Me and my friend got into an argument about "Name a card" effects. He thinks that you can name the card type (ex: Creature, instant, ect). Is that true or does he have to give the actual name of the card
You must provide the name of a card. Something like Lightning Bolt. Being able to name a card type would make cards like Nevermore or Runed Halo ridiculously overpowered as they would just shut off all creatures or Instants or whatever is chosen.
You'll notice that cards that ask for a card name specifically reference it as being the name of the card. So, you name a card and then have protection from cards with that name in the case of Runed Halo. The card type is not the card name.
Also worth noting is that when you do need to name a card, you can only name cards legal in the format you are playing. So, if you are playing Modern, you can't name Brainstorm for example.
Furthermore, in a tournament setting, to name a card, it suffices to uniquely identify it within the format. So even if you don't know or can't remember the exact name of the card you want to name, if you can describe it well enough so that it cannot be anything else, you are in the clear, the card is named. This is because in tournaments, all players have (in theory) free access to the Oracle wording of every card.
You'll notice that cards that ask for a card name specifically reference it as being the name of the card. So, you name a card and then have protection from cards with that name in the case of Runed Halo. The card type is not the card name.
Also worth noting is that when you do need to name a card, you can only name cards legal in the format you are playing. So, if you are playing Modern, you can't name Brainstorm for example.
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