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Suppose my opponent has Teferi, Time Raveler in play, and I have a Leyline of Anticipation. The former says I can only cast spells any time I could cast a sorcery, and the latter says I can cast spells any time I could cast an instant.

In this case, looking it up on Oracle gave me a direct answer in the past rulings: Teferi's ability overrides the Leyline's.

But is this just an arbitrary decision? When cases like this come up, how can I decide which effect wins out without searching for specific rulings on each combination? As a general rule, when something like this happens in play, how should I figure out the result?

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  • related: boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/47604/…
    – Raj
    Jul 23, 2019 at 20:11
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    I think it could use some editing to make the distinction clearer; but I don't think it's a duplicate, because this is asking about a general scenario using a specific example (and it so happens that the specific example doesn't have the same answer as the general scenario)... the other question is asking about that one specific scenario, and is answered by just addressing that one rule.
    – GendoIkari
    Jul 23, 2019 at 20:33
  • I really don't see the difference. We always answer specific questions with general rules references and how they apply to the given example. To me, it's the same question with the same example, only worded a little more generally, and with the same answer.
    – Hackworth
    Jul 23, 2019 at 22:05
  • I'm fine with reopening though, let the community decide.
    – Hackworth
    Jul 23, 2019 at 22:11
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    Many thanks! @GendoIkari Indeed, I'm not curious about the specific case of Teferi-vs-Leyline (which Oracle answered for me), but about the general case, which seems to come down to CR 101.2 (as given in J. Sallé's answer).
    – Draconis
    Jul 23, 2019 at 23:29

2 Answers 2

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But is this just an arbitrary decision?

No, it's not.

That specific interaction is governed by one of Magic's "Golden Rules", specifically CR 101.2, which states:

101.2. When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence. Example: If one effect reads “You may play an additional land this turn” and another reads “You can’t play lands this turn,” the effect that precludes you from playing lands wins.

This is valid for any interaction of this kind. Therefore, the answer to your question is that the effect preventing you from taking an action has precedence over the effect allowing you to take that action.

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  • As per the answer in the linked question, I don't think 101.2 comes into play here. The reason for the ruling is 307.5.
    – GendoIkari
    Jul 23, 2019 at 20:20
  • @Gendolkari you're correct. I didn't notice Teferi doesn't actually have the word "can't" in its text.
    – J. Sallé
    Jul 23, 2019 at 20:25
  • However your answer is still overall good because the question is asking about more than just that interaction.
    – GendoIkari
    Jul 23, 2019 at 20:26
  • Many thanks! This indeed covers the general case I was curious about.
    – Draconis
    Jul 23, 2019 at 23:29
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    Re "I didn't notice Teferi doesn't actually have the word "can't" in its text", That's is not required by 101.2. 101.2 gives restrictions power over permissions, and Teferi's static ability is a restriction.
    – ikegami
    Jul 24, 2019 at 2:08
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There are really 2 separate things at play in your question.

In regards to the specific interaction between Teferi, Time Raveler and Leyline of Anticipation; you can read about it in the linked question, but to summarize, having flash simply doesn't do anything useful when Teferi is around, because Teferi's "any time you can cast a sorcery" is defined as "when the stack is empty and it is your main phase." Having flash means you could cast things when you could cast an instant, but thanks to Teferi, your opponent's turn is not a time that you could cast an instant anymore.

In regards to the general question, Rule 101.2 as quoted in J. Sallé's answer covers any situation where one effect says you can do something but another effect says that you can't.

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    I think this is the real answer to this specific case. As 307.5 says, "any time you can cast a sorcery" isn't really linked to the card type sorcery at all (or any effects in play that might affect them), but rather shorthand for "at any time where one would conventionally be able to play a sorcery", or more explicitly "at any time where you have priority during one of your main phases and the stack is empty"
    – Arthur
    Jul 23, 2019 at 22:58

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