Kamigawa 1337: Mechanical overview

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Mechanics | Skeleton | Limited archetypes | Mechanical overview

Merge Gates

Kamigawa 1337 takes place in the far-off cyberpunk future of the plane. The mortal world (Utsushiyo) and the spirit world (Reikai) are slowly merging, and the contact points between the two are known as merge gates. Kami seem to be able to travel safely between the worlds through the merge gates, although it's unknown what would happen if a mortal tried to enter the spirit world through one.

In the game, this is represented by the gate mechanic. The gate has two states: open and closed. When a game of Magic starts, the gate starts closed. Some cards have abilities that instruct the player to open or close the gate, and its state can be tracked using the gate helper card.

> 730. The Gate

> 730.1. "The gate is open" and "the gate is closed" are designations that the game itself has. The game starts with the "gate is open" designation.

> 730.1a. When a player is instructed to open the gate, if the game has the "gate is closed" designation, it loses that designation and gains the "gate is open" designation. If the game already has the "gate is open" designation, nothing happens.

> 730.1b. When a player is instructed to close the gate, if the game has the "gate is open" designation, it loses that designation and gains the "gate is closed" designation. If the game already has the "gate is closed" designation, nothing happens.

Passages

The primary way to travel through the gate is via passages. Passage is a new artifact subtype. It has no inherent rules meaning, but cards with the subtype always have the following printed rules text:

> : If the gate is closed, open it. Otherwise, close it. Activate only as a sorcery.

Ethereal

The kami of Kamigawa make their home in the spirit world, and can travel to the mortal world via merge gates. Some kami have the ability word ethereal, representing their connection to the Reikai. Ethereal has no inherent rules meaning, but it indicates that the creature has some additional ability while the gate is open.

Suspend

Travel between the two realms is also represented by the returning keyword suspend. Suspend is an alternate way to play your spells, allowing you a discount on mana in exchange for delaying the spell by some number of turns.

Any time you could begin to cast a card with suspend, you may instead choose to suspend it. To do so, you pay its suspend cost and exile it with N time counters on it, where N is the number in the keyword. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from each suspended card you own. When the last is removed, you may cast that card. Creatures cast this way gain haste.

> 702.62c. Normally you can only suspend cards from your hand. Some effects grant you permission to suspend cards in other zones. This modifies suspend's first ability to apply in the specified zone and remove the "from your hand" restriction.

Reincorporate

The most powerful kami cannot truly be killed by mortal hands, but are instead dispersed and return to Reikai. This is represented on a cycle of legendary spirits by the keyword reincorporate.

> 702.181 Reincorporate

> 702.181a Reincorporate is a static ability. Reincorporate means "If this creature would die or be exiled from the battlefield, instead exile it with two time counters on it. If it doesn't have suspend, it gains suspend."

Historic

Kamigawa has a strong connection to its past, represented by the historic batch. An object is historic if it has the legendary supertype, the artifact card type, or the Saga subtype.

Upgrade

Kamigawa is also home to some of the most advanced technology in the Multiverse, including cybernetics and other enhancements. These are represented by the upgrade keyword, found on artifact creatures. A creature with upgrade enters with a +1/+1 counter or keyword counter on it, and when it dies, these counter can be repurposed by other creatures.

> 702.182 Upgrade

> 702.181a "Upgrade--+1/+1" is a keyword that represents a static ability and a triggered ability. It means "This permanent enters with a +1/+1 counter on it" and "When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, if it had counters on it, put those counters on target creature you control."

> 702.181b "Upgrade--[keyword ability]" is a keyword that represents two static abilities and a triggered ability. It means "As long as this card isn't on the battlefield, it has [keyword ability]," "This permanent enters with a [keyword ability] counter on it," and "When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, if it had counters on it, put those counters on target creature you control."

Discover

Discover returns with a modification, that allows you to discover cards with a certain property.

> 701.55b "Discover [property] N" means “Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland [property] card with mana value N or less. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost if the resulting spell's mana value is less than or equal to N. If you don't cast it, put that card into your hand. Put the remaining exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order."