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Tough rulings

Quick, plain-language adjudication for the plays that start arguments — the layer system, state-based actions, replacement effects, combat, and the Commander-specific rules. Grounded in the Comprehensive Rules; not a substitute for it.

Layers & continuous effects

Which order do continuous effects apply?

“Two effects are changing the same creature and they conflict — which one 'wins'?”

  1. Continuous effects apply in a fixed order of seven layers, not in timestamp order across layers: 1) copy, 2) control-changing, 3) text-changing, 4) type-changing, 5) color-changing, 6) ability add/remove, 7) power/toughness.
  2. You fully resolve each layer before moving to the next. Within a single layer, effects apply in timestamp order (oldest first), unless one depends on another.
  3. Power/toughness (layer 7) has its own sublayers, applied in this order: 7a) characteristic-defining abilities, 7b) effects that SET P/T to a specific value, 7c) counters, 7d) effects that modify but don't set (+1/+1, anthems, -X/-X, Giant Growth), 7e) effects that switch power and toughness.
  4. Key consequence: an effect that SETS base P/T (7b) is applied before +1/+1 counters (7c) and before pump (7d), so the counters and pump still add on top. 'Becomes a 1/1' then a +1/+1 counter = a 2/2.
CR 613, 613.4base power and toughness+1/+1 counter

Set base P/T vs. counters vs. pump

“My 3/3 has a +1/+1 counter, then something makes it a 0/1 — what is it now?”

  1. Setting base power/toughness happens in layer 7b. Counters are layer 7c. Other modifiers (anthems, Giant Growth) are 7d. Later sublayers stack on top of earlier ones — they don't erase them.
  2. So '0/1' (7b) is applied first, then the +1/+1 counter (7c) adds on top → a 1/2.
  3. This is why turning a big creature into a 1/1 doesn't get rid of its counters or remove an anthem bonus — those apply afterward.
CR 613.4base power and toughness

State-based actions

Does my creature die?

“I dealt it damage / gave it -X/-X — does it die, and when?”

  1. Two different state-based actions can kill a creature: 1) toughness 0 or less → put into graveyard (this isn't 'destroy', so indestructible doesn't help and it can't be regenerated); 2) damage marked on it ≥ its toughness → it's destroyed (indestructible and regeneration DO apply here).
  2. -X/-X lowers toughness directly — it can drop a creature to 0 toughness and kill it even if it's indestructible. Combat/burn damage only marks damage and is checked against current toughness.
  3. State-based actions are checked every time a player would receive priority, and repeatedly until none apply — not the instant the damage is dealt. Nobody gets priority in between, so you can't respond to a creature dying.
  4. Damage marked on a creature wears off only as the turn ends (during cleanup), so two 2-damage hits on a 3-toughness creature across a turn add up to 4 and kill it.
CR 704.5f, 704.5g, 704.7indestructibledeathtouchregenerate

The 'legend rule' and other duplicate checks

“I control two of the same legendary — what happens?”

  1. If one player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one to keep and puts the rest into their graveyard. It's a state-based action, so it happens immediately the next time anyone would get priority.
  2. It's per-player and per-name: two players can each have their own copy of the same legend with no problem.
  3. The same kind of check handles a player at 0 or less life (they lose), a player with 10+ poison counters (they lose), and a token that has left the battlefield (it ceases to exist).
CR 704.5j, 704.5

Replacement effects

Two replacement effects want to apply — who decides?

“Two 'enters with counters' / doubling effects both apply to the same event. What order?”

  1. A replacement effect modifies an event before it happens (watch for 'instead', 'enters with', 'as ~ enters', 'if ~ would'). Each replacement effect can apply only once to any given event.
  2. If several would apply to the same event, the player who controls (or owns) the affected object/player chooses which to apply first, then re-checks what still applies.
  3. Doubling effects each apply once: with two counter-doublers, '1 counter' → double → 2 → double → 4.
  4. Replacement effects don't use the stack and can't be responded to — they just change how the event plays out.
CR 614, 616.1enters the battlefieldproliferate

Damage prevention and 'instead' shields

“Why didn't my lifelink / deathtouch / trigger happen — the damage was prevented?”

  1. Prevention effects ('prevent the next N damage', 'if a source would deal damage, prevent it') are replacement effects. If damage is fully prevented, it is never dealt.
  2. Because no damage is dealt: lifelink gains no life, deathtouch destroys nothing, and 'whenever this deals damage' triggers don't fire.
  3. Protection from a quality prevents damage from sources with that quality (the D in DEBT). Indestructible does NOT prevent damage — the damage is still dealt and lifelink/deathtouch still work; the creature just isn't destroyed by it.
CR 615, 702.16protection fromindestructiblelifelink

Combat

Trample + deathtouch damage assignment

“My attacker has trample and deathtouch and is blocked — how much tramples over?”

  1. With deathtouch, any amount of damage is 'lethal' for the purpose of assigning combat damage — so you only need to assign 1 damage to each blocker.
  2. With trample, you assign at least lethal to the blockers, then may assign the rest to the player or planeswalker.
  3. Combined: assign 1 to each blocker (lethal, thanks to deathtouch), and everything else tramples through. A 5/5 deathtouch-trample blocked by one creature assigns 1 to it and 4 to the player.
  4. You still must assign at least 1 to each blocker before any tramples over. Damage already marked on a blocker also counts toward 'lethal'.
CR 509.2, 510.1c, 702.2c, 702.19edeathtouchtrample

First strike and double strike create two damage steps

“There's first strike in combat — when does everything else happen?”

  1. If any attacking or blocking creature has first strike or double strike, there are two combat damage steps. Otherwise there's just one.
  2. In the first step, only first-strike and double-strike creatures deal damage. In the second step, double-strikers deal damage again, along with every creature that didn't already.
  3. A creature that dies in the first-strike step deals no damage in the second step. This is how a first-striker can kill a blocker before it ever hits back.
  4. Deathtouch + first strike: lethal is dealt in the first step, so a normal blocker dies before dealing its damage.
CR 510, 702.7, 702.4first strikedouble strike

The stack & priority

Several triggers fire at once — what order? (APNAP)

“Everyone's triggers went off on the same event. Who picks the order?”

  1. Triggered abilities don't go on the stack the instant they trigger — they wait, then are put on the stack the next time a player would receive priority.
  2. They go on in APNAP order: the Active Player's triggers first, then each Non-Active Player in turn order. Each player orders their own triggers however they like.
  3. Because the stack is last-in-first-out, the active player's triggers go on the bottom and resolve LAST; the last non-active player's resolve first.
  4. Players get priority after each one resolves, so they can respond between triggers. (The live-game Judge batches these for you automatically.)
CR 603.3, 603.3b, 405.6triggered ability

Responding, countering, and 'fizzling'

“Can I respond to that? What happens if its target is gone?”

  1. Anything on the stack (spells and activated/triggered abilities) can be responded to while it's there. 'Can't be countered' still lets you respond — you just can't counter it.
  2. When a spell or ability tries to resolve, it checks its targets. If ALL of its targets are now illegal, it doesn't resolve and is removed (it 'fizzles') — none of its effects happen.
  3. If some but not all targets are illegal, it resolves and does as much as it can to the legal ones; effects involving illegal targets do nothing.
  4. Costs are paid when you put a spell/ability on the stack, so they're already paid even if it later fizzles.
CR 608.2b, 608.2c, 601.2wardhexproof

Commander rules

Commander tax

“How much extra does it cost to recast my commander?”

  1. Casting your commander from the command zone costs {2} more for each PREVIOUS time you've cast it from the command zone this game. (0 the first time, then {2}, {4}, …)
  2. The tax only applies to casts from the command zone. Casting it from your hand, graveyard, or exile costs its normal cost with no tax.
  3. The {2} is a generic cost increase — cost reducers and 'costs {2} less' effects can offset it.
CR 903.8

Commander (general) damage

“When does commander damage kill someone?”

  1. A player who has been dealt 21 or more COMBAT damage by a single commander over the course of the game loses. It's a state-based action.
  2. It's tracked per commander, not totaled across different commanders. Damage from a commander's abilities or noncombat sources doesn't count — only combat damage.
  3. The damage also reduces the player's life total normally; the 21 threshold is a separate running tally per commander.
CR 903.10, 704.6b

Sending a commander to the command zone

“My commander is about to die / be exiled — can I put it in the command zone?”

  1. If a commander would be put into a graveyard, exile, hand, or library from anywhere, its owner may instead move it to the command zone. This is a replacement effect (a choice made as the event happens).
  2. Because it's a replacement, the commander never actually reaches the graveyard/exile — so 'dies' / 'leaves the battlefield' triggers still see it leaving the battlefield, but it won't be in the graveyard afterward.
  3. You make this choice each time. If you decline, it goes to the normal zone like any other card.
  4. Each recast from the command zone after this still adds commander tax.
CR 903.9commander tax

Copying

What does a copy actually copy?

“My Clone copies a creature that's pumped and has counters — what do I get?”

  1. A copy uses the 'copiable values': the printed characteristics of the original, plus any copy effects and any 'as this enters, it becomes a copy' choices already applied to it.
  2. It does NOT copy counters, damage marked, other continuous effects (auras, equipment, pump, anthems), or whether the original is tapped.
  3. So copying a 1/1 that's a 5/5 from counters and a +2/+2 spell still gives you a base 1/1 (then your own counters/effects apply on top).
  4. It DOES copy a face-down/face-up status and copy effects, and tokens copy their copiable values the same way.
CR 706.2, 707.2+1/+1 counter
Rules summaries are paraphrased from the Comprehensive Rules. Not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.