MTG Rules FAQ

You win by reducing your opponent's life total from 40 to 0, forcing them to draw from an empty library, or through specific card effects that state "you win the game" (like Thassa's Oracle). In Commander, you can also win by dealing 21 combat damage from a single commander.

The stack is a zone where spells and abilities wait to resolve. When you cast a spell or activate an ability, it goes on the stack. Players can respond by adding more spells/abilities on top. The stack resolves from top to bottom - the last thing added resolves first (Last In, First Out). This is why you can counter a spell before it takes effect.

Priority is your turn to take an action (cast a spell, activate an ability, or pass). The active player gets priority first at the start of each step and phase. After they pass priority, the non-active player gets it. Both players must pass priority in succession for the game to move to the next step or for something on the stack to resolve.

Yes! After you cast a spell, you retain priority and can respond to your own spell with instant-speed actions. This is useful for tricks like casting a creature, then responding with an instant that gives it haste before your opponent can respond.

You can cast instants during any of the five combat steps: Beginning of Combat, Declare Attackers, Declare Blockers, Combat Damage, and End of Combat. The most common times are after attackers are declared (to tap/remove creatures) or after blockers are declared (to pump creatures or remove blockers).

No. Once blockers are declared, removing a blocker does not make the attacker unblocked. The attacking creature will deal no damage (unless it has trample). To prevent this, you need to remove the blocker before the Declare Blockers step.

Trample allows excess combat damage to carry over to the defending player. If your 5/5 trampler is blocked by a 2/2, you assign 2 damage to the blocker (lethal damage) and can assign the remaining 3 damage to the defending player. With multiple blockers, you must assign lethal to each before trampling over.

No. A creature has summoning sickness if you haven't controlled it continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn. Creatures with summoning sickness can't attack or use abilities with the tap symbol. However, they can block and use abilities that don't require tapping.

First strike creates an additional combat damage step. Creatures with first strike deal damage before creatures without it. If a creature with first strike kills its blocker in first strike damage, the blocker won't deal damage back. Double strike means a creature deals damage in both the first strike and normal damage steps.

You can't. Hexproof means "This permanent can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control." If you try to target a hexproof permanent your opponent controls, the spell/ability is illegal and can't be cast/activated. However, effects that don't target (like board wipes) still work.

Destroy is an action done to a permanent by an external effect (like Murder). Indestructible creatures can't be destroyed. Sacrifice is an action the permanent's controller performs - you choose which creature to sacrifice. Indestructible creatures can be sacrificed, and sacrifice effects bypass hexproof and shroud.

It depends. You can counter activated and triggered abilities (using cards like Stifle or Disallow), but you cannot counter static abilities. For example, you can counter the triggered ability "When this enters, draw a card" but you can't counter the static ability "Creatures you control get +1/+1."

"Cast" triggers only when you cast the spell from your hand (or exile if allowed). "Enters the battlefield" triggers whenever the permanent enters, regardless of how (cast, reanimated, token created, etc.). This is why Panharmonicon doubles ETB effects but doesn't affect cast triggers.

They cancel each other out as a state-based action. If a creature has three +1/+1 counters and receives two -1/-1 counters, they immediately remove each other, leaving one +1/+1 counter. They never coexist on the same permanent.

Each commander deals its own separate "commander damage" to each opponent. If a single commander deals 21 or more combat damage to a player over the course of the game, that player loses. This damage is cumulative throughout the game and doesn't reset. Non-combat damage from commanders doesn't count.

The command zone is where your commander starts the game and returns to if it would be put into your hand, graveyard, library, or exile (you choose). You can cast your commander from the command zone, but it costs 2 more colorless mana for each previous time you've cast it (the "commander tax").

No. Commander has a strict color identity rule. You can't include cards with mana symbols outside your commander's color identity, and you can't produce mana of colors outside your commander's identity. If you try, that mana becomes colorless instead.

If your commander would be exiled, you can choose to move it to the command zone instead (but you don't have to). If your commander phases out, it stays phased out in the same zone - you can't move it to the command zone until it would change zones.

State-based actions are automatic game checks that happen whenever a player would receive priority. Examples include: creatures with 0 toughness die, players at 0 life lose, creatures with lethal damage die, +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters cancel. They happen simultaneously and don't use the stack.

Replacement effects watch for a specific event and replace it with a different event. They use words like "instead," "as," or "skip." For example, "If you would draw a card, instead..." Replacement effects don't use the stack and happen as the event occurs, not after.

Abilities with "may" are optional - you choose whether to perform them. Abilities without "may" are mandatory - you must perform them even if it's bad for you. For example, "Draw a card" is mandatory, while "You may draw a card" is optional.

Layers determine the order continuous effects apply to a permanent. There are seven layers applied in order: copy, control, text, type, color, ability adding/removing, and power/toughness. This is why a creature that becomes a copy of another creature loses all modifications (like auras or equipment) in most cases.