Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Phelddagrif Origin Story

Hi Mark! I hope this allowed, my friend who isn't on Tumblr has asked me to invoke the sacred rite of birthday trivia on his behalf. Could you share any insights concerning Phelddagrif? Thanks in advance!

Phelddagrif was an inside joke in R&D. It’s an anagram of “Garfield Ph.D.” referencing a rule in the early days that whenever PR talked about Richard, they always called him Dr. Richard Garfield or Richard Garfield, Ph.D. R&D also used to joke about how long before they’d have to make a purple hippo. All this resulted in the card Phelddagrif.Happy Birthday to your friend!

Birthday Blogatog / Tumblr Hippo Humor Phelddagrif Phelddagrif Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Rules Story / Lore

Errata for Doctor Type

Any chance we see errata adding the doctor creature type to older creatures? Goblin Medic, Goblin Chirurgeon, Richard Garfield, Ph.D.?

I don’t think there are plans. Also, Richard is not a medical doctor. : )

Creatures Doctor Errata Goblin Goblin Chirurgeon Humor Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Richard Garfield's Card Limit

Would "Richard Garfield, Ph.D." let you sub out "Dawn Elemental" or "Once More With Feeling" for "Proposal?" Or is "Richard Garfield, Ph.D." limited to only cards actually sold?

You can only choose actual printed Magic cards.

Dawn Elemental Elemental Limited Once More with Feeling Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Comprehending Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Hi Mark, would you say that Richard Garfield, Ph.D. is the most asked card regarding its ruling? Would you say it is the most complex card Magic has ever printed?

It’s not the most asked about card, but it’s definitely a contender for the most complex, strategically at least.

Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Mechanics

how does Richard Garfield, Ph.D. work with timing limitations. can I play a creature as an instant on my opponents turn. also your answer about flashback and suspend left me confused, can you suspend a card without suspend that shares a mana cost with one with, and same for flashback?

No, if you’re using Richard to cast a card as another card, you take on all casting restrictions of the “copied” card. And you can only suspend/flashback if the card you “copy” (which has the same mana cost) has suspend/flashback. Richard does one thing. It allows you to essentially turn a card in your hand (or graveyard with flashback) into a card that shares a mana cost. It doesn’t let you do something the “copy” doesn’t normally do.

Creatures Flashback Instants Mana Mechanics Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Suspend Suspend The Graveyard Your Hand

Queries Around Richard Garfield Mechanics

Greetings MaRo, big fan, love this game you're a big part in making, and I especially love your enthusiasm for it! It's truly infectious, and your passion clearly shows.

Anyway, as the Officially-Unoffical Un-Rules Manager, I had a question if you have the time. My play group is going to be running an Un-commander night soon where un-cards are totally legal and where we each get to pick a legendary creature, planeswalker, or The Grand Calcutron from an un-set and use that as our commander. I, in the spirit of someone who loves Magic history, am going with Richard Garfield, Ph.D.. Going to do some random number generator table to just increase the randomness, to try to not keep the deck super duper busted and, most importantly, to ensure my turns don't take forever because of decision paralysis. However, this leads me to a few questions about how certain mechanics work when I control Richard Garfield, Ph.D.:

1. Flashback (or really any "cast from the graveyard" effects/abilities, but flashback is the main one). If I have, say, Think Twice in the graveyard and I pay the flashback cost, am I limited to playing it as any card that costs 1U that also has flashback, or can I play it as any card that costs 1U? I'm assuming the former, but wanted to double-check on this point.

2. Alternate casting costs, like delve or madness. I assume that, if I am choosing the pay the alternate cost, it is already too late for me to play a particular card as a different card instead? For example, if I exile 7 cards from the graveyard to delve Treasure Cruise, I can't cast it as Scornful Egotist, right?

3. Suspend, and this is the one I am the least sure about so if you only have time for one rules question (I know you're incredibly incredibly busy making this game we all love, so I completely understand if that's the case), I would love an answer to this. If I have a card suspended and the last time counter comes off allowing me to cast the card, can I cast it as a different card of the same mana cost? For example, if I have Riftwing Cloudskate on suspend and I remove the last time counter, could I cast it as, say, Slime Monster? Also, for this question, does it at all matter if I suspended Cloudskate before or after I cast Richard Garfield, Ph.D.?

Thank you in advance for your help and for your time, and I am really looking forward to all that Magic has to offer! Can I shill for a second for a plane based around the Klondike Gold Rush with Western elements?

1. To use flashback, you must treat the card as a card with the same mana cost, and then pay the flashback costs that actually appears on the card that you are “copying”. 2. Yes, it is too late. Once you start paying additional costs, you’re locked into it being that spell.3. Suspend works similarly to flashback. You can “copy” any spell with the same mana cost and then pay the suspend cost that appears on that “copy”.

Appreciation Casting Cost Cloudskate Commander Creatures Decision Paralysis Delve Flashback Gold Rush Limited Madness Mana Mark Rosewater Mechanics Planeswalkers Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Riftwing Cloudskate Rules Scornful Egotist Spirit Suspend Suspend The Exile Zone The Grand Calcutron The Graveyard Think Twice Treasure Treasure Cruise Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets

Lands and their Mana Cost

Regarding all of the Richard Garfield, Ph.D. questions about lands, I remember you once summing it up pretty well with something along the lines of how the cards need the same mana cost, and since lands have no mana cost, nothing has the same mana cost as them. comparing it to If neither you or I have dogs, that doesn't mean we have the same kind of dog. Thank you for always being so open and helpful with our many many questions.

To quote something I say about a different recurring topic, “barefoot is not a shoe”. If you don’t have a mana cost, you can’t have the same mana cost as something else, even it also doesn’t have a mana cost.

Appreciation Dog Lands Mana Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Suspend Cards with Garfield PhD

Can you suspend cards with Richard Garfield, Ph.D.? For example, could you suspend Act of Treason as Rift Bolt? How about a land as Ancestral Vision?

You can cast a card as a spell with suspend. Again, lands fo not work with Richard Garfield PhD.

Act of Treason Ancestral Vision Lands Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Rift Rift Bolt Suspend Suspend

Mechanics of Garth One-Eye

I was going to ask how open-ended the Garth mechanic (copies of real cards) was, but then I realized I was just proposing Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Can a version of that card exist in black-border now?

No. Cards have to be referenced. You can make a wish that gets any card (or subset of cards) from outside the game (sideboards in tournaments).

Make a Wish Mechanics Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Playing with Richard Garfield

How good are you with the card Richard Garfield, Ph.D. and do you find it enjoyable to play with?

I am merely okay with it. My memory is not what it once was. I do enjoy playing with it.

Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Allowed Methods for Richard Garfield, Ph.D

Would using websites like Gatherer or Scryfall to find possible plays for Richard Garfield, Ph.D. be acceptable, or is it more in the spirit of the card if you only use your memory?

It’s supposed to be from memory, but if your play group allows it, I won’t stop you.

Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Spirit

Vintage Horizons Idea

Hi Mark, this is a weird one for you. I enjoy when my card games go way off the rails and do wild things within certain bounds. "Un" sets scratch this itch, but unfortunately not on a power-level way. Oko comes close in some formats but I was wondering if we might ever see something wild like Vintage Horizons one day? Even if it wasn't legal in any other format I think it could be very fun, if a bit niche.

Richard Garfield, Ph.D. In the right hands is an insanely powerful card.

Format Legality Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Vintage

Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Regarding Richard Garfield, Ph.D., can I play cards as if they were cards not legal in the format I'm playing? Also, can I make my lands into 0 cost spells, and will that be my land drop for the turn?

No and no.

Format Legality Lands Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Spells

Richard Garfield References

Aside from Richard Garfield, Ph.D. in Unhinged and Jester's Cap in Ice Age, have there been any other allusions to Richard Garfield in the artwork of magic cards?

No. And Jester’s Cap isn’t Richard.

Art Ice Age Jester's Cap Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Unhinged

Richard Garfield Mechanic

Using Richard Garfield Ph.D, can I play lands as though they were other lands? If so, can I play a land as though it were the back face of a transform card? (They have a CMC calculated from the front face, but don't actually have a mana cost)

Lands do not have a mana cost, so you can’t use them with Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Lands Mana Value Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Transform Transform Cards

Un-rules Query

Un-rules inquiry: For Richard Garfield, Ph.D., is the format "draft", with all cards legal choices since all cards are legal in draft, or "UNG/UNH/UST draft" (or whatever sets), so only Un-cards are legal choices?

It depends what sets were used in the draft. All cards from any set used in the draft is legal which is why Booster Tutoring in a booster pack adds that set for the game to what Richard Garfield PhD can copy.

Boosters Format Legality Limited Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Rules Tutoring Tutoring Un-sets

Commander Identity Limits

If I play Richard Garfield, Ph.D. in Commander, can I play cards outside my commander's identity with his ability (like a Staff of Nin played as an Obelisk of Alara)? How about playing cards on the ban list (like Jace's Sanctum as a Gift's Ungiven)?

Richard Garfield PhD can only play cards legal in the format you’re playing. I will extrapolate that to mean only legal in your color identity.

Bannings Color Identity Colors Commander Format Legality Format Legality Jace's Sanctum Obelisk of Alara Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Staff of Nin

Casting Lands Rules

"No. If we had an Oracle update [for Richard Garfield, Ph.D.], it would say “cast”." - Would I still be able to cast a Dryad Arbor as though it were Ancestral Vision by discarding a green card if I controlled both Richard Garfield and Dream Halls?

Lands do not have mana costs.

Ancestral Vision Cast Dream Halls Dryad Dryad Arbor Green Lands Mana Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Richard Garfield Gameplay

If I have Richard Garfield, Ph.D. on the battlefield but ignore his text, can I play the same Magic card as itself a second time?

You can always play a card as itself.

Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Alternate Costs with Garfield

Can I pay alternate costs while casting spells as another spell with Richard Garfield, Ph.D. in play, for example exiling a Mise an paying 1 life to cast another Richard Garfield, Ph.D. as Force of will or paying 6U to cast Disperse as overloaded Cyclonic Rift?

You can as long as the card’s mana cost exactly matches the card you’re using.

Cast Cyclonic Rift Force of Will Mana Mise Richard Garfield Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Spells