Scry Mulligan

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

For those Magic: the Gathering fans who may be unaware, a new mulligan rule was tournament tested during Pro Tour Origins Vancouver. Essentially, the this new rule could be distilled down to "If you mulligan so you have less than 7 cards in your opener, scry 1".  This so-called Vancouver Mulligan was evaluated by the tournament organisers, the DCI Judge folks and Wizards of the Coast, and is now set to be official with the Battle for Zendikar PreRelease.  All we have to say is 'Lo scry mulligan non è affatto male'.  The anticipated announcement came down today in this mothersite article (linky here).

From MTG Sally's Wiki, here is a very brief history of the mulligan -

The original mulligan rule applied only if a player had an initial hand of seven lands or no lands. He or she would then have the option to reveal his or her hand, shuffle it back into the deck and then draw a new hand of seven cards. Those cards would become his or her opening hand (the process could not be repeated). This was replaced by the current mulligan system called the "Paris" mulligan. The Paris mulligan was named after the second constructed Pro Tour to use this system in April 1997.

With Magic Origins, Wizards of the Coast experimented with a new mulligan rule: any player whose opening hand has fewer cards than his or her starting hand size may scry 1. Pro Tour Magic Origins Vancouver was the only tournament during which the new rule was in effect and subsequently evaluated, and then accepted.  Expect to see this rule fully implemented with the Battle for Zendikar PreRelease Events.

Here is the new official mulligan rule in its entirety:

103.4. Each player draws a number of cards equal to his or her starting hand size, which is normally seven. (Some effects can modify a player's starting hand size.) A player who is dissatisfied with his or her initial hand may take a mulligan. First, the starting player declares whether or not he or she will take a mulligan. Then each other player in turn order does the same. Once each player has made a declaration, all players who decided to take mulligans do so at the same time. To take a mulligan, a player shuffles his or her hand back into his or her library, then draws a new hand of one fewer cards than he or she had before. If a player kept his or her hand of cards, those cards become the player's opening hand, and that player may not take any further mulligans. This process is then repeated until no player takes a mulligan. (Note that if a player's hand size reaches zero cards, that player must keep that hand.) Then, beginning with the starting player and proceeding in turn order, any player whose opening hand has fewer cards than his or her starting hand size may scry 1.

Here is an earlier article called, MULLIGANS, posted in Latest Developments on August 7, 2015 By Sam Stoddard when WotC was first evaluating the new rule -

What we liked: The biggest advantage of this mulligan was that it was meaningful but not too strong. It does a good job, overall, of increasing the chances that you will hit your early land drops, but without being too easy to abuse. A high number of the non-games result from one player stumbling on lands for a turn or two, and this should help greatly with that problem.

Concerns: While we like this mulligan a lot, we haven't yet (at the time of writing) had time to look at how the Pro Tour played out to see if there were any problems. Part of the idea behind using it at a Pro Tour first is that if there is something we missed, or something that is prone to abuse, it will show up there. We will be looking at both how the Pro Tour played out, as well as the reactions from the players regarding the rule. I don't know when we will have a decision based on this, but we hope to have new information fairly soon.
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M14 FAQ

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

This is our second post for the day.  If you missed our first post about the Magic 2014 PreRelease, click on over here.

In this post, we wanted to let Magic: the Gathering players including those heading off to the PreRelease event this weekend to pop on over to the Mothersite and get in a quick review of the Magic 2014 FAQ document. 

Here's a quick 'n' dirty summary without getting into the card specific notes -
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Magic 2014 Frequently Asked Questions
Wizards of the Coast, Tuesday, July 09, 2013

GENERAL NOTES

Release Information
The Magic 2014 core set contains 249 cards (101 common, 60 uncommon, 53 rare, 15 mythic rare, and 20 basic land).

Prerelease events: July 13–14, 2013
Launch Weekend: July 19–21, 2013
Game Day: August 10–11, 2013

The Magic 2014 core set becomes legal for sanctioned Constructed play on its official release date: Friday, July 19, 2013. At that time, the following card sets will be permitted in the Standard format: Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored, Magic 2013, Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, Dragon's Maze, and Magic 2014.

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Returning Theme: Slivers
Magic 2014 features the return of creatures with the creature type Sliver. These popular creatures share abilities or power and toughness bonuses with other Slivers you control.

Cycle: Magus Staffs
This set also includes a cycle of artifacts, each aligned to a color, that allow you to gain life for casting spells of that color or having basic lands of the type associated with that color enter the battlefield.

Returning Card Type: Planeswalkers
A planeswalker is a powerful ally who fights by your side. With the exception of the "planeswalker uniqueness rule" (see the separate section below), the rules for planeswalkers have not changed with this release.

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Rule Change: The "Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule"
Previously, if there were two or more planeswalkers that share a subtype (such as "Jace") on the battlefield, they would all be put into their owners' graveyards as a state-based action. This rule is changing. The new rule is as follows:

704.5j If a player controls two or more planeswalkers that share a planeswalker type, that player chooses one of them and the rest are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the "planeswalker uniqueness rule."

Rule Change: The "Legend Rule"
Although there are no legendary permanents in the Magic 2014 Core Set , the "legend rule" is changing along with this set. Under the previous rule, whenever two or more legendary permanents with the same name were on the battlefield, they were all put into their owners' graveyards as a state-based action. This rule is changing to the following:

704.5k If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them and the rest are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the "legend rule."

New Keyword: Indestructible
Indestructible is a new keyword for an existing ability.

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CARD-SPECIFIC NOTES
Just over 90 card specific notes from Academy Raider . . . Young Pyromancer.

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M14 Rules Change

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

As we here at MTG Realm were contemplating all the new Magic 2014 core set cards (and already planning preorders at MTG Mint Card), we were taken completely by surprise by the rules change announcement on the mothersite today (these rules tweaks typically come at this time).  Anywhoos, we suggest you click on over to read what Magic: the Gathering changes there may be - these can be here and here - brought to you by the dashingly hansome WotC Rules minion Matt Tabak, and his compatriot Sam Stoddard.

For those of you whose clicky finger is tired, please read on . .
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The Legend Rule
Essentially, Wizards of the Coast found that games where players used their Planeswalkers to continuously nullify each other weren't particularly interesting, and overall it made Planeswalkers less fun as a result.  Hence the new tweak which is scheduled to take effect on July 13, the date of the Magic 2014 Core Set Prerelease. On Magic Online, the changes will go live on or around July 24, the date of the Magic 2014 Core Set build.

The "legend rule," rule 704.5k - current rules, any time two or more legendary permanents with the same name were on the battlefield, they would all be put into their owners' graveyards as a state-based action. Under the new rules, any time two or more legendary permanents with the same name are controlled by a player, that player chooses one of them and the rest are put into their owners' graveyards as a state-based action.

• Both players can now control legendary permanents of the same name.
• A player can only control one of each legendary permanent of the same name.
• A player gets to choose one legendary permanent to keep if he/she has multiple legendary permanents of the same name.
• Thus, legends can no longer be used to "kill"/"remove" opponents' legends.

The "Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule"
Here's the new rule # 704.5j which states that if a player controls two or more Planeswalkers that share a Planeswalker type, that player chooses one and the rest are put into their owner's graveyards as a state-based action. Again, you no longer have to worry about what other players control. 

The Sideboard Rule
Previously, your main deck was sixty or more cards and your sideboard was either fifteen cards or zero cards, indicating you weren't using a sideboard. With the new rule, your main deck is still sixty or more cards but your sideboard is now up to fifteen cards.

Additionally, you are not required to swap cards between your main deck and sideboard on a one-for-one basis. For Games 2 and 3 (and so on), as long as your main deck is sixty or more cards and your sideboard is no more than fifteen cards, you're good.
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M10 Spoilers 14

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Hey there folks - Want to thank all of you who sent email or provided comments on the M10 combos - I think that I will certainly want to be a bit more awake (and caffeinated) when I do another combination article so that I provide a post with less errors. :-(

Anywhoos - Interesting article(s) by Mark L. Gottlieb (et al) today on Wizards regarding Magic Rules changes. Specifically, what caught our attention is the mention of the 'keyword abilities' section of the rules book which Mark has reorganized.

Check out what is written on section 702.11
"This is intimidate, an evergreen keyword that doesn't quite exist yet. A creature with intimidate can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that share a color with it. It's coming soon, so rather than renumber everything in a few months, it was added in early. (It essentially takes the place of fear, which will remain in place but won't appear on new cards.)"

Very interesting - more on this latter as I have attention deficient disorder - right now I have a fever . . . and the only prescription is - - more Magic 2010 visual spoilers ! !































More latter peeps - right now I have to get back before they know I'm missing . . .

M10 Spoiler 3

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Wow - so much news / spoilers, I think I may slide into overload today. Perhaps I will start with the easy stuff first - Magic 2010 spoilers !


Acidic Slime, 3GG
Creature - Ooze, Uncommon
Deathtouch
When Acidic Slime enter the battlefield, destroy target artifact, enchantment, or land.
2/2

Not that bad - not that good either - a bit overcosted but I still love the destruction this brings to the table.


Ball Lightning, RRR
Creature - Elemental, Rare
Trample, haste
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Ball Lightning.
6/1

I realise core sets are a return to basics but I still twitch when I read the rules help text on this card. Not a bad creature really and a decent price. I would be looking for recursion on this one.

Clone (reprint), 3U
Creature - Shapeshifter, Rare
You may have Clone enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield.
0/0

Decent card, just plan your play appropriately - start working your strategies out now. Same art as the previous 10th Edition print which is OK.


Child of Night, 1B
Creature - Vampire, Common
Lifelink
2/1

A very simple vampire with lifelink - I know it is a common but still wish I could have this critter have flying as well. Art is dark, flavour text makes me giggle.


Undead Slayer, 2W
Creature - Human Cleric, Uncommon
W{T} : Exile target Skeleton, Vampire or Zombie
2/2

This my friends is a decent card - if you find yourself up against those black creatures - you may want this in your sideboard as this is as useful to you as an extra toe against a red burn deck.


Glacial Fortress
Land - Rare
Glacial Fortress enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Plains or an Island.
{T} : Add {W} or {U} to your mana pool.

I was really hoping for a non-basic land which I could drop on turn one but perhaps I am a bit too greedy - this is just fine as well (except for the rarity part).

Likewise to Glacial Fortress, we can expect similar dual lands in M10 such as these - - -

Murky Tidewater
Land - Rare
Murky Tidewater enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Island or Swamp.
{T}: Add {U} or {B} to your mana pool.

Floral Clearing
Land - Rare
Floral Clearing enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Forest or Plains.
{T}: Add {G} or {W} to your mana pool.

Desolate Cairns
Land - Rare
Desolate Cairns enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Swamp or a Mountain.
{T}: Add {B} or {R} to your mana pool.

Ashwood Forest
Land - Rare
Ashwood Forest enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Mountain or a Forest.
{T}: Add {R} or {G} to your mana pool.

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Huge rule changes on the horizon Magic Players - it will rock your world come 17th July so put on your thinking caps. These rules changes go into effect on July 11, 2009 (the first day of Magic 2010 Prerelease events) and are scheduled to take effect on Magic Online on July 29.

On the whole, I think (as a casual player) that these are good changes. Perhaps since I have as much neuronic activity in my upper cortext as a bag of rocks, I think that this makes the game a bit more simple.

Here is a brief summary of the changes - for all the gory details, read the column today.

1. Small change to the order of when players are to mulligan.

2. Terminology changes: “in play” is now “the battlefield”, “play” is now “cast”, “removed from the game” is now “in exile”. The very wordy “at the end of turn” is now “at the beginning of the end step”, which is still stoopid sounding.

3. No more mana burn - land really should not hurt you. Mana pools are now drained at each step.

4. Tokens now have ownership by the first player to control them, not the player who cast the spell that brought them into play.

5. Damage no longer uses the stack and combat is changed (check the additional notes below). Most significantly, while declaring blockers, the attacker assigns the ordering of the blockers on his or her creatures. After assigning the order, players can cast spells. THEN damage is dealt, and the attacker must assign at least lethal damage to each blocker, in order, before moving on to the next one. Damage is resolved immediately. This is like automatic trample to each successive creature.

6. Deathtouch and lifelink are now static abilities / state effects.

Additional notes on Combat Damage . . .

Combat Damage No Longer Uses the Stack (!)

As soon as damage is assigned in the combat damage step, it is dealt. There is no time to cast spells and activate abilities in between; the last time to do so prior to damage being dealt is during the declare blockers step.

Combat Phase
* Beginning of combat step
* Declare attackers step
* Declare blockers step
* Combat damage step
* End of combat step

* If a creature has the ability to block multiple attackers, and does so, it uses the same order-and-assign system for dividing its damage among those attackers. In this case, the defending player orders the attacking creatures.
* If multiple creatures are blocking an attacker and one of them leaves combat, the relative order of the other creatures doesn't change.
* If one or more creatures is blocking an attacker and a new creature enters the battlefield blocking that attacker (I'm thinking of Flash Foliage), the attacking player inserts the new creature into the existing order wherever he or she wants. It can be first, last, or somewhere in between. The relative order of the other creatures doesn't change.

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Did that just bake your noodle ? - I'm gonna need some more time to digest this.