Here are the major changes as of M10 (and refined in the other M1x sets):ngsilver wrote:I just know there have been a lot of changes to the rules since I got out. I never really played any special format of deck really, so Standard and Legacy mean little to me. I just bought cards and played with my friends.
The biggest things I've heard that have changed is the removal of the Stack and Mana Burn, both of which would change how I play dramatically...
- Mana no longer carries over between steps and phases. Even if you have mana left over in a particular step or phase, the mana evaporates once you hit the next step or phase (i.e from upkeep to draw, or from declare attackers to declare blockers).
- Since the above change limits mana consumption, there is no more mana burn. You can go over without damaging yourself.
- Combat damage no longer uses a stack. When combat damage happens, it happens -- no responses allowed, no spells played. Note that this changes only the order of how things happen. If you wanted to regenerate, for example, you can do it "before blockers are declared" (stacking on the Declare Attackers step) or "before damage is dealt", (stacking on the Declare Blockers step).
- When an attack occurs, any number of blockers can block a creature -- that hasn't changed. What has changed is that the attacker decides the order in which the blockers block the creature.
- Deathtouch and Lifelink are now static abilities. Any amount of damage dealt by any creature with these abilities causes the ability to trigger as a state-based effect. During combat, a creature attacking with Deathtouch or Lifelink can divide the damage among any number of blocking creatures if multi-blocked -- so a Deathtouch creature of 3/1 blocked by a 1/1, a 2/2. and a 3/3 could divide 1 damage to each creature and destroy all 3 at one time. Same rule applies to Lifelink, which gains life as the damage is being dealt.
For more info on the changes and the lists of new keywords introduced:
- M10 changes: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/a ... eature/42a
- M11 Deathtouch changes: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/A ... feature/97
- M12 rule change, new keyword "Dies": http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Ma ... ule_change