I'd like to thank any judges or rules lawyers extensively for your time in advance on this one. It's for a good cause. I intend to make a commander deck around Selvala and other strange interactions of hers if any of this holds ground. Selvala, Explorer Returned From the comprehensive rules:
120.8. If a spell or ability causes a card to be drawn while another spell is being cast, the drawn card is kept face down until that spell becomes cast (see rule 601.2i). While face down, it’s considered to have no characteristics. The same is true with relation to another ability being activated. If an effect allows or instructs a player to reveal the card as it’s being drawn, it’s revealed after the spell becomes cast or the ability becomes activated.
This suggests that if I declare my intentions to cast a spell, tap Selvala for mana, but refuse to use additional mana abilities/am unable to finish paying for the spell, that the card drawn off of Selvala will continue to be a face down characteristic-less card object (no mana cost, 0cmc, typeless, nameless) for the rest of the game since the only clause in this rule which reverts this face down state is when the spell becomes cast, which it never will. Is this the case? If not, why not?
Additionally, does the clause in 120.8 about effects instructing players to reveal the card as it's being drawn apply to Selvala's ability revealing the top card and then everyone drawing a card? They seem like two distinct clauses, but if this is the case, that would make Selvala much more busted as every card "revealed" will always be nonland if activated during the casting process since they'd all be typless until the spell resolves.
Continuing on the assumption that this strange scenario is possible, I don't believe a player can play or cast such an object since the rules only have clauses for how players can cast Instants, Sorceries, Artifacts, Enchantments, Creatures, Planeswalkers, or cards with Morph (there might be additional abilities I'm missing, but this textless card object has none of those). If the card moves zones however, say by being discarded by Thoughtseize, does it retain this weird state? I understand face down permanents lose their face down status when moved zones, but I believe face down in this context is separate from a permanent's status of being face down similar to how it's different for face down exile cards (see CR 110.6d). If this context of face down is the same as for face down exile does that mean it reacts just like face down exiled cards do when sent to the graveyard (or any public zone for that matter) via an Eldrazi Processor effect and revert to its face up state?
Does having an effect like Omniscience now give the player a route to cast a typeless card? If the card remains face down and characteristic-less on the stack, can a typless card enter the stack or the battlefield? I know through March of the Machines and Neurok Transmuter you can successfully achieve a typeless blue permanent but is there a reason casting a typless card from the hand would be an impossibility? Is the card even considered a permanent card if it was never on the battlefield to start?
The rules don't cover the rest of the 2/3 of your question because such a thing cannot happen.
120.8 specifies that while casting a spell, the card isn't revealed. But that state doesn't continue. If the spell is reversed for being an illegal action for whatever reason, you are no longer casting a spell thus it's drawn normally. So the 'while casting a spell' timeframe ends and the cards drawn by Selvala are put into players' hands as normal.
Also, Selvala's one of a few ablities that CANNOT be reversed.
721.1. If a player takes an illegal action or starts to take an action but can't legally complete it, the entire action is reversed and any payments already made are canceled. No abilities trigger and no effects apply as a result of an undone action. If the action was casting a spell, the spell returns to the zone it came from. Each player may also reverse any legal mana abilities that player activated while making the illegal play, unless mana from those abilities or from any triggered mana abilities they caused to trigger was spent on another mana ability that wasn't reversed. Players may not reverse actions that moved cards to a library, moved cards from a library to any zone other than the stack, caused a library to be shuffled, or caused cards from a library to be revealed.
120.8 specifies that while casting a spell, the card isn't revealed. But that state doesn't continue. If the spell is reversed for being an illegal action for whatever reason, you are no longer casting a spell thus it's drawn normally. So the 'while casting a spell' timeframe ends and the cards drawn by Selvala are put into players' hands as normal.
This seems like a reasonable interpretation, but are you sure? The "while casting a spell" timeframe has ended, but the card was draw during that timeframe. 120.8 doesn't say "The drawn card is kept face down while the spell is being cast" rather it says "the drawn card is kept face down until that spell becomes cast", the "while" part refers to the timing of the card drawn, not the timeframe for how long it remains face down I think.
I think you can interpret 721.1 to work retroactively; Since the casting is undone, to the eyes of the game, you didn't even start casting, Selvala's ability wasn't activated while casting a spell, and the card was drawn normally. But it doesn't make much sense and I hope the wording changes.
For the second question, the cards are not reveled as drawn; they are revealed, and then drawn. The rule is about cards like Keranos, God of Storms.
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Selvala, Explorer Returned From the comprehensive rules:
120.8. If a spell or ability causes a card to be drawn while another spell is being cast, the drawn card is kept face down until that spell becomes cast (see rule 601.2i). While face down, it’s considered to have no characteristics. The same is true with relation to another ability being activated. If an effect allows or instructs a player to reveal the card as it’s being drawn, it’s revealed after the spell becomes cast or the ability becomes activated.
This suggests that if I declare my intentions to cast a spell, tap Selvala for mana, but refuse to use additional mana abilities/am unable to finish paying for the spell, that the card drawn off of Selvala will continue to be a face down characteristic-less card object (no mana cost, 0cmc, typeless, nameless) for the rest of the game since the only clause in this rule which reverts this face down state is when the spell becomes cast, which it never will. Is this the case? If not, why not?
Additionally, does the clause in 120.8 about effects instructing players to reveal the card as it's being drawn apply to Selvala's ability revealing the top card and then everyone drawing a card? They seem like two distinct clauses, but if this is the case, that would make Selvala much more busted as every card "revealed" will always be nonland if activated during the casting process since they'd all be typless until the spell resolves.
Continuing on the assumption that this strange scenario is possible, I don't believe a player can play or cast such an object since the rules only have clauses for how players can cast Instants, Sorceries, Artifacts, Enchantments, Creatures, Planeswalkers, or cards with Morph (there might be additional abilities I'm missing, but this textless card object has none of those). If the card moves zones however, say by being discarded by Thoughtseize, does it retain this weird state? I understand face down permanents lose their face down status when moved zones, but I believe face down in this context is separate from a permanent's status of being face down similar to how it's different for face down exile cards (see CR 110.6d). If this context of face down is the same as for face down exile does that mean it reacts just like face down exiled cards do when sent to the graveyard (or any public zone for that matter) via an Eldrazi Processor effect and revert to its face up state?
Does having an effect like Omniscience now give the player a route to cast a typeless card? If the card remains face down and characteristic-less on the stack, can a typless card enter the stack or the battlefield? I know through March of the Machines and Neurok Transmuter you can successfully achieve a typeless blue permanent but is there a reason casting a typless card from the hand would be an impossibility? Is the card even considered a permanent card if it was never on the battlefield to start?
120.8 specifies that while casting a spell, the card isn't revealed. But that state doesn't continue. If the spell is reversed for being an illegal action for whatever reason, you are no longer casting a spell thus it's drawn normally. So the 'while casting a spell' timeframe ends and the cards drawn by Selvala are put into players' hands as normal.
Also, Selvala's one of a few ablities that CANNOT be reversed.
This seems like a reasonable interpretation, but are you sure? The "while casting a spell" timeframe has ended, but the card was draw during that timeframe. 120.8 doesn't say "The drawn card is kept face down while the spell is being cast" rather it says "the drawn card is kept face down until that spell becomes cast", the "while" part refers to the timing of the card drawn, not the timeframe for how long it remains face down I think.
For the second question, the cards are not reveled as drawn; they are revealed, and then drawn. The rule is about cards like Keranos, God of Storms.