Clash

Clash is an keyword action. It first appeared in Lorwyn and was reused in Morningtide. By 2010, it was considered a design failure.

Rulings

• Each Lorwyn card that has clash says to "clash with an opponent." To do this, the following things happen in sequence:

1. The controller of the spell or ability chooses an opponent. (This doesn't target the opponent.)
2. Each player involved in the clash reveals the top card of his or her library.
3. The converted mana costs of the revealed cards are noted.
4. In turn order, each player involved in the clash chooses to put his or her revealed card on either the top or bottom of his or her library. (Note that the player whose turn it is does this first, not necessarily the controller of the clash spell or ability.) When the second player makes this decision, he or she will know what the first player chose. Then all cards are moved at the same time.
5. The clash is over. If one player in the clash revealed a card with a higher converted mana cost than all other cards revealed in the clash, that player wins the clash.
6. If any abilities trigger when a player clashes, they trigger and wait to be put on the stack.
7. The clash spell or ability finishes resolving. That usually involves a bonus gained by the controller of the clash spell or ability if he or she won the clash.
8. Abilities that triggered during the clash are put on the stack.

• There are no draws or losses in a clash. Either you win it or you don't.

• Each spell or ability with clash says what happens if you (the controller of that spell or ability) win the clash. Typically, if you don't win the clash, nothing happens. (Captivating Glance is the exception to this.)

• If no one reveals a card with a higher converted mana cost (for example, each player reveals a card with converted mana cost 2), no one wins the clash.

• An X in a revealed card's mana cost is treated as 0.

• A card without a mana cost (such as a land) has a converted mana cost of 0.

• If one or more of the clashing players reveals a split card, each of the split card's converted mana costs is considered individually. In this way, it's possible for multiple players to win a clash. For example, if Player A reveals a split card with converted mana costs 1 and 3, and Player B reveals a card with converted mana cost 2, they'll both win. (Player A's card has a higher converted mana cost than Player B's card, since 3 is greater than 2. Player B's card has a higher converted mana cost than Player A's card, since 2 is greater than 1.)

• Two cards (Entangling Trap and Rebellion of the Flamekin) have abilities that trigger whenever you clash. These abilities will trigger whenever you're involved in a clash, not just whenever you cause a clash to happen. It doesn't matter whether you win the clash.

• One card (Sylvan Echoes) has an ability that triggers whenever you clash and win. This works the same as the two cards above, except it does matter whether you win the clash. Note that you can win a clash caused by a spell or ability your opponent controls.

Reminder text

The latest reminder text for clash reads "Each clashing player reveals the top card of his or her library, then puts that card on the top or bottom. A player wins if his or her card had a higher mana cost."

Color percentages

There is a total of 31 cards that involve clash, which divide by color as such:

• Blue = 23%
• Green = 23%
• Red = 19%
• White = 19%
• Black = 16%

Trivia

• Clash was featured as rules card 4 of 5 in the Lorwyn set and 4 of 5 in the Morningtide set.