Disguise

Disguise
[[File:{{#setmainimage:MTGA Disguise.png}}|70x70px]]
Keyword Ability
Introduced	Murders at Karlov Manor
Last used	Assassin's Creed
Reminder Text	Disguise (You may cast this face down for as a 2/2 creature with ward . Turn it face up any time for its disguise cost.)
Statistics	40 cards 17.5% 10% 10% 15% 17.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5%
Scryfall Search
keyword:"Disguise"

Disguise is a keyword ability introduced in Murders at Karlov Manor. It allows the player to pay to cast a card with the ability face down as a 2/2 colorless, typeless creature with Ward . Disguise is an upgraded variant of Morph, which was considered a bit too weak for the contemporary Standard environment.

Description

Most of the rules for Morph are the same for Disguise. It is cast for , but its mana value is still 0 both on the stack and on the battlefield. A disguised creature has no name or creature types. It has ward and no other abilities; this aspect is how disguise is different from morph. Each player can look at their own face-down permanents at any time and can't look at others'. Helper cards can be used to differentiate from tokens, if players use similar stand-in reminders. A player can turn a card with disguise face up for the disguise cost as a special action.

You can cast a card with disguise face down from any zone if you have permission to cast the card. In some cases, such as if you're casting it from exile, it won't be much of a surprise to your opponent. There may still be advantages to having a creature start face down so you can later turn it face up. And remember that you don't have to cast it face down at all. You can always just forego the disguise and cast the card as normal, paying the mana cost.

By giving the face-down creature Ward , it generally guarantees that a Disguised creature will not trade down in mana with targeted removal; Shock, for example, will require 3 mana to cast and hence slow down a player trying to interact against them. As such, while the 2/2 creatures will still be below rate, the controller will have the choice as to whether blocking is an appropriate course of action rather than falling behind to multiple two and one mana spells.

History

After its debut in Murders at Karlov Manor and Murders at Karlov Manor Commander, Disguise was quickly reused in Universes Beyond Assassin's Creed because of its flavorful fit.

The five-mana Morph rule

Although disguised creatures are strictly better than morph creatures, R&D felt no need to change the five-mana Morph rule. This means disguised creatures with base power 2 or greater must have a base toughness of 2 or less if their disguise cost is less than five mana. The five-mana morph rule allows players to continue to attack on turns three and four without any combat surprises and push the game towards a conclusion. The rule also gave other low mana value 2-power creatures relevance to the environment.

Two Alchemy cards broke this rule, in Roalesk, Prime Specimen and Rampaging Ursaguana. Bayek of Siwa is the first paper card with disguise to dominate a 2/2 for under five mana.

Overlay card

Overlay card used for face-down disguised and cloaked cards.

Murders at Karlov Manor introduced the A Mysterious Creature overlay card in booster packs as an extra card. The overlay card can be used on both face-down disguised and cloaked cards to remind players of their power and toughness, ward , and that it can be turned face-up for its Disguise cost or mana cost (Cloak).

Rules

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

Disguise

A keyword ability that lets a card be cast face down as a 2/2 creature with ward {2}. See rule 702.168, “Disguise,” and rule 708, “Face-Down Spells and Permanents.”

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

• 702.168. Disguise
  • 702.168a Disguise is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it’s on, and the disguise effect works any time the card is face down. “Disguise [cost]” means “You may cast this card as a 2/2 face-down creature with ward {2}, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost by paying {3} rather than paying its mana cost.” (See rule 708, “Face-Down Spells and Permanents.”)
  • 702.168b To cast a card using its disguise ability, turn the card face down and announce that you are using a disguise ability. It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card with ward {2}, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. Any effects or prohibitions that would apply to casting a card with these characteristics (and not the face-up card’s characteristics) are applied to casting this card. These values are the copiable values of that object’s characteristics. (See rule 613, “Interaction of Continuous Effects,” and rule 707, “Copying Objects.”) Put it onto the stack (as a face-down spell with the same characteristics), and pay {3} rather than pay its mana cost. This follows the rules for paying alternative costs. You can use a disguise ability to cast a card from any zone from which you could normally cast it. When the spell resolves, it enters the battlefield with the same characteristics the spell had. The disguise effect applies to the face-down object wherever it is, and it ends when the permanent is turned face up.
  • 702.168c You can’t normally cast a card face down. A disguise ability allows you to do so.
  • 702.168d Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control with a disguise 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 disguise cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a disguise cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) The disguise effect on it ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. Any abilities relating to the permanent entering the battlefield don’t trigger when it’s turned face up and don’t have any effect, because the permanent has already entered the battlefield.
  • 702.168e If a permanent’s disguise cost includes X, other abilities of that permanent may also refer to X. The value of X in those abilities is equal to the value of X chosen as the disguise special action was taken.
  • 702.168f See rule 708, “Face-Down Spells and Permanents,” for more information about how to cast cards with a disguise ability.

Rulings

• A disguise ability lets you cast a card face down by paying and announcing that you are using a disguise ability. Any time you have priority, you can turn a face-down permanent with disguise face up by paying its disguise cost.
• The face-down spell has no mana cost and a mana value of 0. When you cast a face-down spell, put it on the stack face down so no other player knows what it is, and pay to cast it. This is an alternative cost.
• The creature spell is a 2/2 creature spell with ward that has no name, mana cost, or creature types. The resulting creature is a 2/2 creature with ward that has no name, mana cost, or creature types. Both the spell and the resulting creature are colorless and have a mana value of 0. Other effects that apply to the spell or creature can still grant it any characteristics it doesn't have or change the characteristics it does have.
• Any time you have priority, you may turn the face-down creature face up by revealing what its disguise cost is and paying that cost. This is a special action. It doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to. Only a face-down permanent can be turned face up this way; a face-down spell cannot.

Example

Example

Dog Walker
Creature — Human Citizen
3/1
Vigilance
Disguise (You may cast this card face down for as a 2/2 creature with ward . Turn it face up any time for its disguise cost.)
When Dog Walker is turned face up, create two tapped 1/1 white Dog creature tokens.

See also

• Cloak
• Manifest
• Morph