Ramos deck -Does Rattleclaw Mystic trigger for three? Why does Transguild Courier trigger for 5?
Asked by Shathron 5 years ago
I am building a Ramos, Dragon Engine deck. I see some people putting in Transguild Courier into their decks for counters]]. It apperently gives counters because its color is all colors.
I was thinking of adding in Rattleclaw Mystic . Does it trigger for 3 counters because its color identity is 3?
If it doesn't, then how does transguild courier get counters? Isn't its cost colorless?
A card's colour and a card's colour identity are related with one another, but slightly different.
A card's colour is defined as follows:
Rule 105.2: An object can be one or more of the five colors, or it can be no color at all. An object is the color or colors of the mana symbols in its mana cost, regardless of the color of its frame. An object's color or colors may also be defined by a color indicator or a characteristic-defining ability. See rule 202.2.
Colour Identity, on the other hand, is defined as follows:
903.4. The Commander variant uses color identity to determine what cards can be in a deck with a certain commander. The color identity of a card is the color or colors of any mana symbols in that card's mana cost or rules text, plus any colors defined by its characteristic-defining abilities (see rule 604.3) or color indicator (see rule 204).
Notice how Colour Identity adds mana symbols in the card's rules text.
Applying these to the two cards:
Transguild Courier has a characteristic-defining ability that makes it five colours. As such, it is a five-colour card, and will put five counters on Ramos. It also has a five-colour identity.
Rattleclaw Mystic is only one colour, , since colour does not look at mana symbols on the card's rules text. However, it would have a colour identity of, because show up in the rules text.
April 10, 2019 3:45 p.m.
In the future, please remember to hit the "Mark as Answer" button to indicate your question has been resolved and you have no follow-up questions. This keeps the Rules Q&A section clutter-free and helps future users quickly identify the correct answer. Since this question has been answered for several days and you have indicated your question was resolved, I've gone ahead and marked an answer accepted.
Kogarashi says... Accepted answer #1
A card's color and its color identity are two different things.
A card's color is defined by the symbols in its mana cost, its color indicator, and any characteristic-defining ability that sets its color.
A card's color identity is defined by all mana symbols that appear in its casting cost and rules text, its color indicator, land type (on the type line), and characteristic-defining ability that sets color.
Ramos, Dragon Engine is looking for the color of a spell, not its color identity.
Because of the "Transguild Courier is all colors" text, Transguild Courier is all colors despite having no colored mana symbols in its cost, and therefore puts five counters on Ramos. Rattleclaw Mystic is a green spell, though its color identity is actually RUG, so it will only put one counter on Ramos.
April 10, 2019 3:39 p.m.