Rules baggage

Rules baggage is a design term for when some aspect of a card requires remembering additional rules that aren't clear from its card type, aren't stated in its abilities, or are particularly complex or unusual. Designers try to reduce this when possible, although sometimes it's simply the way a mechanic works. Reminder text is used to reduce the baggage for the behavior of more common cards, although complex interactions may still be difficult to understand without consulting the Comprehensive Rules.

Mechanics and abilities

Any ability or mechanic inherently has some rules baggage. This is not always a bad thing, since the game needs a certain level of complexity to be interesting. Instead of a binary "has baggage" or "no baggage" judgement, the amount of rules baggage can be thought of on a scale, with R&D as well as players evaluating whether any given mechanic is worth the additional rules. This can be very subjective, as players who have seen a mechanic many times naturally get to know how it works, whereas those new to it may have to think through each detail and situation to understand its intricacies.

Examples

• Deathtouch has significant rules baggage because it has some non-obvious interactions. For example, it changes how trample damage may be assigned by changing the definition of lethal damage.
• Batching and predefined token terminology requires players to know definitions that aren't explicit on the card, although usually reminder text prevents this from being much of a problem.
• Banding and "loses all abilities" were once considered by R&D to carry too much rules baggage to be worth bringing back to the game. "Loses all abilities" has nonetheless been revisited periodically. While banding got a rules revamp to simplify it in Magic 2010, it has little chance of returning, and is rated at maximum on the Storm Scale.

Types and supertypes

Primary card types are intentionally designed to have markedly different roles in the game. Differences between them are not usually considered to be rules baggage, for instance when an artifact follows very different rules than a sorcery. Creatures, as the primary participants in combat, have the most type-specific rules; effects that allow other permanents to become creatures therefore have inherent baggage. To an extent, planeswalkers carry some baggage since they are less common than other card types and have special abilities that other permanents don't. Non-evergreen card types (Dungeon, Battle) and those specific to a format (Plane, Scheme, Conspiracy) are much more readily judged on their rules baggage alongside other mechanics.

Almost all Supertypes carry rules baggage, but there are not many of them.

• Basic changes the deck construction rules: Any number of basic lands may be included.
• Legendary and World cards have rules about not having duplicates in play, appropriately called the "Legend rule" and the "World rule".
• Ongoing schemes remain in effect continuously instead of having a one-time effect.
• Only the Snow supertype is used for tribal-style effects rather than having inherent rules. The mana symbol does look for a Snow source of mana, but that is a simple check on the attributes of the mana source, not the source itself doing anything special.

Subtypes

Numerous subtypes have rules directed at them in the Comprehensive Rules. Several have special card frames accompanying the special behavior. Much like other mechanics, whether the subtypes continue to be used depends on whether the value to the game outweighs the complexity.

These subtypes carry explicit rules baggage:

• The five basic land types automatically grant the intrinsic ability to generate the corresponding type of mana to any land they appear on. Gaining or losing the subtype causes a land to gain or lose the ability.
• Auras, Equipment, and Fortifications are the only subtypes that can be attached to anything.
  • Auras are the only permanents that require targets when cast, and must be attached to an object to remain on the battlefield.
• Attraction and Contraption artifacts have their own decks and are never included in the main deck. These come from un-sets.
• Sagas have special abilities which automatically trigger through turn-based actions defined in the rules.
• Adventures resolve differently than other spells, allowing their owners to cast the non-Adventure portion of the card later.
• Sieges are attacked, protected, and defeated in a specific way, somewhat resembling Planeswalker combat. How much of these rules come from the subtype rather than the battle card type is unclear, since Siege is currently the only battle type.

These subtypes are in a gray area:

• Classes have abilities to gain levels which grant additional abilities. These leveling abilities are directly implied by elements of their card frame, which are defined as keywords. Whether the abilities originate from the subtype or simply the frame itself is subject to interpretation.
• The Vehicle subtype doesn't technically come with special rules; the rules which allow them to become creatures actually come from the crew ability almost all of them have. However, their card frame does have a printed power and toughness, which players must remember do not apply unless they are currently creatures.
• The predefined token types don't have any special rules once the tokens are made. However, most instances of these tokens come with default properties defined in the rules rather than the ability that made them.

These subtypes are closely linked with a particular ability. They have no special rules on their own, but the ability works so closely with the subtype that it can be hard to distinguish the two:

• Background enchantments are designed to be paired with commanders with the Choose a Background ability. The ability changes how Commander decks are constructed, not the Background itself.
• Arcane spells are known for being targets for splice abilities, but the Arcane subtype has no special rules of its own.
• Lesson spells are almost always included in the sideboard to be accessed by the learn ability. However, if desired they can be included in the main deck and played just like any other card, without using learn.

Many subtypes have no explicit rules, being used for flavor, for tribal effects defined on abilities, or to highlight a certain style of card design. All creature, planeswalker, and plane types fall in this category, as do quite a few other subtypes.

Obsolete type baggage

Mono, Poly and Continuous were artifact varieties in use before subtypes and supertypes were clearly defined in early editions of the game. These "subtypes" dictated the use of artifact abilities. All artifacts could also be "turned off" when tapped by an external source. This was quickly abandoned, as articulating what this meant in the rules was more trouble than having each card define its own usage.

The Wall and Legend creature types formerly imposed restrictions on their creatures. Walls received defender, moving the rules burden to a keyword ability while preserving the creature type. Legend was redefined as the Legendary supertype rather than a subtype, leaving no creature types with rules baggage.