Battlefield

Game terms · beginner

The battlefield is the shared zone where permanents live. It is where almost everything a card does is aimed unless the card says otherwise.

How it works

• Most of the area between the players represents the battlefield, and it starts out empty. Permanents are normally kept in front of the player who controls them. [403.1]
• Permanents exist only on the battlefield, and every object on the battlefield is a permanent. [403.3]
• A spell or ability affects and checks only the battlefield unless it specifically mentions a player or another zone. [403.2]

Rules notes

• A permanent entering the battlefield becomes a new object with no relationship to any earlier permanent represented by the same card. That is why a creature that dies and returns comes back fresh, with no counters, no Auras and no "summoning sick" exemption. [403.4]
• The zone is shared, but control is not: an Aura you control can sit attached to another player's creature. [403.1]
• Older cards printed with "in play," "from play" or "into play" mean the battlefield; those cards have Oracle errata. [403.5]

Rule reference

[403.1] [403.2] [403.3] [403.4] [403.5]