Is morphing a creature effectively a cost?How to describe the strengths and weaknesses of white to a new mtg player?What happens when additional costs can't ultimately be paid, but the spell is on the stack?How to store and organize cards for Magic the Gathering?Spells with multiple free abilitiesThorncaster Sliver and Venom Sliver vs. Priority or Lack ThereofM:tG infinite loops: which actions are optional vs. mandatory? Is there inaction?Is the CMC of a creature that is enchanted the cost of the enchantment and the creature combined?Reanimating a creature with X in its costCan any spell be played as a face-down 2/2 creature for 3 colourless mana?Cost increase and suspend
"Applicants for asylum must prove that they have fifteen family members in the Netherlands."
How to make grouped or paired fold of parameter pack?
Could a technologically advanced society exist as a feudal monarchy?
How to set up a "Forced choice" for players in a game?
Emission vs reflection
How could pirates reasonably transport dinosaurs in captivity, some of them enormous, across oceans?
Schemes/ Mechanisms that could provide one time decryption?
How true are Trump’s claims about NATO spending?
Running DOS, Windows 3, and Windows 98 from one FAT32 partition?
Using brushes as low-volume drumsticks
Best spot within a human to place redundant heart
Why do cargo airlines frequently choose passenger aircraft rather than aircraft designed specifically for cargo?
Simple Markdown viewer for Windows
How to protect assets from being passed to a beneficiary in a will when they are likely to die soon also
What attributes of a Pokemon can be improved?
Compatibility level of SQL Server
How to tell my Mom that I don't care about someone without upsetting her?
Looking for a restaurant in Vienna with a name similar to "An die 2 Linsen" that served huge Schnitzel
Does "dd" by itself do anything?
How can an employer better accommodate workers on the autism-spectrum to reduce absence from work?
How far apart are stars in a binary system?
How can I format and use Custom labels with tokens in LWC?
Can socialism and capitalism coexist in the same country?
How does an immortal vampire king hide his vampirism and immortality?
Is morphing a creature effectively a cost?
How to describe the strengths and weaknesses of white to a new mtg player?What happens when additional costs can't ultimately be paid, but the spell is on the stack?How to store and organize cards for Magic the Gathering?Spells with multiple free abilitiesThorncaster Sliver and Venom Sliver vs. Priority or Lack ThereofM:tG infinite loops: which actions are optional vs. mandatory? Is there inaction?Is the CMC of a creature that is enchanted the cost of the enchantment and the creature combined?Reanimating a creature with X in its costCan any spell be played as a face-down 2/2 creature for 3 colourless mana?Cost increase and suspend
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty
margin-bottom:0;
.everyonelovesstackoverflowposition:absolute;height:1px;width:1px;opacity:0;top:0;left:0;pointer-events:none;
I'm teaching some of my friends magic, and morph seems to be a bit of an outlier mechanic. It's one of the few things that a player has a choice to do but 'doesn't use the stack'. It can make it a bit hard to describe to my new players that are just learning how the stack/abilities resolving work.
Is it fair to describe morph as a cost (paid in addition to the actual morph cost), which does nothing? Effectively, rewording it as
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
Of course, once a creature is turned face up there are effects, such as a change in the creature's power and toughness, and (usually) triggered abilities, but those are only a consequence of an action happening, not a new action paid for by the morph cost.
In my understanding, treating morph as a cost in this way is entirely keeping with the rules. As normal costs, it can only be done when you have priority. Similarly, it can't be responded to. (A creature sacrificed as a cost, as an analogy, cannot be responded to either.)
My question is: is this a fair way of explaining the special case of Morph as a mechanic to newer players, or is there some rule or corner case that I'm missing?
magic-the-gathering
asked Sep 26 at 17:10
AetherfoxAetherfox
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
add a comment
|
I'm teaching some of my friends magic, and morph seems to be a bit of an outlier mechanic. It's one of the few things that a player has a choice to do but 'doesn't use the stack'. It can make it a bit hard to describe to my new players that are just learning how the stack/abilities resolving work.
Is it fair to describe morph as a cost (paid in addition to the actual morph cost), which does nothing? Effectively, rewording it as
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
Of course, once a creature is turned face up there are effects, such as a change in the creature's power and toughness, and (usually) triggered abilities, but those are only a consequence of an action happening, not a new action paid for by the morph cost.
In my understanding, treating morph as a cost in this way is entirely keeping with the rules. As normal costs, it can only be done when you have priority. Similarly, it can't be responded to. (A creature sacrificed as a cost, as an analogy, cannot be responded to either.)
My question is: is this a fair way of explaining the special case of Morph as a mechanic to newer players, or is there some rule or corner case that I'm missing?
magic-the-gathering
asked Sep 26 at 17:10
AetherfoxAetherfox
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
I suggest checking rules section 116 for a list of most of the actions that do not use the stack.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 17:33
add a comment
|
I'm teaching some of my friends magic, and morph seems to be a bit of an outlier mechanic. It's one of the few things that a player has a choice to do but 'doesn't use the stack'. It can make it a bit hard to describe to my new players that are just learning how the stack/abilities resolving work.
Is it fair to describe morph as a cost (paid in addition to the actual morph cost), which does nothing? Effectively, rewording it as
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
Of course, once a creature is turned face up there are effects, such as a change in the creature's power and toughness, and (usually) triggered abilities, but those are only a consequence of an action happening, not a new action paid for by the morph cost.
In my understanding, treating morph as a cost in this way is entirely keeping with the rules. As normal costs, it can only be done when you have priority. Similarly, it can't be responded to. (A creature sacrificed as a cost, as an analogy, cannot be responded to either.)
My question is: is this a fair way of explaining the special case of Morph as a mechanic to newer players, or is there some rule or corner case that I'm missing?
magic-the-gathering
asked Sep 26 at 17:10
AetherfoxAetherfox
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
I'm teaching some of my friends magic, and morph seems to be a bit of an outlier mechanic. It's one of the few things that a player has a choice to do but 'doesn't use the stack'. It can make it a bit hard to describe to my new players that are just learning how the stack/abilities resolving work.
Is it fair to describe morph as a cost (paid in addition to the actual morph cost), which does nothing? Effectively, rewording it as
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
Of course, once a creature is turned face up there are effects, such as a change in the creature's power and toughness, and (usually) triggered abilities, but those are only a consequence of an action happening, not a new action paid for by the morph cost.
In my understanding, treating morph as a cost in this way is entirely keeping with the rules. As normal costs, it can only be done when you have priority. Similarly, it can't be responded to. (A creature sacrificed as a cost, as an analogy, cannot be responded to either.)
My question is: is this a fair way of explaining the special case of Morph as a mechanic to newer players, or is there some rule or corner case that I'm missing?
magic-the-gathering
magic-the-gathering
asked Sep 26 at 17:10
AetherfoxAetherfox
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
asked Sep 26 at 17:10
AetherfoxAetherfox
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
asked Sep 26 at 17:10
AetherfoxAetherfox
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
asked Sep 26 at 17:10
AetherfoxAetherfox
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
asked Sep 26 at 17:10
AetherfoxAetherfox
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
3,3688 silver badges32 bronze badges
I suggest checking rules section 116 for a list of most of the actions that do not use the stack.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 17:33
add a comment
|
I suggest checking rules section 116 for a list of most of the actions that do not use the stack.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 17:33
I suggest checking rules section 116 for a list of most of the actions that do not use the stack.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 17:33
I suggest checking rules section 116 for a list of most of the actions that do not use the stack.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 17:33
add a comment
|
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
Turning a creature face up by paying its Morph cost is a Special Action, like playing a land.
Taking a special action is similar to paying a cost to cast a spell or activate an ability, in that both take effect immediately without waiting for anything on the stack to resolve, but there are also differences. Players can explicitly take special actions whenever they have priority, but costs can only be paid as part of taking some other action. So, any attempt to represent it as a cost would make it part of another action that does nothing except provide an opportunity to pay that cost, which is essentially backwards.
If Morph was represented as a cost to activate a nothing ability as described in the question, that action could not be taken while you cannot activate non-mana abilites because of cards like Overwhelming Splendor or abilities like Split second.
answered Sep 26 at 18:03
murgatroid99♦murgatroid99
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
1
Other answers had good information, but I chose this one because it described specific cases where treating morph as a cost would break the way morph actually works.
– Aetherfox
Sep 26 at 18:22
add a comment
|
Morph has a cost, but it is not a cost. It is simply an action you can take, like playing a land. You can think of turning a creature face-up in the same way as playing a land... playing a land has a cost of losing the land card from your hand; turning a creature face-up has whatever cost is listed next to the keyword "morph".
Normally the comprehensive rules are not a good way to go about learning or teaching the game, but the rules for turning a morph creature face-up are pretty simple here:
702.36e Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control with a morph ability face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a morph cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) [...]
The fact that it can't be responded to and the fact that paying a cost can't be responded to are really the only 2 things that these have in common. Paying a cost when activating an ability is something you do in order to do something, in this case to activate the ability. The problem with looking at turning a morph card face-up as a cost is that there is no thing that you are paying the cost for. Turning it face-up is generally the end goal; not a cost you are paying to get to some goal.
answered Sep 26 at 17:35
GendoIkariGendoIkari
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
add a comment
|
As you (and the other answers) point out, being turned face up is not part of the cost. However, I do believe that is a reasonable approximation for teaching new players for the reasons you point out and one other that I can think of:
It is a pre-requisite to performing the action. By this I mean you cannot morph an already face up creature, or pay to morph a creature multiple times in succession, just as you cannot sacrifice the same creature to multiple sacrifice a creature costs.
Caveat
The one caveat I would give is be careful how you state that, you describe it as:
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
When I'm helping new players learn magic, I usually re-inforce that anything with a colon is an activated ability with the cost on the left and the effect on the right. Morphing not only does not use the stack, but also is not an activated ability. So, for example, a static effect on the creature that says activated abilities cannot be activated (such as being detained or under the effect of Arrest) would not prevent the creature from morphing.
Alternative
Instead of describing being turned face up as part of the cost of morphing, you could compare it to playing a land at instant speed. Both are special actions so exactly the same rules would apply, and it may be one less thing to keep track of.
answered Sep 26 at 18:17
ThePorkchopExpressThePorkchopExpress
634 bronze badges
add a comment
|
Morph does not use the stack, which is why it seems to be part of the cost, but it is still in fact the effect of paying the morph cost. It's similar to how you can't respond to mana abilities, as they too don't use the stack. I would say explaining the cases that are independent of the stack would be the best way to show new players how these things work.
In reality paying a morph cost is ending a continuing effect, namely the card being face down as a result of being played morphed.
answered Sep 26 at 17:12
AndrewAndrew
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
Paying a morph cost is not directly ending a continuous effect. It is its own special action that has multiple results, including ending a continuous effect.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 18:08
add a comment
|
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "147"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"u003ecc by-sa 4.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fboardgames.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f48781%2fis-morphing-a-creature-effectively-a-cost%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Turning a creature face up by paying its Morph cost is a Special Action, like playing a land.
Taking a special action is similar to paying a cost to cast a spell or activate an ability, in that both take effect immediately without waiting for anything on the stack to resolve, but there are also differences. Players can explicitly take special actions whenever they have priority, but costs can only be paid as part of taking some other action. So, any attempt to represent it as a cost would make it part of another action that does nothing except provide an opportunity to pay that cost, which is essentially backwards.
If Morph was represented as a cost to activate a nothing ability as described in the question, that action could not be taken while you cannot activate non-mana abilites because of cards like Overwhelming Splendor or abilities like Split second.
answered Sep 26 at 18:03
murgatroid99♦murgatroid99
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
1
Other answers had good information, but I chose this one because it described specific cases where treating morph as a cost would break the way morph actually works.
– Aetherfox
Sep 26 at 18:22
add a comment
|
Turning a creature face up by paying its Morph cost is a Special Action, like playing a land.
Taking a special action is similar to paying a cost to cast a spell or activate an ability, in that both take effect immediately without waiting for anything on the stack to resolve, but there are also differences. Players can explicitly take special actions whenever they have priority, but costs can only be paid as part of taking some other action. So, any attempt to represent it as a cost would make it part of another action that does nothing except provide an opportunity to pay that cost, which is essentially backwards.
If Morph was represented as a cost to activate a nothing ability as described in the question, that action could not be taken while you cannot activate non-mana abilites because of cards like Overwhelming Splendor or abilities like Split second.
answered Sep 26 at 18:03
murgatroid99♦murgatroid99
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
1
Other answers had good information, but I chose this one because it described specific cases where treating morph as a cost would break the way morph actually works.
– Aetherfox
Sep 26 at 18:22
add a comment
|
Turning a creature face up by paying its Morph cost is a Special Action, like playing a land.
Taking a special action is similar to paying a cost to cast a spell or activate an ability, in that both take effect immediately without waiting for anything on the stack to resolve, but there are also differences. Players can explicitly take special actions whenever they have priority, but costs can only be paid as part of taking some other action. So, any attempt to represent it as a cost would make it part of another action that does nothing except provide an opportunity to pay that cost, which is essentially backwards.
If Morph was represented as a cost to activate a nothing ability as described in the question, that action could not be taken while you cannot activate non-mana abilites because of cards like Overwhelming Splendor or abilities like Split second.
answered Sep 26 at 18:03
murgatroid99♦murgatroid99
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
Turning a creature face up by paying its Morph cost is a Special Action, like playing a land.
Taking a special action is similar to paying a cost to cast a spell or activate an ability, in that both take effect immediately without waiting for anything on the stack to resolve, but there are also differences. Players can explicitly take special actions whenever they have priority, but costs can only be paid as part of taking some other action. So, any attempt to represent it as a cost would make it part of another action that does nothing except provide an opportunity to pay that cost, which is essentially backwards.
If Morph was represented as a cost to activate a nothing ability as described in the question, that action could not be taken while you cannot activate non-mana abilites because of cards like Overwhelming Splendor or abilities like Split second.
answered Sep 26 at 18:03
murgatroid99♦murgatroid99
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 18:03
murgatroid99♦murgatroid99
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 18:03
murgatroid99♦murgatroid99
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 18:03
murgatroid99♦murgatroid99
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
58.4k8 gold badges148 silver badges233 bronze badges
1
Other answers had good information, but I chose this one because it described specific cases where treating morph as a cost would break the way morph actually works.
– Aetherfox
Sep 26 at 18:22
add a comment
|
1
Other answers had good information, but I chose this one because it described specific cases where treating morph as a cost would break the way morph actually works.
– Aetherfox
Sep 26 at 18:22
1
1
Other answers had good information, but I chose this one because it described specific cases where treating morph as a cost would break the way morph actually works.
– Aetherfox
Sep 26 at 18:22
Other answers had good information, but I chose this one because it described specific cases where treating morph as a cost would break the way morph actually works.
– Aetherfox
Sep 26 at 18:22
add a comment
|
Morph has a cost, but it is not a cost. It is simply an action you can take, like playing a land. You can think of turning a creature face-up in the same way as playing a land... playing a land has a cost of losing the land card from your hand; turning a creature face-up has whatever cost is listed next to the keyword "morph".
Normally the comprehensive rules are not a good way to go about learning or teaching the game, but the rules for turning a morph creature face-up are pretty simple here:
702.36e Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control with a morph ability face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a morph cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) [...]
The fact that it can't be responded to and the fact that paying a cost can't be responded to are really the only 2 things that these have in common. Paying a cost when activating an ability is something you do in order to do something, in this case to activate the ability. The problem with looking at turning a morph card face-up as a cost is that there is no thing that you are paying the cost for. Turning it face-up is generally the end goal; not a cost you are paying to get to some goal.
answered Sep 26 at 17:35
GendoIkariGendoIkari
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
add a comment
|
Morph has a cost, but it is not a cost. It is simply an action you can take, like playing a land. You can think of turning a creature face-up in the same way as playing a land... playing a land has a cost of losing the land card from your hand; turning a creature face-up has whatever cost is listed next to the keyword "morph".
Normally the comprehensive rules are not a good way to go about learning or teaching the game, but the rules for turning a morph creature face-up are pretty simple here:
702.36e Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control with a morph ability face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a morph cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) [...]
The fact that it can't be responded to and the fact that paying a cost can't be responded to are really the only 2 things that these have in common. Paying a cost when activating an ability is something you do in order to do something, in this case to activate the ability. The problem with looking at turning a morph card face-up as a cost is that there is no thing that you are paying the cost for. Turning it face-up is generally the end goal; not a cost you are paying to get to some goal.
answered Sep 26 at 17:35
GendoIkariGendoIkari
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
add a comment
|
Morph has a cost, but it is not a cost. It is simply an action you can take, like playing a land. You can think of turning a creature face-up in the same way as playing a land... playing a land has a cost of losing the land card from your hand; turning a creature face-up has whatever cost is listed next to the keyword "morph".
Normally the comprehensive rules are not a good way to go about learning or teaching the game, but the rules for turning a morph creature face-up are pretty simple here:
702.36e Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control with a morph ability face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a morph cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) [...]
The fact that it can't be responded to and the fact that paying a cost can't be responded to are really the only 2 things that these have in common. Paying a cost when activating an ability is something you do in order to do something, in this case to activate the ability. The problem with looking at turning a morph card face-up as a cost is that there is no thing that you are paying the cost for. Turning it face-up is generally the end goal; not a cost you are paying to get to some goal.
answered Sep 26 at 17:35
GendoIkariGendoIkari
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
Morph has a cost, but it is not a cost. It is simply an action you can take, like playing a land. You can think of turning a creature face-up in the same way as playing a land... playing a land has a cost of losing the land card from your hand; turning a creature face-up has whatever cost is listed next to the keyword "morph".
Normally the comprehensive rules are not a good way to go about learning or teaching the game, but the rules for turning a morph creature face-up are pretty simple here:
702.36e Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control with a morph ability face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a morph cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) [...]
The fact that it can't be responded to and the fact that paying a cost can't be responded to are really the only 2 things that these have in common. Paying a cost when activating an ability is something you do in order to do something, in this case to activate the ability. The problem with looking at turning a morph card face-up as a cost is that there is no thing that you are paying the cost for. Turning it face-up is generally the end goal; not a cost you are paying to get to some goal.
answered Sep 26 at 17:35
GendoIkariGendoIkari
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 17:35
GendoIkariGendoIkari
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 17:35
GendoIkariGendoIkari
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 17:35
GendoIkariGendoIkari
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
53.7k3 gold badges111 silver badges215 bronze badges
add a comment
|
add a comment
|
As you (and the other answers) point out, being turned face up is not part of the cost. However, I do believe that is a reasonable approximation for teaching new players for the reasons you point out and one other that I can think of:
It is a pre-requisite to performing the action. By this I mean you cannot morph an already face up creature, or pay to morph a creature multiple times in succession, just as you cannot sacrifice the same creature to multiple sacrifice a creature costs.
Caveat
The one caveat I would give is be careful how you state that, you describe it as:
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
When I'm helping new players learn magic, I usually re-inforce that anything with a colon is an activated ability with the cost on the left and the effect on the right. Morphing not only does not use the stack, but also is not an activated ability. So, for example, a static effect on the creature that says activated abilities cannot be activated (such as being detained or under the effect of Arrest) would not prevent the creature from morphing.
Alternative
Instead of describing being turned face up as part of the cost of morphing, you could compare it to playing a land at instant speed. Both are special actions so exactly the same rules would apply, and it may be one less thing to keep track of.
answered Sep 26 at 18:17
ThePorkchopExpressThePorkchopExpress
634 bronze badges
add a comment
|
As you (and the other answers) point out, being turned face up is not part of the cost. However, I do believe that is a reasonable approximation for teaching new players for the reasons you point out and one other that I can think of:
It is a pre-requisite to performing the action. By this I mean you cannot morph an already face up creature, or pay to morph a creature multiple times in succession, just as you cannot sacrifice the same creature to multiple sacrifice a creature costs.
Caveat
The one caveat I would give is be careful how you state that, you describe it as:
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
When I'm helping new players learn magic, I usually re-inforce that anything with a colon is an activated ability with the cost on the left and the effect on the right. Morphing not only does not use the stack, but also is not an activated ability. So, for example, a static effect on the creature that says activated abilities cannot be activated (such as being detained or under the effect of Arrest) would not prevent the creature from morphing.
Alternative
Instead of describing being turned face up as part of the cost of morphing, you could compare it to playing a land at instant speed. Both are special actions so exactly the same rules would apply, and it may be one less thing to keep track of.
answered Sep 26 at 18:17
ThePorkchopExpressThePorkchopExpress
634 bronze badges
add a comment
|
As you (and the other answers) point out, being turned face up is not part of the cost. However, I do believe that is a reasonable approximation for teaching new players for the reasons you point out and one other that I can think of:
It is a pre-requisite to performing the action. By this I mean you cannot morph an already face up creature, or pay to morph a creature multiple times in succession, just as you cannot sacrifice the same creature to multiple sacrifice a creature costs.
Caveat
The one caveat I would give is be careful how you state that, you describe it as:
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
When I'm helping new players learn magic, I usually re-inforce that anything with a colon is an activated ability with the cost on the left and the effect on the right. Morphing not only does not use the stack, but also is not an activated ability. So, for example, a static effect on the creature that says activated abilities cannot be activated (such as being detained or under the effect of Arrest) would not prevent the creature from morphing.
Alternative
Instead of describing being turned face up as part of the cost of morphing, you could compare it to playing a land at instant speed. Both are special actions so exactly the same rules would apply, and it may be one less thing to keep track of.
answered Sep 26 at 18:17
ThePorkchopExpressThePorkchopExpress
634 bronze badges
As you (and the other answers) point out, being turned face up is not part of the cost. However, I do believe that is a reasonable approximation for teaching new players for the reasons you point out and one other that I can think of:
It is a pre-requisite to performing the action. By this I mean you cannot morph an already face up creature, or pay to morph a creature multiple times in succession, just as you cannot sacrifice the same creature to multiple sacrifice a creature costs.
Caveat
The one caveat I would give is be careful how you state that, you describe it as:
[Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.
When I'm helping new players learn magic, I usually re-inforce that anything with a colon is an activated ability with the cost on the left and the effect on the right. Morphing not only does not use the stack, but also is not an activated ability. So, for example, a static effect on the creature that says activated abilities cannot be activated (such as being detained or under the effect of Arrest) would not prevent the creature from morphing.
Alternative
Instead of describing being turned face up as part of the cost of morphing, you could compare it to playing a land at instant speed. Both are special actions so exactly the same rules would apply, and it may be one less thing to keep track of.
answered Sep 26 at 18:17
ThePorkchopExpressThePorkchopExpress
634 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 18:17
ThePorkchopExpressThePorkchopExpress
634 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 18:17
ThePorkchopExpressThePorkchopExpress
634 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 18:17
ThePorkchopExpressThePorkchopExpress
634 bronze badges
634 bronze badges
add a comment
|
add a comment
|
Morph does not use the stack, which is why it seems to be part of the cost, but it is still in fact the effect of paying the morph cost. It's similar to how you can't respond to mana abilities, as they too don't use the stack. I would say explaining the cases that are independent of the stack would be the best way to show new players how these things work.
In reality paying a morph cost is ending a continuing effect, namely the card being face down as a result of being played morphed.
answered Sep 26 at 17:12
AndrewAndrew
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
Paying a morph cost is not directly ending a continuous effect. It is its own special action that has multiple results, including ending a continuous effect.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 18:08
add a comment
|
Morph does not use the stack, which is why it seems to be part of the cost, but it is still in fact the effect of paying the morph cost. It's similar to how you can't respond to mana abilities, as they too don't use the stack. I would say explaining the cases that are independent of the stack would be the best way to show new players how these things work.
In reality paying a morph cost is ending a continuing effect, namely the card being face down as a result of being played morphed.
answered Sep 26 at 17:12
AndrewAndrew
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
Paying a morph cost is not directly ending a continuous effect. It is its own special action that has multiple results, including ending a continuous effect.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 18:08
add a comment
|
Morph does not use the stack, which is why it seems to be part of the cost, but it is still in fact the effect of paying the morph cost. It's similar to how you can't respond to mana abilities, as they too don't use the stack. I would say explaining the cases that are independent of the stack would be the best way to show new players how these things work.
In reality paying a morph cost is ending a continuing effect, namely the card being face down as a result of being played morphed.
answered Sep 26 at 17:12
AndrewAndrew
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
Morph does not use the stack, which is why it seems to be part of the cost, but it is still in fact the effect of paying the morph cost. It's similar to how you can't respond to mana abilities, as they too don't use the stack. I would say explaining the cases that are independent of the stack would be the best way to show new players how these things work.
In reality paying a morph cost is ending a continuing effect, namely the card being face down as a result of being played morphed.
answered Sep 26 at 17:12
AndrewAndrew
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 17:12
AndrewAndrew
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 17:12
AndrewAndrew
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
answered Sep 26 at 17:12
AndrewAndrew
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
6,4531 gold badge9 silver badges41 bronze badges
Paying a morph cost is not directly ending a continuous effect. It is its own special action that has multiple results, including ending a continuous effect.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 18:08
add a comment
|
Paying a morph cost is not directly ending a continuous effect. It is its own special action that has multiple results, including ending a continuous effect.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 18:08
Paying a morph cost is not directly ending a continuous effect. It is its own special action that has multiple results, including ending a continuous effect.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 18:08
Paying a morph cost is not directly ending a continuous effect. It is its own special action that has multiple results, including ending a continuous effect.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 18:08
add a comment
|
Thanks for contributing an answer to Board & Card Games Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fboardgames.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f48781%2fis-morphing-a-creature-effectively-a-cost%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
I suggest checking rules section 116 for a list of most of the actions that do not use the stack.
– murgatroid99♦
Sep 26 at 17:33