X.
If a cost has an "{X}" in it, the value of X must be announced as part of playing the spell or ability. (See rule 409, "Playing Spells and Activated Abilities.") While the spell or ability is on the stack, the {X} in its mana cost equals the amount announced as part of playing the spell or ability. If a card in any other zone has {X} in its mana cost, the amount is treated as 0. If you"re playing a spell that has {X} in its mana cost and an effect lets you play it without paying any cost that includes X, the only legal choice for X is 0. This does not apply to effects that only reduce a cost, even if they reduce it to zero. See rule 409, "Playing Spells and Activated Abilities."
In triggered abilities, X is defined when the ability resolves. It may be defined by the text of the ability, by a keyword ability of the card, or by the trigger event. See rule 410, "Handling Triggered Abilities."
In other cases, X is defined by the text of a spell or ability. If X isn"t defined, the controller of the spell or ability chooses the value of X. All Xs on an object have the same value.
Y, Z.
See X.
You, Your
The words "you" and "your" on an object refer to the object"s controller, its would-be controller (if a player is attempting to play it), or its owner (if it has no controller). For a static ability, this is the current controller of the object it"s on. For an activated ability, this is the player who played the ability. For a triggered ability, this is the controller of the object when the ability triggered. See also Controller, Owner.
Zone
A zone is any place that Magic cards can be during a game. See rule 217, "Zones."
Zone-Change Triggers
Trigger events that involve objects changing zones are called "zone-change triggers." Many abilities with zone-change triggers attempt to do something to that object after it changes zones. During resolution, these abilities look for the object in the zone that it moved to. If the object is unable to be found in the zone it went to, the part of the ability attempting to do something to the object will fail to do anything. The most common types of zone-change triggers are comes-into-play triggers and leaves-play triggers. See rule 410.10.
Credits Magic: The Gathering Original Game Design: Richard Garfield Comprehensive Rules Design and Development: Paul Barclay, Beth Moursund, and Bill Rose, with contributions from Charlie [email protected], John Carter, Elaine Chase, Laurie Cheers, Stephen D"Angelo, Dave DeLaney, Brady Dommermuth, Mike Donais, Skaff Elias, Mike Elliott, Richard Garfield, Mark L. Gottlieb, Dan Gray, Robert Gutschera, Collin Jackson, William Jockusch, Jeff Jordan, Yonemura Kaoru, Russell Linnemann, Jim Lin, Steve Lord, Sheldon Menery, Michael Phoenix, Mark Rosewater, David Sachs, Lee Sharpe, Henry Stern, Ingo Warnke, Tom Wylie, Donald X. Vaccarino, and Bryan Zembruski Editing: Del Laugel and Michael Mikaelian Magic Rules Manager: Mark L. Gottlieb The Magic: The Gathering game was designed by Richard Garfield, with contributions from Charlie [email protected], Skaff Elias, Don Felice, Tom Fontaine, Jim Lin, Joel Mick, Chris Page, Dave Pettey, Barry "Bit" Reich, Bill Rose, and Elliott Segal. The mana symbols were designed by Christopher Rush.
Thanks to all our project team members and the many others too numerous to mention who have contributed to this product.
These rules are current as of October 1, 2006.
Published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., P.O. Box 707, Renton WA 98057-0707, U.S.A. Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering, Magic, DCI, Oracle, Ice Age, Vanguard, Exodus, Unglued, Portal Three Kingdoms, Odyssey, Judgment, Ravnica, and Time Spiral are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries. 1993-2006 Wizards. U.S. Pat. No. RE 37,957.
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