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Chained to the Rocks says:

Enchant Mountain you control. When Chained to the Rocks enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls until Chained to the Rocks leaves the battlefield. (That creature returns under its owner's control.)

Does mountain in this instance mean a card that is named "Mountain" or a card with a mountain sub-type? For example Sacred Foundry has the sub-type "Mountain Plains". Could I enchant this land with Chained to the Rocks?

2 Answers 2

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A permanent with the Mountain land type. Sacred Foundry can be enchanted with Chained to the Rocks.

"Mountain" could mean mean two things:

  1. An object whose name is "Mountain". e.g. Mountain
  2. An object which has the land (sub)type "Mountain". e.g. Mountain and Sacred Foundry

When a card refers to something that can be a name or a type, it always refers to the type[1]. As such, Chained to the Rocks looks for objects with the land type "Mountain".

For example,

  • A Mountain does have that type. It can be enchanted by Chained to the Rocks.
  • A Mountain enchanted by Contaminated Ground does not have that type. It is a Land, it is a Basic, and it is a Swamp, but it is not a Mountain (despite having that for name). It cannot be enchanted by Chained to the Rocks.
  • A Sacred Foundry does have that type. It can be enchanted by Chained to the Rocks.
  • A Boros Guildgate does not have that type. It is a Land, and it is a Gate, but it is not a Mountain. It cannot be enchanted by Chained to the Rocks.

  1. For references to permanents, this is covered by 109.2.

    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.

    The same is understood to apply for references to non-permanents, though this is not explicitly stated in the rules.

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  • Very well answered. Although to your last point is there a card that references a non-permanent that does not specify "spell" or "card"? I can not think of one.
    – Fr33dan
    Commented Apr 5, 2014 at 15:27
  • I said there's no rule that covers references that do specify "spell" or "card". 109.2 says that "Forest" refers to "permanents of type Forest", but there's nothing that says that "Forest cards in your graveyard" refers to "cards of type Forest in your graveyard" (rather than "cards named Forest in your graveyard).
    – ikegami
    Commented Apr 5, 2014 at 16:41
  • Exactly. What I'm saying is there is no need for a rule to indicate which object type is being targeted for non-permanents because they will always have a type specified. I.E. A card will never say just "target instant", it will always say always "target instant spell" or "target instant card". The more that I think about it that has to be the case otherwise this rule would make those cards useless. If it said only "target instant" this rule would make it mean "target permanent of the type instant" which will never exist.
    – Fr33dan
    Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 14:57
  • You're completely missing the point. Your question boils down to: Does "Mountain" refer to the type or to the name. I said: No rule answers that question for non-permanents. For example, no rule answers "Does 'target Mountain card in a gravevard' mean 'target card in a graveyard with land type Mountain' or 'target card in a graveyard named Mountain'?" (but it's understood to be the former).
    – ikegami
    Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 17:51
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It can be any card with the land type "Mountain."

For example, all of these are valid targets for Chained to the Rocks, as long as you control them: Sacred Foundry, Badlands, Snow-Covered Mountain, Madblind Mountain, any land card affected by Prismatic Omen.

In Magic, cards that key off of a card's name will specify "name" in the rules text. See Relentless Rats for an example of this templating. Otherwise they're either referring to themselves or a card type.

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