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Thread: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

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    Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by BenBleiweiss View Post
    Confirmed incoming rules change to Phasing:

    Matt Tabak‏ @TabakRules 45m45 minutes ago
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    Effective 8/25 (#MTGC17 release), we're changing the rules so tokens can phase out and phase back in. Batterskulls rejoice! #WotCstaff


    and

    Matt Tabak‏ @TabakRules 3h3 hours ago
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    Phased out permanents neither leave nor enter the battlefield. You just pretend they aren't there for a time. #WotCstaff


    and

    Matt Tabak‏ @TabakRules 45m45 minutes ago
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    Phased out tokens never leave the battlefield, and them exploding was an unnecessary nod to original functionality. Cleaner system now.
    This is a good and consistent change, since Phasing is a status that there is no reason to not apply to Tokens.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Don't worry about it @reAnimator, the rules dictate a phased out token should be exiled. R&D wants to say phasing doesn't cause a zone change so it doesn't exile tokens...even though everything in the rules about phasing (old description and new) provides all the tell-tale signs of a zone change as having occurred.

    You can read all the stuff on phasing but the salient point is this: something cannot logically re-exist if it cannot be proven to have existed in the first place. If no one registered a deck with magic cards that make X token, then such a token can't be in that game of magic. When the phased-out status on X token directs cards which could have made X token to treat X token as not existing...then how is X token in a game of magic? Exile it.
    ---
    Anyways if R&D wants to directly buff tokens under the auspice of "simplifying" phasing, the type card you could speculate upon would be Geist of Saint Traft. With new [illogical] phasing rules, this card becomes a a build your own Entreat the Angels when you can invalidate "exile at the end of a specific combat step" on 4/4 angel tokens that can inexplicably phase in and remain for rest of a game. Geist clearly not good enough in legacy/vintage due to Mentor or TNN, but keep an eye out on that type interaction and any cards with phasing on them. It's a pretty high bar for playability as it has to be a proactive engine card and also interactive (moreso if they continue to colorshift phasing towards the slowest color in magic, white).
    The only reason why Phasing Token ceased to exist was because of rule 704.5d: "If a token is phased out, or is in a zone other than the battlefield, it ceases to exist." And 702.25k: "Phased-out tokens cease to exist as a state-based action. See rule 704.5d."

    There is no other reason why it happens in the current rules. The "original functionality" is a mess and really isn't worth bothering to untangle a zone-change that is not a zone-change. This new rule is much more consistent with all of the modern Comprehensive Rules, because Phasing is not a zone-change (even though it simulates one) it is a status change. As such, there is no real reason at all why that status change cannot be applied to a Token. It isn't as if we are being asked to Flip a Token. Of course that is impossible, as it is impossible as well for any card that doesn't have a Flipped side. Same goes for Transform. These are pretty logical and practical based off the criteria needed to fulfill those other states. No such criteria exist to predicate that a Token cannot be in the status of Phased Out (besides 704.5d and 702.25k).

    Whatever you are talking about, proving it's "existential chain of custody" (or however you fashioned it) is nonsense. The Token exists because it was legally created earlier in the game. If it wasn't, you have a failure to maintain game state and a clear rules violation.

    I have no real idea why you think that a status change from Phased Out to Phased In is an existential crisis, when the change from Tapped to Untapped is not? Because you were instructed, by the game rules, to treat something Phased Out as if it didn't exist? But acting as if something doesn't exist does not remove it from existence. Nor does returning to regard it as existent require existential deduction to figure out if it existed in the first place, if it Phased Out, clearly it existed. Nonexistent things cannot Phase Out, because they don't exist. And so, logically, if it is in the state of Phased Out it can Phase In.

    There really isn't a logical hole here at all. 702.25k can be removed simply and 704.5d can easily be modified.
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  2. #2

    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Since we're discussing phasing, I'm going to stick in my 2 cents:

    The business with "indirect phasing" and "direct phasing" is implemented in a pretty sloppy way. It should really just be:

    Phased out cards can be attached to other phased out cards.

    When a card phases out, all cards attached to it phase out simultaneously with it.
    In practical terms, the new rules mean that Sapphire Charm got a little weaker, but Vision Charm and Reality Ripple got slightly more interesting. Geist of Saint Traft was suggested, but I'm not sure there are any tokens that are actually worth saving.

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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by rufus View Post
    In practical terms, the new rules mean that Sapphire Charm got a little weaker, but Vision Charm and Reality Ripple got slightly more interesting. Geist of Saint Traft was suggested, but I'm not sure there are any tokens that are actually worth saving.
    I think you want to look more at something like Feldon of the Third Path or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by H View Post
    I think you want to look more at something like Feldon of the Third Path or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
    Zektar Shrine Expedition is better than those, and still not good enough.

    Setting up 3-card stuff like Kiki-Jiki or Feldon doesn't have a huge history of success.

  5. #5

    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    I'd just like to point out that Taniwha is fcking OP as all hell. Same with Teferi's Isle.

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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by rufus View Post
    Zektar Shrine Expedition is better than those, and still not good enough.

    Setting up 3-card stuff like Kiki-Jiki or Feldon doesn't have a huge history of success.
    Not for Legacy, of course.

    The power of Kiki is going to depend on what you copy with it. In EDH though, copying an Inferno Titan (not really unreasonable that you could go turn 2 Teferi's Veil, Turn 5 Kiki, Turn 6 Inferno, Turn 7 attack with 3 Inferno Titans) could be a decent value proposition.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    This is atrocious.

    Sometimes the only way to deal with certain problematic commanders was to turn them into artifacts, capture them, turn them into equipment, equip to a token, and phase that token out. Now what are we supposed to do?

    Keep dumbing this game down WotC!
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by Crimhead View Post
    This is atrocious.

    Sometimes the only way to deal with certain problematic commanders was to turn them into artifacts, capture them, turn them into equipment, equip to a token, and phase that token out. Now what are we supposed to do?

    Keep dumbing this game down WotC!
    Good point, probably time to cash out and get into checkers.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by H View Post
    Good point, probably time to cash out and get into checkers.
    I hope you know I'm joking.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by H View Post
    There is no other reason why it happens in the current rules. The "original functionality" is a mess and really isn't worth bothering to untangle a zone-change that is not a zone-change. This new rule is much more consistent with all of the modern Comprehensive Rules, because Phasing is not a zone-change (even though it simulates one) it is a status change. As such, there is no real reason at all why that status change cannot be applied to a Token. It isn't as if we are being asked to Flip a Token. Of course that is impossible, as it is impossible as well for any card that doesn't have a Flipped side. Same goes for Transform. These are pretty logical and practical based off the criteria needed to fulfill those other states. No such criteria exist to predicate that a Token cannot be in the status of Phased Out (besides 704.5d and 702.25k).
    So here's the issue with pretending this is all about a zone change with tokens exiling themselves to SBAs when phased out: all the rules point to a zone change as having occurred. Remember that nothing has ever changed in phasing's functionality since the Mirage rulebook up to right now. In Mirage there is a phased out zone that returns objects to the battlefield in the exact same state as if they never left. Notice how it doesn't make much sense to send something to a different zone if you're going to return to the battlefield like it never left. The rules update chooses different wording to describe phasing by saying something stays on battlefield in a phased out status.

    In both cases the battlefield is two-sided one side phased-in, the other side phased-out. We can call this two zones or a two-sided zone; the concept doesn't matter as long as a player understands a phased out card will always phase-in as though it never left.

    A creature is declared an attacker and phased-out before blockers. In the declare blockers step it is phased back in by Time and Tide - does it deal damage? The answer here is no....because phasing removed it from combat....you know, because it changed zones.

    If a Shivan Dragon is pumped to a 10/5 before it phases out, it will also phase in as a 10/5 on that turn when hit by Time and Tide. What is it's power and toughness when phased out? If you answered 10/5 that is definitively incorrect. Looks like we've got a problem, it stayed in the same zone and it's power and toughness changed - you know, because it changed zones.

    So why does a phased out token exile itself? Well that happens because, you know, it changed zones. We can stop thinking about the phased-out zone, but it's still there (it just not worth it to formally acknowledge a zone because it's functionally the same outcome).

    These are some huge rules problems if we think magic token rules can be unified - you're never going to get to a point where you'll get away with saying "phasing isn't a zone change so tokens don't exile themselves upon acquiring phased-out status," because all the rules evidence says zone change occurred. The battlefield is two half-zones that exist in the same overall zone - no one needs to know that, but it is however true, and magic has worked perfectly fine with that silent understanding.

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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by Crimhead View Post
    I hope you know I'm joking.
    You mean I just sold my Imprisoned In The Moon, Liquimetal Coating, Dack Fayden, Bludgeon Brawl, Dragon Fodder, Reality Ripple combo deck for no reason?

    But yes, I knew you were joking.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    So here's the issue with pretending this is all about a zone change with tokens exiling themselves to SBAs when phased out: all the rules point to a zone change as having occurred. Remember that nothing has ever changed in phasing's functionality since the Mirage rulebook up to right now. In Mirage there is a phased out zone that returns objects to the battlefield in the exact same state as if they never left. Notice how it doesn't make much sense to send something to a different zone if you're going to return to the battlefield like it never left. The rules update chooses different wording to describe phasing by saying something stays on battlefield in a phased out status.
    That's not the rules update, the current rules explicitly spell out that a zone change never occurs:

    702.25. Phasing

    702.25a Phasing is a static ability that modifies the rules of the untap step. During each player’s untap step, before the active player untaps his or her permanents, all phased-in permanents with phasing that player controls “phase out.” Simultaneously, all phased-out permanents that had phased out under that player’s control “phase in.”

    702.25b If a permanent phases out, its status changes to “phased out.” Except for rules and effects that specifically mention phased-out permanents, a phased-out permanent is treated as though it does not exist. It can’t affect or be affected by anything else in the game. A permanent that phases out is removed from combat. (See rule 506.4.)
    Example: You control three creatures, one of which is phased out. You cast a spell that says “Draw a card for each creature you control.” You draw two cards.
    Example: You control a phased-out creature. You cast a spell that says “Destroy all creatures.” The phased-out creature is not destroyed.

    702.25c If a permanent phases in, its status changes to “phased in.” The game once again treats it as though it exists.

    702.25d The phasing event doesn’t actually cause a permanent to change zones or control, even though it’s treated as though it’s not on the battlefield and not under its controller’s control while it’s phased out. Zone-change triggers don’t trigger when a permanent phases in or out. Counters remain on a permanent while it’s phased out. Effects that check a phased-in permanent’s history won’t treat the phasing event as having caused the permanent to leave or enter the battlefield or its controller’s control.

    702.25e Continuous effects that affect a phased-out permanent may expire while that permanent is phased out. If so, they will no longer affect that permanent once it’s phased in. In particular, effects with “for as long as” durations that track that permanent (see rule 611.2b) end when that permanent phases out because they can no longer see it.

    702.25f When a permanent phases out, any Auras, Equipment, or Fortifications attached to that permanent phase out at the same time. This alternate way of phasing out is known as phasing out “indirectly.” An Aura, Equipment, or Fortification that phased out indirectly won’t phase in by itself, but instead phases in along with the permanent it’s attached to.

    702.25g If an object would simultaneously phase out directly and indirectly, it just phases out indirectly.

    702.25h An Aura, Equipment, or Fortification that phased out directly will phase in attached to the object or player it was attached to when it phased out, if that object is still in the same zone or that player is still in the game. If not, that Aura, Equipment, or Fortification phases in unattached. State-based actions apply as appropriate. (See rules 704.5n and 704.5p.)

    702.25i Abilities that trigger when a permanent becomes attached or unattached from an object or player don’t trigger when that permanent phases in or out.

    702.25j Phased-out permanents owned by a player who leaves the game also leave the game. This doesn’t trigger zone-change triggers. See rule 800.4.

    702.25k Phased-out tokens cease to exist as a state-based action. See rule 704.5d.

    702.25m If an effect causes a player to skip his or her untap step, the phasing event simply doesn’t occur that turn.

    702.25n Multiple instances of phasing on the same permanent are redundant.
    Unless, by "rules update" you mean when the Comprehensive Rules actually were created. In any case, the rules are pretty clear that nothing changes zone. I am not pretending anything. The rules are quite clear that a zone change is no occuring. There is no evidence that a zone change occurs, in fact, we are told explicitly that a zone change does not occur. It makes perfect sense to send something to a zone only to bring it back, see Restoration Angel for example. However, that is besides to point, nothing changes zone with Phasing.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    A creature is declared an attacker and phased-out before blockers. In the declare blockers step it is phased back in by Time and Tide - does it deal damage? The answer here is no....because phasing removed it from combat....you know, because it changed zones.
    No, actually because of 702.25b, if it were not for that rule, the creature would.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    If a Shivan Dragon is pumped to a 10/5 before it phases out, it will also phase in as a 10/5 on that turn when hit by Time and Tide. What is it's power and toughness when phased out? If you answered 10/5 that is definitively incorrect. Looks like we've got a problem, it stayed in the same zone and it's power and toughness changed - you know, because it changed zones.
    I don't understand this example at all. What is the rule justification for this? I can't find where this would be explained.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    So why does a phased out token exile itself? Well that happens because, you know, it changed zones. We can stop thinking about the phased-out zone, but it's still there (it just not worth it to formally acknowledge a zone because it's functionally the same outcome).

    These are some huge rules problems if we think magic token rules can be unified - you're never going to get to a point where you'll get away with saying "phasing isn't a zone change so tokens don't exile themselves upon acquiring phased-out status," because all the rules evidence says zone change occurred. The battlefield is two half-zones that exist in the same overall zone - no one needs to know that, but it is however true, and magic has worked perfectly fine with that silent understanding.
    No, it's really not there though at all. It's a simulated zone-change and the rules make that pretty clear. There is literally zero evidence I can find that prove a zone change occurred. All the rules point to the rules simulating how a zone change would work, but you know, without anything actually changing zones.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    I feel like you're trying to infer the existence of a Phasing zone based on empirical evidence, like it's a physics problem or something. The issue is that the rules of Magic aren't derived from the natural world like the laws of physics. Some people made them up a long time ago, and continue to, and they're all written down. This whole Zone Theory thing doesn't hold any water because even if it behaves like a zone 100% of the time, the creators/maintainers of the game have said it isn't, and so it isn't, period.

    There was never a phased out zone. Zones didn't exist in Mirage. A permanent that phased out "leaves play and is set aside". Leaving play was a nebulous concept at the time, not a zone. Everything that wasn't in your "territory" was "out of play". SBE's didn't even exist. Nobody died until the end of the turn, "fast effects" were resolved in LIFO order, except damage to creatures, which always resolved last. Shit was messy.

    The current rules say
    702.25d The phasing event doesn’t actually cause a permanent to change zones or control, even though it’s treated as though it’s not on the battlefield and not under its controller’s control while it’s phased out.
    It doesn't matter if all the evidence points to a zone change, there isn't one, and there's no zone. Not because it's just never been formally acknowledged or because we lack the technology to accurately measure it, because the rules explicitly state that it doesn't exist. The only version of reality that matters here is the one that WotC dictates, and it's changing because they said so.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    In fairness there was, at one point before 2010, a rules entry for a phased-out zone. It may not have existed right when Mirage came out but it was implemented (and later deprecated) at some point. Magic 2010 turned it into a status and got rid of the phased-out zone.

    Quote Originally Posted by https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Phased_out
    The phased-out zone is an obsolete game zone. Prior to the Magic 2010 rules update, permanents that phase out (and any Auras or Equipment attached to them) would be put into the phased-out zone to indicate their new status.[1][2][3] Despite changing game zones, the original phasing rules treated phased-out permanents as though they hadn't changed zones. This was unintuitive, so this was changed to the current functionality of a phased-out permanent being treated as though it didn't exist, without actually changing zones.
    The hangup here is the fact that this was supposed to be a zone change that didn't actually act like one; ETB and LTB triggers aren't intended to occur with phasing, so it was more like an exception that proved a rule about the way zone changes work.

    Ultimately this was basically another Substance kerfuffle, where an ill-fitting mechanic was implemented to monkey patch the game.

    As for citing 4- and 5-card combos that allegedly reveal a flaw in the plan of execution - if you throw enough cards at a game rule with the intention of circumnavigating it, you probably can. It has less to do with phasing and more to do with the fact that Magic has tens of thousands of game pieces.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Phasing began as a zone change, grab a Mirage rulebook. The rules update did not change this, we just stopped talking about it and created a litany of rules which all define the zone change. This is why phasing does things like removing from combat for instance; the phased-in battlefield and phased-out battlefield (still the same battlefield) still interact as if they are different zones entirely (within the same battlefield zone). We do not talk about the battlefield being comprised of two half-zones because it almost doesn't matter. You can point to rule 702.25b all you want, that describes removing from combat because a zone change occurred (even though we're pretending no zone change occurred).

    Rules still have to make sense. If you want to say no zone change happens explicitly, that's fine. However you have to also remember that all the rules around that explicit statement say zone change occurred. Tokens must also obey their rule "exile me when I undergo a zone change," and that's why phasing (secretly still a zone change) forces tokens to exile themselves.

    Look at all the rules of phasing, they define all the loopholes of having what was originally designed to be zone change while explicitly now stating no zones have changed. So while a phased-out token didn't change zones officially, we still have to treat it like it did - those are the rules. Understand that phasing is a unified agglomeration of rules (which works within the rules of magic) because it's a zone change [albeit a strange one] in everything but name; it cannot remain unified if it stops working like a complete zone change because now we're adding random factoids about tokens that don't make sense.

    @H you listed the rules that demonstrate why a 10/5 Shivan Dragon cannot be a 10/5 while phased out (702.25b and 702.25e), but it will definitely phase back in that turn as a 10/5 if Time and Tide resolves. I understand wanting to cling to the idea that no zone change occurred, but c'mon man the power and toughness of a creature staying in the same zone just changed and unchanged...without an explicit zone change justifying that. All the rules of phasing have to perfectly define the zone change we're saying doesn't officially exist. Would a token exile itself if it changed zones? Yes; so in keeping with that tradition it has to exile itself when it phases out because it underwent an unstated zone change with all the mechanical trappings of a zone change.

    Maybe a more clear example was the Memnarch making March of the Machines an artifact (now it's a 4/4 Artifact Enchantment Creature). Phase out the March of the Machines (after Memnarch's ability resolves) and you've got yourself a non-Creature Enchantment that's phased out. Pretty strange that it isn't the same thing, but that it will phase back in as the same thing (4/4 Artifact Enchantment Creature) when it stayed in the same zone. You can point to the rules, but those rules only exist define the zone change we want to officially say didn't happen.

    No one wants to read the rules of the battlefield zone and be told that it's effectively two half zones, because it honestly does not matter as long as people remember that a token is exiled when it gets phased out.

    The simple answer "no zone change, no exile of tokens" isn't really good enough, and it does not help in the slightest with rule simplification (it's quite the opposite). Let's pretend for a moment though that it is. Now you have a game structure problem because the explicit rules of phasing specify "treat it like it doesn't exist" - that's every card in either deck saying a phased-out token doesn't exist and phased-out token itself saying it is unaware of its existence (if this were not true March of the Machines would still be interacting with itself while phased out). All tokens require actual magic cards to introduce said tokens into a game, so if all those cards look at a phased out token and say it doesn't exist, then uhh...ya, that token can't be in this game anymore, no cards can justify its continued presence, exile it. The only reason a permanent can phase back in (i.e. can re-exist when every party says it doesn't exist...and if you don't exist you cannot therefor re-exist) is because the existence is traced back the fact that it's a card; as such it can for example have it's existence verified by being on a decklist.

    Let's take a moment to note that if a Young Pyromancer is phased out, that it's tokens are fine even though neither party can treat YP like he exists. The tokens can look back to the decklist, see a YP on it and know they could have legitimately been introduced to this game.

    Now that logical failure is outside the rules, but it also shows why tokens exiling when phased out makes sense. The logical paradox is potentially a mechanics problem: if actual cards are saying a phased out token can't remain in this game, then it implies that the token itself is the record keeper of it's own existence. That's of course not possible, that token must treat itself like it doesn't exist. So follow the paradox:
    -if a phased out token is keeping track of its right to exist, then any phased out permanent knows it exists now.
    -if a permanent knows it exists, the mechanical manifestation is that it continues to interact with itself while phased out.
    -if that permanent is March of the Machines (from previous scenario), then that's still a 4/4 Artifact Enchantment Creature while phased out.
    -if I then cast Time and Tide I have one rule set saying phased-out March isn't a creature (the actual rules) and phased-out March is a creature (the implied rules which begin with tokens keeping tabs on their own existence while phased out).....this is now a problem.

    This all goes to a very dark place for magic mechanically, because we're really not that far off from saying that a phased-out attacker is still going to connect with a player dealing phased-out combat damage because apparently magic is running fully functioning dual battlefields now???

    Just exile the damn token when it's phased out WotC. Phasing out doesn't change a zone anymore, it just acts exactly like it changed a zone, so follow your own rules on token zone changes. It's such an inexcusably careless rules "fix" and all because they want to have a white token strat in limited that doesn't gg itself when it casts a white card (that should be blue) which phases out all their permanents. Tokens and phasing are not supposed to play nicely; don't force it or you break the rules of the game on a level that shouldn't have mattered.

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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Let's take a moment to note that if a Young Pyromancer is phased out, that it's tokens are fine even though neither party can treat YP like he exists. The tokens can look back to the decklist, see a YP on it and know they could have legitimately been introduced to this game.

    Now that logical failure is outside the rules, but it also shows why tokens exiling when phased out makes sense. The logical paradox is potentially a mechanics problem: if actual cards are saying a phased out token can't remain in this game, then it implies that the token itself is the record keeper of it's own existence. That's of course not possible, that token must treat itself like it doesn't exist. So follow the paradox:
    -if a phased out token is keeping track of its right to exist, then any phased out permanent knows it exists now.
    -if a permanent knows it exists, the mechanical manifestation is that it continues to interact with itself while phased out.
    -if that permanent is March of the Machines (from previous scenario), then that's still a 4/4 Artifact Enchantment Creature while phased out.
    -if I then cast Time and Tide I have one rule set saying phased-out March isn't a creature (the actual rules) and phased-out March is a creature (the implied rules which begin with tokens keeping tabs on their own existence while phased out).....this is now a problem.

    This all goes to a very dark place for magic mechanically, because we're really not that far off from saying that a phased-out attacker is still going to connect with a player dealing phased-out combat damage because apparently magic is running fully functioning dual battlefields now???
    The problem with this is that there are no rules by induction. MtG rules aren't derived from inference, they're explicit. Otherwise we should be able to make grandiose claims like casting Overrun on an empty battlefield and insist that we control infinite 3/3s because a priori there must have been an infinite number of 0/0s dying to SBEs.

    Phased-out is explicitly a status and no phased-out zone exists any longer. The literal change is the only important change. The rest of this is just fan fiction.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by TsumiBand View Post
    Phased-out is explicitly a status and no phased-out zone exists any longer. The literal change is the only important change. The rest of this is just fan fiction.
    That's fine and all, but if I draw a circle and title it "the battlefield zone" and I bisect it with a line and label one half "phased-in" and the other half "phased-out," then I have accurately represented the rules. That is to say that no matter what half of the boundary you find yourself on, you're always touching the actual battlefield.

    That boundary has every rule of a full-on zone change. The reason it's not called a zone change is that is that it's technically a zone change within the same zone. There's always going to be a problem with saying "not a zone change, no exiling tokens" because they just tripped every mechanical rule they have to obey when crossing a zone boundary.

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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Rules still have to make sense. If you want to say no zone change happens explicitly, that's fine. However you have to also remember that all the rules around that explicit statement say zone change occurred. Tokens must also obey their rule "exile me when I undergo a zone change," and that's why phasing (secretly still a zone change) forces tokens to exile themselves.
    The rules do say that no zone change occurred:

    "702.25d The phasing event doesn’t actually cause a permanent to change zones or control, even though it’s treated as though it’s not on the battlefield and not under its controller’s control while it’s phased out."

    How much more explicitly do you need to rules to state this? No rule states a zone change has occurred either. Are you reading the same rules as the rest of us?

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Look at all the rules of phasing, they define all the loopholes of having what was originally designed to be zone change while explicitly now stating no zones have changed. So while a phased-out token didn't change zones officially, we still have to treat it like it did - those are the rules. Understand that phasing is a unified agglomeration of rules (which works within the rules of magic) because it's a zone change [albeit a strange one] in everything but name; it cannot remain unified if it stops working like a complete zone change because now we're adding random factoids about tokens that don't make sense.
    No, it's really just the opposite. It is not a zone change, simply a state that is meant to simulate one. As such, the rules of that simulation are defined by the rules, not by an actual zone change.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    @H you listed the rules that demonstrate why a 10/5 Shivan Dragon cannot be a 10/5 while phased out (702.25b and 702.25e), but it will definitely phase back in that turn as a 10/5 if Time and Tide resolves. I understand wanting to cling to the idea that no zone change occurred, but c'mon man the power and toughness of a creature staying in the same zone just changed and unchanged...without an explicit zone change justifying that. All the rules of phasing have to perfectly define the zone change we're saying doesn't officially exist. Would a token exile itself if it changed zones? Yes; so in keeping with that tradition it has to exile itself when it phases out because it underwent an unstated zone change with all the mechanical trappings of a zone change.
    No, I don't follow this at all. 7023.25b simply states that Phasing is a status. I don't see how it predicates that it cannot be a 10/5 while Phased Out.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Maybe a more clear example was the Memnarch making March of the Machines an artifact (now it's a 4/4 Artifact Enchantment Creature). Phase out the March of the Machines (after Memnarch's ability resolves) and you've got yourself a non-Creature Enchantment that's phased out. Pretty strange that it isn't the same thing, but that it will phase back in as the same thing (4/4 Artifact Enchantment Creature) when it stayed in the same zone. You can point to the rules, but those rules only exist define the zone change we want to officially say didn't happen.
    Where in the rules does it state that this would happen? I don't see a single rule that predicated this being the case.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    No one wants to read the rules of the battlefield zone and be told that it's effectively two half zones, because it honestly does not matter as long as people remember that a token is exiled when it gets phased out.
    It's not though. Phased Out is simply a status. No different than Tapped and Untapped create two halves of the Battlefield.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    The simple answer "no zone change, no exile of tokens" isn't really good enough, and it does not help in the slightest with rule simplification (it's quite the opposite). Let's pretend for a moment though that it is. Now you have a game structure problem because the explicit rules of phasing specify "treat it like it doesn't exist" - that's every card in either deck saying a phased-out token doesn't exist and phased-out token itself saying it is unaware of its existence (if this were not true March of the Machines would still be interacting with itself while phased out). All tokens require actual magic cards to introduce said tokens into a game, so if all those cards look at a phased out token and say it doesn't exist, then uhh...ya, that token can't be in this game anymore, no cards can justify its continued presence, exile it. The only reason a permanent can phase back in (i.e. can re-exist when every party says it doesn't exist...and if you don't exist you cannot therefor re-exist) is because the existence is traced back the fact that it's a card; as such it can for example have it's existence verified by being on a decklist.
    I have no idea what Phased In or Out tokens are aware of. In fact, no one does, because we don't need game objects to be aware. Players are. If something Phased Out, it exists in game terms. This is why Players play the game, they are there to correctly manipulate the game objects. The Players absolutely can justify a Token's existence, since one of them had to have created it. Again, acting as if something does not exist is not the same as something not actually existing.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Let's take a moment to note that if a Young Pyromancer is phased out, that it's tokens are fine even though neither party can treat YP like he exists. The tokens can look back to the decklist, see a YP on it and know they could have legitimately been introduced to this game.

    Now that logical failure is outside the rules, but it also shows why tokens exiling when phased out makes sense. The logical paradox is potentially a mechanics problem: if actual cards are saying a phased out token can't remain in this game, then it implies that the token itself is the record keeper of it's own existence. That's of course not possible, that token must treat itself like it doesn't exist. So follow the paradox:
    -if a phased out token is keeping track of its right to exist, then any phased out permanent knows it exists now.
    -if a permanent knows it exists, the mechanical manifestation is that it continues to interact with itself while phased out.
    -if that permanent is March of the Machines (from previous scenario), then that's still a 4/4 Artifact Enchantment Creature while phased out.
    -if I then cast Time and Tide I have one rule set saying phased-out March isn't a creature (the actual rules) and phased-out March is a creature (the implied rules which begin with tokens keeping tabs on their own existence while phased out).....this is now a problem.
    I have literally no idea what this is supposed to mean. While it is written in English, it is completely incomprehensible how this scenario really relates to a game of Magic. Tokens don't look any decklists. Neither do players. If there are Elemental tokens, a Player created them or simply cheated.

    Again, with the March of the Machines issue, I don't know that what you say would actually happen, so I don't know that there is really any issue.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    This all goes to a very dark place for magic mechanically, because we're really not that far off from saying that a phased-out attacker is still going to connect with a player dealing phased-out combat damage because apparently magic is running fully functioning dual battlefields now???

    Just exile the damn token when it's phased out WotC. Phasing out doesn't change a zone anymore, it just acts exactly like it changed a zone, so follow your own rules on token zone changes. It's such an inexcusably careless rules "fix" and all because they want to have a white token strat in limited that doesn't gg itself when it casts a white card (that should be blue) which phases out all their permanents. Tokens and phasing are not supposed to play nicely; don't force it or you break the rules of the game on a level that shouldn't have mattered.
    That's your opinion though. Which is nice, but really you seem to exacting some bizarre logic to attempt to prove why something you don't like doesn't work (when it does).

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    That's fine and all, but if I draw a circle and title it "the battlefield zone" and I bisect it with a line and label one half "phased-in" and the other half "phased-out," then I have accurately represented the rules. That is to say that no matter what half of the boundary you find yourself on, you're always touching the actual battlefield.

    That boundary has every rule of a full-on zone change. The reason it's not called a zone change is that is that it's technically a zone change within the same zone. There's always going to be a problem with saying "not a zone change, no exiling tokens" because they just tripped every mechanical rule they have to obey when crossing a zone boundary.
    No, you haven't, any more than doing the same "dividing" the Battlefield between Tapped and Untapped permanents makes any difference (it doesn't). Again, Phased Out is a status in the same zone.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    I mean honestly at this point if one is trying to understand it in terms of "functional analogues", which seems like a terrible idea because of all the confusion it's generating, then it's really no worse than a game event such as Damnation putting pro-black creatures in the graveyard. To a new player this is confusing because they don't fully grok protection effects and so this seems like something the pro-black creatures would otherwise just ignore, like damage -- but it only confuses them one time and then they recognize the interaction in the future.

    Please understand, I'm not equivocating protection and phasing, I'm just trying to frame this interaction in different terms. Phasing is not protection, anymore than separating permanents by their status creates de facto game zones.
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    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    Phasing began as a zone change, grab a Mirage rulebook.
    I've been quoting it the whole time, but here it is again:

    http://mtg.icequake.net/www.crystalk...rage-rules.php

    The following text is the exact text from the Mirage rulebook explaining the new rules in Mirage.
    Flanking

    Flanking is an ability that gives an advantage to attacking creatures. Whenever a creature without flanking is assigned to block a creature with flanking, the blocking creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
    Phasing

    Phasing causes permanents to enter and leave play on their own.
    When a permanent phases out, it leaves play and is set aside, much as if it had been removed from the game. Any enchantments on the permanent phase out along with it. The permanent also keeps any counters it has as well as any permanent changes that have been made to it. Otherwise, all effects that depend on that permanent being in play or that apply to it while it's in play end immediately. All damage on it is removed, and because it's considered out of play, any effects scheduled to affect it at end of turn are ignored.

    A permanent that's phased out will phase in (that is, return to play) at the beginning of its controller's next untap phase. Note that if might or might not enter play under the control of that player, as only effects that gave control of it to someone permanently will remain on it when it phases out. When a permanent phases in, it enters play tapped if and only if it was tapped when it phased out. (In other words, it enters play tapped as appropriate instead of entering play untapped and then becoming tapped.) Effects that would normally trigger as the permanent comes into play are ignored. Permanents phase in without summoning sickness.

    A permanent with phasing phases out automatically at the beginning of its controller's untap phase, at the same time as other permanents would be phasing in. It doesn't phase out on the turn in which it phased in.

    If a token phases out, it's removed from the game entirely, because it has left play.
    I don't see any references to Zones in the 4th Edition rules here:

    http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/m...ition-rulebook

    or in the original rules here:

    http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles...ook-2004-12-25

    Earliest I can find is in the 5th Ed. rules on Crystal Keep, which does include a Phased-out zone, but by the 6th edition rules it's listed as "Obsolete". Regardless of order, WotC can will these things in and out of being however they see fit. This really isn't anything new. Artifacts didn't work when they were tapped, until they did. Damage didn't go on the stack, and then it did, and then it didn't. Unused mana caused damage, and then it didn't. The Legend rule has changed numerous times. I'll see if I can find actual old rulebooks at home, I know I have a few kicking around.

    While this may change how certain cards function, it doesn't necessarily break any rules, because the people making these changes are the ones that control the rules.
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  20. #20

    Re: Incoming Phasing Rules Change (with C17)

    Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
    So here's the issue with pretending this is all about a zone change with tokens exiling themselves to SBAs when phased out: all the rules point to a zone change as having occurred. Remember that nothing has ever changed in phasing's functionality since the Mirage rulebook up to right now. In Mirage there is a phased out zone that returns objects to the battlefield in the exact same state as if they never left.
    Uh, they've changed phasing's functionality quite a few times since then, actually.

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