Historical Rules

Rules effective 1 February 2010

This is a dated historical record, not the current Rules release.

Read all rulesEvery rule, in source order, with links to dedicated pages.
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1. Game Concepts21 sections · 325 rules

Read chapter 1 continuously →

100. General
101. The _Magic_ Golden Rules
102. Players
103. Starting the Game
104. Winning and Losing
105. Colors
106. Mana
107. Numbers and Symbols
108. Cards
109. Objects
110. Permanents
111. Spells
112. Abilities
113. Targets
114. Special Actions
115. Timing and Priority
116. Costs
117. Life
118. Damage
119. Drawing a Card
120. Counters
2. Parts of a Card12 sections · 79 rules
3. Card Types11 sections · 85 rules
4. Zones9 sections · 64 rules
5. Turn Structure15 sections · 116 rules
6. Spells, Abilities, and Effects17 sections · 219 rules

Read chapter 6 continuously →

600. General
601. Casting Spells
602. Activating Activated Abilities
603. Handling Triggered Abilities
604. Handling Static Abilities
605. Mana Abilities
606. Loyalty Abilities
607. Linked Abilities
608. Resolving Spells and Abilities
609. Effects
610. One-Shot Effects
611. Continuous Effects
612. Text-Changing Effects
613. Interaction of Continuous Effects
614. Replacement Effects
615. Prevention Effects
616. Interaction of Replacement and/or Prevention Effects
7. Additional Rules15 sections · 551 rules

Read chapter 7 continuously →

700. General
701. Keyword Actions
702. Keyword Abilities
703. Turn-Based Actions
704. State-Based Actions
705. Flipping a Coin
706. Copying Objects
707. Face-Down Spells and Permanents
708. Split Cards
709. Flip Cards
710. Controlling Another Player's Turn
711. Ending the Turn
712. Subgames
713. Taking Shortcuts
714. Handling Illegal Actions
8. Multiplayer Rules10 sections · 139 rules
9. Casual Variants4 sections · 59 rules