This is the newest release of The Dark rulings.  Less than a handful of
changes this month.

Please check the General Rulings Summary if you do not find the answer
you are looking for in here.

Note that this is the last version of the rulings summaries under the
Revised Edition.  The next release will be under Fourth Edition rules
changes (if any) and will probably also take a new format.
 
The most recent gg-l/mtg-l digest used was "16 Apr 1995 to 17 Apr 1995".
Credits and disclaimer are at the end of the text.
A '+' is used to mark changes since the last released version on 3/20/95.

These rulings are available via FTP to "ftp.netcom.com" under 
"pub/da/dangelo/magic" as the files "rule-*" in ASCII text, PostScript and 
HP LaserJet format.  The latter two are formatted for easier reading.  
They can also be found on "marvin.macc.wisc.edu" under "/pub/deckmaster/rules" 
as "rule-*".
 
Stephen.
----
Stephen D'Angelo == dangelo@netcom.com 


The Dark Rulings Summary                               Last Updated 04/24/95
============================================================================
        
Printing Information:
  The Dark expansion set was printed with black borders on the face of the 
    cards.  Cards can be identified by the expansion symbol on the right 
    hand side of the middle section.  The expansion symbol is a mostly
    eclipsed moon.  The set contained 119 unique cards.  Approximately 
    75 million cards were printed.  Cards were available from mid 
    August 1994 through mid November 1994.

General Rulings:
  Note that the three "gold" bordered cards are just multicolored spells.
    They are not "Legends" and do not follow the rules for Legends outlined
    in the Legends expansion.

Angry Mob:
  Counts up Swamps controlled by all of your opponents. [Aahz 12/25/94]

Ashes to Ashes:
  Since this is "removal from game", it does not count as destruction and is
    therefore not preventable by regeneration.  [Aahz 9/1/94]
  Must have 2 targets at time of casting in order to be declared.  
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 6]
  If one target is removed or becomes invalid after declaration, the other
    target is still affected. [bethmo 9/15/94]

Ball Lightning:
  As errata to the card, it should read "Bury Ball Lightning at end of any
    turn." [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 138]  The creature is buried at the 
    end of any turn in which it is in play. 

Barl's Cage:
  Does not prevent a creature from untapping during upkeep phase.  It just
    stops the "normal" untap during the untap phase. [Aahz 12/02/94]
 
Blood Moon:
  Does affect multilands and all other special lands. 
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 6]

Bog Rats:
  No, these do not affect Plague Rat totals. [Aahz 8/9/94]

Brainwash:
  This effect is paid for during the Declare Attackers step of the attack
    phase.  This is special since effects cannot normally be paid at that
    time.  You are given special allowance to tap for mana to pay for this
    effect, but no other effects of any sort are allowed. [Aahz 01/27/95]

Carnivorous Plant:
  It is a wall even though the name does not have "Wall" in it.  The card
    is of type "Summon Wall".  [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 6]

City of Shadows:
  The tokens do not go away when it is used.  [bethmo 8/15/94]
  Can be tapped for zero mana. [Peterson 12/19/94]
  It is considered "tapped for mana" for purposes of Mana Flare and Wild
    Growth even if you choose to take zero mana from it.
    [WotC Rules Team 12/15/94]

Cleansing:
  Consecrate Land will prevent this effect. [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 6]

Dance of Many:
  Treat the token as a just-summoned creature of the appropriate type.  If
    that creature normally gets tokens upon being cast, the token creature
    gets counters. [bethmo 8/10/94]
  Can be used on any creature which is a Summon card, even if the creature
    is in play only because of Animate Dead.  In the case of Animate Dead,
    the copy does not have the -1 power penalty. [WotC Rules Team 9/30/94]
  Destroying the creature which was copied will not cause the token creature
    to be destroyed as well. [Aahz 10/21/94]
  This spell is targeted and checks the validity of the target when declared
    and when resolving.  If the creature is not still there when the copy
    resolves, the spell fizzles. [WotC Rules Team 02/09/95]  (This is a
    REVERSAL of a REVERSAL which was put in in November)

Dark Heart of the Wood:
  The text on the card explaining the color is considered to be explanatory
    and not characteristic text.  This means that it cannot be affected by
    Sleight of Mind.  [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 22]
  This card can have its color changed by a lace spell but not by
    Sleight of Mind. This is a REVERSAL of a ruling in Duelist Magazine #2
    on page 86. [WotC Rules Team 9/15/94]

Dark Sphere:
  Multiple Dark Spheres multiply in effect.  So two of them will result in
    1/4 damage, not zero damage. [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]

Deep Water:
  Lands which provide more than one mana will only provide one blue mana.
    This applies to the Urza lands in particular.  City of Shadows will
    provide only one blue regardless of the number of counters on it.
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]
  Mana Flare will make the lands provide one extra blue mana. 
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]

Dust to Dust:
  Since this is "removal from game", it does not count as destruction and is
    therefore not preventable by Guardian Beast or any form of regeneration.
    [Aahz 9/1/94]
  Must have 2 targets at time of casting in order to be declared.  
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 6]
  If one target is removed or becomes invalid after declaration, the other
    target is still affected. [Aahz 8/12/94]

Eater of the Dead:
  Cannot use its ability unless it is already tapped.  It untaps during the
    resolution of its effect.  If it is not still tapped at the time when 
    it resolves, then the effect fizzles and no creature is removed from
    the game. [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]
  The untap is not a cost at all.  Nothing is done during the untap phase
    either.  It will go around other methods which prevent untapping, 
    such as Meekstone, Paralyze, Smoke, etc. [Aahz 8/10/94]

Erosion:
  Applies an upkeep cost to the land.  This makes the land unable to pay for
    its own upkeep since you cannot tap the land until after the upkeep is 
    paid. [D'Angelo 01/20/95]

Eternal Flame:
  Targets one opposing player. [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

The Fallen:
  Will not damage the controller, only opponents of the controller.  So, if
    you managed to take control of someone else's The Fallen after being
    damaged by it, you will not be damaged. [Aahz 02/08/95]

Fasting:
  Note that using this spell causes you to skip your draw phase entirely,
    so it cannot be used in combination with draw phase effects like 
    Island Sanctuary or Howling Mine. [bethmo 8/10/94]

Fellwar Stone:
  Cannot be tapped for mana if opponent has no mana producing lands.
    [bethmo 9/26/94]
  Should be read as saying "any opponent". [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]
  If your opponent has a land that produces colorless mana, you may 
    use the Stone to produce colorles mana. [D'Angelo 01/25/95]

Festival:
  Since this stops your opponent from declaring an attack, it can be very
    effectively used with Siren's Call to kill all your opponent's creatures.
    [bethmo 8/10/94]
  Targets one opposing player. [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Flood:
  Artist's name is spelled incorrectly.

Frankenstein's Monster:
  You declare X when the spell is cast and X can be any number.  It does not
    have to match the current contents of your graveyard.  If there are not
    at least X creatures in the graveyard when it resolves, then the spell 
    fizzles. [bethmo 9/9/94]

Gaea's Touch:
  Cannot put out multilands which generate green mana because they are not
    _basic_ Forests.  They do count as part Forest once they enter play but 
    this spell applies to cards in your hand.  [Aahz 8/9/94]

Giant Shark:
  Only gains its bonus if the blocking creature was damaged before blocking
    was declared.  Damaging the creature later will not give the Shark the
    bonus. [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]
  Only gets the bonus once, regardless of the number of blockers or their
    condition. [Aahz 10/21/94]
  Should say "defending player" instead of "opponent". 
    [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Goblin Caves:
  Multilands which are part Mountain are not Basic Mountains.  [Aahz 8/10/94]
  Works even if placed on one of your opponent's Mountains. [D'Angelo 01/18/95]

Goblin Rock Sled:
  Is not a Goblin so it does not get Goblin bonuses. [Aahz 8/9/94]
  Should say "defending player" instead of "opponent". 
    [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Goblin Shrine:
  Multilands which are part Mountain are not Basic Mountains.  [Aahz 8/10/94]
  Works even if placed on one of your opponent's Mountains. [D'Angelo 01/18/95]

Leviathan:
  Don't have to pay the untap cost if it is untapped outside the upkeep
    phase. [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]

Mana Clash:
+ All the damage from the coin flips is saved up and happens when the spell
    is done resolving, but each point of damage is done as a separate packet 
    of damage.  [Aahz 02/05/95]  Thus you need to power a Circle of 
    Protection: Red once for each point of damage.  (I misread the ruling on 
    this one and had it incorrectly down as a REVERSAL.)
  Always affects the caster and targets another player.  Can be affected by
    Reflecting Mirror so that both coin flips are done by the caster.
    [WotC Rules Team 02/09/95]

Mana Vortex:
  Consecrate Land cannot be used to prevent a sacrifice. 
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]

Marsh Goblins:
  The text on the card explaining the color is considered to be explanatory
    and not characteristic text.  This means that it cannot be affected by
    Sleight of Mind and is not copied by copy cards such as Vesuvan 
    Doppelganger.  [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 22]
  This card can have its color changed by a lace spell but not by
    Sleight of Mind. This is a REVERSAL of a ruling in Duelist Magazine #2
    on page 86. [WotC Rules Team 9/15/94]

Marsh Viper:
  Your opponent does not get poison tokens if all the damage done to them by
    the Viper is prevented.  The poison is added only if damage gets through
    because it is a side-effect of the damage.  [Aahz 8/11/94]
  Poison tokens are poison tokens.  A player dies if they have 10 such tokens
    no matter what the source is. [Duelist Magazine #2, page 7]

Martyr's Cry:
  Only affects creatures in play, not ones in hands or discard piles.
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]

Maze of Ith:
  The creature is still considered to have attacked, and is even still part
    of the attack.  It just deals and receives no damage.  Don't infer
    something from the fact that it becomes untapped. 
  Does not prevent the creature from dying if it was blocked by a Basilisk or
    similar creature. [Aahz 8/10/94]
  Does not prevent the creature from contributing Banding to the group, since
    it does not leave the attack.  It just untaps and does not take or deal
    damage. [Aahz 8/31/94]
  If the creature is part of a band, it cannot have damage assigned to it
    as part of the band. [Aahz 12/03/94]
  Cannot target a non-tapped attacking creature such as a Serra Angel.
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]
  Has been on the Duelist's Convocation restricted list (only 1 per deck)
    for tournaments since 10/10/94.

Merfolk Assassin:
  Artist's name is spelled incorrectly.

Mind Bomb:
  The cards discarded because of the Bomb are considered forced discards.
    They will trigger Psychic Purge and they can be put on top of your
    library if you have the Library of Leng in play. [WotC Rules Team 10/12/94]

Miracle Worker:
  Can only target "Enchant Something" cards and not general enchantments such
    as Oubliette or Pestilence.  [Aahz 10/21/94]  

Nameless Race:
  Life payment is paid during spell resolution. [Aahz 03/04/95]

Necropolis:
  As with all counters, the +0/+1 counters are permanent. [Aahz 8/10/94]

Pikemen:
  Artist's name is spelled incorrectly.

Preacher:
  Opponent may only choose valid creature targets.  A creature with 
    Protection from White is not valid.  [bethmo 9/9/94]
  Target is chosen on declaration and the effect fizzles if the target is
    not still valid on resolution. [Aahz 02/02/95]
  Can choose not to untap even if it is not still controlling a creature.
    [WotC Rules Team 12/15/94]
  In multiplayer games you can choose a different opposing player each time it
    is used. [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Psychic Allergy:
  Does not count token creatures because the card says it counts "cards".
    [Aahz 01/24/95]
+ In multiplayer games you choose one opposing player on casting and it only
    affects that one player.  This target is not changed even if this card
    changes controllers.  It becomes useless but stays in play if the target
    player leaves play. [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Rag Man:
  In multiplayer games can choose a different opposing player each time it
    is used. [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Reflecting Mirror:
  This spell only changes the target of a spell, and not the caster.  In 
    effect it makes the caster take any effects which would befall both
    the caster and the target. [bethmo 8/10/94]
  Cannot be used on spells which are not targeted such as Hurricane, nor
    can it be used on redirected spell effects such as with Personal
    Incarnation or Jade Monolith (unless that redirection specifically changes
    the target, so you can Reflecting Mirror someone else's use of Reflecting
    Mirror).  [Aahz 8/12/94]
  Cannot be used on spells in which only one "fork" of the spell targets you.
    For example, you cannot Reflect a Fireball which targets you and one of
    your creatures. [Aahz 9/15/94]
  Spells such as Mind Twist which affect your "opponent" are considered 
    targeted and can be reflected. [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]
    This includes even spells like Mana Clash. [D'Angelo 01/19/95]
  Cannot be used on spells like Eye for An Eye which target something else but
    do damage to you. [WotC Rules Team 11/16/94]
  Cannot be used on effects generated by permanents.  Those are effects and
    not spells.
  Can be used on spells which will become permanents but that are targeted.
    For example, and artifact like Black Vise or an enchantment like Lifetap
    target a player when cast. [Aahz 01/11/95]  

Runesword:
  Creatures do go to the graveyard before leaving play. 
    [WotC Rules Team 9/30/94]

Safe Haven:
  When the creature leaves play any damage or "will be destroyed at some 
    future time" effects are removed from the creature.
  Enchantments and tokens on creatures are destroyed when they are sent to
    the Haven.  [WotC Rules Team 9/30/94]  (This was under contention in 
    previous editions of the summary and this is a REVERSAL of the ruling 
    I had entered here for a while.)
  When creatures return to play, they come back as if just summoned with any
    tokens or such due them on summoning.  Creatures with X in the casting
    cost are treated as X is zero. [WotC Rules Team 9/30/94]  Creatures which
    can pay costs when summoned to determine abilities must have those costs
    paid at this time.
  Creatures return to play in any order you choose.  If a Clone enters play
    and there is no creature to copy, it is placed in the graveyard. 
    [WotC Rules Ream 10/12/94]
  Creatures return to the control of the player that last had control of them,
    although they may immediately revert to some other player if something
    has changed since they were sent to the Haven. 
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]
  If the Haven is destroyed, any creatures it pulled out of the game are
    simply lost.  [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]
  All cards in the Haven stay there even if they cease to be creatures.  When
    the Haven is sacrificed, the cards come back into play whether or not
    they are creatures. [WotC Rules Team 02/09/95]
  If changed to another land type using a spell such as Phantasmal Terrain,
    creatures are not lost but cannot be released until the land is reverted
    to normal. [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 7]
  The last sentence should read "Treat this as if they were just cast".
    [Aahz 10/6/94]

Scarecrow:
  Even prevents non-combat damage from flying creatures.  This can include
    damage from Ifh-Biff Efreet or even not paying upkeep to the Lord of
    the Pit (but this is a difficult situation to arrange since you'd 
    have to pay the Scarecrow and somehow have it be destroyed before the 
    Lord tries to take it as a sacrifice).  [Aahz 02/07/95]

Scarwood Bandits:
  Can only take control of an artifact controlled by another player.  That
    player is the one able to pay to cancel the effect.
    [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Scarwood Goblins:
  The text on the card explaining the color is considered to be explanatory
    and not characteristic text.  This means that it cannot be affected by
    Sleight of Mind and is not copied by copy cards such as Doppelganger.
    [Duelist Magazine #3, Page 22]
  This card can have its color changed by a lace spell but not by
    Sleight of Mind. This is a REVERSAL of a ruling in Duelist Magazine #2
    on page 86. [WotC Rules Team 9/15/94]

Scavenger Folk:
  Artist's name is spelled incorrectly.

Season of the Witch:
  Any creatures which cannot attack for some reason are exempted. [Card Text]
    Island Sanctuary, Moat, Arboria, and other effects or creature limitations
    such as the Sea Serpent's "opponent must have islands" may cause creatures
    to be unable to attack.  [Aahz 8/9/94]
+ Creatures like Leviathan which have a cost to pay or have an effect when 
    they attack must attack.  [Aahz 8/9/94]  
  You are not forced to do everything in your power to make something attack.
    For example, a Wall of Wonder won't be destroyed if you don't pay to
    animate it. [Aahz 9/2/94]

Skull of Orm:
  Can bring back any enchantment.  This includes enchantment, enchant creature,
    enchant world and so on. [Aahz 01/01/95]

Sorrow's Path:
  The damage is done whenever and however Sorrow's Path is tapped.  It is not
    linked to using the effect and the damage occurs immediately upon tapping.
    [bethmo 8/15/94]
  If a creature is removed from being a blocker, any effects on the creature
    that would have happened because it was declared as a blocker still happen.
    For example, a creature which was blocking the Aisling Leprechan would
    still become green if removed. [Aahz 03/10/95]
  Only usable if you are not the defending player. 
    [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Squire:
  Artist's name is spelled incorrectly.

Stone Calendar:
  Does not change the cost of the spell, it just pays part of it for you.
    [bethmo 9/22/94]
  Only contributes one colorless toward the spell casting cost.  This cannot
    reduced your payment below zero even when combined with Mana Matrix or 
    Planar Gate.  You must always pay the colored mana part of the spell cost.
    [bethmo 8/10/94]
  Only contributes to the colorless mana portion of a spell's cost.  If the 
    spell does not accept colorless mana or accepts less than 2, you get a 
    reduced or null effect from this card. [Aahz 12/6/94]
  Although the apparent cost is reduced, the "casting cost" of the spell for
    reasons of Spell Blast or such is still the full amount.
  May choose not to use the Calendar's bonus. [bethmo 8/17/94]

Tivadar's Crusade:
  Artist's name is spelled incorrectly.

Tracker:
  Giving him First Strike does not affect his ability. [bethmo 8/29/94]
  The amount of damage he does is fixed when the effect is announced.  The
    amount of damage the target does back is decided when the effect is
    resolved. [Aahz 03/07/95]

Uncle Istvan:
  Works even on damage from special abilities such as the Prodigal Sorcerer
    ability. [Aahz 8/9/94]

Venom:
  Being destroyed at "end of combat" happens after damage resolution for normal
    damage dealing.  This can result in a regenerating creature having to
    regenerate twice... once for damage dealing and once at "end of combat".
    [Aahz 01/19/95]  Note that Thicket Basilisk and Cockatrice work
    differently.  They destroy during damage dealing.

Wand of Ith:
  Any X in the casting cost of a spell is zero for purposes of the Wand.
    [Aahz 8/10/94]  (This is covered in the General Rulings summary under
    Casting Cost.)
  The card is picked during resolution of this effect.  [D'Angelo 02/01/95]
    This gives the player a chance to cast any instant speed spells prior 
    to having a random card selected from their hand.

Water Wurm:
  Only gets the bonus once even if more than one opponent has an Island in
    play. [Aahz 12/25/94]
+ Gets the bonus in a multiplayer game if any opponent controls an Island
    [WotC Rules Team 01/27/95]  (This is a correction to the text in 
    Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64 that says only the defending player
    counts)

Whippoorwill:
  Trample damage is not considered damage redirection and so is not prevented
    by Whippoorwill. [Aahz 12/06/94]

Witch Hunter:
  Should be read as saying "any opponent". [Duelist Magazine #4, Page 64]

Acknowledgments:
  This summary is collected from rulings made by officials and network
    representatives of Wizards of the Coast, along with a number of
    unofficial rulings also collected from the net.  Whenever a source for
    a ruling is known, the name of that person is listed with the ruling. 
    "D'Angelo" is Stephen D'Angelo, the network representative for the
    "mtg-l" mailing list.  "Peterson" is Paul Peterson, the previous "mtg-l"
    representative.  "bethmo" is Beth Moursund, the representative before
    Paul.  "Aahz" is Tom Wylie, the network representative for
    the "rec.games.deckmaster" and "rec.games.trading-cards.magic.*"
    newsgroups.  "Snark" is Dave Howell of WotC.  Official rulings from the
    rules team are marked as "WotC Rules Team".  Rules from the Revised
    Edition rule book are marked with "Page #" and rules from the Pocket
    Player's Guide are marked with "PPG Page #"
  Every attempt has been made to make this summary accurate, but errors do
    creep in.  This work should not be considered official or sponsored by
    Wizards of the Coast.  Nothing in this work is guaranteed to be accurate.
    Use at your own risk.
   Magic: The Gathering, The Dark and all of the cards listed herein are
    copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast.
