One-shot effects are effects which do not last for an extended period of time.
Rules[ | ]
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)
- One-Shot Effect
- An effect that does something just once and doesn’t have a duration. See rule 610, “One-Shot Effects.” See also Continuous Effects.
From the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)
- 610. One-Shot Effects
- 610.1. A one-shot effect does something just once and doesn’t have a duration. Examples include dealing damage, destroying a permanent, creating a token, and moving an object from one zone to another.
- 610.2. Some one-shot effects create a delayed triggered ability, which instructs a player to do something later in the game (usually at a specific time) rather than as the spell or ability that’s creating the one-shot effect resolves. See rule 603.7.
- 610.3. Some one-shot effects cause an object to change zones “until” a specified event occurs. A second one-shot effect is created immediately after the specified event. This second one-shot effect returns the object to its previous zone.
- 610.3a If a resolving spell or activated ability creates the initial one-shot effect that causes the object to change zones, and the specified event has already occurred before that one-shot effect would occur but after that spell or ability was put onto the stack, the object doesn’t move.
- 610.3b If a resolving triggered ability creates the initial one-shot effect that causes the object to change zones, and the specified event has already occurred before that one-shot effect would occur but after that ability triggered, the object doesn’t move.
- 610.3c An object returned to the battlefield this way returns under its owner’s control unless otherwise specified.
- 610.3d If multiple one-shot effects are created this way immediately after one or more simultaneous events, those one-shot effects are also simultaneous.
Example: Two Banisher Priests have each exiled a card. All creatures are destroyed at the same time by Day of Judgment. The two exiled cards are returned to the battlefield at the same time.
- 610.4. Some one-shot effects cause a permanent to phase out “until” a specified event occurs. A second one-shot effect is created immediately after the specified event. This second one-shot effect causes the permanent to phase in.
- 610.4a A permanent phased out this way doesn’t phase in as a result of the turn-based action during a player’s untap step (see rule 502.1). Other effects may cause it to phase in. If a permanent phased out this way phases in due to another effect, the second one-shot effect doesn’t happen, even if that permanent has phased out again.
- 610.4b If a resolving spell or activated ability creates the initial one-shot effect that causes the permanent to phase out, and the specified event has already occurred before that one-shot effect would occur but after that spell or ability was put onto the stack, the permanent doesn’t phase out.
- 610.4c If a resolving triggered ability creates the initial one-shot effect that causes the permanent to phase out, and the specified event has already occurred before that one-shot effect would occur but after that ability triggered, the permanent doesn’t phase out.
- 610.4d If multiple one-shot effects are created this way immediately after one or more simultaneous events, those one-shot effects are also simultaneous.
Examples[ | ]
Some examples of one-shot effects include the following:
- Direct damage or burn, characterized by the card Lightning Bolt
- Lifegain, characterized by Healing Salve
- Land destruction, as represented by cards such as Sinkhole
- Fast mana sources, such as Dark Ritual or Seething Song
- Creature removal in the forms of Terror and Swords to Plowshares
Cantrips[ | ]
Some of these one-shot effects also "replace" themselves in the form of cantrips. Often, a card will have a slightly heightened mana cost in exchange for the phrase "Draw a card" in the spell's text box. This allows little to no loss, and even the possibility of gaining card advantage and tempo.
Slowtrips[ | ]
Slowtrips are merely delayed cantrips that were introduced in Ice Age and Coldsnap. While they do not have the "immediate" effect of a cantrip, they still allow the card being played to replace itself. The text associated with a slowtrip is "Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep."