Ruxa, Patient Professor — ruling 1

A creature or creature card with no abilities is one with no rules text at all. This includes true vanilla creatures (including Grizzly Bears, Runeclaw Bear, Bear Cub, and other adorable bear students), face-down creatures, many tokens, and creatures that have lost their abilities. Abilities that function only in zones other than the battlefield count. For example, a creature with cycling {2} is not a creature with no abilities.

Ruxa, Patient Professor — ruling 2

Notably, neither of Ruxa's last two abilities give any creatures an ability.

Ruxa, Patient Professor — ruling 3

Auras and Equipment that grant abilities will use the words "gains" or "has," and they'll list a keyword ability or an ability in quotation marks. A creature with no abilities affected by such an Aura or Equipment would no longer get the +1/+1 bonus or be able to assign combat damage as though it weren't blocked. If the Aura or Equipment does not give the creature any abilities, the creature will continue to benefit from Ruxa's last two abilities.

Ruxa, Patient Professor — ruling 4

For each attacking creature you control with no abilities, you decide whether it will assign combat damage to the blocking creatures or if it will assign combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking. You can't split damage assignment between them. You make this decision individually for each qualifying creature just before it deals combat damage.

Ruxa, Patient Professor : règles, fonctionnement et interactions (MTG)

Ruxa, Patient Professor is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.

Official card text

Whenever Ruxa enters or attacks, return target creature card with no abilities from your graveyard to your hand. Creatures you control with no abilities get +1/+1. For each creature you control with no abilities, you may have that creature assign its combat damage as though it weren't blocked.

Complete guide

Ruxa, Patient Professor is the ultimate mentor for the often-overlooked 'vanilla' creatures of Magic: The Gathering. This legendary Bear Druid turns your simple creatures into heavy-hitting threats that can ignore blockers entirely. Whether you are leading an army of tokens or classic bears, Ruxa ensures your classroom of creatures always gets an A+ in combat.

Defining 'No Abilities'

A creature with no abilities is one that possesses no rules text at all. This includes classic vanilla creatures, face-down creatures, and tokens without added text. Be careful: even abilities that only work in the graveyard or hand, such as cycling or scavenge, count as abilities. To benefit from Ruxa, a creature must be completely blank in terms of rules text.

Unblockable Power

Ruxa's most potent lesson is the ability to assign combat damage as though a creature weren't blocked. For each attacking creature you control with no abilities, you choose during the damage assignment step whether it hits the creatures blocking it or if it hits the player or planeswalker it is attacking directly. You must choose one or the other; you cannot split the damage between a blocker and the player.

Common Equipment Mistakes

If you attach an Equipment or Aura to your creature that says it 'gains' or 'has' an ability (like Flying or Trample), that creature no longer counts as having 'no abilities.' It will immediately lose Ruxa's +1/+1 bonus and the ability to assign damage through blockers. However, simple stat boosts like +2/+2 do not count as abilities and are safe to use.

The Graveyard Lecture

Whenever Ruxa enters the battlefield or attacks, you target a creature card with no abilities in your graveyard and return it to your hand. This provides excellent card advantage, allowing you to recur your fallen vanilla threats or tokens that were somehow returned to the graveyard as cards.

Interaction examples

Identifying Non-Students

Solemn Simulacrum

Eternal Witness

If you have Solemn Simulacrum or Eternal Witness on the battlefield, Ruxa, Patient Professor will not grant them +1/+1. Because both cards have 'enters' triggers and other rules text, they are not considered creatures with no abilities. Similarly, you cannot target these cards with Ruxa's first ability to return them from the graveyard to your hand.

Navigating a Blocked Board

Imagine you control a 2/2 creature with no abilities (which is currently a 3/3 thanks to Ruxa). You attack, and your opponent blocks with a 5/5. Before damage is dealt, you can choose to have your 3/3 assign its damage directly to the opponent. Your creature will still take 5 damage from the blocker and die, but you successfully dealt 3 damage to the opponent's life total as if the blocker weren't there.

Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.

How it works : Ruxa, Patient Professor

Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall

#1April 16, 2021· Wizards of the Coast
A creature or creature card with no abilities is one with no rules text at all. This includes true vanilla creatures (including Grizzly Bears, Runeclaw Bear, Bear Cub, and other adorable bear students), face-down creatures, many tokens, and creatures that have lost their abilities. Abilities that function only in zones other than the battlefield count. For example, a creature with cycling is not a creature with no abilities.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#2April 16, 2021· Wizards of the Coast
Notably, neither of Ruxa's last two abilities give any creatures an ability.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#3April 16, 2021· Wizards of the Coast
Auras and Equipment that grant abilities will use the words "gains" or "has," and they'll list a keyword ability or an ability in quotation marks. A creature with no abilities affected by such an Aura or Equipment would no longer get the +1/+1 bonus or be able to assign combat damage as though it weren't blocked. If the Aura or Equipment does not give the creature any abilities, the creature will continue to benefit from Ruxa's last two abilities.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#4April 16, 2021· Wizards of the Coast
For each attacking creature you control with no abilities, you decide whether it will assign combat damage to the blocking creatures or if it will assign combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking. You can't split damage assignment between them. You make this decision individually for each qualifying creature just before it deals combat damage.
No other card is named in this ruling.