Magic: The Gathering® | The Hobbit™ Update Bulletin

Gather 'round! Learn how we honed Magic's game rules with the latest release and see the changes coming to the official text of a few cards.

This is a summary of the rule changes planned for Magic with the release of Magic: The Gathering® | The Hobbit™. The official rules can be found on our rules page. If there should be a discrepancy between this summary and the official rules, the official rules take precedence.

New and Updated Rules

For detailed descriptions of each of the new mechanics, check out Matt Tabak's excellent mechanics article.

New Keyword Action

701.70 is the new rule defining recruit.

New Keyword Ability

702.195 is the new rule for explaining how the storied ability works.

Hone Counters (122.1j)

This new subrule defines hone counters, which go on an Equipment card and grant the creature it's attached to +1/+0.

Non-Siege Battles (310.7, 310.8, 310.12)

The rules explain how Siege battles work, but not every battle will necessarily be a Siege! The battle rules have been updated with a new rule (310.8, explaining the state-based action that puts a non-Siege battle into its owner's graveyard when its defense is 0). Subsequent rules are renumbered to accommodate this change. There are also minor updates for clarity.

Mana Abilities (605.1a)

This update to the rules for mana abilities adds a criterion that activated abilities that move cards to or from a library as part of their cost or effect are not mana abilities, even if they make mana. This does not take into account any replacement effects (other than self-replacement effects) that may apply to an ability to change what it does.

Mana abilities can be activated and resolved without using the stack during the casting of spells or resolution of abilities. It can be disruptive for cards to be moving in and out of hidden zones during those times. As an extreme example, consider searching your library with Evolving Wilds and wanting to cast your Panglacial Wurm! If you try to use Chromatic Sphere to pay for your Panglacial Wurm, you now need to draw a card … while you are actively searching your library. These cases had answers in the rules (the cards in your library technically don't change order while you are searching), but they were often unintuitive or confusing, and players don't always maintain the order of their library while searching. Similar situations can also occur when casting spells and looking at the top cards of your library with cards like Aetherworks Marvel or Future Sight.

With this change, you can no longer activate abilities like Chromatic Sphere's during the casting, activating, or resolution of spells and abilities, or to pay costs to attack or block. This is a functional change to the short list of cards below that have abilities that were previously mana abilities and no longer fit the criteria. Those abilities that are no longer mana abilities must now be activated at instant speed (not during the casting, activation, or resolution of a spell or ability) and will use the stack, and they will receive new reminder text to clarify this.

• Chromatic Sphere
• Selvala, Explorer Returned
• Millikin
• Deranged Assistant
• Charmed Pendant
• Darkwater Egg
• Mossfire Egg
• Shadowblood Egg
• Skycloud Egg
• Sungrass Egg
• Priest of Forgotten Gods

State-Based Actions (704.5v, w)

The state-based actions have been updated with the new rule for non-Siege battles, and subsequent state-based actions have been renumbered accordingly.

New Glossary Entries

• Enduring Story
• Hone Counter
• Recruit
• Storied

Oracle Updates

The enduring story of Oracle updates continues with this release.

Reach Forward!

While we can't summon the spectral bow and arrow graphic from MTG Arena in your tabletop games, we can do our best to make reach more prominent. With that in mind, we're pushing reach earlier in our keyword ordering so that it's easier to notice it on upcoming cards as well as any reprints of updated cards. This is not a functional change. Here's my favorite example: Sire of Seven Deaths.

Old text:

First strike, vigilance
Menace, trample
Reach, lifelink
Ward—Pay 7 life.

New text:

Reach, first strike
Vigilance, menace
Trample, lifelink
Ward—Pay 7 life.

Refining Perfection

Uvilda, Dean of Perfection's ability, as printed, exiles cards and puts hone counters on them. Since we're introducing hone counters with this release, we thought it best to change the name of these counters to avoid any confusion that could arise. Uvilda will now use "refine counters" instead. This is not a functional change.

Old text:

{oT}: You may exile an instant or sorcery card from your hand and put three hone counters on it. It gains "At the beginning of your upkeep, if this card is exiled, remove a hone counter from it" and "When the last hone counter is removed from this card, if it's exiled, you may cast it. It costs {o4} less to cast this way."

New text:

{oT}: You may exile an instant or sorcery card from your hand and put three refine counters on it. It gains "At the beginning of your upkeep, if this card is exiled, remove a refine counter from it" and "When the last refine counter is removed from this card, if it's exiled, you may cast it. It costs {o4} less to cast this way."

Just a Reminder

The changes to mana abilities listed in the comprehensive rules section of this update bulletin resulted in a few additional bits of reminder text being added to cards that once had mana abilities but now quite reasonably do not. This way, when you check Gatherer, you'll be able to quickly note that cards like Millikin have undergone some functional changes thanks to this rules update. Speaking of Millikin, here's its text!

Old text:

{oT}, Mill a card: Add {oC}. (To mill a card, put the top card of your library into your graveyard.)

New text:

{oT}, Mill a card: Add {oC}. (Activate only as an instant. To mill a card, put the top card of your library into your graveyard.)

Deathrite Shaman's first ability was already not a mana ability because it requires a target, and it and other cards with abilities that make mana but require targets came along for the ride to receive new reminder text.

Old text (partial):

{oT}: Exile target land card from a graveyard. Add one mana of any color.

New text (partial):

{oT}: Exile target land card from a graveyard. Add one mana of any color. (Activate only as an instant.)

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Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit releases on August 14, 2026, and is available for preorder now from your local game store, TCGplayer, Amazon, and elsewhere Magic is sold.