Magus of the Chains

one generic mana one black mana Creature — Human WizardPower and toughness2/2

If a player would draw a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, that player discards a card instead. If the player discards a card this way, they draw a card. If the player doesn't discard a card this way, they mill a card.

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Showing Mystery Booster 2#549

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Magus of the Chains rulings

2024-11-08
The effects of more than one Magus of the Chains are cumulative. If there are two of these on the battlefield, each of them will modify each draw (after the first one if during the draw step) and will cause the player to discard or to mill a card. As they resolve in order, the player must discard if possible. Once the player fails to discard and instead mills a card, all further effects of each additional Magus of the Chains will not do anything. This is because the mill also replaces the draw effect and the player is no longer drawing a card. You handle them in order. Each one makes you discard first and then continue or else mill a card and lose the draw.
2024-11-08
If an effect instructs you to draw multiple cards, you draw those cards one at a time. Apply the effect of Magus of the Chains to each one.
2024-11-08
Here’s what happens when Magus of the Chains replaces a player’s draw: — If that player has at least one card in their hand, they discard a card and then draw a card. — If that player’s hand is empty, they mill a card. The player doesn’t draw a card at all.
2024-11-08
Playtest cards aren’t legal for play in any tournament format other than Mystery Booster Limited formats. On the other hand, we expect they will spice up a wide variety of non-tournament games (as long as everyone’s on the same page about using them!).
2024-11-08
Playtest cards use a modified version of game symbols, such as and . These modified symbols should be treated as the standard symbols during play.
2024-11-08
For many playtest cards, you’ll need to make a generous assumption that basic game rules would be updated to allow them to work. The Mystery Booster 2 Playtest Card Notes section (reproduced here in individual Gatherer rulings) provides guidance for fitting these cards into the existing rules structure.

Magus of the Chains keyword rules

Mill Rule 701.13

For a player to mill a number of cards, that player puts that many cards from the top of their library into their graveyard.

A player can’t mill a number of cards greater than the number of cards in their library. If given the choice to do so, they can’t choose to take that action. If instructed to do so, they mill as many as possible. Similarly, the player can’t pay a cost that includes milling a number of cards greater than the number of cards in their library.

An effect that refers to a milled card can find that card in the zone it moved to from the library, as long as that zone is a public zone.

If an ability checks information about a single milled card but more than one card was milled, that ability refers to each of the milled cards. If that ability asks for any information about the milled card, such as a characteristic or mana value, it gets multiple answers. If these answers are used to determine the value of a variable, the sum of the answers is used. If that ability performs any actions on “the” card, it performs that action on each milled card. If that ability performs any actions on “a” card, the controller of the ability chooses which card is affected.