Read ahead

Read ahead
[[File:{{#setmainimage:MTGA Read Ahead.png}}|70x70px]]
Keyword Ability
Type	Static
Introduced	Dominaria United
Last used	Doctor Who
Reminder Text	Read ahead (Choose a chapter and start with that many lore counters. Add one after your draw step. Skipped chapters don't trigger. Sacrifice after III.)
Statistics	10 cards 20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
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keyword:"Read ahead"

Read ahead is a keyword ability on Sagas that allows the player to skip chapters to get to the effects they want. It was introduced in Dominaria United.

Description

A Saga with read ahead enters the battlefield on any chapter you want, meaning it enters with that many lore counters on it. Any chapters you skip over won't trigger.

With the most impactful being the third chapter, this ability acts like a sorcery variation on the suspend-X cycle from Planar Chaos, which could also either be cast as normal or put "on a delay" to power up the main mode.

History

After its introduction, read-ahead Sagas were also considered for the design of Wilds of Eldraine.

Rules

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

Read Ahead

A keyword ability found on some Sagas that allows their controller to choose which chapter it starts on. See rule 702.155, “Read Ahead.”

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

• 702.155. Read Ahead
  • 702.155a Read ahead is a keyword found on some Saga cards. “Read ahead” means “Chapter abilities of this Saga can’t trigger the turn it entered the battlefield unless it has exactly the number of lore counters on it specified in the chapter symbol of that ability.” See rule 714, “Saga Cards.”
  • 702.155b As a Saga with the read ahead ability enters the battlefield, its controller chooses a number from one to that Saga’s final chapter number. That Saga enters the battlefield with the chosen number of lore counters on it. See rule 714, “Saga Cards.”
  • 702.155c Multiple instances of read ahead on the same object are redundant.

Rulings

• As a Saga with read ahead enters the battlefield, its controller chooses a number from one to that Saga’s greatest chapter number. The Saga enters the battlefield with the chosen number of lore counters. Neither choosing the number nor putting the counters on the Saga use the stack, and neither can be responded to.
• Normally, if more than one lore counter is put on a Saga at one time, all of the appropriate chapter abilities will trigger. The read ahead ability creates an exception to this: on the turn that a Saga with read ahead entered the battlefield, its chapter abilities won’t trigger unless it has exactly the same number of lore counters on it as that ability’s chapter number.
• If a replacement effect modifies the number of counters that a permanent enters the battlefield with, that effect is applied after you have chosen the number of lore counters that the Saga will enter with. In that case, only the chapter ability with the same chapter number as the number of lore counters it actually entered with will trigger, regardless of the number, you chose.
• On subsequent turns, a Saga with read ahead follows the normal rules for Saga enchantments.

Examples

Example

Braids's Frightful Return
Enchantment — Saga
Read ahead (Choose a chapter and start with that many lore counters. Add one after your draw step. Skipped chapters don't trigger. Sacrifice after III.)
I — You may sacrifice a creature. If you do, each opponent discards a card.
II — Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
III — Target opponent may sacrifice a nonland, nontoken permanent. If they don't, they lose 2 life and you draw a card.