Meld card

Meld card: Hanweir, the Writhing Township formed by melding Hanweir Battlements with Hanweir Garrison

For the mechanic, see Meld.

Meld cards are similar to double-faced cards and were introduced with Eldritch Moon and reused in The Brothers' War.

Each meld pair consists of two specific cards whose back faces combine to form one oversized Magic card face. There are twelve cards with Meld for six pairs. A meld card isn't a double-faced card. It can't transform or enter the battlefield transformed.

Rules

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

Meld Cards

Cards with a Magic card face on one side and half of an oversized Magic card face on the other. See rule 712, “Double-Faced Cards.”

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

• 712.4. Meld cards have a Magic card face on one side and half of an oversized card face on the other.
  • 712.4a One card in each meld pair has an ability that exiles both that object and its counterpart and melds them. To meld the two cards in a meld pair, put them onto the battlefield with their back faces up and combined (see rule 701.37, “Meld”). The resulting permanent is a single object represented by two cards.
  • 712.4b The back faces of a meld pair are used only to determine the characteristics of the melded permanent that pair becomes on the battlefield. If a rule or effect references the back face of a meld card when not part of a melded permanent on the battlefield, it fails to determine its characteristics, regardless of which parts of the melded permanent is represented on that card’s back face.

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

• 712.5. There are six specific meld pairs.
  • 712.5a Midnight Scavengers and Graf Rats meld to form Chittering Host.
  • 712.5b Hanweir Garrison and Hanweir Battlements meld to form Hanweir, the Writhing Township.
  • 712.5c Bruna, the Fading Light and Gisela, the Broken Blade meld to form Brisela, Voice of Nightmares.
  • 712.5d Phyrexian Dragon Engine and Mishra, Claimed by Gix meld to form Mishra, Lost to Phyrexia.
  • 712.5e The Mightstone and Weakstone and Urza, Lord Protector meld to form Urza, Planeswalker.
  • 712.5f Argoth, Sanctum of Nature and Titania, Voice of Gaea meld to form Titania, Gaea Incarnate.

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

• 712.21. If a melded permanent leaves the battlefield, one permanent leaves the battlefield and two cards are put into the appropriate zone.

  Example: Chittering Host, a melded permanent, dies. An ability that triggers “whenever a creature dies” triggers once. An ability that triggers “whenever a card is put into a graveyard from anywhere” triggers twice.

  • 712.21a If a melded permanent is put into its owner’s graveyard or library, that player may arrange the two cards in any order. If it’s put into its owner’s library, that player doesn’t reveal the order.
  • 712.21b If a player exiles a melded permanent, that player determines the relative timestamp order of the two cards at that time. This is an exception to the procedure described in rule 613.7m.

    Example: Duplicant is a card with the abilities “When Duplicant enters the battlefield, you may exile target nontoken creature” and “As long as a card exiled with Duplicant is a creature card, Duplicant has the power, toughness, and creature types of the last creature card exiled with Duplicant. It’s still a Shapeshifter.” As Duplicant’s first ability exiles Chittering Host, a melded permanent, Duplicant’s controller chooses whether the last creature card exiled is Midnight Scavengers or Graf Rats.

  • 712.21c If an effect can find the new object that a melded permanent becomes as it leaves the battlefield, it finds both cards. (See rule 400.7.) If that effect causes actions to be taken upon those cards, the same actions are taken upon each of them.

    Example: Otherworldly Journey is an instant that reads “Exile target creature. At the beginning of the next end step, return that card to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a +1/+1 counter on it.” A player casts Otherworldly Journey targeting Chittering Host, a melded permanent. Chittering Host is exiled. At the beginning of the next end step, Midnight Scavengers and Graf Rats are both returned to the battlefield, each with a +1/+1 counter on it.

    Example: False Demise is an Aura with the ability “When enchanted creature dies, return that card to the battlefield under your control.” A Chittering Host enchanted by False Demise dies. The triggered ability returns both Midnight Scavengers and Graf Rats to the battlefield.

    Example: Mimic Vat is an artifact that reads, in part, “Whenever a nontoken creature dies, you may exile that card.” A Chittering Host dies. As Mimic Vat’s triggered ability resolves, its controller makes a single choice and both cards that represented Chittering Host are either exiled or not.

  • 712.21d If multiple replacement effects could be applied to the event of a melded permanent leaving the battlefield or being put into the new zone, applying one of those replacement effects to one of the two cards affects both cards. If the melded permanent is a commander, it may be exempt from this rule; see rules 903.9b–c.

    Example: Leyline of the Void is an enchantment that reads, in part, “If a card would be put into an opponent’s graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.” Wheel of Sun and Moon is an Aura with enchant player and the ability “If a card would be put into enchanted player’s graveyard from anywhere, instead that card is revealed and put on the bottom of its owner’s library.” If the controller of Chittering Host is affected by both cards’ effects, that player chooses one effect to apply to the event and Midnight Scavengers and Graf Rats are both moved to the appropriate zone.

  • 712.21e If an effect needs to know the number of objects that changed zones, a melded permanent among those objects counts as one object that moved. If the effect needs to know the number of cards that changed zones, that melded permanent counts as two cards that moved.

Rulings

• Although meld cards look similar to double-faced cards, they are not considered to be double-faced cards. They don't transform—instead, their back faces combine in pairs to form a single oversized card face.
  • However, draft events involving meld cards are identical as double-faced cards, which is revealed to all players until next pick, unless the event is a pre-sleeved (for some Pro REL events) or the draft happened in Magic Online.
• One card in each pair of meld cards has an ability that instructs you to exile the two cards and meld them. If you control more than one object with one of those names, you select one object with that name to exile.
• When two cards are exiled and melded, they each leave the battlefield, then return together as one new untapped object with no relation to either of the objects that left the battlefield. Counters, Auras, Equipment, and other effects that affected those two cards don't affect the melded permanent.
• Only two cards belonging to the same meld pair can be melded. Tokens, cards that aren't meld cards, or meld cards that don't form a meld pair can't be melded. If an effect instructs a player to meld cards that can't be melded, those cards remain in exile.
• While a meld card is anywhere other than the battlefield, or is on the battlefield with its front face up, it has only the characteristics of its front face.
• While a melded permanent is on the battlefield, it has only the characteristics of its combined back face. Any effects that modify how the new object enters the battlefield will consider only the combined back face.
• The converted mana cost of a melded permanent is the sum of the converted mana costs of its front faces. A creature that becomes a copy of a melded permanent has only the characteristics of that combined back face, and its converted mana cost is 0.
• A player prompted to name a card may name the combined back face, and each player has the right to know that combined back face's characteristics at all times.
• If an effect moves a melded permanent to a new zone and then affects "that card," it affects both cards.

See also

• Substitute cards
• Double-faced cards
• Double-faced tokens
• Meld
• Transform