Historical Rules · 13 October 2023
Rule 712.4b
Official source text from the 13 October 2023 Rules release
The back faces of a meld pair are used only to determine the characteristics of the melded permanent that pair becomes on the battlefield. If a rule or effect references the back face of a meld card when not part of a melded permanent on the battlefield, it fails to determine its characteristics, regardless of which parts of the melded permanent is represented on that card’s back face.