301. The Turn

302. Play continues cyclically until one player wins.

303. The phases of a turn are rigid, but the actions taken during those steps can be done in any order, unless otherwise specified.

304. The Turn Player is the player taking the current turn.

305. When there are no items on the Chain and the Turn Player cannot or chooses not to perform any Discretionary Actions , the current phase or step of the turn ends and the next phase, step, or turn begins.

306. The Turn Player changes when the current Turn Player reaches the End of all of the Phases of their Turn.

307. States of the Turn

308. At any given time, the turn is in either a Neutral State or a Showdown State.

309. At any given time, the turn is in either an Open State or a Closed State.

310. These descriptions can be combined, such that the turn is always in one of these four states:

311. Priority and Focus

312. At any given time, up to one player has Priority.

313. At any given time, up to one player has Focus.

314. Phases of the Turn

315. Start of Turn

316. Action Phase

317. End of Turn Phase

318. Cleanups

319. A Cleanup occurs at the following times:

320. While a Cleanup is occurring, Chain Items cannot be Resolved.

321. If an event occurs during a Cleanup that qualifies for a Cleanup, another Cleanup will occur immediately after the first completes, repeating until a Cleanup occurs with no new change in the game’s state.

322. When a Cleanup occurs, the following steps occur in order:

323. Special Cleanups are Cleanup steps invoked at specific times that have additional steps not present in a normal Cleanup.

324. Chains and Showdowns

325. Players can act during the following Windows of Opportunity that occur during the course of regular play:

326. Chains

327. The Chain is a Non-Board Zone that temporarily exists whenever a card is played or an ability is activated.

328. Cards and abilities added to the chain are added as Pending Chain Items that become Finalized Chain Items.

329. The Chain exists as long as a Chain Item is on it.

330. The State of the Turn is partially determined by whether or not the Chain currently exists.

331. Steps of Resolving Chain Items

332. Whenever a card or token is played or an ability is activated or triggered, a Chain is created.

333. Step 1: Finalize

334. Step 2: Execute

335. Step 3: Pass

336. Step 4: Resolve

337. Showdowns

338. A Showdown is a Window of Opportunity in which Players have an Open State in which they may play Spells in an alternating fashion.

339. The State of the turn is partially determined by whether or not a Showdown is in progress.

340. A Showdown begins when Control of a Battlefield is Contested and the turn is in a Neutral Open State.

341. As a Showdown begins, the player who applied Contested status to the Battlefield gains Focus.

342. When a Showdown begins, it may or may not begin with an Initial Chain.

343. When the last item on the chain resolves during a Showdown , Focus passes, and the next Player gains both Focus and Priority.

344. During a Showdown , the player with Focus may do one of the following:

345. If all players pass Focus without playing a spell or activating an ability, then the Showdown Closes.

346. Playing Cards

347. Playing a card is the act of a player utilizing their cards.

348. Cards have different behaviors when played.

349. Cards have different states during the process of being played.

350. The Process of Play

351. Remove the card from the zone you are playing it from and put it onto the Chain.

352. Make necessary choices.

353. Determine Total Cost.

354. Pay the card's costs.

355. Check legality.

356. Finalize this card and proceed with the card's category of Play.

357. Abilities

358. An Ability is the structured rules and capabilities of Game Objects or Spells.

359. A card can have more than one Ability and more than one type of Ability.

360. Passive Abilities

361. Conditions, rules, constraints, or statements that affect the course of regular play.

362. Presence on Permanents

363. Presence on Card outside of the Board

364. Replacement Effects

365. An ability that alters the application of another game effect or game rule.

366. Replacement Effects intercede during the execution of a Game Effect and alter its execution.

367. A Replacement Effect can alter the typical flow of play, including other cards' executions.

368. If more than one Replacement Effect applies to the same event being executed, then the owner of the object being acted on determines the order the Replacement Effects will apply.

369. Activated Abilities

370. Activated Abilities are repeatable effects with a cost. They follow a process of going onto the chain and resolving, similar to Playing a Card. See rule 346. Playing Cards for more information.

371. The controlling player chooses when and whether to activate an Activated Ability.

372. Activated abilities are present on Game Objects and some Spells.

373. Can primarily be activated while on the Board.

374. All Activated Abilities can only be activated on the Controlling Player's Turn and during an Open State.

375. Triggered Abilities

376. Triggered Abilities are repeatable effects that happen when a Condition is met.

377. Presence on Permanents

378. Presence on Cards outside of the Board

379. Reflexive Triggers

380. Reflexive Triggers are a type of Triggered Ability that create one or more Chain Items when their condition is met.

381. Reflexive Triggers use the Chain.

382. Delayed Abilities

383. Delayed Abilities are a type of Ability whose trigger Condition identifies a specific time during a turn or a specific event that can occur during a specific timeframe.

384. Delayed Abilities will resolve or be active just like the ability they augment, but only during the specified time in the effect that created the Delayed Ability. Example: Ravenborn Tome reads “The next spell you play this turn deals 1 Bonus Damage” is a Delayed Passive Ability that passively adds 1 damage to just the next spell played. The next spell is a specific time, and the 1 Bonus Damage is a passive ability. Example: Noxian Guillotine reads “Choose a unit. Kill it the next time it takes damage this turn.” When the chosen unit takes damage is the specified time, and killing it is the condition for a Delayed Triggered Ability.

385. Delayed Abilities are not associated with Units or Gear; they are created by other Abilities or Spells . As such they are executed when their condition and/or specified time occurs regardless of whether the source of the Delayed Ability is still on the board or not.

386. Playing or Activating Abilities

387. Playing or activating Abilities follows the same steps of playing cards.

388. Abilities when added to the Chain become Pending Items until they complete the steps of Playing.

389. Activate or trigger the Ability

390. Make relevant choices

391. Determine Total Cost

392. Pay Costs

393. Check Legality

394. Proceed with Play

395. Game Actions

396. Game Actions are actions players may perform at any given time during the game.

397. A player, unless otherwise specified or prompted, may only perform actions on their turn.

398. There are two types of Game Actions:

399. Types of Actions