Rules glossary
↑ Section 614. Replacement Effects
614.17 Some effects state that something can’t happen. These effects aren’t replacement effects, but follow similar rules.
- 614.17a “Can’t” effects must exist before the appropriate event occurs—they can’t “go back in time” and change something that’s already happened.
- 614.17b If an event can’t happen, a player can’t choose to pay a cost that includes that event.
- 614.17c If an event can’t happen, it can only be replaced by a self-replacement effect (see rule 614.15). Other replacement and/or prevention effects can’t modify or replace it. (refs: 614.15)
- 614.17d Some “can’t” effects modify how a permanent enters the battlefield or whether it can enter the battlefield. Such effects may come from the permanent itself if they affect only that permanent (as opposed to a general subset of permanents that includes it). They may also come from other sources. To determine which “can’t” effects apply, check the characteristics of the permanent as it would exist on the battlefield, taking into account replacement effects that have already modified how it enters the battlefield (see rule 616.1), continuous effects from the permanent’s own static abilities that would apply to it once it’s on the battlefield, and continuous effects that already exist and would apply to the permanent. (refs: 616.1)