It is generally accepted that the Core Set is a little less exciting than an expansion. After all, if a mechanic is too complicated for the block it was in, there is no chance to bring it into the Core Set, as that is marketed to newer players. However, Core Sets are often seen as prime opportunities to try out new ideas, such as card faces, or rules adjustments. And in this case, that is exactly what is being done.
The most notable change you will find to cards, especially if you’ve perused either the sortable spoiler from Wizards or just happened to be looking at the Oracle recently is the “Enchantment – Aura” type line. What does this mean?
The first time Wizards tried to make cards that recognized a distinction between enchantments that sit alone and do their thing and enchantments that attached to things was in the Mirage set. Serene Heart destroyed all “local” enchantments, while Tranquil Domain destroyed all “global” enchantments. Global enchantments were those that didn’t have any designator other than “Enchantment” except for the “Enchant World” cards that were a specific exemption. This has been the main rules differentiator since then (although reference was made to the fact that local enchantments didn’t say “Enchantment” but rather “Enchant <foo>”, where <foo> described the general permanent type that it could enchant. This meant that certain things that were Enchantments did not have the full word “Enchantment” in their type line.
Now, all Enchantments printed in the future will have the “Enchantment” type printed directly on them, but the subtype Aura has been added to those that attach to other permanents. Here is a sample text:
Confiscate – {4}{U}{U}
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant permanent (Target a permanent as you play this. This card comes into play attached to that permanent.)
You control enchanted permanent.
This has several benefits. The first is that the type line is of the correct form. The second is that the keyword “Enchant” is now moved into rules text, where it can be defined by rule. Third, we now have all the rules about what something can enchant in one place, instead of having “Enchant Creature” in the type line and “Threads of Disloyalty can only enchant a creature with converted mana cost of 2 or less” in the text box. Now the Oracle simply says:
Threads of Disloyalty {1}{U}{U}
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature with converted mana cost 2 or less
You control enchanted creature.
Short, simple, and to the point. The final benefit of this is that in the Core Set, where it needs to be specified, the reminder text mentions that you target the permanent when you play the Aura, but that it comes into play “attached” to that permanent. This ties the Aura mechanic to the Equip mechanic in people’s mind, and all it takes from there is a change in the State-Based Effects section to say that an Aura that isn’t legally attached (and the card says what it can legally attach to) goes to the graveyard and we’re all set. A few more sets of this and we’ll all be wondering how anyone ever understood the old system.
Now that that’s done, we can discuss other things that appear on other 9th Edition cards:
Will-o’-the-Wisp – {B}
Creature – Spirit 0/1
Flying (This creature can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying.)
Regenerate Will-o’-the-Wisp. (The next time this creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn’t. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat.)
The first thing to note is that the creature type has changed to Spirit. This is part of the push to consolidate creature types, which makes building Tribal decks a lot more meaningful. Even the 9th Edition Lords (Goblin King, Elvish Champion and Lord of the Undead) have been given the creature type of the things they pump, so that they count toward the tribe. To make sure that they don’t pump themselves, they now say “other” creatures of the type get +1/+1. However, this wording does let them work on other versions of themselves, so having two Elvish Champions in play means that each is a 3/3, and that a Lord of the Undead can return another Lord of the Undead from the graveyard to the hand.
(Side note: While I like the idea of consolidating creature types in general, there is one consolidation in particular that I have a problem with. Tree Monkey and Zodiac Monkey have become Apes. This is so wrong from an anthropological view it’s not even funny. Primates with tails, as Tree Monkey and Zodiac Monkey and Ravenous Baboons and Monkey Monkey Monkey clearly have, are really Monkeys, whereas Kird Ape and any of the Gorillas that don’t have tails are actual Apes. Either change the type to Primate, or restore the true monkeys to their proper creature type, please!)
Flying and first strike have had reminder text since 8th Edition. But now regeneration gets reminder text, and it’s about time. This is trying to warn people off the idea of regeneration as a “rise from the dead” ability, which it is not, and hopefully steer them in the correct direction. If that doesn’t do the trick, perhaps this brief explanation will.
Regeneration, simply put, keeps something from dying. If you put a regeneration shield on something, it has to be killed twice before it dies. The first time it dies, the regeneration shield is expended and you tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat (if it was in combat, of course). If there is more than one regeneration shield on the creature, its controller chooses which one gets used each time, which is useful if the shield comes with a kicker attached, such as with Debt of Loyalty or Skeleton Scavengers.
The fact that it keeps the permanent from dying means that it never sees the graveyard, so effects such as Yamabushi’s Flame won’t try to remove it from the game. The reason is that the destruction itself got replaced by regeneration, therefore the permanent has no reason to go the graveyard, which is what the Yamabushi-style abilities are looking for.
It is also good to see some of the old favorites return, such as Force of Nature. But that means that trample is back in the Core Set, which means more reminder text:
Force of Nature – {2}{G}{G}{G}{G}
Creature – Elemental 8/8
Trample (If this creature would deal enough combat damage to its blockers to destroy them, you may have it deal the rest of its damage to defending player.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, Force of Nature deals 8 damage to you unless you pay {G}{G}{G}{G}.
With no more Circle of Protection: Green in the Core Set, it now falls on Story Circle to be the cheap method of keeping Mr. Ed happy. (Why do I call him Mr. Ed? A Force is a Force, of course, of course. If you’re old enough to understand that one, I won’t tell.) In this case, the reminder text is a bit sketchy, so I will go over trample in more detail.
When a creature with trample attacks, the defender can’t simply send any creature and prevent all of the damage from that creature. Instead, that creature tries to deal enough damage to “cover the toughness” of all of its blockers. Until that is done, trample damage works the same way as normal damage.
Once enough damage is assigned so that the total damage assigned to each of the trampling creature’s blockers is equal to or greater than all of their toughness attributes, you may then assign the rest of the trampler’s damage to the defending player. This is a choice – you don’t have to assign any damage to the defending player if you don’t want to (this may be a good idea if your opponent has an active Samite Healer in play, as you might be able to insure that you kill a blocker by piling extra damage on so that the Healer can’t save it). You do have to cover the toughness of all of the creatures blocking the trampler, though, before you can assign damage to the defending player.
Notice that covering toughness doesn’t care about any other abilities, such as protection or damage prevention. It’s possible that the damage you deal to a blocker will be prevented, but all that trample cares about is how much is assigned to each blocker. Once the toughness is covered, you may then assign the rest to the defending player.
In the specific case of a creature with trample having all of its blockers removed before it assigns damage, the trampler assigns all of its damage to the defending player, as there is no toughness to cover. With trample, every point of damage goes somewhere.
Paladin en-Vec – {1}{W}{W}
Creature – Human Knight 2/2
First strike (This creature deals combat damage before creatures without first strike.)
Protection from black, protection from red (This creature can’t be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything black or red.)
Technically, the reminder text is missing the comment that it can’t be equipped by anything black or red either, and that if it somehow finds such an illegal attachment on it, the attached permanent falls off, but that would make the text too long for people to read, and the rest is explained in the rules, as well as in Rule of Law 4 – Don’t Forget Protection.
That should cover everything that isn’t in either 8th Edition or Kamigawa Block (such as Vigilance, the Keyword). Join us next time for another two-part title (guesses are welcome as to when and why two-part titles appear).