Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules

this supertype is a nonsnow permanent, regardless of its name.

206. Expansion Symbol

206.1. The expansion symbol indicates which Magic set a card is from. It’s normally printed below the right edge of the illustration.

206.2. The color of the expansion symbol indicates the rarity of the card within its set. A gold symbol indicates the card is rare. A silver expansion symbol indicates the card is uncommon. A black or white expansion symbol indicates the card is common or is a basic land. A purple expansion symbol signifies a special rarity; to date, only the Time Spiral™ “timeshifted” cards, which were rarer than that set’s rare cards, have had purple expansion symbols. (Prior to the Exodus™ set, all expansion symbols were black, regardless of rarity. Also, prior to the Sixth Edition core set, Magic core sets didn’t have expansion symbols at all.)

206.3. A spell or ability that affects cards from a particular set “looks” only for that set’s expansion symbol. A card reprinted in the core set receives the core set’s expansion symbol. Any reprinted version of the card no longer counts as part of its original set unless it was reprinted with that set’s expansion symbol. The first five editions of the core set had no expansion symbol.

207. Text Box

207.1. The text box is printed on the lower half of the card. It usually contains rules text defining the card’s abilities.

207.2. The text box may also contain italicized reminder text (in parentheses), which summarizes a rule that applies to that card, and italicized flavor text, which has no game function, but like the illustration, adds artistic appeal to the game.

207.3. A guild icon appears in the text box of many Ravnica™ block cards. These cards either have the specified guild’s exclusive mechanic or somehow relate to the two colors associated with that guild. Guild icons have no effect on game play.

208. Power/Toughness

208.1. A creature card has two numbers separated by a slash printed on its lower right corner. The first number is its power (the amount of damage it deals in combat); the second is its toughness (the amount of damage needed to destroy it). For example, 2/3 means the object has power 2 and toughness 3. Power and toughness can be modified or set to particular values by effects.

208.2. Some creature cards have power and/or toughness of *, where * is a value determined by the abilities of that object. As long as the object is in play, the ability sets the value of *. The * is 0 while the object is not in play.

208.3 A noncreature permanent has no power or toughness, even if it’s a card with a power and toughness printed on it (such as a Licid that’s become an Aura).

209. Illustration Credit

209.1. The illustration credit for a card is printed directly below the text box. The credit has no effect on game play.

210. Legal Text

210.1. Legal text (the fine print at the bottom of the card) lists the copyright information. It has no effect on game play.

211. Collector Number

211.1. Some card sets feature collector numbers. This information is printed in the form [card number]/ [total cards in the set], immediately following the legal text. These numbers have no effect on game play.

212. Type, Supertype, and Subtype

212.1. General

212.1a Cards, tokens, permanents, and spells can all have types, supertypes, and subtypes. Abilities don’t have types, supertypes, or subtypes. Instead, there are various categories of abilities. (See rule 402, “Abilities.”)

212.1b. When an object’s type changes, the new type(s) replaces any existing types. Counters, effects, and damage affecting the object remain with it, even if they are meaningless to the new type. Similarly, when the subtypes of one of an object’s types change, the new subtype(s) replaces any existing subtypes of that type. If an object’s type is removed, the subtypes of its old type don’t exist in any way under the new type. Those subtypes disappear completely for the entire time the object’s type is removed. Removing an object’s subtype doesn’t affect its types at all.

212.1c Some effects change an object’s type, supertype, or subtype but specify that the object retains a prior type, supertype, or subtype. In such cases, all the object’s prior types, supertypes, and subtypes are retained. This rule applies to effects that use the phrase “in addition to its types” or that state that something is “still a [type].” Some effects state that an object becomes an “artifact creature”; these effects also allow the object to retain all of its prior types and subtypes.

Example: An ability reads, “All lands are 1/1 creatures that are still lands.” The affected lands now have two types: creature and land. If there were any lands that also had the artifact type before the ability’s effect applied to them, those lands would become “artifact land creatures,” not just “creatures,” or “land creatures.” The effect allows them to retain both the artifact type and the land type.

Example: An ability reads, “All artifacts are 1/1 artifact creatures.” If a permanent is both an artifact and an enchantment, it will become an “artifact enchantment creature.”

212.1d An object’s supertype is independent of its type and subtype. Changing an object’s type or subtype won’t change its supertype. Changing an object’s supertype won’t change its type or subtype. When an object gains or loses a supertype, it retains any other supertypes it had.