Ever since MTG started releasing more sets, we’ve seen a massive rise in sudden errata. Between fine-tuning a few glitches in the design process and cards like Saga Creatures, errata have become surprisingly common. Now, it appears we’re getting another, as the requirements for what makes a mana ability are being changed, which has some wide-reaching implications.
Moving Cards? Not a Mana Ability
Until now, to qualify as a mana ability, an MTG ability had to have a few simple prerequisites. So long as it doesn’t target anything, adds mana to your mana pool, and is not a Loyalty ability, your ability is fair game. Now, thanks to an August 7th update to ruling 605.1a, if an ability moves a card from the library to anywhere, it will no longer be considered a mana ability.
Selvala, Explorer Returned is the most significant card impacted here, as its Parlay effect is no longer a mana ability. Other popular cards, like Millikin and Chromatic Sphere, will also be impacted by this change.
Now that these abilities go on the stack, your opponents will have every opportunity to Stifle your plays, depriving you of mana. This also opens Selvala up to Pithing Needle effects, shutting her down in the Command Zone. You also won’t be able to generate extra mana using Badgermole Cub or Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy anymore, which is bound to cause some confusion.
While nerfing multiple cards is far from ideal, this rules change is being made for good reason. To allow players to backtrack when tapping the wrong mana, mana abilities are rewindable, but the information gained from cards moving zones makes that impossible. This can make resolving rules problems with Selvala extremely difficult, not to mention the mess it causes with Panglacial Wurm.
So, in exchange for some nerfs, Wizards of the Coast is cleaning up a lot of potential rules errors for future cards in this design space. With multiple popular Commander cards being affected, however, it’s surprising that Wizards hasn’t made an announcement for this yet. With The Hobbit still a few weeks away from its official release, however, there’s still plenty of time to make an official statement.
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