A nonland card becomes a spell when it"s put on the stack and remains a spell until it"s countered, it resolves, or it otherwise leaves the stack. A copy of a spell is also a spell, even if it has no card a.s.sociated with it. See rule 213, "Spells," and rule 401, "Spells on the Stack."
Splice
Splice is a static ability that functions while a card is in your hand. "Splice onto [type or subtype] [cost]" means "You may reveal this card from your hand as you play a [type or subtype] spell. If you do, copy this card"s text box onto that spell and pay [cost] as an additional cost to play that spell." Paying a card"s splice cost follows the rules for paying additional costs in rules 409.1b and 409.1f-h.
You can"t choose to use a splice ability if you can"t make the required choices (targets, etc.) for that card"s instructions. You can"t splice any one card onto the same spell more than once. If you"re splicing more than one card onto a spell, reveal them all at once and choose the order in which their instructions will be followed. The instructions on the main spell have to be followed first.
The spell has the characteristics of the main spell, plus the text boxes of each of the spliced cards. The spell doesn"t gain any other characteristics (name, mana cost, color, supertypes, types, subtypes, etc.) of the spliced cards. Text copied onto the spell that refers to a card by name refers to the spell on the stack, not the card from which the text was copied.
Choose targets for the added text normally (see rule 409.1c). Note that a spell with one or more targets will be countered if all of its targets are illegal on resolution.
The spell loses any splice changes once it leaves the stack (for example, when it"s countered, it"s removed from the game, or it resolves).
Split Cards
Split cards have two card faces on a single card. The back of a split card is the normal, full-size Magic card back. Split cards have two sets of characteristics: two names, two mana costs, and so on. They always have both sets, except when they"re spells on the stack. When you play a split card, you announce which side you"re playing. While it"s on the stack, the other side is ignored completely. See rule 505, "Split Cards."
Split cards have two mana costs with different colors of mana in them. That means they are multicolored cards while they"re not on the stack. A split card is a multicolored card on the stack only if the half that"s been played is multicolored.
If an effect tells you to name a card, you must name all of a split card"s names.
An effect that asks for a split card"s characteristic while it"s in a zone other than the stack gets both answers.
An effect that performs a positive comparison or a relative comparison involving characteristics of one or more split cards in any zone other than the stack gets only one answer. This answer is "yes" if either side of those split cards would return a "yes" answer if compared individually.
An effect that performs a negative comparison involving characteristics of one or more split cards in any zone other than the stack also gets only one answer. This answer is "yes" if performing the comparable positive comparison would return a "no" answer.
Split Second
Split second is a static ability that functions only while the spell with split second is on the stack. "Split second" means "As long as this spell is on the stack, players can"t play other spells or abilities that aren"t mana abilities." See rule 502.58, "Split Second."
Stack
A spell or ability goes on top of the stack when it"s played or put onto the stack. Combat-damage a.s.signments also go on top of the stack as though they were a single object. Whenever all players pa.s.s in succession, the spell, ability, or combat damage on top of the stack resolves and the active player receives priority again. See rule 217.6, "Stack," and rule 408.1, "Timing, Priority, and the Stack."
State-Based Effects
State-based effects continually "watch" the game for a particular state. Whenever a player would receive priority, state-based effects are checked and applied. See rule 420, "State-Based Effects."
State Triggers
State triggers are triggered abilities that watch for a game state rather than an event and trigger as soon as the game state matches the condition. Once a state trigger has triggered, it won"t trigger again until the ability it created has resolved, has been countered, or has otherwise left the stack. See rule 410.11.
Static Ability
Static abilities do something all the time rather than being played at specific times. Static abilities create continuous effects, which are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains in play and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone. See rule 412, "Handling Static Abilities."
Status
A permanent"s status is its physical state. There are three status categories, each of which has two possible values: tapped/untapped, flipped/unflipped, and face up/face down. Each permanent always has one of these values for each of these categories.
Status is not a characteristic, though it may affect a permanent"s characteristics.
Permanents come into play untapped, unflipped, and face up unless a spell or ability says otherwise.
Step
Some phases of the turn are further subdivided into steps. See section 3, "Turn Structure."
Storm
Storm is a triggered ability that functions while the spell is on the stack. "Storm" means "When you play this spell, put a copy of it onto the stack for each other spell that was played before it this turn. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for any number of the copies." See rule 502.30, "Storm."
Subgame
Some cards allow players to play a Magic subgame. A "subgame" is the game created by the card"s effect. See rule 506, "Subgames."
Substance
Substance is a static ability with no effect. Certain older cards have received errata that give them substance for a brief period of time.
Subtype
A card can have one or more subtypes printed on its type line. Subtypes are always single words and are listed after a long dash. Each word after the dash is a separate subtype.
Artifact subtypes are also called artifact types. Creature subtypes are also called creature types. Enchantment subtypes are also called enchantment types. Instant subtypes are also called instant types. Land subtypes are also called land types. Sorcery subtypes are also called sorcery types. Objects may have multiple subtypes.
If an artifact creature card has subtypes printed on its type line, those subtypes are creature types. If an artifact land card has subtypes printed on its type line, those types are land types.
Most card types each have their own unique set of possible subtypes. However, instants and sorceries can share subtypes. Collectively, instant and sorcery subtypes are called "spell types."
See rule 205.3, "Subtypes," and rule 212, "Type, Supertype, and Subtype."
Successfully Cast (Obsolete)
Some older cards were printed with the term "successfully cast." In general, any ability that"s written as triggering when a spell is "successfully cast" should be read as triggering when the spell is played.