6. Spells, Abilities, and Effects
Rules overview
The deepest section of the rules. Defines exactly how spells get cast, how abilities trigger and resolve, how continuous effects (the famous layers) interact, and what replacement and prevention effects are. (State-based actions are in section 7, rule 704.)
If a rules question feels hard, the answer is almost always somewhere in section 6.
What you'll find
- 600 General.
- 601 Casting Spells -- the formal multi-step process.
- 602 Activating Activated Abilities -- the cousin of casting.
- 603 Handling Triggered Abilities -- when triggers go on the stack.
- 604 Handling Static Abilities.
- 605 Mana Abilities -- the special class that doesn't use the stack.
- 606 Loyalty Abilities -- planeswalker activations.
- 607 Linked Abilities.
- 608 Resolving Spells and Abilities.
- 609 Effects -- the umbrella for what spells and abilities actually do.
- 610-612 One-Shot, Continuous, Text-Changing Effects.
- 613 Interaction of Continuous Effects -- the layers system. Famously confusing.
- 614 Replacement Effects -- "instead", "if X would Y, do Z instead".
- 615 Prevention Effects -- damage prevention specifically.
- 616 Interaction of Replacement / Prevention Effects -- multi-replacement ordering.