This page is current as of Comprehensive Rules June 2011. Please direct your feedback to: The Staff

Summary

1. Artifacts --- updated by Nightcrawler
2. Creatures --- updated by Nicola
3. Enchantments --- updated by Koen V
4. Instants --- updated by Nicola
5. Lands --- updated by Rabbitball
6. Planeswalkers --- updated by Bimmerbot
7. Sorceries --- updated by Pawel
8. Tribals --- updated by Pawel

General

Cards, tokens, permanents, and spells can all have card types, supertypes, and subtypes.

Abilities don't have card types, supertypes, or subtypes. Instead, there are various categories of abilities.

We have already seen what Types, Subtypes and Supertypes are, but here we'll see what happens when they change and their interaction.

When an object's card type changes, the new card type(s) replaces any existing card types. Counters, effects, and damage affecting the object remain with it, even if they are meaningless to the new card type. [CR 204.1a]

Example. An animated Opal Acrolith's enters combat and is dealt 2 damage. If I play an effect that gives it +3/+3 until end of turn, it will become a 5/7. If I turn it into an enchantment with its last ability, it will become an enchantment without power or toughness. If it becomes a creature again later in the same turn, it will be a 5/7 creature with 2 damage marked on it, as the damage and P/T effect remain silently on the object even if it wasn't continuously a creature. [CR 204.1a] The damage will be removed and any continuous effects will end during the cleanup step, even if Opal Acrolith is not a creature at that time.

Opal Acrolith

Similarly, when one or more of an object's subtypes changes, the new subtype(s) replaces any existing subtypes from the appropriate set (creature types, land types, artifact types, enchantment types, planeswalker types, or spell types) {{CR|204.1a}. If an object's card type is removed, the subtypes correlated with that card type will remain if they are also the subtypes of a card type the object currently has; otherwise, they are also removed for the entire time the object's card type is removed. Removing an object's subtype doesn't affect its card types at all.

Example. If Blood Moon is on the battlefield, Dryad Arbor will be a Land Creature - Mountain Dryad. Blood Moon changes all lands without the Basic supertype into mountains, which is a land type (or a subtype of the type land). All land types of Dryad Arbor will be replaced by Mountain, and the ability to tap for one green mana (granted by the land type Forest) will be replaced by the ability to tap for one red mana (granted by the land type Mountain). As changing the subtype of a permanent doesn't change its type, Dryad Arbor will still be both a land and a creature. At the same time, as Dryad is a creature type and not a land type, it will not be affected by Blood Moon. Dryad Arbor will remain green even if producing red mana, because the color is granted by the ability printed on the card and not by it being a Forest and producing green mana (usually land are colorless, as they don't have a mana cost).

Dryad Arbor Blood Moon

Example. If an effect turns Dryad Arbor into a land (technically giving it the type Land), all current types (Land and Creature) will be replaced by the new type (Land). All relevant subtypes of the new type (Land) will be maintained (Forest), all subtypes not relevant to the new type (Dryad) will be "lost" as long as Dryad Arbor will turn back into a permanent of the relevant type (until it will turn back into a creature). The result will be a Land - Forest without Power or Toughness, but still green.

Dryad Arbor

Note: In this case, if the card has just came into play, it will be possible to tap it for green mana, as not being a creature it will not be affected by "summoning sickness", the rule that prevents creatures from attacking and using abilities with Tap in the activation cost if the controller hasn't controlled them continuously since the beginning of his most recent turn.

Some effects change an object's card type, supertype, or subtype but specify that the object retains a prior card type, supertype, or subtype. In such cases, all the object's prior card types, supertypes, and subtypes are retained. [CR 204.1b] This rule applies to effects that use the phrase "in addition to its types" or that state that something is "still a [card type]." Some effects state that an object becomes an "artifact creature"; these effects also allow the object to retain all of its prior card types and subtypes.

Example. Vault of Whispers with Nature's Revolt in play is an Artifact Creature Land without subtypes and power and toughness 2. Effects that let cards retain a previous type, will let them retain all previous types, even the one not specified. The "are still lands" clause in Nature's Revolt text let Vault of Whisper retain the type Artifact also. It is a more elegant way of saying "All lands are 2/2 creature in addition to all previous types", that is probably technically more precise, but less readable for new players.

Nature's Revolt Vault of Whispers

An object's supertype is independent of its card type and subtype. Changing an object's card type or subtype won't change its supertype. Changing an object's supertype won't change its card type or subtype. When an object gains or loses a supertype, it retains any other supertypes it. [CR 204.4b]

Example. If a permanent becomes Snow (a supertype) with Thermal Flux all other types and subtypes will not be influenced. If that permanent was Basic, it will still be it, resulting in a Snow Basic permanent with all types and subtypes it previously had.

Thermal Flux

If an instruction requires choosing a subtype, you must choose one, and only one, existing subtype, and the subtype you choose must be for the appropriate card type. [CR 204.3d]

Example. Engineered Plague requires you to choose a creature type when it enters the battlefield. It will be only possible to choose an existing subtype of the creature type, such as Goblin. Arcane is not a legal choice, as it is a spell subtype for Instant and Sorcery spells. It is also not possible to choose an arbitrary word not listed as an existing creature type. If Nature's Revolt is in play all Forests will be Creature Land - Forest. Despite this it is not possible to choose Forest for Engineered Plague, as Forest is only a Land subtype even if it appears on creature permanent.

Nature's Revolt Engineered Plague

A card that is both a land and another card type (for example, an artifact land) can only be played as a land. It can't be cast as a spell. [CR 300.2a]

Note: IMPORTANT!!! The following section looks really simple, but it is no less important. Knowing the characteristics of every type or subtype is fundamental to comprehending the technical language needed by a judge. There are fewer examples because it is simpler than the rest of the document but still read it carefully.