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up vote 6 down vote favorite

I looked over the Gatherer rulings and it didn't mention anything about it, nor does it mention permanents on the card or in the rulings.

I ask because I wanted to know if I could use Æther Vial to summon any artifact from my hand with March of the Machines in play.

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As an addendum, I would recommend using the Comprehensive rules as your guide to any rules based questions you might have - it's a huge document, but it's all in there. wizards.com/magic/comprules/MagicCompRules_20121001.pdf – LJ2 Jan 14 at 21:51

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up vote 8 down vote accepted

On any given card, a card that specifies a permanent type without explicitly saying 'card' only affects permanents in play (unless otherwise specified by the card). If you have an artifact card in your hand, it is exactly that - an artifact card, and not an 'artifact'...

Relevant rule

109.2. If a spell or ability uses a description of an object that includes a card type or subtype, but doesn’t include the word “card,” “spell,” “source,” or “scheme,” it means a permanent of that card type or subtype on the battlefield.

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Also, note that this means that (normally non-creature) artifacts played from your hand will be artifact spells but not creature spells, and cannot be countered by cards like Essence Scatter. – Steven Stadnicki Jan 15 at 19:31

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