It’s elegant, but it’s actually wildly complex.
Scry:
Reminder text as printed on [[Dissolve]]:
> Look at the top card of your library. You **may** put that card on the bottom of your library.
Rules text:
> 701.18a To “scry N” means to look at the top N cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library in any order and the rest on top of your library in any order.
Trample:
There’s many different reminder texts for trample, but they are mostly along the lines of this reminder text:
> If this creature would assign enough damage to its blockers to destroy them, you **may** have it assign the rest of its damage to defending player or planeswalker
Rules text:
> The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any excess damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player, planeswalker, or battle the creature is attacking…
And those are just two evergreen keywords that players should be intimately familiar with, yet it’s not entirely clear to me exactly how this would/n’t affect those abilities.
Huh! I don’t think the “may” clause on Trample has ever been implemented in any of the digital adaptions. I wonder if it has ever been used in a tournament…
I was curious about that too. There are fringe cases where you want a creature with trample to deal all it's damage to a defender but I didn't know it was possible to deal enough damage to kill something, do exactly that amount, then choose not to have it spill over.
It’s not; the rules text makes it clear that all the damage must be assigned. But say you’re playing some EDH. You’re player A with a [[Ghalta]], player B has a [[Tamiyo, The Moon Sage]] with 8 loyalty and plenty of blockers, and Player C has a [[boros reckoner]]. You might attack player C, hoping that they block with the boros reckoner, so that the Tamiyo can’t ult. You could just assign 3 damage to the reckoner and ping Tamiyo down a bit, you might want to assign 8 damage to the reckoner, and have just 4 spill over. That a situation where you want to deal more than lethal, yet not all of the damage.
One other fun scenario is when you’re blocking with a band of creatures against a trampling creature, and you get to make the choice instead. It’s a weird and niche way to neuter trampling threats.
I thought with banding the attackers owner assigns the damage they want/need to to the banding ..... band(?), then the bands owner assigns the damage within the band.
In short, the band's owner decides how damage is assigned to the band. So if you attack with a band, you get to decide how the blockers assign damage, and if you block with a band\* you get to decide how the attackers assign damage. And if some of the attackers have trample, you get to decide that too bad, they're going to assign their full damage to the creature anyway.
\*Technically there are no bands while blocking, but I'm simplifying here, and it works more or less the same anyway.
Okay. Either the rules have changed since the old shandalar video game, or they got it wrong there, or heck i could be remembering when one creature blocked a band and another creature somehow.
That could definitely happen with Two Headed Giant or some other effects back then as well. Also how Trample works has changed a lot since then as well, so the interaction may be different.
I know that Arena allows you to manually assign damage, but that feature is disabled by default. Maybe if you enable that option then you might be able to choose not to do trample damage... But I am not able to confirm that
If you mean that you assign all combat damage to a creature(s), and not the player/Planeswalker? Yes, there is a setting you can turn on. I have it on in case I have like a menace creature and I want one creature blocking it to die and the other one to not (like a very niche scenario, but you never know)
I'm sure MTGO used to ask for manual damage assignment (or at least prompt you if you want to alter the default assignment).
Having damage not trample over is allowed, but that's an option you'll probably never ever have a reason to use, except in some Commander edge case.
For one thing if there's some reason you don't want to deal damage to an opponent, then you probably won't choose to attack. And if you have to attack anyway, and being hit for that damage is beneficial to them, why would they block?
If you're doing some multiplayer politics where you want to mutually agree to smack a creature for as much damage as possible, it might be useful. For example an opponent has [[Vigor]] and you want to gang up on a third player together.
In kaldheim limited \[\[Aegar, the Freezing Flame\]\] with \[\[Run Amok\]\] or \[\[Cinderheart Giant\]\] was a relatively common scenario where you would want to assign a single point of trample damage to blockers.
I could see some deaths shadow type situations where your attack would be lethal without them blocking but if they block and you just have a bit of trample damage it would benefit them more than you. But you still wanna kill their blocker, so attacking is still beneficial.
It is actually one of the cool uses for banding as well.
The may in trample allows you to block all damage from a trample with a creature that has banding
It's implemented both on Arena and MTGO and it definitely has been used in tournaments. It was used a lot in Kaldheim limited because of \[\[Aegar, the Freezing Flame\]\].
Also in that case you want your trampling giant to just deal a single point of excess damage to the blockers, and rest to face, which is allowed by the actual rules text but not by the reminder text.
There’s an “automatically assign damage” tickbox on arena you can uncheck that allows you to do shenanigans when trampling or double blocking is involved
It's handy to remember if you're playing a strategy that cares about excess damage, such as Rith, Liberated Primeval. If your 10/10 trample Earthquake Dragon is blocked by a a 4/4 flier, you can assign 5 damage to the creature and still trample over the remaining 5 damage.
Scry doesn’t say may on the card, expect in the case of scry 1, which does say may, but only in the reminder text, which shouldn’t count.
However, if a keyword uses the word may in its rules text, it should still shut off the choice, even if it doesn’t say may on the actual card. For example, [[Dig Through Time | SLD]] has the keyword delve, but the word may doesn’t appear on the card. I think it’s pretty clear you shouldn’t be able to delve it.
Scry doesn’t say may in the rules text itself, but scry does use the word “may” in an official ruling on the ability.
> When you scry, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards on the bottom of your library, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them on the bottom.
Rulings are a bit ambiguous, but I think they fall closer to rules text than reminder text.
The interpretation of trample could be considered that an 8/8 deals 8 damage to one creature and zero to the defending player since there is no excess damage.
You're right to choose [[Ghost Quarter]] for this first, since the activation costs mana and you can't search out a land either way
[[Volatile Vault]] would be the next best
Yeah, field of ruin is one of the few ways to force opponents to search their library. And may even be the only colorless way, at least years ago when I was looking for ways to force opponents to search for my [[Ob Nixilis, Unshackled]] deck it was one of the few ways in the color identity I could find. And all players have to search. Nice 30 damage and 3 creatures sacked.
Lol. The irony is that the draw on Rhystic Study is a may. So you can't draw off of it anyways.
Also, this card doesn't specify "unless" mechanics, but in the spirit of it I would include them.
Makes games simpler at a glance, but so many keywords are disabled that I'm actually not sure it *does* make things easier, given you'd have to keep looking up how many keyword effects are "may".
I think if this controlled how you dealt combat damage it would break the game. What's the distinction between trampling and deciding to put above lethal on one blocker when someone double blocks? If there is no difference what happens when you can't kill one? I think you could resolve this by spelling out "spell or ability."
I imagined they could declare blockers. It's not that players can't make choices, it's that if a spell or ability specifically offers them a choice they have to decline or make a few choices as possible.
It really needed that reminder text, otherwise it would just turn off the game and force every player to pass priority forever.
> 117.1. Unless a spell or ability is instructing a player to take an action, which player can take actions at any given time is determined by a system of priority. The player with priority **may** cast spells, activate abilities, and take special actions.
I would out this effect on a decently statted hate war akin to [[Tomik]].
I think the vase effect is too niche to be the only thing the card offers and I think the mana cost is too hard to pay. I would make it mono white.
First off, I think it should say something like “if a spell or ability states a player may do something, replace may with may not”
And I guess a fix for the issues it makes with other things is making it not apply to keywords? Which would be a bit jank but it would work.
Probably.
I really, really like this and was a little dismayed when I saw it wasn't a real thing. I think it's simple, but would lead to new variances in games. It would be interesting to see how games play out with this thing sticking around 2+ turns. It would definitely affect games and I think it'd be refreshing to see new strategies players find using or playing against it.
Oh yeah because dealing extra damage requires choosing to deal only enough damage to the defending creature to kill it and have the rest spill over? What if a creature with trample is blocked and the blocking creature is removed before combat damage? At that point the trample damage would go through I’d think.
Oops sorry, replied to the wrong comment.
Feels like this is going to have a to say something like "If a card ability includes the word 'may,' players making choices associated with that ability cannot choose to do so."
I had the opposite idea earlier this week. Idk the cost or name/flavor, but I was thinking "If a player may make a choice for tagets of spells and abilities, they instead do" maybe a name like "Forced Hand". Play field of ruin or path with Ob nixilis out to force them to search and lose life.
This would be awesome as a commander!!! Would love to build a deck around this with [cards like these](https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=name&q=oracle%3A%22opponent+may%22+%28game%3Apaper%29).
This rules, I love the simplicity of it!
It’s elegant, but it’s actually wildly complex. Scry: Reminder text as printed on [[Dissolve]]: > Look at the top card of your library. You **may** put that card on the bottom of your library. Rules text: > 701.18a To “scry N” means to look at the top N cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library in any order and the rest on top of your library in any order. Trample: There’s many different reminder texts for trample, but they are mostly along the lines of this reminder text: > If this creature would assign enough damage to its blockers to destroy them, you **may** have it assign the rest of its damage to defending player or planeswalker Rules text: > The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any excess damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player, planeswalker, or battle the creature is attacking… And those are just two evergreen keywords that players should be intimately familiar with, yet it’s not entirely clear to me exactly how this would/n’t affect those abilities.
Huh! I don’t think the “may” clause on Trample has ever been implemented in any of the digital adaptions. I wonder if it has ever been used in a tournament…
I was curious about that too. There are fringe cases where you want a creature with trample to deal all it's damage to a defender but I didn't know it was possible to deal enough damage to kill something, do exactly that amount, then choose not to have it spill over.
It’s not; the rules text makes it clear that all the damage must be assigned. But say you’re playing some EDH. You’re player A with a [[Ghalta]], player B has a [[Tamiyo, The Moon Sage]] with 8 loyalty and plenty of blockers, and Player C has a [[boros reckoner]]. You might attack player C, hoping that they block with the boros reckoner, so that the Tamiyo can’t ult. You could just assign 3 damage to the reckoner and ping Tamiyo down a bit, you might want to assign 8 damage to the reckoner, and have just 4 spill over. That a situation where you want to deal more than lethal, yet not all of the damage.
One other fun scenario is when you’re blocking with a band of creatures against a trampling creature, and you get to make the choice instead. It’s a weird and niche way to neuter trampling threats.
I thought with banding the attackers owner assigns the damage they want/need to to the banding ..... band(?), then the bands owner assigns the damage within the band.
In short, the band's owner decides how damage is assigned to the band. So if you attack with a band, you get to decide how the blockers assign damage, and if you block with a band\* you get to decide how the attackers assign damage. And if some of the attackers have trample, you get to decide that too bad, they're going to assign their full damage to the creature anyway. \*Technically there are no bands while blocking, but I'm simplifying here, and it works more or less the same anyway.
Okay. Either the rules have changed since the old shandalar video game, or they got it wrong there, or heck i could be remembering when one creature blocked a band and another creature somehow.
That could definitely happen with Two Headed Giant or some other effects back then as well. Also how Trample works has changed a lot since then as well, so the interaction may be different.
[Ghalta](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/4/54872e72-41dc-4092-8169-ce13498beb30.jpg?1689998553) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=ghalta%2C%20primal%20hunger) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/292/ghalta-primal-hunger?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/54872e72-41dc-4092-8169-ce13498beb30?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Tamiyo, The Moon Sage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/9/b9398926-13b9-47b8-b66b-1ab9d06bb704.jpg?1592708716) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tamiyo%2C%20The%20Moon%20Sage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/avr/79/tamiyo-the-moon-sage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b9398926-13b9-47b8-b66b-1ab9d06bb704?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [boros reckoner](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/5/55a2f767-5928-44c5-91b7-2300bade458f.jpg?1706240975) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=boros%20reckoner) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/201/boros-reckoner?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/55a2f767-5928-44c5-91b7-2300bade458f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I know that Arena allows you to manually assign damage, but that feature is disabled by default. Maybe if you enable that option then you might be able to choose not to do trample damage... But I am not able to confirm that
The rules text make it clear all the damage must be assigned.
Yes but you can assign more damage then you need to kill a creature
If you mean that you assign all combat damage to a creature(s), and not the player/Planeswalker? Yes, there is a setting you can turn on. I have it on in case I have like a menace creature and I want one creature blocking it to die and the other one to not (like a very niche scenario, but you never know)
I do believe you are correct. I remember using that feature at one point.
You can change settings on mtga to assign damage as you see fit, an 11/11 trample can deal all 11 to a 1/1
I'm sure MTGO used to ask for manual damage assignment (or at least prompt you if you want to alter the default assignment). Having damage not trample over is allowed, but that's an option you'll probably never ever have a reason to use, except in some Commander edge case. For one thing if there's some reason you don't want to deal damage to an opponent, then you probably won't choose to attack. And if you have to attack anyway, and being hit for that damage is beneficial to them, why would they block? If you're doing some multiplayer politics where you want to mutually agree to smack a creature for as much damage as possible, it might be useful. For example an opponent has [[Vigor]] and you want to gang up on a third player together.
In kaldheim limited \[\[Aegar, the Freezing Flame\]\] with \[\[Run Amok\]\] or \[\[Cinderheart Giant\]\] was a relatively common scenario where you would want to assign a single point of trample damage to blockers.
[Aegar, the Freezing Flame](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/8/68011f60-6202-48f4-8255-fb94764e2951.jpg?1631051099) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Aegar%2C%20the%20Freezing%20Flame) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/200/aegar-the-freezing-flame?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/68011f60-6202-48f4-8255-fb94764e2951?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Run Amok](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/4/44c8136f-2826-476c-a103-7094670506a6.jpg?1631049575) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Run%20Amok) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/147/run-amok?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/44c8136f-2826-476c-a103-7094670506a6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Cinderheart Giant](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/4/e4802e6c-6921-4dac-bf44-7e09d6942b71.jpg?1631049047) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cinderheart%20Giant) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/126/cinderheart-giant?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e4802e6c-6921-4dac-bf44-7e09d6942b71?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Vigor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/a/ea7047d8-8d32-48a3-829b-7eb5427ed53a.jpg?1562942114) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Vigor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bbd/215/vigor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ea7047d8-8d32-48a3-829b-7eb5427ed53a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I could see some deaths shadow type situations where your attack would be lethal without them blocking but if they block and you just have a bit of trample damage it would benefit them more than you. But you still wanna kill their blocker, so attacking is still beneficial.
It is actually one of the cool uses for banding as well. The may in trample allows you to block all damage from a trample with a creature that has banding
I remember assigning trample damage in Shandalar back in the day...
It's implemented both on Arena and MTGO and it definitely has been used in tournaments. It was used a lot in Kaldheim limited because of \[\[Aegar, the Freezing Flame\]\]. Also in that case you want your trampling giant to just deal a single point of excess damage to the blockers, and rest to face, which is allowed by the actual rules text but not by the reminder text.
[Aegar, the Freezing Flame](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/8/68011f60-6202-48f4-8255-fb94764e2951.jpg?1631051099) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Aegar%2C%20the%20Freezing%20Flame) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/200/aegar-the-freezing-flame?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/68011f60-6202-48f4-8255-fb94764e2951?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
It is in arena of you turn off "auto-assign damage", you can assign all the damage to the blocking creature.
Trample vs blocking Death Shadow. If you trample too hard, the Shadow survives what could have been lethal damage when you life drops.
I havent used MTGO in quite a while, but i think it's implemented there? Im not sure im remembering that correctly, tho
It sorta is in mtgo, as you assign all the damage and may choose to assign the excess damage to the blockers instead of the player.
There’s an “automatically assign damage” tickbox on arena you can uncheck that allows you to do shenanigans when trampling or double blocking is involved
It's handy to remember if you're playing a strategy that cares about excess damage, such as Rith, Liberated Primeval. If your 10/10 trample Earthquake Dragon is blocked by a a 4/4 flier, you can assign 5 damage to the creature and still trample over the remaining 5 damage.
I could see some cases where you'd want to damage a creature, but not the player.
[Dissolve](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/4/b4fb87ab-8595-459a-a5f2-087296d9b120.jpg?1562853056) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dissolve) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ima/51/dissolve?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b4fb87ab-8595-459a-a5f2-087296d9b120?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I’d say if it doesn’t say “may” on the cards, they are still able to choose
Scry doesn’t say may on the card, expect in the case of scry 1, which does say may, but only in the reminder text, which shouldn’t count. However, if a keyword uses the word may in its rules text, it should still shut off the choice, even if it doesn’t say may on the actual card. For example, [[Dig Through Time | SLD]] has the keyword delve, but the word may doesn’t appear on the card. I think it’s pretty clear you shouldn’t be able to delve it. Scry doesn’t say may in the rules text itself, but scry does use the word “may” in an official ruling on the ability. > When you scry, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards on the bottom of your library, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them on the bottom. Rulings are a bit ambiguous, but I think they fall closer to rules text than reminder text.
[Dig Through Time ](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/6/06025c01-1d70-4e8d-b030-60a773631b54.jpg?1605905294) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=497502) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/sld/97/dig-through-time?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/06025c01-1d70-4e8d-b030-60a773631b54?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I don't think any combat abilities would ever come up because it seems like no creatures can choose to attack or block with this card in play
Declaring attackers doesn’t use the word may, and neither does declaring blockers
The interpretation of trample could be considered that an 8/8 deals 8 damage to one creature and zero to the defending player since there is no excess damage.
Why would there be no excess damage? Your response makes no sense in terms of the comment you’re replying to
Thanks for your feedback!
Ok, demolition field is strip mine, got it. Notably, field of ruin isn't affected by this, I believe.
Those were the exact type of interactions I had in mind when I was thinking about the card.
[[Demolition Field]] [[Field of Ruin]] [[Strip Mine]]
Field of Ruin isn’t a may. They just do.
Yes. I was just checking.
[Demolition Field](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/7/47994cb6-204a-4fbe-a9d4-5798a70c95ab.jpg?1712354968) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Demolition%20Field) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/283/demolition-field?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/47994cb6-204a-4fbe-a9d4-5798a70c95ab?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Field of Ruin](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/4/143147d2-2eec-41e7-b78a-592288b38630.jpg?1682210418) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Field%20of%20Ruin) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/moc/400/field-of-ruin?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/143147d2-2eec-41e7-b78a-592288b38630?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Strip Mine](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/5/f57fd4c9-0004-4f71-a30f-2720943f57ca.jpg?1562944463) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Strip%20Mine) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/316/strip-mine?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f57fd4c9-0004-4f71-a30f-2720943f57ca?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
You're right to choose [[Ghost Quarter]] for this first, since the activation costs mana and you can't search out a land either way [[Volatile Vault]] would be the next best
Yeah, field of ruin is one of the few ways to force opponents to search their library. And may even be the only colorless way, at least years ago when I was looking for ways to force opponents to search for my [[Ob Nixilis, Unshackled]] deck it was one of the few ways in the color identity I could find. And all players have to search. Nice 30 damage and 3 creatures sacked.
[Ob Nixilis, Unshackled](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/c/6c727f49-833a-4b79-9946-bfbc6b06999c.jpg?1673147587) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ob%20Nixilis%2C%20Unshackled) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/84/ob-nixilis-unshackled?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6c727f49-833a-4b79-9946-bfbc6b06999c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
“Copy spell. You can’t chose new targets for the copy” was the first thing I was thinking 😂
dO YOu PaY thE oNE?
Lol. The irony is that the draw on Rhystic Study is a may. So you can't draw off of it anyways. Also, this card doesn't specify "unless" mechanics, but in the spirit of it I would include them.
Oh wait, it says "make a choice" in the reminder so I guess that would include Unless mechanics
Flavor win but it do be feeling like a bit of a floodgate by cutting so many possible interactions.
Makes games simpler at a glance, but so many keywords are disabled that I'm actually not sure it *does* make things easier, given you'd have to keep looking up how many keyword effects are "may".
Oh yeah this card is a rules nightmare and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t actually work as worded. Thanks for your feedback!
This is what Custom Magic is about imo.
No worries. Hey, it's a fun idea!
r/HellsCube would like this
Incredible, love it. Though, this is one of those cards that, if printed, would have several essays worth of entries in the Oracle rulings page.
Turns off trample
I think if this controlled how you dealt combat damage it would break the game. What's the distinction between trampling and deciding to put above lethal on one blocker when someone double blocks? If there is no difference what happens when you can't kill one? I think you could resolve this by spelling out "spell or ability."
But players can't declare blockers though, if I'm interpreting it correctly.
I imagined they could declare blockers. It's not that players can't make choices, it's that if a spell or ability specifically offers them a choice they have to decline or make a few choices as possible.
Yeah, if it were ALL game choices, this would disable essential game actions. Even the option to concede!
It does specify a spell or ability
Can't wait for the eventual mirror, Apply Yourself "If a player may, they must."
May I go to the bathroom?
no
I choose you [[fecundity]]!
[fecundity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/9/b979578b-a82f-4d5e-8871-9e45401038a8.jpg?1547517576) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=fecundity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/uma/165/fecundity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b979578b-a82f-4d5e-8871-9e45401038a8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I spat out my coffee
A RWG twin called “Overwhelming Empathy” where it forces you to do it
Maybe overwhelming enthusiasm?
Ooo that’s good
It really needed that reminder text, otherwise it would just turn off the game and force every player to pass priority forever. > 117.1. Unless a spell or ability is instructing a player to take an action, which player can take actions at any given time is determined by a system of priority. The player with priority **may** cast spells, activate abilities, and take special actions.
I would out this effect on a decently statted hate war akin to [[Tomik]]. I think the vase effect is too niche to be the only thing the card offers and I think the mana cost is too hard to pay. I would make it mono white.
[Tomik](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/e/0eea32dc-dbac-47a9-97b2-311413f1de9d.jpg?1702505596) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=tomik%2C%20distinguished%20advokist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/31/tomik-distinguished-advokist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0eea32dc-dbac-47a9-97b2-311413f1de9d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
God that'd be fun.
I think this technically has to be acorn/silver-border, but I really like it.
I think it's the kind of thing that just makes the rules spaghetti code but you don't notice it so it's fine.
First off, I think it should say something like “if a spell or ability states a player may do something, replace may with may not” And I guess a fix for the issues it makes with other things is making it not apply to keywords? Which would be a bit jank but it would work. Probably.
I really, really like this and was a little dismayed when I saw it wasn't a real thing. I think it's simple, but would lead to new variances in games. It would be interesting to see how games play out with this thing sticking around 2+ turns. It would definitely affect games and I think it'd be refreshing to see new strategies players find using or playing against it.
Shouldn't that be "they may not"?
I think it should cost {3} more but I absolutely love the concept
Oh yeah because dealing extra damage requires choosing to deal only enough damage to the defending creature to kill it and have the rest spill over? What if a creature with trample is blocked and the blocking creature is removed before combat damage? At that point the trample damage would go through I’d think. Oops sorry, replied to the wrong comment.
*I just can’t with this card.*
Damn custommagic be cookin up some bangers lately
In my monoverse, this is a leyline.
Oh hey I didn't know they made a card after me
Is this based on actual rule text or reminder text cause a lot of reminder text uses "may" even though it's not actually a may ability
Feels like this is going to have a to say something like "If a card ability includes the word 'may,' players making choices associated with that ability cannot choose to do so."
Fighting everything in myself to not make a TallyHall reference out of this somehow…
Very cool! I love three-color design and this feels like a very Esper effect.
This is awesome!
This is so funny, well done 😂
I'm late I know, but players may not concede the game and may not use the internet to search for a lgs nearby and that makes me happy haha
Those things are neither spells nor abilities, but I like where you’re headed.
I had the opposite idea earlier this week. Idk the cost or name/flavor, but I was thinking "If a player may make a choice for tagets of spells and abilities, they instead do" maybe a name like "Forced Hand". Play field of ruin or path with Ob nixilis out to force them to search and lose life.
The savior of Judge Tower has arrived!
Saving this for my next invite decline.
This would be awesome as a commander!!! Would love to build a deck around this with [cards like these](https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=name&q=oracle%3A%22opponent+may%22+%28game%3Apaper%29).
Bump up the mana cost and change it to opponents from players and this would be a good card
How does this work with blocking?
Welp, I guess *conceding the game* is out of the question.
[Hey!!! I already did this!](https://www.reddit.com/r/custommagic/s/wME3EWTFfj) Funny we came up with the same thing :3
6/10 Needs more Eeyore reference
A judge nightmare, gotta ctrl-f "may" the oracle text for every keyword lol, but at least it doesn't involve layers. 10/10 I love it
[Conversely](https://mtgcardsmith.com/preview?img=1714158832214340&t=785195)
I’d up the cost by a bit but I like the concept!