Splice
| Splice | |
|---|---|
| Keyword Ability | |
| Type | Static |
| Introduced | Champions of Kamigawa |
| Last used | Saviors of Kamigawa |
| Reminder Text | Splice onto (type) [cost] (As you cast an (type) spell, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its splice cost. If you do, add this card's effects to that spell.) |
| Statistics |
27 cards 32%  26%  14%  14%  14% |
| Scryfall Search | |
| keyword:"Splice" | |
Splice [onto Arcane] is a keyword ability on certain Arcane instants from the Kamigawa block that functions while the card is in your hand. It allows a player to essentially add the rules text of the card to another arcane spell he or she is playing.
Rules
Rulings
- You must reveal all of the cards you intend to splice at the same time. Each individual card can only be spliced once onto a spell.
- If you have more than one card with the same name in your hand, you may splice both of them onto the spell.
- A card with a splice ability can't be spliced onto itself because the spell is on the stack (and not in your hand) when you reveal the cards you want to splice onto it.
- The target for a card that's spliced onto a spell may be the same as the target chosen for the original spell or for another spliced-on card. (A recent change to the targeting rules allows this, but most other cards are unaffected by the change.)
- If you splice a targeted card onto an untargeted spell, the entire spell will be countered if the target isn't legal when the spell resolves.
- If you splice an untargeted card onto a targeted spell, the entire spell will be countered if the target isn't legal when the spell resolves.
- A spell is countered on resolution only if *all* of its targets are illegal (or the spell is countered by an effect).
Examples
Splice onto instants and sorceries
In Kamigawa block, the splice mechanic was restricted to arcane spells, a subtype of instants and sorceries. It ended up being a bit too parasitic (only allowing you to play with other cards from the same set) and never quite captured the feel R&D had been hoping for.[1] For years, they talked about bringing back splice but on instants and/or sorceries instead. They talked about it for Return to Ravnica, but chose to only have new guild keywords, so it was off the table. That restriction no longer applied for Guilds of Ravnica, so they decided to give splice onto instants and sorceries another try for the Izzet League. In the end, it didn't live up to the hype they had been building up over the years, so they moved on to other options.