The interaction of Continuous effects, commonly known as the Layers, were first immortalized in the forth century when the monk Evagrius Ponticus increased forms of continuous effects from 6 to 7. Since then they have been part of our shared zeitgeist.
We sing about Seven Layers a ‘laying at Christmas. We go on rides at Disney based on Snow White and the Seven Layers. The White Stipes write songs about them. Even the king of comedic counter culture did a bit about the Seven Layers you cant say on TV. My personal favorite is the Akira Kurosawa classic where a town recruits the seven layers to defend them from a bandit gang of state based actions. Armed with nothing but bamboo spears and timestamps, our hearty band of continuous effects are able to fend off the bandit gang in a bittersweet pyrrhic victory.

In this episode, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos talk about the interaction of continuous effects, AKA The Layers, the supposed boogieman of the Magic Rules. Our goal is to help you realize that this Boogieman is more Dog and less John Wick. We talk about what the layers are, how to combine effects both within the layers, and across the layers, then we spend a lot of time going over examples. Too many examples, really. We even help you realize that you’ve been figuring out dependencies all along, you just didnt realize it. So sit back, give us a listen, or give us a watch on YouTube where we can share card images.

Oh, and Bryan spent time thinking about which of the seven deadly sins would map to each layer, so you get to enjoy this rare glimpse into his brain. Do you agree or disagree?

Copy – Lust
Control – Envy
Text – Pride
Type – Wrath
Color – Sloth
Abilities – Greed
Power/Toughness – Gluttony
Everything Else – Acedia