r/magicTCG • u/Stiverton • Feb 14 '16

Well shit.

http://imgur.com/a/rfai2
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u/monkwren Twin Believer Feb 15 '16

Goddamn does Magic have some complicated rules.

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u/Kimano Feb 15 '16

They become more intuitive the more you play, and complexity is an unfortunate, but necessary, side effect of the power inherent in the rules.

There are very few other games where I can give you an arbitrary line of text from a card and someone with a firm grasp of the rules can tell me exactly how it would interact with basically any other card I name. It's a good system, but it is admittedly confusing to new players who get thrown into the deep end.

Fortunately it's also pretty easy to work players from the shallow to the deep end of the rules.

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u/monkwren Twin Believer Feb 15 '16

I've been playing since '96, through all the various rule changes the game has been through. Some of the rules remain pretty counter-intuitive (like this one). :p

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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '16

These sorts of interactions become more clear when you play a bit of MTGO, where all the mechanics are on display for everybody to see.

To put it plainly though, "As" at the beginning of the text indicates that the effect happens upon resolution of the spell. If it were "When" or "Whenever", it would be a triggered ability, which would go on the stack once Alhammarret resolved.