A ruleset for Mental Magic
last updated 2013-7-15
Disclaimer: These rules are tailored to my particular card pool.
the wizard who reads a thousand books is powerful.
the wizard who memorizes a thousand books is insane.
— Battle of Wits
MM.1. A Mental Magic game is a game with at least one Mental Magic player.
Example: A Mental Magic game can have non-Mental-Magic players, but you'll probably want to handicap the game in some way.
MM.2. Each Mental Magic player uses a separate library of 40 random cards from my card pool.
MM.3. A Mental Magic card isn't treated as-is, but can be declared as a Magic card with the same mana cost.
MM.3a A Mental Magic card's declared identity remains in effect as long as the card is in a public zone, not face down, and one of the following is true —
Example: Flashback is a static ability that applies in the graveyard, but only affects the card itself. So if you cast Firebolt from your hand, you won't be able to flash it back (as Firebolt), because it reverts from its identity when it enters your graveyard.
Example: Crusader of Odric's ability applies in all zones, but only affects the card itself.
Example: If Wonder is in your graveyard but you don't control an Island, then it has an unmet "as long as" condition.
Example: Fling references last known information, as opposed to referencing the sacrificed card.
Example: If a card is exiled by Flicker, Flickerwisp, or Oblivion Ring, its characteristics still matter, because it's possible for the card to return to the battlefield without reverting from its identity. On the other hand, if a card is exiled by Angel of Serenity, its characteristics no longer matter.
Example: Extraplanar Lens cares whether other cards match a description referencing the imprinted card, as opposed to caring whether the imprinted card matches a description. As of Dragon's Maze, AFAICT the only Magic card with Imprint that doesn't function as intended under this ruleset's wording is Death-Mask Duplicant. (Coincidentally, my card pool doesn't have any cards costing {7}.)
Example: Crypt Incursion usually doesn't cause any other cards' characteristics to matter for the purposes of this rule, thanks to the "exceptions to mass referencing".
Examples involving targeting restrictions are listed under rule MM.3b.
MM.3b An identity may be declared for a Mental Magic card if the card would satisfy the conditions in rule MM.3a as a result of doing so.
Example: You may declare a card in your graveyard as Firebolt in order to flash it back, but only immediately then; you can't declare it as Firebolt and choose not to flash it back immediately. Ditto for an activated ability like Scavenge.
Example: You may declare a card in your graveyard as Divination in order to target it with Snapcaster Mage, even if you don't flash it back immediately or at all. But you can't declare a card in your graveyard as Divination in order to target it with Archaeomancer, because between when you declare it and when it reverts from its identity by returning to your hand, its characteristics wouldn't matter except for Archaeomancer's targeting restrictions.
Example: Aphetto Dredging usually doesn't cause identities to be declared for its targets, so it goes by its targets' printed creature types (unless you declare a Golgari Brownscale!).
Example: You can't declare a card as Transguild Courier in order to pay for Force of Will, because the card wouldn't "continue" to be referenced.
Example: For the purposes of rule MM.3a, an ability like Haunted Fengraf's isn't referencing any cards while it's on the stack, so you can't declare a card in your graveyard as Golgari Brownscale until it's been chosen during resolution.
MM.3c An identity must be declared for a Mental Magic card if the card would satisfy the conditions in rule MM.3a as a result of not doing so. If the card wouldn't otherwise satisfy the conditions except that its characteristics would matter in some way the players don't care about, the players may agree to take the shortcut of playing as though its characteristics wouldn't matter (so an identity wouldn't need to be declared).
Example: A creature card entering the battlefield due to Exhume must be declared as a creature card.
MM.3d The choice of identity to declare is made by the card's owner, except if the card could be put onto the stack or the battlefield under another player's control by an effect that player controls, including after a series of triggers and/or choices as long as the card is continuously referenced in association with that effect until that effect does so or becomes unable to do so, in which case that player makes the choice.
MM.3e A Magic card that's already been chosen as a declared identity in a Mental Magic game can't be chosen again.
MM.3f For the purposes of rule MM.3, Magic cards with no mana cost have the same mana cost as Magic cards with mana cost {0}.
MM.3g A Mental Magic card declared as a split card can be cast as either half.
MM.3h For the purposes of rule MM.3, hybrid mana costs match each possible combination of hybrid symbol halves.
Example: A Mental Magic card costing {R}{R}{R}, {2}{R}{R}, {4}{R}, or {6} can be declared as Flame Javelin, without restricting how you actually pay if you cast it.
MM.3i For the purposes of rule MM.3, treat phyrexian mana symbols as non-phyrexian mana symbols of the same color.
MM.4. Once per turn, the active player may play a land by playing a Mental Magic card from his or her hand face down as Utopia:
Utopia
Basic Land — Utopia
{T}: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
MM.4a Doing so counts as playing a land, but effects that allow a player to play additional land in a turn don't allow additional Utopia to be played.
MM.4b Once it's been played, treat Utopia as though it were a declared identity, except that it's always face down on the battlefield.
MM.4c Because any Mental Magic card can be played as Utopia, as Utopia leaves the battlefield, the face down card doesn't need to be revealed.
MM.4d Utopia is an additional land type that exists in Mental Magic games. (Utopia is not a basic land type.)
MM.4e Utopia isn't the name of a Magic card (just like Marit Lage isn't) and a Mental Magic card can't be declared as Utopia.
MM.5. Any Mental Magic card can be cast face down as though it had Morph.
MM.5a Because any Mental Magic card can be cast face down, if a Mental Magic card leaves the stack or the battlefield as a face down creature, it doesn't need to be revealed (unless it was face down due to Illusionary Mask).
MM.5b As an exception to rule MM.3a, if a permanent is turned face down by an ability like Ixidron's, its declared identity is retained as though it weren't face down.
MM.6. A Mental Magic card declared as a double-faced card can transform (unlike with copy effects).
MM.7. Players can't search Mental Magic libraries.
MM.8. Players can't use Dredge (the keyword ability) with Mental Magic cards.
MM.9. As long as a Mental Magic card with mana cost {0} has no identity declared, it can be discarded and targeted as though it were a land card as well as a nonland card.
MM.10. This ruleset's wording requires an exception for Past in Flames to function as intended. As long as a Mental Magic card is declared as Past in Flames, treat it as though its text were:
Until end of turn, each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard has flashback as long as it's been in your graveyard since Past in Flames started resolving. The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost.
Flashback {4}{R}
Banned Cards
For the sake of variants, I've included cards with mana costs not in my card pool.
Ante & Dexterity:
"Grind", Mass Deck-Stacking, & "Secretary" Minigame:
Mass Reanimation (too swingy and takes forever to resolve):
Too Powerful:
I've omitted many, many cards until they've been demonstrated to deserve their slot. After all, this isn't constructed. And the demonstration might be a fun exercise.
"Brain Freeze and Dark Depths, really?"
I've learned from experience that Brain Freeze ends games out of nowhere without much chance to deal with it. But I've only theorized that Dark Depths + Vampire Hexmage is the same.
Changelog
2013-5-9 Created.
2013-5-10 Added rules for split cards, hybrid mana, phyrexian mana, and discarding and targeting land cards.
2013-5-29 Added "'Secretary' Minigame" to bans.
2013-7-14 Added delayed mass reanimation (All Hallow's Eve, Grimoire of the Dead, Liliana Vess, Living End) to bans.
2013-7-15 Reworded and expanded rule MM.3a's exceptions to mass referencing ("Furthermore..."); added "or an Aura is attached to the card".