Card States in MTG

This document describes the various states that cards can have according to the Magic: The Gathering rules, and how these states are implemented in Rummage.

Core Card States

According to the Magic: The Gathering rules, cards can have the following states:

Tapped vs. Untapped

Tapped: A card that has been turned sideways to indicate it has been used
Untapped: A card in its normal vertical orientation

Face-up vs. Face-down

Face-up: A card's face is visible to all players
Face-down: A card's face is hidden from all players (with certain exceptions)

Flipped vs. Unflipped

Flipped: A card that has been turned 180 degrees
Unflipped: A card in its normal orientation

Special States

In addition to the core states, cards can have several special states:

Phased In/Out

Phased In: Normal state, the card exists in the game
Phased Out: Card is treated as though it doesn't exist

Transformed

For double-faced cards, the state of which face is currently showing

Meld

When certain cards are combined into a single larger card

State Tracking

In Rummage, card states are tracked using components:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
pub struct CardState {
    pub tapped: bool,
    pub face_down: bool,
    pub flipped: bool,
    pub phased_out: bool,
    pub transformed: bool,
    // Other states
}
}

Rules for State Changes

State changes follow specific rules:

Tapping: Usually happens as a cost or an effect
Untapping: Normally happens during the untap step
Face-down: Usually through effects like Morph
Flipping: Only happens through specific card effects

State Interaction with Game Rules

Card states interact with game rules in various ways:

Tapped creatures can't attack or use tap abilities
Face-down creatures are 2/2 creatures with no text, name, or types
Phased-out cards are treated as though they don't exist

Visual Representation

For details on how these states are visually represented in the game UI, see Card States Visualization.

Rummage Documentation