Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #2
The metagame, as defined by HammerAndSickled in his article at http://tappedout.net/mtg-articles/2011/jun/3/standard-deviations-understanding-metagame/
"From a game theory perspective, a metagame is defined as a strategy which operates outside the confines or ruleset of the game. If I had to paraphrase, I would define it as knowledge from the collection of all the games you aren't playing."
A state-based effect is basically anything that happens because of the status of a card. For example, a 0/0 Germ token dying because it has 0 toughness - the game recognizing it and removing it from the battlefield is the result of a state-based action.
State-based actions (SBAs) are checked before and after the resolution of any spells or abilities, and before players may play spells/abilities. They basically serve to clean up/update the current state of the game by removing dead creatures, etc.
420.5. The state-based effects are as follows:
420.5a A player with 0 life or less loses the game.
420.5b A creature with toughness 0 or less is put into its owner's graveyard. Regeneration can't replace this event.
420.5c A creature with lethal damage is destroyed. Lethal damage is an amount of damage greater than 0 and greater than or equal to a creature's toughness. Regeneration does replace this event.
420.5d A local enchantment that enchants an illegal or nonexistent permanent is put into its owner's graveyard.
420.5e If two or more Legends or legendary permanents with the same name are in play, all except the one that has been a Legend or legendary permanent with that name the longest are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the Legend rule. In the event of a tie, each Legend or legendary permanent with the same name is put into its owner's graveyard. (If two permanents have the same name but only one is a Legend or is legendary, this rule doesn't apply.)
420.5f A token in a zone other than the in-play zone ceases to exist.
420.5g A player who was required to draw more cards than were in his or her library loses the game.
420.5h A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game.
420.5i If two or more enchant worlds are in play, all except the one that has been an enchant world for the shortest amount of time are put into their owners' graveyards. In the event of a tie for the shortest amount of time, all are put into their owners' graveyards.
420.5j A copy of a spell in a zone other than the stack ceases to exist.
June 23, 2011 3:53 a.m.
420.5e If two or more Legends or legendary permanents with the same name are in play, all except the one that has been a Legend or legendary permanent with that name the longest are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the Legend rule. In the event of a tie, each Legend or legendary permanent with the same name is put into its owner's graveyard. (If two permanents have the same name but only one is a Legend or is legendary, this rule doesn't apply.)
This rule is Old and now incorect
420.5e If two or more legendary permanents with the same name are in play, all are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the "legend rule." If only one of those permanents is legendary, this rule doesn't apply.
This is the correct version
June 23, 2011 8:58 a.m.
Epochalyptik...that version of the legend rule is Onslaught-block era, sir. Whatever your rule source is could probably stand for an update.
June 23, 2011 9:33 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
I didn't double-check the ruling before I posted, which I should have done in hindsight. I'm glad you guys pointed it out, because I wouldn't have come back to notice otherwise.
cooknathan says... #1
Metagame is things that influence the game of magic that are not within the game itself. So for example if you know that your friend is playing all 1/1 creatures you might include Pyroclasm in your deck when you play them, so out of game knowledge has effected your in game stratergy. Or if you know that lots of people are likely to be playing a certian type of deck (combo for example), you might build a deck thats good against that type of deck (control for example).
State based effects are described in the example below (from http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/State-based_effects).
"A player controls a creature with the ability This creatures power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in your hand and plays a spell whose effect is Discard your hand, then draw seven cards. The creature will temporarily have toughness 0 in the middle of the spells resolution but will be back up to toughness 7 when the spell finishes resolving. Thus the creature will survive when state-based effects are checked. In contrast, an ability that triggers when the player has no cards in hand goes on the stack after the spell resolves, because its trigger event happened during resolution."
If that makes sense...
June 23, 2011 3:51 a.m.