Cloak

Cloak
[[File:{{#setmainimage:MTGA Cloak.png}}|70x70px]]
Keyword Action
Introduced	Murders at Karlov Manor
Last used	Assassin's Creed
Reminder Text	Cloak card (Put it onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature with ward . Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it's a creature card.)
Statistics	8 cards 25% 12.5% 12.5% 12.5% 12.5% 12.5% 12.5%
Scryfall Search
keyword:"Cloak"

Cloak is a keyword action introduced in Murders at Karlov Manor as an upgraded version of Manifest. When you cloak a card, you put it onto the battlefield face down.

Description

While face down, a cloaked card is a 2/2 colorless creature with no name, no creature types and ward .

Unlike Disguise, which is usually cast from your hand, cloaked cards are usually played from other zones.

Most of the rules for Manifest are the same for Cloak. A cloaked creature card may be turned face up for its mana cost. If the creature had morph or disguise, the morph, megamorph or disguise cost can be paid instead. A cloaked noncreature card can't be turned face up this way unless it already had morph or disguise.

History

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

Overlay card

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

Rules

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

Cloak

A keyword action that puts a card onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature with ward {2}. See rule 701.56, “Cloak,” and rule 708, “Face-Down Spells and Permanents.”

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

• 701.56. Cloak
  • 701.56a To cloak a card, turn it face down. It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card with ward {2}, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. Put that card onto the battlefield face down. That permanent is a cloaked permanent for as long as it remains face down. The effect defining its characteristics works while the card is face down and ends when it’s turned face up.
  • 701.56b Any time you have priority, you may turn a cloaked permanent you control face up. This is a special action that doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116.2b). To do this, show all players that the card representing that permanent is a creature card and what that card’s mana cost is, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. The effect defining its characteristics while it was face down ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. (If the card representing that permanent isn’t a creature card or it doesn’t have a mana cost, it can’t be turned face up this way.)
  • 701.56c If a card with morph is cloaked, its controller may turn that card face up using either the procedure described in rule 702.37e to turn a face-down permanent with morph face up or the procedure described above to turn a cloaked permanent face up.
  • 701.56d If a card with disguise is cloaked, its controller may turn that card face up using either the procedure described in rule 702.168d to turn a face-down permanent with disguise face up or the procedure described above to turn a cloaked permanent face up.
  • 701.56e If an effect instructs a player to cloak multiple cards from a single library, those cards are cloaked one at a time.
  • 701.56f If an effect instructs a player to cloak a card and a rule or effect prohibits the face-down object from entering the battlefield, that card isn’t cloaked. Its characteristics remain unmodified and it remains in its previous zone. If it was face up, it remains face up.
  • 701.56g If a cloaked permanent that’s represented by an instant or sorcery card would turn face up, its controller reveals it and leaves it face down. Abilities that trigger whenever a permanent is turned face up won’t trigger.
  • 701.56h See rule 708, “Face-Down Spells and Permanents,” for more information.

Rulings

• To cloak a card, put it onto the battlefield face down. It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card with ward and no name, mana cost, or creature types. It's colorless and has a mana value of 0. Other effects that apply to the permanent can still grant it any characteristics it doesn't have or change the characteristics it does have.
• Any time you have priority, you can turn a cloaked permanent you control face-up by revealing that it's a creature card (ignoring any copy effects or type-changing effects that might be applying to it) and paying its mana cost. This is a special action. It doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to.
• If a cloaked creature would have disguise (or morph) if it were face up, you may also turn it face up by paying its disguise (or morph) cost.
• Unlike a face-down creature that was cast using a disguise or morph ability, a cloaked creature may still be turned face up after it loses its abilities if it's a creature card.
• If a double-faced card is cloaked, it will be put onto the battlefield face down. While face down, it can't transform. If the front face of the card is a creature card, you can turn it face up by paying its mana cost. If you do, its front face will be up.
• You may put an overlay card on a cloaked creature while it's on the battlefield. The overlay is just a reminder. You don't have to use it if you don't want to, and it doesn't change how face-down creatures function.

Example

Example

Expose the Culprit
Instant
Choose one or both —

• Turn target face-down creature face up.
• Exile any number of face-up creatures you control with disguise in a face-down pile, shuffle that pile, then cloak them. (To cloak a card, put it onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature with ward . Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card.)

See also

• Disguise
• Manifest
• Morph