I have been invited to draft Amonkhet with some good players tomorrow.
I really welcome this opportunity, since I was thinking of way I could start playing MTG.
This is when I played last: http://mtg.gamepedia.com/Invasion
That's 17 years!
I need some advice on major rules change I need to be aware of:
* Stack change?
* Avatars?
* Exile mechanic
Anyone has any idea on how to quickly catch up?
I will of course theorycraft Amonkhet, my question is really about major rules changes, if any. The game as w hole or specifically draft.
Most of the game skeleton is the same as back in invasion though there have been a couple of big changes.
Combat damage no longer uses the stack. It is dealt and assigned as a single game action at the start of each combat damage step. You can't use Mog fanatic to kill an x/2 any more, and if you want to regenerate a creature you have to activate the ability in the declare blockers step. Other than that the Stack is the same as it was. Spells and abilites go on there and resolve in LIFO order.
There have been a number of terminology changes for zones and actions.
Zones:
In play is now the battlefield
Removed from the Game is now the Exile zone any thing that refered to Remove from the game now says it exiles it.
Actions
You play lands, Cast spells and activate abilities. Functionally this doesnn't make much difference it just clears up some of the language used.
The legendary supertype only cares about permanents that you control, both players can control a Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor. For Planeswalkers there is a similar rule that cares about the subtype where there legendary rule still cares about the name.
Mana burn does not exist any more.
That should be the major ones.
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Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and start slitting throats.
- H.L Mencken
I Became insane with long Intervals of horrible Sanity
All Religion, my friend is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.
- Edgar Allan Poe
Several new evergreen keywords have been introduced since Invasion. Here are the ones that you will come across in Amonkhet:
Lifelink - As a result of damage, a source with lifelink will also cause its controller to gain that much life at the same time the damage is dealt. Multiple instances of lifelink are redundant, so double lifelink will not cause you to gain more life.
Deathtouch - Any nonzero amount of damage dealt to a creature by a source with deathtouch is lethal, and the creature will be destroyed the next time state based actions are checked.
Indestructible - the permanent cannot be destroyed, any attempts to do so will simply fail. But an indestructible permanent is still a legal target for something that would try to destroy it. Additional effects can still happen, only the destroy part will do nothing.
Defender - A creature with defender cannot attack. This was once inherrent to the Wall creature type, but nowadays, creature types have no inherrent rules meanings like this anymore.
Double Strike - If a creature with this ability is involved in combat (attacking or blocking) there will be two combat damage steps (just like with first strike), and the creature will deal combat damage in both.
Enchant - Enchantments have been unified, and all "Enchant [this]" cards are now Enchantments with the subtype Aura and the Enchant keyword, which tells you what the aura can be attached to. The cards still work the same as before, so you cast the spell targeting what you want to attach it to, and when the spell resolves, the aura enters the battlefield attached to the object/player.
Equip - An activated ability found on artifacts with the subtype Equipment. Equipment can be attached to creatures just like auras, but to do so, you usually have to activate the equip ability when the equipment is on the battlefield. If the equipped creature leaves the battlefield, the equipment stays behind and can be attached to something else by activating the equip ability. You can also swap equipment around among your creatures with this ability. But you can only do so with sorcery timing, and you can only target creatures you control.
Flash - A keyword for something you should already know: the card can be cast "as though it was an instant". I believe that was the old term.
Hexproof / Shroud - Shroud means "cannot be the target of spells or abilities". This keyword is no longer used for new card design, but older cards still use it. Hexproof is an upgraded version of Shroud, only your opponent cannot target the permanent anymore. Both abilities can also be granted to players and work the same for them.
Intimidate - Works mostly like Fear. Only artifact creatures and creatures that share a color with the attacker can block such a creature. (Ok, this one is not in Amonkhet but still a new evergreen key word you should know.)
Reach - Can block creatures with flying.
Vigilance - Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap.
Cycling - Discard this card for its cycling cost to draw a card.
Menace - This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.
There are of course A LOT more keyword abilities. Pretty much every set brings some new ones. Some are simply terms for older mechanics, but most are brand new. Also, some abilities work differently now, for example trample (due to the changes to combat with M10 that were mentioned above) and madness. You can read up all the keywords and keyword actions in the Comprehensive Rules rules 701. and 702.
You should also read up on the planeswalker rules. Planeswalkers are a new card type (introduced in Lorwyn, so quite some years ago really, but new for you). you can find the rules for them in the CR rule 306.
Dies - A creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield. Scry X - Look at the top X cards of your library. You can put any number of them on the bottom of your library (in any order), then put the rest on top of your library (in any order). Notably, if you mulligan to 6 or fewer cards at the beginning of the game, once you've decided to keep your hand, you Scry 1.
Also there's no longer "removed from game" Its now Exiled, and placed into the exile zone. Its also not as permanent as it used to be- there's a few spells (although rare, and none in Amonkhet that I can remember) that bring cards back from the exile zone. There's also a lot of effects (mostly in white) that will exile a card only as long as a certain condition is met (generally the card doing the exiling remaining in play). Furthermore, there's flickering (non official keyword), which exiles a permanent, then returns it to the battlefield under its owner's control (sometimes immediately, sometimes at the end of turn).
Also, colorless mana has been changed. You no longer add 1to your mana pool with colorless mana. You addd C. It functions by and large as the same thing, but a new set last year introduced spells that required colorless mana to cast. So now 1 is more specifically considered generic mana, and used only in terms of cost, while C is specifically colorless. There's even a new basic land, called Wastes (You won't encounter these in Amonkhet, but its good to know, and you will encounter the colorless mana symbol.)
There's an additional rarity as well- Mythic. Mythic cards have their expansion symbol coppery-orange, and are above Rare-
although if you get one in a pack, it will be in the rare's spot. All Planeswalker cards are at mythic rarity, although they're hardly the only cards that are.
On that note, they now have the Masterpiece Series which are basically reprints of classic cards done in a super premium, specialized card face with new art. These cards are pretty valuable. Amonkhet's is called Invocations, and has such classics as Dark Ritual, Mind Twist, and Force of Will. They're extremely rare, and coveted, so if you open one, you might wanna hang on to it. If you do get one, you are legally allowed to use it in a draft.
Not 100% certain what you mean here. Do you mean Vanguard cards (eg, Gerrard)?
Vanguard is an alternate game style, where each player has a Vanguard card in the command zone. Your Vanguard card modifies your starting and maximum hand size, your starting life total, and have some other ability to be used during the game. It's a casual product similar to Planechase or Archenemy. (Vanguard was also released 3 years before Invasion, when you say you last played the game.)
Also, Vancouver Mulligan:
If, after all mulligans have been resolved but before the first turn starts, a player has less than the maximal number of cards (usually 7) in hand, they get to Scry 1.
Edit: whoops, didn't see the muligan note tucked into MrMoustache's Scry definition. Nothing to see here, move along
Not exactly a rule change but the way sets are designed was greatly changed around 2011. Basically, WotC realized complexity was becoming burdensome for new players. That complexity was turning people away from the game. WotC thus implemented the New World Order, which saw the creation of a stronger structure to set design. Commons were made less complex/more simple, in an effort to ease new players into the game (since commons were the main cards they saw when first starting out). Commons and Uncommons were also designed to be more limited-friendly. The focus for constructed decks thus moved from having cards from every rarity to - generally speaking - mythics, rares and uncommons. The philosophy also democratized themes from sets and ensure that every rarity had cards that covered the theme and mechanics from the set.
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I have been invited to draft Amonkhet with some good players tomorrow.
I really welcome this opportunity, since I was thinking of way I could start playing MTG.
This is when I played last:
http://mtg.gamepedia.com/Invasion
That's 17 years!
I need some advice on major rules change I need to be aware of:
* Stack change?
* Avatars?
* Exile mechanic
Anyone has any idea on how to quickly catch up?
I will of course theorycraft Amonkhet, my question is really about major rules changes, if any. The game as w hole or specifically draft.
Thanks
Combat damage no longer uses the stack. It is dealt and assigned as a single game action at the start of each combat damage step. You can't use Mog fanatic to kill an x/2 any more, and if you want to regenerate a creature you have to activate the ability in the declare blockers step. Other than that the Stack is the same as it was. Spells and abilites go on there and resolve in LIFO order.
There have been a number of terminology changes for zones and actions.
Zones:
In play is now the battlefield
Removed from the Game is now the Exile zone any thing that refered to Remove from the game now says it exiles it.
Actions
You play lands, Cast spells and activate abilities. Functionally this doesnn't make much difference it just clears up some of the language used.
The legendary supertype only cares about permanents that you control, both players can control a Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor. For Planeswalkers there is a similar rule that cares about the subtype where there legendary rule still cares about the name.
Mana burn does not exist any more.
That should be the major ones.
- H.L Mencken
I Became insane with long Intervals of horrible Sanity
All Religion, my friend is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.
- Edgar Allan Poe
The Crafters' Rules Guru
Lifelink - As a result of damage, a source with lifelink will also cause its controller to gain that much life at the same time the damage is dealt. Multiple instances of lifelink are redundant, so double lifelink will not cause you to gain more life.
Deathtouch - Any nonzero amount of damage dealt to a creature by a source with deathtouch is lethal, and the creature will be destroyed the next time state based actions are checked.
Indestructible - the permanent cannot be destroyed, any attempts to do so will simply fail. But an indestructible permanent is still a legal target for something that would try to destroy it. Additional effects can still happen, only the destroy part will do nothing.
Defender - A creature with defender cannot attack. This was once inherrent to the Wall creature type, but nowadays, creature types have no inherrent rules meanings like this anymore.
Double Strike - If a creature with this ability is involved in combat (attacking or blocking) there will be two combat damage steps (just like with first strike), and the creature will deal combat damage in both.
Enchant - Enchantments have been unified, and all "Enchant [this]" cards are now Enchantments with the subtype Aura and the Enchant keyword, which tells you what the aura can be attached to. The cards still work the same as before, so you cast the spell targeting what you want to attach it to, and when the spell resolves, the aura enters the battlefield attached to the object/player.
Equip - An activated ability found on artifacts with the subtype Equipment. Equipment can be attached to creatures just like auras, but to do so, you usually have to activate the equip ability when the equipment is on the battlefield. If the equipped creature leaves the battlefield, the equipment stays behind and can be attached to something else by activating the equip ability. You can also swap equipment around among your creatures with this ability. But you can only do so with sorcery timing, and you can only target creatures you control.
Flash - A keyword for something you should already know: the card can be cast "as though it was an instant". I believe that was the old term.
Hexproof / Shroud - Shroud means "cannot be the target of spells or abilities". This keyword is no longer used for new card design, but older cards still use it. Hexproof is an upgraded version of Shroud, only your opponent cannot target the permanent anymore. Both abilities can also be granted to players and work the same for them.
Intimidate - Works mostly like Fear. Only artifact creatures and creatures that share a color with the attacker can block such a creature. (Ok, this one is not in Amonkhet but still a new evergreen key word you should know.)
Reach - Can block creatures with flying.
Vigilance - Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap.
Cycling - Discard this card for its cycling cost to draw a card.
Menace - This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.
There are of course A LOT more keyword abilities. Pretty much every set brings some new ones. Some are simply terms for older mechanics, but most are brand new. Also, some abilities work differently now, for example trample (due to the changes to combat with M10 that were mentioned above) and madness. You can read up all the keywords and keyword actions in the Comprehensive Rules rules 701. and 702.
You should also read up on the planeswalker rules. Planeswalkers are a new card type (introduced in Lorwyn, so quite some years ago really, but new for you). you can find the rules for them in the CR rule 306.
You can download the CR here:
http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/rules
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
Dies - A creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.
Scry X - Look at the top X cards of your library. You can put any number of them on the bottom of your library (in any order), then put the rest on top of your library (in any order). Notably, if you mulligan to 6 or fewer cards at the beginning of the game, once you've decided to keep your hand, you Scry 1.
Also, colorless mana has been changed. You no longer add 1to your mana pool with colorless mana. You addd C. It functions by and large as the same thing, but a new set last year introduced spells that required colorless mana to cast. So now 1 is more specifically considered generic mana, and used only in terms of cost, while C is specifically colorless. There's even a new basic land, called Wastes (You won't encounter these in Amonkhet, but its good to know, and you will encounter the colorless mana symbol.)
There's an additional rarity as well- Mythic. Mythic cards have their expansion symbol coppery-orange, and are above Rare-
although if you get one in a pack, it will be in the rare's spot. All Planeswalker cards are at mythic rarity, although they're hardly the only cards that are.
On that note, they now have the Masterpiece Series which are basically reprints of classic cards done in a super premium, specialized card face with new art. These cards are pretty valuable. Amonkhet's is called Invocations, and has such classics as Dark Ritual, Mind Twist, and Force of Will. They're extremely rare, and coveted, so if you open one, you might wanna hang on to it. If you do get one, you are legally allowed to use it in a draft.
Vanguard is an alternate game style, where each player has a Vanguard card in the command zone. Your Vanguard card modifies your starting and maximum hand size, your starting life total, and have some other ability to be used during the game. It's a casual product similar to Planechase or Archenemy. (Vanguard was also released 3 years before Invasion, when you say you last played the game.)
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If, after all mulligans have been resolved but before the first turn starts, a player has less than the maximal number of cards (usually 7) in hand, they get to Scry 1.
Edit: whoops, didn't see the muligan note tucked into MrMoustache's Scry definition. Nothing to see here, move along