_Weatherlight_(TM) Frequently Asked Questions
Compiled by Mark L. Gottlieb, with contributions from Laurie Cheers and Sheldon Menery
Document last modified December 6, 2007
_Weatherlight_ boosters packs, tournament packs, and theme decks go on sale at the _Magic Online_(TM) store at 9 a.m. (PST) on December 12, 2007.
The _Weatherlight_ set becomes legal for play in Classic, Classic (Vanguard), Freeform, Mirage Constructed, Prismatic, Singleton, and Tribal Wars -- Classic formats on the day it goes on sale.
_Weatherlight_ release events begin on December 14, 2007.
The _Weatherlight_ expansion, originally released in 1997, is a 167-card, black-bordered set featuring 50 rares, 55 uncommons, and 62 commons. The _Weatherlight_ set is nonredeemable. Online cards from the _Weatherlight_ set can't be exchanged for physical _Weatherlight_ cards.
This FAQ has two sections, each of which serves a different purpose.
The first section ("General Notes") explains the new mechanics and concepts in the set. The second section ("Card-Specific Notes") contains answers to the most important questions players might ask about a given card.
Items in the "Card-Specific Notes" section include full rules text for your reference. Not all cards in the set are listed.
-----
GENERAL NOTES
***Info: Rules Changes***
The rules of the _Magic_(TM) game have evolved in the ten years since the _Weatherlight_ set was originally released. Many card wordings, including creature types, have also significantly changed. Most _Weatherlight_ cards have been reworded in the Oracle card reference, which contains up-to-date text for all tournament-legal cards. Although the rules team has done its best to maintain cards' functionality, some changes are inevitable. We recommend that you select the "Show Oracle text" option in your Display Settings window when playing with _Weatherlight_ cards online.
-----
***Info: Keywords***
The _Weatherlight_ set introduces no new keywords. It contains many keywords, themes, and mechanics from the _Mirage_(TM) set, however. The rules for banding and cumulative upkeep are contained here because they’ve been slightly modified in recent months. For information on flanking and phasing, please see the _Mirage_ FAQ (http://www.wizards.com/dci/downloads/MirageFAQ120505.rtf).
-----
***Keyword Ability: Banding***
Banding is a creature ability that does very different things when the creature is attacking than when it's blocking.
Benalish Infantry
{2}{W}
Creature — Human Soldier
1/3
Banding
The official rules for the banding ability are as follows:
502.10. Banding
502.10a Banding is a static ability that modifies the rules for declaring attackers and assigning combat damage.
502.10b As a player declares attackers, he or she may declare that any number of those creatures with banding, and up to one of those creatures without banding, are all in a “band.” All of those creatures must attack the same player or planeswalker. (Defending players can’t declare bands but may use banding in a different way; see rule 502.10h.)
502.10c A player may declare as many attacking bands as he or she wants, but each creature may be a member of only one of them.
502.10d Once an attacking band has been announced, it lasts for the rest of combat, even if something later removes the banding ability from one or more creatures. However, creatures in a band that are removed from combat are also removed from the band.
502.10e If an attacking creature becomes blocked by a creature, each other creature in the same band as the attacking creature becomes blocked by that same blocking creature.
Example: A player attacks with a band consisting of a creature with flying and a creature with swampwalk. The defending player, who controls a Swamp, can block the flying creature if able. If he or she does, then the creature with swampwalk will also become blocked by the blocking creature(s).
502.10f Banding doesn’t cause attacking creatures to share abilities, nor does it remove any abilities. The attacking creatures in a band are separate permanents.
502.10g If one member of a band would become blocked due to an effect, the entire band becomes blocked.
502.10h A player who controls an attacking creature with banding chooses how combat damage is assigned by creatures blocking that creature. A player who controls a blocking creature with banding chooses how combat damage is assigned by creatures it blocks. If the creature had banding when it attacked or blocked but the ability was removed before the combat damage step, damage is assigned normally.
502.10i Multiple instances of banding on the same creature are redundant.
More simply:
* If a creature with banding attacks, it can team up with any number of other attacking creatures with banding (and up to one nonbanding creature) and attack as a unit called a "band." The entire band must attack the same player or planeswalker. The band can be blocked by any creature that could block a single creature in the band. Blocking any creature in a band blocks the entire band. If a creature with banding is blocked, the attacking player chooses how the blockers' damage is dealt.
* A maximum of one nonbanding creature can join an attacking band no matter how many creatures with banding are in that band.
* If a creature with banding blocks, the defending player chooses how the blocked creature deals its combat damage. Creatures don't form "bands" on defense.
-----
***Keyword Ability: Cumulative Upkeep***
Cumulative upkeep is a mechanic featured in the _Ice Age_(TM) and _Mirage_(TM) blocks.
Revered Unicorn
{1}{W}
Creature — Unicorn
2/3
Cumulative upkeep {1} (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
When Revered Unicorn leaves play, its controller gains life equal to the number of age counters on it.
The official rules for the cumulative upkeep ability are as follows:
502.13. Cumulative Upkeep
502.13a Cumulative upkeep is a triggered ability that imposes an increasing cost on a permanent. “Cumulative upkeep [cost]” means “At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent. Then you may pay [cost] for each age counter on it. If you don’t, sacrifice it.” If [cost] has choices associated with it, each choice is made separately for each age counter, then either the entire set of costs is paid, or none of them is paid. Partial payments aren’t allowed.
Example: A creature has “Cumulative upkeep {W} or {U}” and two age counters on it. When its ability next triggers and resolves, the creature’s controller puts an age counter on it and then may pay {W}{W}{W}, {W}{W}{U}, {W}{U}{U}, or {U}{U}{U} to keep the creature in play.
Example: A creature has “Cumulative upkeep—Sacrifice a creature” and one age counter on it. When its ability next triggers and resolves, its controller can’t choose the same creature to sacrifice twice. Either two different creatures must be sacrificed, or the creature with cumulative upkeep must be sacrificed.
502.13b If a permanent has multiple instances of cumulative upkeep, each triggers separately. However, the age counters are not linked to any particular ability; each cumulative upkeep ability will count the total number of age counters on the permanent at the time that ability resolves.
Example: A creature has two instances of “Cumulative upkeep—Pay 1 life.” The creature currently has no counters but both cumulative upkeep abilities trigger. When the first ability resolves, the controller adds a counter and then chooses to pay 1 life. When the second ability resolves, the controller adds another counter and then chooses to pay an additional 2 life.
* Paying cumulative upkeep is always optional. If it's not paid, the permanent with cumulative upkeep is sacrificed. Partial payments of the total cumulative upkeep cost can't be made. For example, if a permanent with "cumulative upkeep {1}" has three age counters on it when its cumulative upkeep ability triggers, it gets another age counter and then its controller chooses to either pay {4} or sacrifice the permanent.
* Note that the decision to track cumulative upkeep using counters was made when the "Sixth Edition rules" (and the original version of the Oracle card database) were released in 1999. Some _Weatherlight_ cards that referred to the “last paid cumulative upkeep” now refer to the number of age counters on that card.
-----
***Theme: Graveyard Order Matters***
Many _Weatherlight_ cards refer to the order of the cards in a player’s graveyard.
Spinning Darkness
{4}{B}{B}
Instant
You may remove the top three black cards in your graveyard from the game rather than pay Spinning Darkness’s mana cost.
Spinning Darkness deals 3 damage to target nonblack creature. You gain 3 life.
Bone Dancer
{1}{B}{B}
Creature — Zombie
2/2
Whenever Bone Dancer attacks and isn’t blocked, you may put the top creature card from defending player’s graveyard into play under your control. If you do, Bone Dancer deals no combat damage this turn.
* The “top” card of your graveyard is the card that was put there most recently.
* Players may not rearrange the cards in their graveyards. This is a little-known rule because new cards that care about graveyard order haven’t been printed in years.
* If an effect or rule puts two or more cards into the same graveyard at the same time, the owner of those cards may arrange them in any order.
* The last thing that happens to a resolving instant or sorcery spell is that it’s put into its owner’s graveyard.
Example: You play Wrath of God. All creatures in play are destroyed. You arrange all the cards put into your graveyard this way in any order you want. The other players in the game do the same to the cards that are put into their graveyards. Then you put Wrath of God into your graveyard, on top of the other cards.
* Say you’re the owner of both a permanent and an Aura that’s attached to it. If both the permanent and the Aura are destroyed at the same time (by Akroma’s Vengeance, for example), you decide the order they’re put into your graveyard. If just the enchanted permanent is destroyed, it’s put into your graveyard first. Then, after state-based effects are checked, the Aura (which is no longer attached to anything) is put into your graveyard on top of it.
* If you’re playing Online, you’ll have a new option under the Advanced Settings tab. If you have this option selected when multiple cards are put into your graveyard at the same time, Magic Online will automatically order those cards. If you don’t have this option selected, you’ll manually choose their relative order within your graveyard. The default will be to have this option selected.
-----
***Theme: Sacrifice Buyouts***
In addition to the cards with cumulative upkeep, a number of other _Weatherlight_ creature cards have triggered abilities that tell you to sacrifice them unless you pay a cost or perform an action.
Barrow Ghoul
{1}{B}
Creature — Zombie
4/4
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Barrow Ghoul unless you remove the top creature card in your graveyard from the game.
* Some of these abilities trigger at the beginning of your upkeep, while others trigger when the creature comes into play.
* When the ability resolves, you choose whether to sacrifice the creature or perform the other action. If you can’t perform the other action (in Barrow Ghoul’s case, if you don’t have any creature cards in your graveyard), then you must sacrifice the creature.
* If the creature is no longer in play when the ability resolves, you may still perform the action if you want.
-----
CARD-SPECIFIC NOTES
Abduction
{2}{U}{U}
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
When Abduction comes into play, untap enchanted creature.
You control enchanted creature.
When enchanted creature is put into a graveyard, return that creature to play under its owner’s control.
* Abduction can target any creature, not just a tapped one.
-----
Abeyance
{1}{W}
Instant
Until end of turn, target player can’t play instants, sorceries, or activated abilities that aren't mana abilities.
Draw a card.
* Abeyance won’t affect spells and abilities that are already on the stack. They’ll continue to resolve as normal.
* Abeyance will prevent the targeted player from playing activated abilities from all sources, even those not in play.
-----
Abyssal Gatekeeper
{1}{B}
Creature — Horror
1/1
When Abyssal Gatekeeper is put into a graveyard from play, each player sacrifices a creature.
* The player whose turn it is chooses a creature to sacrifice, then each other player in turn order chooses a creature to sacrifice, then all chosen creatures are sacrificed at the same time.
-----
Angelic Renewal
{1}{W}
Enchantment
Whenever a creature is put into your graveyard from play, you may sacrifice Angelic Renewal. If you do, return that creature to play.
* It doesn’t matter who controlled the creature while it was in play. It only matters that it’s put into your graveyard.
* If an animated permanent that’s not normally a creature is put into your graveyard from play, Angelic Renewal can return that card to play.
* If a token creature is put into your graveyard from play, you can sacrifice Angelic Renewal, but nothing will be returned to play.
* If multiple creatures are put into your graveyard at the same time, Angelic Renewal’s ability will trigger that many times. It can return a maximum of one of those creatures, however.