Comprehensive Rules

The Comprehensive Rules are designed to be the end-all, be-all of the Magic rules. In this mighty tome everything from Banding to the layering of continuous effects is described and explained. As Wizards of the Coast warns, this is not for the faint of heart. While all the rules for Magic are in the Comprehensive Rules, they're not meant for everyday use; rather, for specific cases during competitive games. In most ordinary situations, the basic rulebook is sufficient.

When making a reference to a specific rule the clearest way to do it is as follows [CR <rule>]. An example, if someone explains Mana Abilities and ends his or her explanation with [CR 406.1], then he makes a reference to rule 406.1 which states:

CR 406.1

• A mana ability is either (a) an activated ability that could put mana into a player's mana pool when it resolves or (b) a triggered ability that triggers from a mana ability and could produce additional mana. A mana ability can generate other effects at the same time it produces mana.

The Comprehensive Rules are available from Wizards of the Coast in TXT, PDF, and DOCX formats, and are 209 pages long.

Rules are numbered, and many are divided into subrules. Subrules skip the lower-case letters 'l' and 'o', to avoid confusion with the numbers '1' and '0'. So, for example, 704.5k is followed by 704.5m, then 704.5n and 704.5p.

Current version

The Comprehensive Rules ends with a Glossary of terms used in the document and on Magic cards throughout the game.