Magic Rules Blog: Introducing the Blog
Wizards of the Coast has launched the official Magic Rules Blog to explain card interactions, mechanics, and design decisions. Learn how the Rules Management team operates and discover a tricky rule about attaching Auras without targeting.
- Wizards of the Coast introduces the official Magic Rules Blog.
- Rules team includes Jess Dunks, Eliana Rabinowitz, and Eric Levine.
- Comprehensive Rules are updated with every new set release.
- Auras entering the battlefield without being cast bypass hexproof targeting.
Meet the Rules Management Team
Wizards of the Coast has launched a dedicated blog to help players explore the intricacies of the Magic rulebook. Designed for everyone from casual fans seeking simple interaction advice to hardcore enthusiasts who love minute details, the blog offers direct insights from the internal team responsible for keeping the game running smoothly.
The team behind the project consists of three dedicated specialists. Jess Dunks serves as the rules architect, guiding the overall evolution of the system to accommodate future mechanics. Rules specialist Eliana Rabinowitz brings years of experience as a high-level competitive judge. Rules manager Eric Levine oversees game logic and rule enforcement, having worked as a head judge for professional events prior to joining Wizards.
Behind the Comprehensive Rules
The primary duty of the rules team is maintaining the official Comprehensive Rules document. Every time a new set arrives, the team modifies this core file to support novel keyword abilities, eliminate loopholes, and refine phrasing so card interactions remain consistent across all formats.
Beyond technical updates, the group crafts set-specific Release Notes and Update Bulletins to explain new cards in plain language. They also collaborate directly with set design teams to draft early rules text, ensure upcoming mechanics work as intended, and assist card editors with precise phrasing.
How Auras Bypass Hexproof
To mark the launch of the blog, the team highlighted a classic rules trick involving Aura cards like Pacifism. Normally, casting an Aura spell requires choosing a valid target based on its enchant ability, meaning a creature with hexproof cannot be targeted by an opponent's Aura.
However, if an Aura enters the battlefield without being cast as a spell, the player placing it on the field chooses a valid creature to attach it to without targeting. For instance, using a creature like Sun-Blessed Healer to return Pacifism directly from the graveyard to the battlefield allows a player to attach it to an opponent's Sphinx of the Final Word, bypassing its hexproof ability entirely.
