
Creature - Owl, Common
Flying
When Augury Owl enters the battlefield, Scry 3.
(To scry 3, look at the top three cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library and the rest on top in any order.)
1/1

old and tired

Sage Owl, 1u
Creature - Bird, Common
Flying
When Sage Owl enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order.
1 / 1


And perhaps a bit of rules for the mechanic Scry . . .

Scry - The scry ability applies when a spell or ability resolves. The rules for scry (from the Comprehensive Rules) are as follows:

502.36. Scry

502.36a Scry is a static ability that functions while a spell or ability is resolving. "Scry X" means "Look at the top X cards of your library. Put any number of them on the bottom of your library in any order and the rest on top of your library in any order."

502.36b If a spell or ability has multiple instances of scry, each one works separately.

Scry originally appeared in Fifth Dawn as a keyword ability, primarily on instants and sorceries as "Scry X," where X is a number. The player looks at the top X cards of his library, puts any number of them on the bottom of his library and the rest on top of his library in any order. In Future Sight, Scry was redefined to be a keyword action, allowing it to be placed in the middle of an ability rather than as a "tack-on" to other abilities. In Fifth Dawn, the only version of scry was "Scry 2," though it was designed to allow other values. Future Sight included variations "Scry 1" through "Scry 4."

In terms of which Owl is better, we say Augury Owl - hands down. During game play, you have a fairly solid idea of what cards you placed in your deck will help and which ones will not. Who needs a aura when you are really looking for spot removal - you are a smart pilot, have good anticipatory skills and only you will know which cards you will need on board in the next few turns - the rest is dead weight and can easily be chucked to the bottom of your library without any guilty feelings - yeah - we'll call you sometime. We hope there will be a lot of other cards with scry coming up in M11.

Please chime in and drop a comment or send an email.

Conflux FAQ

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The Conflux Frequently Asked Questions (word 'doc' format) just went up this afternoon. Out thanks to Mark Gottlieb and the MTG rules guru crew for putting this together. Make sure you give this 26 page tome a read before you head into your Pre-release event or Launch party.

Following is a quick summary of the new keyword mechanics / abilities. As well, there is some very interesting rules around a particular creature's ability which will make you chortle with evil mirth . . . buckle up and let's go.
Returning Mechanics
Some abilities and mechanics introduced in the Shards of Alara set appear in the Conflux set. For more information about the five shards and their mechanics (the Bant shard's keyword "exalted," the Esper shard's colored artifacts, the Grixis shard's keyword "unearth," the Jund shard's keyword "devour," and the Naya shard's "5 power matters" mechanic), see the Shards of Alara FAQ.

Ability Word: Domain

Domain is an ability word. It appears in italics at the beginning of an ability that counts the number of basic land types among lands you control. (An ability word has no rules meaning.) domain ability has a different effect. Read each card carefully.

Returning Keyword Ability: Cycling
New Keyword Variant: Basic Landcycling

If you have a card with "cycling" in your hand, you can pay its cycling cost and discard it to draw a new card. If you have a card with "basic landcycling" in your hand, you can pay its cycling cost and discard it to search your library for a basic land card. Cycling (and, thus, basic landcycling) is an activated ability. Effects that interact with activated abilities (such as Stifle or Rings of Brighthearth) will interact with cycling. Effects that interact with spells (such as Remove Soul or Faerie Tauntings) will not.

Theme: Color Matters

Many Conflux cards have abilities that check to see whether you control a permanent of a certain color. There are three different forms these abilities can take. Six of these cards (Bloodhall Ooze, Kederekt Parasite, Mirror-Sigil Sergeant, Parasitic Strix, Rhox Meditant, and Sedraxis Alchemist) are creatures that have triggered abilities with "intervening 'if' clauses". If the permanent with this ability has itself become the color that its ability checks for, then it can count itself as the permanent it's looking for. These abilities continually check the colors of permanents you control. As long as at least one of them is the specified color, the ability will "work" and grant the permanent the bonus. Otherwise, the permanent won't have the bonus.

Check out these Card-specific notes . . .

Charnelhoard Wurm
{4}{B}{R}{G}
Creature -- Wurm
6/6
Trample
Whenever Charnelhoard Wurm deals damage to an opponent, you may return target card from your graveyard to your hand.

* If Charnelhoard Wurm is dealt lethal damage at the same time it deals damage to an opponent, Charnelhoard Worm will be in your graveyard by the time you put its ability on the stack. In that case, you can target it with its own ability. ( ! ! ! OMG ! ! ! )

Mirror-Sigil Sergeant, {5}{W}
Creature -- Rhino Soldier
4/4
Trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control a blue permanent, you may put a token into play that's a copy of Mirror-Sigil Sergeant.

* Normally, when a token is created by this ability, it will simply be a Mirror-Sigil Sergeant, so it'll also have the token-creating ability. (See below for weird exceptions.) At the beginning of your next upkeep, if you still control the original Sergeant, the token copy, and a blue permanent, you'll get two more token copies; the turn after that you'll get four; then eight; and so on. ( ! ! ! Epic Win ! ! ! )

Exotic Orchard
Land
{T}: Add to your mana pool one mana of any color that a land an opponent controls could produce.

* The colors of mana are white, blue, black, red, and green. Exotic Orchard can't be tapped for colorless mana, even if a land an opponent controls could produce colorless mana.
* Exotic Orchard checks the effects of all mana-producing abilities of lands your opponents control, but it doesn't check their costs. For example, Vivid Crag has the ability "{T}, Remove a charge counter from Vivid Crag: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool." If an opponent controls Vivid Crag and you control Exotic Orchard, you can tap Exotic Orchard for any color of mana. It doesn't matter whether Vivid Crag has a charge counter on it, and it doesn't matter whether it's untapped.
* Lands that produce mana based only on what other lands "could produce" won't help each other unless some other land allows one of them to actually produce some type of mana. For example, if you control an Exotic Orchard and your opponent controls an Exotic Orchard and a Reflecting Pool, none of those lands would produce mana if their mana abilities were played. On the other hand, if you control a Forest and an Exotic Orchard, and your opponent controls an Exotic Orchard and a Reflecting Pool, then each of those lands can be tapped to produce {G}. Your opponent's Exotic Orchard can produce {G} because you control a Forest. Your Exotic Orchard and your opponent's Reflecting Pool can each produce {G} because your opponent's Exotic Orchard can produce {G}.

Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer, {1}{W}{U}
Legendary Creature -- Human Rogue
2/2
{W}{U}, {T}: Put a bribery counter on target creature you don't control. Its controller draws a card.
Creatures with bribery counters on them can't attack or block.

* If Gwafa Hazid leaves play, any bribery counters will remain where they are. However, without a Gwafa Hazid in play, creatures with bribery counters on them can attack and block as normal. If another Gwafa Hazid comes into play, its ability will affect all creatures with bribery counters on them, including the ones that received counters from a different Gwafa Hazid.
* Creatures with bribery counters on them can't be declared as attackers or blockers. However, if a bribery counter is put on a creature that's already been declared as an attacker or blocker, that creature will continue to attack or block that combat.

Magister Sphinx, {4}{W}{U}{B}
Artifact Creature -- Sphinx
5/5
Flying
When Magister Sphinx comes into play, target player's life total becomes 10.

* This ability is not optional.
* For a player's life total to become 10, what actually happens is that the player gains or loses the appropriate amount of life. For example, if the targeted player's life total is 4 when this ability resolves, it will cause that player to gain 6 life; alternately, if the targeted player's life total is 17 when this ability resolves, it will cause that player to lose 7 life. Other cards that interact with life gain or life loss will interact with this effect accordingly.

Master Transmuter, {3}{U}
Artifact Creature -- Human Artificer
1/2
{U}, {T}, Return an artifact you control to its owner's hand: You may put an artifact card from your hand into play.

* Returning an artifact you control to its owner's hand is part of the cost of Master Transmuter's activated ability. Paying a cost can't be responded to (with Naturalize, for example).
* Since Master Transmuter is an artifact, you may return Master Transmuter itself to your hand. If you do, the rest of the ability will still work normally.

Shard Convergence, {3}{G}
Sorcery
Search your library for a Plains card, an Island card, a Swamp card, and a Mountain card. Reveal those cards and put them into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

* You don't have to find all four cards.
* Shard Convergence checks for cards with the subtypes Plains, Island, Swamp, and Mountain, not for cards with those names. You may find nonbasic land cards this way, as long as they have appropriate subtypes.
* You may find "dual lands" with Shard Convergence. The Plains card you find, for example, can have a second subtype. What subtypes it has won't impact what other cards you can find. For example, you may find a Hallowed Fountain (which has subtypes Plains and Island) as the Plains card, and another Hallowed Fountain as the Island card.

Voracious Dragon, {3}{R}{R}
Creature -- Dragon
4/4
Flying
Devour 1 (As this comes into play, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. This creature comes into play with that many +1/+1 counters on it.)
When Voracious Dragon comes into play, it deals damage to target creature or player equal to twice the number of Goblins it devoured.

* Voracious Dragon can devour any type of creatures, not just Goblins.
* "The number of Goblins it devoured" means "The number of Goblins sacrificed as a result of its devour ability as it came into play." For each creature that Voracious Dragon devoured, this ability checks its creature type as it last existed in play to see if it was a Goblin at that time.