Divvy

Divvy was the nickname used in R&D for an otherwise unnamed mechanic. Divvy cards involve one or more players creating piles from ("divvying up") some set of cards, and those players' opponents making a choice regarding those piles. The term was first used for a group of cards in Invasion.

Description

Among the original divvy cards, only Fact or Fiction has been reprinted. It further inspired two later cards, Gifts Ungiven and Truth or Tale.

Although the term "divvy" hadn't yet been applied, Phyrexian Portal from Alliances is functionally a divvy card. In addition to those, divvy cards have been printed in Time Spiral, Shards of Alara, Magic 2012, Innistrad, Return to Ravnica, Theros, and Shadows over Innistrad. In each case, only one new divvy card has been printed at a time. The mechanic has never reappeared as a theme.

Piles have also been used for a pair of otherwise unrelated non-divvy cards, Camoflauge and Whims of the Fates.

Divvy cards

2

Rules

From the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

• 700.3. Some effects cause objects to be temporarily grouped into piles.
  • 700.3a Each of the affected objects must be put into exactly one of those piles, unless the effect specifies otherwise.
  • 700.3b Each object in a pile is still an individual object. The pile is not an object.
  • 700.3c Objects grouped into piles don’t leave the zone they’re currently in. If cards in a graveyard are split into piles, the order of the graveyard must be maintained.

    Example: Fact or Fiction reads, “Reveal the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.” While an opponent is separating the revealed cards into piles, they’re still in their owner’s library. They don’t leave the library until they’re put into their owner’s hand or graveyard.

  • 700.3d A pile can contain zero or more objects.