Ability Word

catalog card art

I conclude my self-imposed 'rules month' with a look at ability words.

Some time ago, I wrote on the different types of abilities. From the comprehensive rules,

113.1a An ability can be a characteristic an object has that lets it affect the game. An object’s abilities are defined by its rules text or by the effect that created it . . . Abilities generate effects.

(Note "can be." I provide the most common way the word 'ability' is used in Magic above; peruse the others in Section 113 of the rules if you wish.) Today's focus, ability words, are a little different. 

From the glossary of the rules, we see Ability Word defined as:

"An italicized word with no rules meaning that ties together abilities on different cards that have similar functionality. See rule 207.2c."

We'll do as they suggest and see rule 207.2c:

207.2c An ability word appears in italics at the beginning of some abilities. Ability words are similar to keywords in that they tie together cards that have similar functionality, but they have no special rules meaning and no individual entries in the Comprehensive Rules. The ability words are adamant, addendum, alliance, battalion, bloodrush, channel, chroma, cohort, constellation, converge, council’s dilemma, coven, delirium, domain, eminence, enrage, fateful hour, ferocious, formidable, grandeur, hellbent, heroic, imprint, inspired, join forces, kinship, landfall, lieutenant, magecraft, metalcraft, morbid, pack tactics, parley, radiance, raid, rally, revolt, spell mastery, strive, sweep, tempting offer, threshold, undergrowth, and will of the council.

For example, here are some cards with the landfall ability word, all from the Zendikar Rising set:

There is a common element here—landfall always means "Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control,"—but the effect that triggers whenever this condition is met can be very different. It can plus up creatures, add mana, make an opponent mill cards, create tokens, and more. Because the effect is different, it must be written out on each card; it cannot be omitted due to expected familiarity like keywords. This being the case, why have ability words at all?

I repeat, if ability words have no special rules meaning, why have them at all? Wizards answered this in a 2008 article. Their reasons, summarized, are:

1. They connect cards,
2. They provide a name,
3. They add flavor,
4. They help us market the set.

'Connecting cards' is key when creating synergies during deck building. If you want to build a 'landfall' deck, you would look for cards that had something happen when a land entered the battlefield. Ability words make it easier to search for such cards.

Providing a name is something Magic players would do on their own if Wizards didn't, for reason one: names help people connect cards.

Adding flavor is a way to enhance the gameplay experience while not impacting the rules at all. Marketing the set is related; you can convey the flavor of a set to help people understand (and, hopefully, desire) the nature of a forthcoming release.

Ability words used to confuse me, but I get them now. They serve several useful purposes.

Colorless Mana

colorless mana; image from here

Continuing the color-based theme (see previous post), today we look at colorless mana.

Magic has five colors of mana (white, blue, black, red, and green). I explored these colors a few years ago, concluding with a brief look at colorless mana. I clarify and expand on that today.

Every non-land card in Magic has a mana cost, which shows the type(s) and number of mana required to play the card. From the comprehensive rules,

202.1a The mana cost of an object represents what a player must spend from their mana pool to cast that card. Unless an object’s mana cost includes Phyrexian mana symbols (see rule 107.4f), paying that mana cost requires matching the type of any colored or colorless mana symbols as well as paying the generic mana indicated in the cost.

Generic mana is spelled out earlier in the document:

107.4b Numerical symbols (such as {1}) and variable symbols (such as {X}) represent generic mana in costs. Generic mana in costs can be paid with any type of mana.

In the below four examples,

- Serra Angel costs 2 white mana and 3 generic mana

- Fugitive Wizard costs 1 blue mana

- Seismic Assault costs 3 red mana

- Jayemdae Tome costs 4 generic mana

Generic mana costs are always denoted by a number (or the variable 'X') inside a gray circle. So far, this is intuitive. And today's rules address both colored and colorless mana, but it wasn't always so—and that got confusing fast.

The problem started in the first set (Alpha) with cards that generated colorless mana. Consider Sol Ring:

Sol Ring adds colorless mana to your mana pool. What was 'colorless' mana? Conceptually, we get that it is mana that lacked color, so it could be used only to pay generic mana costs in spells. But every other type of mana had a corresponding symbol. Colorless did not. This got more confusing as time went on. Looking at a later version of Sol Ring:

"Add {2} to your mana pool." But {2}, per rule 107.4b above, represented generic mana, which was technically any color of mana. That's not what Sol Ring is doing. It is adding colorless, which is distinct from generic. This needed to be clarified. They finally did so in 2015 with the release of Oath of the Gatewatch. They gave colorless mana its own symbol, created a basic land type (called "Wastes"), and started producing cards with colorless mana symbols in their casting costs (see below examples or peruse the entire set):

You can still pay a generic mana cost using colored or colorless mana, but any card with colorless mana symbol(s) in its casting cost requires that amount of colorless mana. For cards that produce colorless mana, they updated in subsequent printings. Here are more recent versions of Sol Ring:

The first has the two colorless mana symbols. The second has the same, but omits the "to your mana pool" wording (they eliminated that in 2018, with Dominaria's release, for simplicity). That is the current presentation.

Thanks to the aforementioned changes, colorless vs. generic mana is no longer confusing (or as confusing, anyway). It is one small example how the game continues to evolve, even decades after its introduction. It is also a testament to the diligence of the design team, whose continued tweaks are largely for the better.

Color Identity

Catalog card art

Commander is perhaps the most popular format in Magic. Key to building a deck for this format is the concept of color identity.

From the comprehensive rules, 

• 903.1. In the Commander variant, each deck is led by a legendary creature designated as that deck’s commander. The Commander variant was created and popularized by fans; an independent rules committee maintains additional resources at MTGCommander.net.
• 903.4. The Commander variant uses color identity to determine what cards can be in a deck with a certain commander. The color identity of a card is the color or colors of any mana symbols in that card’s mana cost or rules text, plus any colors defined by its characteristic-defining abilities (see rule 604.3) or color indicator (see rule 204).
• 903.4d The back face of a double-faced card (see rule 712) is included when determining a card’s color identity. This is an exception to rule 712.4a.

Those rules reference MTGCommander.net, which has similar verbiage on its rules page:

Deck Construction Rules

1. Players choose a legendary creature as the commander for their deck.
2. A card’s color identity is its color plus the color of any mana symbols in the card’s rules text. A card’s color identity is established before the game begins, and cannot be changed by game effects. The cards in a deck may not have any colors in their color identity which are not in the color identity of the deck’s commander.
3. A Commander deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including the commander. If you’re playing a companion, it must adhere to color identity and singleton rules. While it is not part of the deck, it is effectively a 101st card.
4. With the exception of basic lands, no two cards in the deck may have the same English name. Some cards (e.g. Relentless Rats) may have rules text that overrides this restriction.

I prefer the latter's wording on color identity. "A card’s color identity is its color plus the color of any mana symbols in the card’s rules text." Your Commander deck can include only cards that map to your Commander's colors. So if your Commander's color identity is white, you may include only cards that are white in your deck. If you Commander's color identity is blue and black, you may include cards that are blue, black, or blue/black in your deck. And so on.

Most of the time, a card's color identity is immediately evident by its casting cost. But per the above definition, you must also look at the mana symbols in the card's rules text. Consider Shalai, Voice of Plenty:

Her casting cost includes only the white mana symbol, but her rules text includes green mana, so her color identity is white/green. 

• If she is your Commander, you could include white, green, white/green, or colorless cards in your Commander deck. 
• If she is not your Commander but you want to include her in your deck, you must ensure the Commander you choose includes (at minimum) white and green in its color identity for Shalai to be eligible for inclusion (so I cannot use her in my mono-white angel Commander deck).

Rule 903.4d above mentions double-faced cards, which can be confusing.

• 712.1. A double-faced card has a Magic card face on each side rather than a Magic card face on one side and a Magic card back on the other. There are two kinds of double-faced cards. Transforming double-faced cards include abilities on one or both of their faces that allow the card to either “transform” or “convert” (turn over to its other face) and/or allow the card to be cast or enter the battlefield “transformed” or “converted” (with its back face up). Modal double-faced cards have two faces that are independent from one another, and they can’t transform or convert.

Consider Brutal Cathar, a transforming double-faced card:

Brutal Cathar's color identity is white/red. Its front face is white, but when it transforms, its back face is red.

The modal double-faced cards are the most confusing. The same rules apply (the color identity is both sides combined) but are (to me) less intuitive, as these are effectively two Magic cards, and you choose which one you will use upon casting it. It cannot change or transform to the other side once on the battlefield. Consider Jorn, God of Winter:

If you cast Jorn as a creature, he is green. If you cast the other side (Kaldring, the Rimestaff), it is blue/black. The card cannot flip back and forth once on the battlefield. However, based on the rules, this card's color identity is blue/black/green, so it can be included in a Commander deck only if the Commander's color identity matches or exceeds those colors.

Finally, any Commander deck may include colorless cards—generally (but not exclusively) artifacts.

• 105.1. There are five colors in the Magic game: white, blue, black, red, and green.
• 105.2. An object can be one or more of the five colors, or it can be no color at all. An object is the color or colors of the mana symbols in its mana cost, regardless of the color of its frame. An object’s color or colors may also be defined by a color indicator or a characteristic-defining ability. See rule 202.2.
• 105.2c A colorless object has no color.

The key here is Rule 105.2c. Since colorless objects have no colors, they may be included in any Commander decks. But again, they must be truly colorless, so check the rules text, too. Consider Bosh, Iron Golem:

His casting cost is generic (colorless for our purposes), but his rules text include a red mana symbol, so his color identity is red.

To date, there are over 1600 legendary creatures from which to choose your Commander. Choose wisely, and consider color identity when so doing. When building commander decks, you can use the 'commander' command in Scryfall to help identify cards eligible for inclusion. For example,

• commander:rg

Returns cards whose color identity <=green/red. This returns green, red, green/red, and colorless cards. If you want to focus only on green/red, use:

• commander=rg

And if you want to find a red/green commander, add 

• commander=rg type:"legendary creature"

From this, we see that there are currently 65 legendary creatures whose color identity is red/green. These are your pool of commanders if you want to build a Commander deck in exactly those colors.

Tapped Out

January is a month of resolutions, which are sort of like rules, right? Today I look at tapping creatures and an associated nuance.

The comprehensive rules make it clear that most creatures cannot attack or use an activated ability with the tap symbol the turn they enter the battlefield:

• 302.6. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. A creature can’t attack unless it has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the “summoning sickness” rule.

The exception are creatures with haste:

• 702.10. Haste 
• 702.10a Haste is a static ability. 
• 702.10b If a creature has haste, it can attack even if it hasn’t been controlled by its controller continuously since their most recent turn began. (See rule 302.6.) 
• 702.10c If a creature has haste, its controller can activate its activated abilities whose cost includes the tap symbol or the untap symbol even if that creature hasn’t been controlled by that player continuously since their most recent turn began. (See rule 302.6.)

Now, a quick refresher on activated abilities:

• 602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]”
• 602.5. A player can’t begin to activate an ability that’s prohibited from being activated. 
• 602.5a A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol ({T}) or the untap symbol ({Q}) in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control since the start of their most recent turn. Ignore this rule for creatures with haste (see rule 702.10).

For today, the key words are "tap symbol." In the text-based rulebook, that is shown as {T}. On cards, it is:

And is shown on many cards. One example:

From the rules, we know that Prodigal Pyromancer could not use his activated ability (and thus deal 1 damage to target creature or player) on the turn he entered the battlefield. Pretty straightforward. What's not as clear—and the reason I'm writing on this topic—is that cards whose activation cost do not include a tap symbol but may involve tapping can be used the turn they come in to play. Consider Skystrike Officer:

Skystrike Officer's activated ability has a cost: "Tap three untapped Soldiers you control." The effect is to "Draw a card." Because there is no tap symbol in the activated ability cost, and this creature is a Soldier, Skystrike Officer can be tapped the turn it enters the battlefield to pay this specific cost. And other Soldier creatures you control are the same- they can be tapped the turn they enter the battlefield to pay this specific cost. This is a nuance but an important one.

The ability to tap a creature the turn it enters the battlefield can be an important advantage on an opponent, so bear this in mind. Pay attention to the details–it can open up possibilities.

Looking Ahead

Arcane Teachings card art

Happy New Year! What will 2023 bring in Magic, both corporately and personally?

Corporately, Wizards intends to continue its blistering release pace. The (mostly) 'standard' releases, 2022-24, are shown in the graphic below, but leave some other sets out:

Adding in special releases, per this site, and focusing on 2023, we have:

- Dominaria Remastered (compilation set, similar to Time Spiral Remastered)

- Phyrexia: All Will be One

- March of the Machine

- March of the Machine: Aftermath (a mini-set?)

- Universes Beyond: Lord of the Rings (supplemental set, not standard legal)

- Wilds of Eldraine

- Universes Beyond: Doctor Who (supplemental set, I assume)

That's a lot. I'm most excited for—or intrigued by—the Lord of the Rings set:

That could be amazing. Or terrible.

Personally, I want to do a few things:

- Spend less money on Magic. A lot less.

- Go through my collection and minimize it. 

- Build more cubes. They are fun.

- Build a handful of pauper decks.

- "Standardize" my approach to this blog. 

For that last one, my overall goal remains "to explain, explore, and enjoy" this game. But some of my posts last year were whiny or pointless. Here are categories I'd like to focus on from here on out:

- rules, formats, jargon

- artists, history

- cards, sets, cubes, decks

- statistics/analysis

- collecting, storage

- news, reflections

These all map to one or more of the "explain/explore/enjoy" categories.

To 2023!