Changelog For Wonders of the First Comprehensive Rules V. 1.3.3

This rules update only has only three changes.

First is a technical clarification in section 101.3.3 that spells leave the hand and resolve before they are put in The Abyss. This shouldn’t have any real impact on game play.

Second is that copy effects, including symbiosis, can only copy the printed abilities of a card.

Third is that symbiosis can no longer copy on arrival abilities.

The copying and symbiosis changes stop a number of unreasonably long chains and combos that aren’t good for the game overall. We don’t take changes like these lightly, but we believe it’s the right move here. In hindsight, it was pretty optimistic to allow chaining of copies, and deckbuilders created some genuinely degenerate things to do with them. Reducing the strength of these combos will ultimately allow a greater variety of decks to thrive.

The copy effects section now specifies that copies which copy a card can only hit its printed abilities. Here’s the new entry.

507 Copy Effects

Wonders, items, lands, spells, tokens, abilities, and effects can be copied.
Copy effects use the word “copy.”
For example, Skraal, Ruler of the Three Lakes has the ability “…Choose an on arrival ability of another Wonder you control. Trigger it 3 times.” This doesn’t count as a copy ability.
Copies of Wonders, items, and lands create a token with all the stats and abilities of the copied card, except they are tokens in addition.
Copies of cards have the stats and abilities as defined by the printed version of the card
Token copies aren’t played, so they don’t trigger on play abilities. But they do trigger on arrival and symbiosis abilities.
If an existing card becomes a copy of something, that card loses its old characteristics and is overwritten by the new ones.
Copied stats and abilities are set when the copy is created. Changing the stats of the original card won’t affect the copy.
If a card’s rules text refers to its own name, copies of that rules text use “this card” instead of the copied card name. (This means the copies will also refer to themselves and work the same way as the original.)
A copy of a spell, ability, or effect has virtual card text, and therefore can be nullified.
A copy of a nullified card copies the blank rules text, but the copy is not itself nullified.
Copy effects can only copy the printed abilities of a card. They can’t copy copied abilities or other non-printed abilities.
For example, Nexus Phasebringer creates a token copy of the banished item Extracted Fungal Goo. Then Carbon-X7 Synthforge creates a token copy of the Nexus-created Goo. The copy created by Carbon-X7 Synthforge will be an item with no abilities since it targeted a card with no printed abilities.

Symbiosis now specifies that it counts as a copy effect, and therefore can’t chain any more. It also removes the rule that allowed it to copy on arrivals. This is a big change to the way symbiosis works. Here’s the new entry.

Symbiosis

Cards with symbiosis copy all the abilities of one or more other targeted Wonders on arrival. Symbiosis counts as an on arrival ability.
Wonders with symbiosis can only copy abilities of Wonders with the same power as the card with symbiosis unless a card specifies an exception.
Check that the power matches when the triggered symbiosis effect resolves. If the power no longer matches when symbiosis resolves, it does nothing.
The copy effect is locked in on resolution and won’t change if the copied source leaves or changes.
Symbiosis can’t copy another symbiosis ability.
Symbiosis can’t copy on play abilities or on arrival abilities. In addition, since symbiosis is itself an on arrival ability, when symbiosis copies something, any additional on arrival abilities it may have will have already triggered at the same time as symbiosis.
Symbiosis’ effect counts as a copy effect. That means it can only copy the printed abilities of a card. It can’t copy abilities granted by equipment or other effects.
For example, a Rootling Terror has used symbiosis to copy the abilities of Cairnvox Soulforger. A second Rootling Terror arrives, targeting the first one with its symbiosis. The second Rootling Terror will not copy any abilities from the first one, since it can only copy printed abilities, and the only printed abilities are symbiosis and on arrival, which are ineligible for copying.
If a symbiosis ability is nullified and then un-nullified, it won’t revert to the previous copied ability, since symbiosis abilities must be set on arrival. In this case, the symbiosis does nothing.
Some cards may use symbiosis to copy abilities of non-Wonder cards.
Since symbiosis targets as it resolves, it can be stopped by effects that prevent targeting, such as shield. However, once the copy effect has resolved it’s no longer targeting so a later shield won’t affect it.

Look for Rules V 1.3.4

We have a major rules update in version 1.3.4, which is scheduled for the end of September 2026. This will address a lot of common requests, such as updated definitions for many game terms, more clarity on timing, movement, and others, as well as all the new fun stuff in the upcoming set Trial by Combat.

In closing, I’d like to tip my hat to our testers and competitive deckbuilders. We have some amazing minds in this community.

Brian

View the updated rules here:

Comprehensive rules

Tournament Rules

Penalty and Procedure Guide

If you have any questions or need tournament support please feel free to email op@wondersccg.com