Double-faced card

Double-faced cards have a regular card frame on each side.

Details

They have two faces, and no standard Magic back.

It was introduced in the Innistrad set during the Innistrad Block, and were most commonly creatures that could transform into a higher power and toughness side.

It appeared again in Magic Origins on 5 legendary creatures, each capable of transforming into a planeswalker.

They returned again in Shadows over Innistrad. New rules stipulated that the converted mana cost of the back face of a double-faced is based on the mana cost of the front face.

Often the double faced cards represented a Human that could transform into another creature type known for the shapeshifting abilities (such as a Werewolf or Vampire).

• The creatures in Magic Origins represented the characters igniting their planeswalker sparks.

Gameplay

The Innistrad block double-faced cards have an icon next to the name representing a sun or a moon. The front of the card is called the day side and has a regular card frame, a mana cost, and the sun symbol. The back or "night" side has the moon symbol and a slightly altered frame similar to planeshifted cards with a darker text box and white text for the card type, name, and (for creatures) power/toughness. With the Magic Origins rules update, the sun and moon symbols lost their meaning; the front of the card is now defined by the appearance of the mana cost.

Double-sided cards enter the battlefield with their front ("day") side up. To switch between the two card faces, the keyword action transform is used. When a permanent transforms, all counters, Auras, and Equipment stay on the card, and the card neither enters nor leaves the battlefield. The Magic Orgins double-faced cards are creatures on one face and planeswalkers on the other; rather than simply transform, they are instead exiled and then returned to the battlefield transformed, so that they enter the battlefield as planeswalkers and receive the appropriate number of loyalty counters.

To be allowed to play with double-sided cards, the player must either have opaque sleeves for all his cards through which no detail of the cards is visible, or use a checklist card to substitute for each double-faced card in the deck. Each set with double-faced cards has a checklist card in some of its booster packs. Checklist cards have the regular Magic card back and list the name and mana cost of all double-faced cards from the set. The player must mark which double-faced card the checklist card is meant to represent on the checklist card, in a manner not visible from the the back of the card. The checklist card is shuffled into the deck while the actual double-faced card is kept outside the game.

Comprehensive Rules

711. Double-Faced Cards

• 711.1. A double-faced card has a Magic card face on each side rather than a Magic card face on one side and a Magic card back on the other. Each face may have abilities that allow the card to “transform,” or turn over to its other face. Tokens and cards with a Magic card back can’t transform. (See rule 701.25, “Transform.”)
• 711.1a A double-faced card’s front face is marked by a front-face symbol in its upper left corner. On cards in the Innistrad block and Shadows over Innistrad set, the front-face symbol is a sun. On Magic Origins double-faced cards, the front-face symbol is a modified Planeswalker icon.
• 711.1b A double-faced card’s back face is marked by a back-face symbol in its upper left corner. On cards in the Innistrad block and Shadows over Innistrad set, the back-face symbol is a crescent moon. On Magic Origins double-faced cards, the back-face symbol is a full Planeswalker icon.
• 711.1c If the back face of a double-faced card is a creature, the front face of that card will have the back face’s power and toughness printed in gray above the power and toughness box. This is reminder text and has no effect on game play.
• 711.2. Players who are allowed to look at a double-faced card may look at both faces.
• 711.3. Players must ensure that double-faced cards in hidden zones are indistinguishable from other cards in the same zone. To do this, the owner of a double-faced card may use completely opaque card sleeves or substitute a checklist card. Sanctioned tournaments have additional rules for playing with double-faced cards. See rule 100.6.
• 711.3a A checklist card has a normal Magic card back. The face of a checklist card is divided into sections. Each section lists the name and mana cost of each double-faced card it could represent and includes a fill-in circle. Before a checklist card can be used, exactly one of the fill-in circles must be marked to denote which double-faced card the checklist card represents.
• 711.3b If a checklist card is used in a deck, the double-faced card it represents is set aside prior to the beginning of the game (see rule 103.1a) and must remain available throughout the game. A checklist card can’t be included in a deck unless it is representing a double-faced card.
• 711.3c For all game purposes, the checklist card is considered to be the double-faced card it’s representing.
• 711.3d If the checklist card is face up in a public zone, it should be set aside and the double-faced card used instead.
• 711.4. Each face of a double-faced card has its own set of characteristics.
• 711.4a While a double-faced card is outside the game, in a zone other than the battlefield, or on the battlefield with its front face up, it has only the characteristics of its front face.
• 711.4b While a double-faced permanent’s back face is up, it has only the characteristics of its back face. However, its converted mana cost is calculated using the mana cost of its front face. This is a change from previous rules. If a permanent is copying the back face of a double-faced card (even if the card representing that copy is itself a double-faced card), the converted mana cost of that permanent is 0.
• 711.5. Only permanents represented by double-faced cards can transform. (See rule 701.25, “Transform.”) If a spell or ability instructs a player to transform any permanent that isn’t represented by a double-faced card, nothing happens.
  • Example: A Clone enters the battlefield as a copy of Wildblood Pack (the back face of a double-faced card). The Clone will be a copy of the Wildblood Pack. Because the Clone is itself not a double-faced card, it can’t transform.
    • Example: A player casts Cytoshape, causing a Kruin Outlaw (the front face of a double-faced card) to become a copy of Elite Vanguard (a 2/1 Human Soldier creature) until end of turn. The player then casts Moonmist, which reads, in part, “Transform all Humans.” Because the copy of Elite Vanguard is a double-faced card, it will transform. The resulting permanent will have its back face up, but it will still be a copy of Elite Vanguard that turn.
• 711.6. If a spell or ability instructs a player to transform a permanent, and the face that permanent would transform into is represented by an instant or sorcery card face, nothing happens.
• 711.7. If a double-faced card is cast as a spell, it’s put on the stack with its front face up. See rule 601, “Casting Spells.”
• 711.8. A double-faced card enters the battlefield with its front face up by default. If a spell or ability puts it onto the battlefield “transformed,” it enters the battlefield with its back face up.
• 711.8a If a player is instructed to put a card that isn’t a double-faced card onto the battlefield transformed, that card stays in its current zone. This is a change from previous rules.
• 711.9. If an effect allows a player to cast a double-faced card as a face-down creature spell, or if a double-faced card enters the battlefield face down, it will have the characteristics given to it by the rule or effect that caused it to be face down. That card remains hidden, using either a face-down checklist card or opaque sleeves. See rule 707, “Face-Down Spells and Permanents.”
• 711.9a While face down, a double-faced permanent can’t transform. If it is turned face up, it will have its front face up.
• 711.10. Double-faced permanents can’t be turned face down. If a spell or ability tries to turn a double-faced permanent face down, nothing happens.
• 711.11. A double-faced card that is exiled face down remains hidden, using either a face-down checklist card or opaque sleeves. See rule 711.3.
• 711.12. When a double-faced permanent transforms, it doesn’t become a new object. Any effects that applied to that permanent will continue to apply to it after it transforms.
  • Example: An effect gives Village Ironsmith (the front face of a double-faced card) +2/+2 until end of turn and then Village Ironsmith transforms into Ironfang. Ironfang will continue to get +2/+2 until end of turn.
• 711.13. If an effect instructs a player to name a card, the player may name either face of a double-faced card but not both.