100. General

101. The Magic Golden Rules

102. Players

103. Starting the Game

104. Ending the Game

105. Colors

106. Mana

107. Numbers and Symbols

108. Cards

109. Objects

110. Permanents

111. Tokens

112. Spells

113. Abilities

114. Emblems

115. Targets

116. Special Actions

117. Timing and Priority

118. Costs

119. Life

120. Damage

121. Drawing a Card

122. Counters

200. General

201. Name

202. Mana Cost and Color

203. Illustration

204. Color Indicator

205. Type Line

206. Expansion Symbol

207. Text Box

208. Power/Toughness

209. Loyalty

210. Hand Modifier

211. Life Modifier

212. Information Below the Text Box

300. General

301. Artifacts

302. Creatures

303. Enchantments

304. Instants

305. Lands

306. Planeswalkers

307. Sorceries

308. Tribals

309. Planes

310. Phenomena

311. Vanguards

312. Schemes

313. Conspiracies

400. General

401. Library

402. Hand

403. Battlefield

404. Graveyard

405. Stack

406. Exile

407. Ante

408. Command

500. General

501. Beginning Phase

502. Untap Step

503. Upkeep Step

504. Draw Step

505. Main Phase

506. Combat Phase

507. Beginning of Combat Step

508. Declare Attackers Step

509. Declare Blockers Step

510. Combat Damage Step

511. End of Combat Step

512. Ending Phase

513. End Step

514. Cleanup Step

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

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. Leveler Cards

711. Double-Faced Cards

712. Meld Cards

713. Checklist Cards

714. Saga Cards

715. Adventurer Cards

716. Controlling Another Player

717. Ending Turns and Phases

718. The Monarch

719. Restarting the Game

720. Subgames

721. Merging with Permanents

722. Taking Shortcuts

723. Handling Illegal Actions

800. General

801. Limited Range of Influence Option

802. Attack Multiple Players Option

803. Attack Left and Attack Right Options

804. Deploy Creatures Option

805. Shared Team Turns Option

806. Free-for-All Variant

807. Grand Melee Variant

808. Team vs. Team Variant

809. Emperor Variant

810. Two-Headed Giant Variant

811. Alternating Teams Variant

900. General

901. Planechase

902. Vanguard

903. Commander

904. Archenemy

905. Conspiracy Draft

This document is the ultimate authority for Magic: The Gathering® competitive game play. It consists of a series of numbered rules followed by a glossary. Many of the numbered rules are divided into subrules, and each separate rule and subrule of the game has its own number. (Note that subrules skip the letters "l" and "o" due to potential confusion with the numbers "1" and "0"; subrule 704.5k is followed by 704.5m, then 704.5n, then 704.5p, for example.)

Changes may have been made to this document since its publication. You can download the most recent version from the Magic rules website at Magic.Wizards.com/Rules. If you have questions, you can get the answers from us at Support.Wizards.com.

Magic: The Gathering Original Game Design: Richard Garfield

Comprehensive Rules Design and Development: Paul Barclay, Mark L. Gottlieb, Beth Moursund, Bill Rose, and Matt Tabak, with contributions from Charlie Cátinò, John Carter, Elaine Chase, Laurie Cheers, Stephen D'Angelo, Dave DeLaney, Brady Dommermuth, Mike Donais, Skaff Elias, Mike Elliott, Richard Garfield, Dan Gray, Robert Gutschera, Collin Jackson, William Jockusch, Jeff Jordan, Yonemura Kaoru, Russell Linnemann, Jim Lin, Steve Lord, Sheldon Menery, Michael Phoenix, Mark Rosewater, David Sachs, Lee Sharpe, Eli Shiffrin, Henry Stern, Donald X. Vaccarino, Thijs van Ommen, Ingo Warnke, Tom Wylie, and Bryan Zembruski

Editing: Del Laugel (lead), Gregg Luben, Nat Moes, Matt Tabak, and Hans Ziegler

Magic Rules Management: Eli Shiffrin


The Magic: The Gathering game was designed by Richard Garfield, with contributions from Charlie Cátinò, Skaff Elias, Don Felice, Tom Fontaine, Jim Lin, Joel Mick, Chris Page, Dave Pettey, Barry "Bit" Reich, Bill Rose, and Elliott Segal. The mana symbols were designed by Christopher Rush.

Thanks to all our project team members and the many others too numerous to mention who have contributed to this product.


These rules are effective as of July 3, 2020.

Published by Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering, Magic, Oracle, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Homelands, Exodus, Odyssey, Mirrodin, Kamigawa, Ravnica: City of Guilds, Time Spiral, Future Sight, Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, Zendikar, Scars of Mirrodin, Innistrad, Return to Ravnica, Khans of Tarkir, Magic Origins, Shadows over Innistrad, Eldritch Moon, Magic: The Gathering—Conspiracy, Conspiracy: Take the Crown, Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan, Unglued, Unstable, Dominaria, Ikoria, and Planeswalker Decks are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the USA and other countries. Unhinged is a trademark of Horn Abbot Ltd. and is used with permission. ©2020 Wizards. U.S. Pat. No. RE 37,957.