Community

Apr 10, 2012 -- 11:22AM, Enigma256 wrote:

keep your hand in one hand, draw with your other hand

Not gonna lie... If someone is drawing with the hand that they are holding their cards in, I'm immeadiately calling a judge, Miracles or not. lol

@robvalue: the AVR Rules Update might add the requisite rules support.

DocDoom: This rule covers that-

702.35d If you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 115). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a morph cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) The morph effect on it ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. Any abilities relating to the permanent entering the battlefield don’t trigger when it’s turned face up and don’t have any effect, because the permanent has already entered the battlefield.

Morph has lots of rules that make sure it works and its ability actually applies while it is face down. As it stands, Miracle doesn't even get off the ground. There are no current rules that will make it work (of course I welcome being shown otherwise!), it's a replacement ability that just has a faulty template. It confuses executing the replacement ability with creating the replacement ability, and if you follow the rules it just does nothing. It does need other supporting main rules outside its own keyword.

2goth: You're right, I may be jumping the gun. I would hope there are more supporting rules. To be honest I'm losing faith in the design of cards. I have counted at least 8 cards in the last two sets that don't work, as well as older cards. It seems to be the attitude that "the cards just do what they are obviously intended to do regardless of whether they actually work".

As soon as I saw the ability, I instantly thought it would work like this:

Alter the draw rule

120.1. A player draws a card by putting the top card of his or her library into his or her hand.  This is done as a turn-based action during each player’s draw step. It may also be done as part of a cost or effect of a spell or ability. If it is the first card drawn that turn, the player may reveal the card if it has the ability "Miracle". It stays revealed until the end of the draw step.

Miracle updated

702.91a Miracle affects the way the card is drawn (see rule 120.1) allowing you to reveal it if it is the first card drawn that turn, and is a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). "Miracle [cost]" means "When you reveal this card while drawing it, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."

I added the part about revealing it until the end of the draw step because I realized the card would currently be un-revealed between revealing it and casting it, so there would be no way to ensure it was the same object. This may be of no real significance, but it would still be an internal error if another card of the same name were to be cast instead.

It seems like Miracle is a demented variation on Madness. But Madness works properly because (a) rule 400.6 allows its replacement effect to apply by revealing the card before it changes zones, since it will be discarded to a public zone and (b) it gets exiled rather than this dodgy revealing business which causes rules and practicality issues.

We already have rules about being able to use activated abilities from hidden zones; otherwise, Cycling wouldn't work. I have to imagine there's more support in the Comp Rules than just the definition of Miracle.