What are the Rules for the Clean Up Step?
The clean up step is a crucial phase in Magic: The Gathering, a popular trading card game. It is the final stage of a player’s turn, where they discard any excess cards in their hand to reach their maximum hand size. In this article, we will delve into the rules of the clean up step, highlighting key points and providing examples to help you understand the mechanics.
Direct Answer to the Question
The direct answer to the question is that the clean up step involves two primary actions:
- Discarding down to maximum hand size
- Removing all "until end of turn" effects and "this turn" effects from permanents
Timing of the Clean Up Step
The clean up step occurs after the end of turn step, which marks the end of a player’s turn. During this step, the active player discards any excess cards in their hand to reach their maximum hand size, and any "until end of turn" effects and "this turn" effects on permanents are removed.
What Happens During the Clean Up Step?
The following events occur during the clean up step:
• Discarding excess cards: The active player discards any cards in their hand that exceed their maximum hand size. This helps maintain a balanced game state and prevents players from becoming overwhelmed with cards.
• Removing "until end of turn" effects: Any "until end of turn" effects on permanents are removed, ending their duration.
• Removing "this turn" effects: Any "this turn" effects on permanents are also removed, ending their duration.
Key Points to Remember
- Maximum hand size: The maximum hand size is set by the player’s library, and players must discard any excess cards to reach this number.
- Until end of turn effects: These effects last until the end of the turn and then are removed.
- This turn effects: These effects last only for the current turn and then are removed.
- Clean up step: This phase occurs after the end of turn step and involves discarding excess cards and removing "until end of turn" and "this turn" effects.
Common Scenarios and Examples
Here are some common scenarios and examples to illustrate the rules of the clean up step:
Scenario 1: A player has a hand of 7 cards and their maximum hand size is 5. They discard 2 excess cards to reach their maximum hand size.
Scenario 2: A player has a permanent with an "until end of turn" effect that gives it +1/+1 until the end of turn. When the clean up step begins, the effect is removed.
Scenario 3: A player has a permanent with a "this turn" effect that gives it a +2/+2 until the end of the turn. When the clean up step begins, the effect is removed.
Conclusions
The clean up step is a crucial phase in Magic: The Gathering, where players discard excess cards and remove "until end of turn" and "this turn" effects from permanents. By understanding the rules of this phase, players can improve their gameplay and make strategic decisions to outmaneuver their opponents.