MTG head clarifies how committing crimes in Thunder Junction will work

Magic: The Gathering’s next big set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, allows players to “commit crimes”. MTG’s head designer has clarified how the confusing mechanic works.

Each Magic set brings with it a host of new cards, and in those, new mechanics for the game. The recent Doctor Who set, for instance, brought in “Doctor’s Companion”. However, sometimes these new mechanics can be confusing when first announced.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is set to release next month and is bringing new mechanics, with a major one being Crime.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s Committing Crimes confuses players

When initially announced, the mechanic was explained that anything that targets an opponent’s cards or their “stuff”, is committing a crime. If a card you own has an ability related to crimes, you’ll get a benefit or punishment from it when you commit the crime.

The thing with Magic is that it’s incredibly specific. Like your PC’s terminal or Command Prompt, each ability needs to be specifically dealt with. Errors in either your move or misunderstanding the rules can mean it won’t take action.

As it was generalized to “stuff” and other announcements around it haven’t been very specific, the player base has been confused.

Head designer, Mark Rosewater, has now taken to Twitter/X to elaborate further on the mechanic, even answering some questions.

There has been a lot of talk about the reminder text for committing a crime, so I thought I'd share it: (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.) #MTG #WotCStaff

— Mark Rosewater (@maro254) March 6, 2024

How committing a crime works in MTG

The current ruling is that it’s targeting anything the other player controls. This can include things like cards on the stack – the game’s way of deciding the order of ability resolution.

A further interaction seems to conclude that if you control another player’s card, targeting it won’t count as committing a crime as it’s no longer theirs. The mechanic is also retroactive, meaning that it’s now applied to every card that interacts with players directly.

To get around committing a crime, you can do the same as avoiding Hexproof or Ward, by using a non-targeting card that affects everything on the board.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is set to release on April 19, with pre-release happening in stores from April 12.

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