Enchantment

Enchantment
Card Type
Subtype	Enchantment type
Scryfall Search
type:"Enchantment"

Enchantment is a card type that represents persistent magical effects, usually remaining in play indefinitely.

Description

Most enchantments have continuous effects or triggered abilities, but some have abilities that can be activated by their controllers.

Enchantments vs. colored artifacts

Enchantments function very similarly to colored artifacts. The main distinction is flavor and what cards can destroy it. As a general rule, artifacts with activated abilities can have a cost that taps the artifact, while enchantments almost never do on the enchantment themselves, instead granting other permanents or the permanent they are attached to an ability that has a tapping cost. Colored Equipment (especially those that freely equip upon entry) and Auras also have overlap.

The only three examples of pure enchantments that tap themselves are found on futureshifted cards (Flowstone Embrace, Second Wind, Witch's Mist). R&D has no further plans to put tapping onto enchantments, because it is one of the few differences still existing between artifacts and enchantments.

Rules

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

Enchantment

A card type. An enchantment is a permanent. See rule 303, “Enchantments.” See also Aura.

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.

Subtypes

The subtype for enchantment is called enchantment type and is exclusive to enchantments.

Obsolete Terminology

Formerly, enchantments were one of two types: global or local. The type line of global enchantments reads "Enchantment", whereas that of local enchantments reads "Enchant [quality]", e.g. "Enchant Permanent", "Enchant Creature", "Enchant Wall", "Enchant Land", etc. There was also the enchantment-exclusive supertype World, which was retired after Visions.

With the release of Ninth Edition, the terms "global enchantment" and "local enchantment" were deprecated, and the type system was reformed so that both global and local enchantments have the card type Enchantment. To distinguish between them, local enchantments have the subtype Aura and a line of rules text which reads "Enchant [quality]", whereas global enchantments have neither of these. Since then, other enchantment-specific subtypes, called enchantment types, have been introduced, such as Curse and Saga.

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

Global Enchantment (Obsolete)

An obsolete term for a non-Aura enchantment. Cards printed with this text have received errata in the Oracle card reference.

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

Local Enchantment (Obsolete)

An obsolete term for an Aura. Cards printed with this text have received errata in the Oracle card reference.

Enchantment creatures and artifacts

The Theros block had an "enchantments matter" theme and introduced enchantment creatures and enchantment artifacts. This was repeated for Theros Beyond Death and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty

Friendly to enchantments

White and green are the two colors that most appreciate enchantments and reward the player for playing them. Black sometimes cares in sets with an enchantment theme or subtheme.

Enchantment destruction

White and green usually have one enchantment destruction card at common, although green's is usually also a spell that destroys artifacts. Starting with Commander 2019, black has become secondary in enchantment removal, but remains unable to remove deal-with-the-devil enchantments it has cast on itself.

Enchantment tokens

The first non-creature token was the enchantment token copy of Imperial Mask that can be given to your teammates. This appeared in Future Sight.

Estrid, the Masked was the first card to make an aura enchantment token.

Enchantment tokens returned in the Mystery Booster set, where the test card Celestine Cave Witch lets you sacrifice insects to create curse enchantment tokens, and Domesticated Mammoth arrives on the battlefield with an aura token of Pacifism on it.