614 Replacement Effects

Rules by topic

A replacement effect changes what would happen, replacing the original event with a new one. Think "instead of" -- the original event never actually happens.

How they work

Replacement effects watch for an event ("a creature would die", "a card would be put into a graveyard") and substitute a different outcome.

Critical property: replacement effects don't use the stack. If an event is replaced, it never happens; the modified event happens instead (614.6). You can't respond to the replacement itself. A Commander example: if your commander would be put into your hand or library, you may put it into the command zone instead (903.9b), and nobody can respond to that choice. A commander going to the graveyard or exile is different: it really goes there, and moving it to the command zone is a state-based action (903.9a).

Multiple replacements

If two or more replacement effects could apply to the same event, the affected player (or the controller of the affected object, or its owner if it has no controller) picks one to apply, then the rest are checked again, one at a time, until none are left (616.1).

Examples

• Doubling Season: "If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead." Token creation is replaced.
• Leyline of the Void: "If a card would be put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead."
• The commander rule for hands and libraries (903.9b): "If a commander would be put into its owner's hand or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead."

Replacement vs triggered