Enchant

Enchant
Keyword Ability
Type	Static
Introduced	Alpha
Last used	Evergreen
Reminder Text	Enchant (object) (This card can only be attached to an (object).)
Statistics	806 cards 23% 21% 19% 17% 16% Artifact 0%, Multicolor 1%
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keyword:"Enchant"

Enchant is a keyword ability that restricts what an Aura can target and be attached to. Aura is an enchantment subtype.

Description

Up until Ninth Edition of the Core game, Auras were known as "local enchantments". They said "Enchant (object)" - where (object) is what it could enchant - instead of "Enchantment." Thus, local enchantments carried all the rules in their type, which agonized R&D. Now that the rules are in the actual Rules Box, Auras can be more diverse and it's easier for beginners to recognize that Auras are enchantments.

Rules

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

• 702.5. Enchant
  • 702.5a Enchant is a static ability, written “Enchant [object or player].” The enchant ability restricts what an Aura spell can target and what an Aura can enchant.
  • 702.5b For more information about Auras, see rule 303, “Enchantments.”
  • 702.5c If an Aura has multiple instances of enchant, all of them apply. The Aura’s target must follow the restrictions from all the instances of enchant. The Aura can enchant only objects or players that match all of its enchant abilities.
  • 702.5d Auras that can enchant a player can target and be attached to players. Such Auras can’t target permanents and can’t be attached to permanents.

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

• 303. Enchantments
  • 303.1. A player who has priority may cast an enchantment card from their hand during a main phase of their turn when the stack is empty. Casting an enchantment as a spell uses the stack. (See rule 601, “Casting Spells.”)
  • 303.2. When an enchantment spell resolves, its controller puts it onto the battlefield under their control.
  • 303.3. Enchantment subtypes are always a single word and are listed after a long dash: “Enchantment — Shrine.” Each word after the dash is a separate subtype. Enchantment subtypes are also called enchantment types. Enchantments may have multiple subtypes. See rule 205.3h for the complete list of enchantment types.
  • 303.4. Some enchantments have the subtype “Aura.” An Aura enters the battlefield attached to an object or player. What an Aura can be attached to is defined by its enchant keyword ability (see rule 702.5, “Enchant”). Other effects can limit what a permanent can be enchanted by.
    • 303.4a An Aura spell requires a target, which is defined by its enchant ability.
    • 303.4b The object or player an Aura is attached to is called enchanted. The Aura is attached to, or “enchants,” that object or player.
    • 303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)
    • 303.4d An Aura can’t enchant itself. If this occurs somehow, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. An Aura that’s also a creature can’t enchant anything. If this occurs somehow, the Aura becomes unattached, then is put into its owner’s graveyard. (These are state-based actions. See rule 704.) An Aura can’t enchant more than one object or player. If a spell or ability would cause an Aura to become attached to more than one object or player, the Aura’s controller chooses which object or player it becomes attached to.
    • 303.4e An Aura’s controller is separate from the enchanted object’s controller or the enchanted player; the two need not be the same. If an Aura enchants an object, changing control of the object doesn’t change control of the Aura, and vice versa. Only the Aura’s controller can activate its abilities. However, if the Aura grants an ability to the enchanted object (with “gains” or “has”), the enchanted object’s controller is the only one who can activate that ability.
    • 303.4f If an Aura is entering the battlefield under a player’s control by any means other than by resolving as an Aura spell, and the effect putting it onto the battlefield doesn’t specify the object or player the Aura will enchant, that player chooses what it will enchant as the Aura enters the battlefield. The player must choose a legal object or player according to the Aura’s enchant ability and any other applicable effects.
    • 303.4g If an Aura is entering the battlefield and there is no legal object or player for it to enchant, the Aura remains in its current zone, unless that zone is the stack. In that case, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard instead of entering the battlefield. If the Aura is a token, it isn’t created.
    • 303.4h If an effect attempts to put a permanent that isn’t an Aura, Equipment, or Fortification onto the battlefield attached to an object or player, it enters the battlefield unattached.
    • 303.4i If an effect attempts to put an Aura onto the battlefield attached to either an object or player it can’t legally enchant or an object or player that is undefined, the Aura remains in its current zone, unless that zone is the stack. In that case, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard instead of entering the battlefield. If the Aura is a token, it isn’t created.
    • 303.4j If an effect attempts to attach an Aura on the battlefield to an object or player it can’t legally enchant, the Aura doesn’t move.
    • 303.4k If an effect allows an Aura that’s being turned face up to become attached to an object or player, the Aura’s controller considers the characteristics of that Aura as it would exist if it were face up to determine what it may be attached to, and they must choose a legal object or player according to the Aura’s enchant ability and any other applicable effects.
    • 303.4m An ability of a permanent that refers to the “enchanted [object or player]” refers to whatever object or player that permanent is attached to, even if the permanent with the ability isn’t an Aura.
  • 303.5. Some enchantments have the subtype “Saga.” See rule 714 for more information about Saga cards.
  • 303.6. Some enchantments have the subtype “Class.” See rule 716 for more information about Class cards.
  • 303.7. Some Aura enchantments also have the subtype “Role.”
    • 303.7a If a permanent has more than one Role controlled by the same player attached to it, each of those Roles except the one with the most recent timestamp is put into its owner’s graveyard. This is a state-based action. See rule 704.