The launch of Magic: The Gathering’s latest set, Kaldheim, has prompted a series of oracle text updates and comprehensive rules changes.
Oracle Changes
Alrund, God of the Cosmos
Alrund was mistakenly printed missing the words “revealed this way”, from the text “Put all cards of the chosen type into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order…” which opened the door for potential misunderstandings. This text has since been updated to the following:
Alrund gets +1/+1 for each card in your hand and each foretold card you own in exile.
At the beginning of your end step, choose a card type, then reveal the top two cards of your library. Put all cards of the chosen type revealed this way into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
Chains of Mephistopheles
Originally printed with players only having a single draw step each turn in mind, Chains of Mephistopheles needed to be updated to accommodate a world with cards like Sphinx of the Second Sun.
The card’s text has been updated to the following:
If a player would draw a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, that player discards a card instead. If the player discards a card this way, they draw a card. If the player doesn’t discard a card this way, they mill a card.
In addition to Alrund, God of the Cosmos and Chains of Mephistopheles, several other cards had small adjustments made as well, including Jeska, Thrice Reborn and Idol of Endurance.
You can view the full article of changes here.
Comprehensive Rule Changes
Coming with the launch of Kaldheim were several changes to Magic’s rules, many of which were made to accommodate specific cards from the set.
107.4H – Snow
“This rule defines {S}, the snow mana symbol, which on cards looks like a snowflake. Prior to Kaldheim, this symbol was used exclusively to denote a cost, payable by one mana from a snow permanent. Now in the time of Kaldheim, things have changed a bit. First, we now have snow spells that add mana, so “snow permanent” becomes “snow source.” Second, on cards like Search for Glory, we use {S} to reference the amount of mana spent from a snow source.”
120.10 – Toralf, God of Fury
“This new rule in the damage section is for Toralf, God of Fury and Aegar, the Freezing Flame. These two cards have triggered abilities that look back and see if excess damage was dealt. To be thorough, the same methods used to determine excess damage outlined in 120.4 are reiterated here. This time, though, we’re looking at what did happen to determine if abilities should trigger, as opposed to looking at what would happen to determine if replacement effects should apply.”
201.4A – Cosima, God of the Voyage
“We beefed up this rule to account for Cosima, God of the Voyage to make sure that when you exile Cosima, the ability it gains points at the right object, namely the Cosima in exile, not the object it was on the battlefield.”
706.9F – Moritte of the Frost
“This new subrule in the copy exception section addresses a new kind of exception seen on Moritte of the Frost. Moritte may or may not pick up changeling and enter with two +1/+1 counters on it depending on if it’s a creature. This rule makes that exception work smoothly, telling you to look at what Moritte would be ignoring in that exception to then determine if the exception applies. Simply put (ha ha), if Moritte would end up as a creature, it’ll have changeling and the counters. If not, it won’t.”
You can read the full list of the most recent comprehensive rule changes here.