Behold
MTG Mechanic
Several cards in the set ask you to behold a Dragon, often as an additional cost to cast a spell. To behold a Dragon, you can either choose a Dragon you control—you know, just point at it—or reveal a Dragon card from your hand. Some spells may have an additional effect if a Dragon was beheld. This applies no matter which manner of beholding you chose, and it applies no matter what happened to the Dragon or Dragon card in question.
Behold Rules
A keyword action that allows a player to choose a permanent they control of a particular quality or reveal a card of that quality from their hand, usually to pay a cost or get an additional effect. See rule 701.4, “Behold.”
- 701.49: Venture into the Dungeon
- 701.4a: “Behold a [quality]” means “Reveal a [quality] card from your hand or choose a [quality] permanent you control on the battlefield.”
- 701.4b: The phrase “if a [quality] was beheld” refers to whether or not the object had that quality at the time the player took that action, regardless of whether or not the revealed card or chosen permanent still has that quality as the spell or ability including that phrase resolves.
- 701.40a: To manifest a card, turn it face down. It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. Put that card onto the battlefield face down. That permanent is a manifested permanent for as long as it remains face down. The effect defining its characteristics works while the card is face down and ends when it’s turned face up.
- 701.40b: Any time you have priority, you may turn a manifested permanent you control face up. This is a special action that doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116.2b). To do this, show all players that the card representing that permanent is a creature card and what that card’s mana cost is, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. The effect defining its characteristics while it was face down ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. (If the card representing that permanent isn’t a creature card or it doesn’t have a mana cost, it can’t be turned face up this way.)
- 701.40c: If a card with morph is manifested, its controller may turn that card face up using either the procedure described in rule 702.37e to turn a face-down permanent with morph face up or the procedure described above to turn a manifested permanent face up.
- 701.40d: If a card with disguise is manifested, its controller may turn that card face up using either the procedure described in rule 702.168d to turn a face-down permanent with disguise face up or the procedure described above to turn a manifested permanent face up.
- 701.40e: If an effect instructs a player to manifest multiple cards from their library, those cards are manifested one at a time.
- 701.40f: If an effect instructs a player to manifest a card and a rule or effect prohibits the face-down object from entering the battlefield, that card isn’t manifested. Its characteristics remain unmodified and it remains in its previous zone. If it was face up, it remains face up.
- 701.40g: If a manifested permanent that’s represented by an instant or sorcery card would turn face up, its controller reveals it and leaves it face down. Abilities that trigger whenever a permanent is turned face up won’t trigger.
- 701.40h: See rule 708, “Face-Down Spells and Permanents,” for more information.
- 701.41a: “Support N” on a permanent means “Put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to N other target creatures.” “Support N” on an instant or sorcery spell means “Put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to N target creatures.”
- 701.42a: Meld is a keyword action that appears in an ability on one card in a meld pair. To meld the two cards in a meld pair, put them onto the battlefield with their back faces up and combined. The resulting permanent is a single object represented by two cards. See rule 712, “Double-Faced Cards.”
- 701.42b: Only two cards belonging to the same meld pair can be melded. Tokens, cards that aren’t meld cards, or meld cards that don’t form a meld pair can’t be melded.
- 701.42c: If an effect instructs a player to meld objects that can’t be melded, they stay in their current zone.
- 701.43a: To exert a permanent, you choose to have it not untap during your next untap step.
- 701.43b: A permanent can be exerted even if it’s not tapped or has already been exerted in a turn. If you exert a permanent more than once before your next untap step, each effect causing it not to untap expires during the same untap step.
- 701.43c: An object that isn’t on the battlefield can’t be exerted.
- 701.43d: “You may exert [this creature] as it attacks” is an optional cost to attack (see rule 508.1g). Some objects with this static ability have a triggered ability that triggers “when you do” printed in the same paragraph. These abilities are linked. (See rule 607.2h.)
- 701.44a: Certain spells and abilities instruct a permanent to explore. To do so, that permanent’s controller reveals the top card of their library. If a land card is revealed this way, that player puts that card into their hand. Otherwise, that player puts a +1/+1 counter on the exploring permanent and may put the revealed card into their graveyard.
- 701.44b: A permanent “explores” after the process described in rule 701.44a is complete, even if some or all of those actions were impossible.
- 701.44c: If a permanent changes zones before an effect causes it to explore, its last known information is used to determine which object explored and who controlled it.
- 701.44d: If multiple permanents are instructed to explore at the same time, the first player in APNAP order who controls (or, in the case of a permanent no longer on the battlefield, last controlled; see rule 701.44c) one or more of those permanents chooses one of them and it explores. Then this process is repeated for each remaining instruction to explore.
- 701.45a: Assemble is a keyword action in the Unstable set that puts Contraptions onto the battlefield. Outside of silver-bordered cards, only one card (Steamflogger Boss) refers to assembling a Contraption. Cards and mechanics from the Unstable set aren’t included in these rules. See the Unstable FAQ for more information.
- 701.46a: “Adapt N” means “If this permanent has no +1/+1 counters on it, put N +1/+1 counters on it.”
- 701.47a: To amass [subtype] N means “If you don’t control an Army creature, create a 0/0 black [subtype] Army creature token. Choose an Army creature you control. Put N +1/+1 counters on that creature. If it isn’t a [subtype], it becomes a [subtype] in addition to its other types.”
- 701.47b: A player “amassed” after the process described in rule 701.47a is complete, even if some or all of those actions were impossible.
- 701.47c: The phrases “the Army you amassed” and “the amassed Army” refer to the creature you chose, whether or not it received counters.
- 701.47d: Some older cards were printed with amass N without including a subtype. Those cards have received errata in the Oracle card reference so that they read “amass Zombies N.”
- 701.48a: “Learn” means “You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card. If you didn’t discard a card, you may reveal a Lesson card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand.”
- 701.49a: If a player is instructed to venture into the dungeon while they don’t own a dungeon card in the command zone, they choose a dungeon card they own from outside the game and put it into the command zone. They put their venture marker on the topmost room. See rule 309, “Dungeons.”
- 701.49b: If a player is instructed to venture into the dungeon while their venture marker is in any room except a dungeon card’s bottommost room, they choose an adjacent room, following the direction of an arrow pointing away from their current room. If there are multiple arrows pointing away from the room the player’s venture marker is in, they choose one of them to follow. They move their venture marker to that adjacent room.
- 701.49c: If a player is instructed to venture into the dungeon while their venture marker is in the bottommost room of a dungeon card, they remove that dungeon card from the game. Doing so causes the player to complete that dungeon (see rule 309.7). They then choose an appropriate dungeon card they own from outside the game, put it into the command zone, and put their venture marker on the topmost room of that dungeon.
- 701.49d: Venture into [quality] is a variant of venture into the dungeon. If a player is instructed to “venture into [quality]” while they don’t own a dungeon card in the command zone, they choose a dungeon card they own from outside the game with the indicated quality and put it into the command zone. They put their venture marker on the topmost room of that dungeon. If they already own a dungeon card in the command zone, they follow the normal procedure for venturing into the dungeon outlined in 701.49b–c.
MTGA Sets with Behold
Newest Cards with Behold
