Magic The Gathering Comprehensive Rules Part 27

The Two-Headed Giant variant uses a modified mulligan rule; see rule 606.6a.

Multicolored

A multicolored card has two or more colors. Most multicolored cards are printed with gold frames to reinforce this. See rule 203.2.

A multicolored object is affected by anything that singles out any of its colors. For example, a black-and-green creature is destroyed by a spell that reads, "Destroy all green creatures." Something that can't affect a particular color doesn't affect a multicolored object with that color, so that same creature can't be targeted by a spell or ability that reads, "Destroy target nonblack creature."

Multiplayer

A multiplayer game is a game that begins with more than two players. Games that begin with only two players aren't multiplayer games. See section 6, "Multiplayer Rules."

Name

The name of a card is printed on its upper left corner. See rule 202, "Name."

Ninjutsu

Ninjutsu is an activated ability that functions only while the card with ninjutsu is in a player's hand. "Ninjutsu [cost]" means "[Cost], Reveal this card from your hand, Return an unblocked creature you control to its owner's hand: Put this card into play from your hand tapped and attacking." See rule 502.43, "Ninjutsu."

Nonbasic Land

Any land that doesn't have the supertype "basic" is nonbasic. Use the Oracle card reference to determine whether a land has the supertype "basic."

Number

The Magic game uses only natural numbers. You may not choose a fractional number, deal fractional damage, and so on. When a spell or ability could generate a fractional number, the spell or ability will tell you whether to round up or down. See rule 104, "Numbers and Symbols."

If a creature's power or toughness, a mana cost, a player's life total, or an amount of damage is less than zero, it's treated as zero for all purposes except changing that total. If anything needs to use a number that can't be determined, it uses 0 instead.

Example: If a 3/3 creature gets -5/-0, it deals 0 damage in combat. But to raise its power back to 1, you'd have to give it +3/+0 (3 minus 5 plus 3 is 1).

Object

An "object" is a card, a copy of a card, a token, a spell, a permanent, an ability on the stack, or combat damage on the stack. The term "object" is used in these rules when a rule applies to cards, copies of cards, tokens, spells, permanents, abilities on the stack, and combat damage on the stack. See rule 200.8.

Obsolete

Terms marked "(Obsolete)" in this glossary were used only on older cards. Updated wordings for all cards that used these terms are available in the Oracle card reference.

Offering

Offering is a static ability of a card that functions in any zone from which the card can be played. "[Text] offering" means "You may play this card any time you could play an instant by sacrificing a [text] permanent. If you do, the total cost to play this card is reduced by the sacrificed permanent's mana cost." Generic mana in the sacrificed permanent's mana cost reduces only the generic mana in the offering card's total cost. See rule 502.42, "Offering."

One-Shot Effect

One-shot effects do something only once and then end. See rule 417, "One-Shot Effects." See also Continuous Effects.

Opening Hand

Before a game begins, but after a player has taken any mulligans, the hand of cards he or she chooses to keep is that player's opening hand. A player can't take any mulligans once he or she has decided to keep an opening hand.

Opponent

In a two-player game, a player's opponent is the other player. In multiplayer games, a player has multiple opponents. See section 6, "Multiplayer Rules."

Oracle

Use the Oracle card reference when determining a card's wording. A card's Oracle text can be found using the Gatherer card database at http://gatherer.wizards.com. See rule 200.2.

Order

The order of objects in a library, in a graveyard, or on the stack can't be changed except when effects allow it. Objects in other zones can be arranged however their owners wish, although who controls those objects, whether they're tapped, and what enchants or equips them must remain clear to all players. See rule 217.1b.

Outside the Game

An object is "outside the game" if it's in the removed-from-the-game zone, or if it isn't in any of the game's zones. All other objects are inside the game. "Outside the game" is not a zone. See rule 217.1e.

Owner

The owner of a card is the player who started the game with that card in his or her deck or, for cards that didn't start the game in a player's deck, the player who brought the card into the game. (Legal ownership is irrelevant to the game rules, except for the rules for ante.) The owner of a token is the controller of the effect that created it. See rule 200.1a.