Gameplay Basics
Which Effect Applies First When a Card Changes?
Apply copy effects first, then trait changes, ability changes and numerical changes.
RiftPal explanation · Answer first
The short answer
Work out a card’s current characteristics in four LayerOne of four ordered steps for calculating a game object’s characteristics: copy effects, trait changes, ability changes, then arithmetic. Dependencies and timestamps order effects within each layer.View in Glossary s: copy effects, trait changes, ability changes, then arithmetic. Within a layer, apply an effect after the effect it depends on; otherwise use oldest-to-newest TimestampWhen an effect began applying, used to order effects from oldest to newest within a layer or sublayer when no dependency sets their order.View in Glossary order.
RiftPal explanation
How it works
The four LayerOne of four ordered steps for calculating a game object’s characteristics: copy effects, trait changes, ability changes, then arithmetic. Dependencies and timestamps order effects within each layer.View in Glossary s have different jobs:
1. Copy effects: use the copied object’s copyable traits, not later bonuses or added tags.
Card reference
Boots of Swiftness
2. Traits: changes to name, type, tags, controller, cost or domain; and effects that set Might to a stated value.
Gear
Boots of Swiftness
[Equip] [Chaos] ([Chaos]: Attach this to a unit you control.)
Attached effect
[Ganking] (I can move from battlefield to battlefield.)
Card reference
Boots of Swiftness
3. Abilities: adding or removing abilities or Rules Text, including the Effect TextThe separate text section a card adds to the Rules Text of the card it is attached to. It is inactive while the card is unattached.View in Glossary supplied by Equipment.
Gear
Boots of Swiftness
[Equip] [Chaos] ([Chaos]: Attach this to a unit you control.)
Attached effect
[Ganking] (I can move from battlefield to battlefield.)
4. Arithmetic: numerical increases and decreases. Might increases, including Equipment bonuses, apply before Might decreases.
A DependencyAn ordering relationship between effects in the same layer: one changes how the other applies, so it applies first and the dependent effect immediately follows. Mutual dependence does not establish this ordering.View in Glossary exists when one effect changes whether another effect exists, what it affects or what result it produces. Apply the effect being depended on first, then the dependent effect immediately after it. If both change each other's evaluation, that does not establish a dependency; use TimestampWhen an effect began applying, used to order effects from oldest to newest within a layer or sublayer when no dependency sets their order.View in Glossary order instead. A timestamp is when an effect began applying, rather than simply when its card entered play. Text that becomes InactiveText that is still present but does not currently apply, trigger or allow activation. Other effects can still check that the text or keyword is present.View in Glossary loses its timestamp and receives a new one when it becomes active again.
If a later layer makes another effect eligible, check the earlier layers again and apply the newly eligible effect. Each effect applies only once during that calculation. This lets a Might increase turn on an ability that requires the unit to be MightyA unit with 5 or more Might. Use current Might on the board and printed Might in a non-board zone.View in Glossary ; it does not repeatedly add the same bonus. Recalculate when the situation changes.
In practice
Example
A 4 Might unit is affected by a passive ability that increases its Might to 5, and then receives +2 Might from a spell. The passive ability depends on the +2 effect because that effect changes how much increase is needed. Apply +2 first: 4 becomes 6. The passive ability adds nothing because the unit is already above 5. Its final Might is 6.