MTG Wiki
109 reference entries — deeper than a glossary, built for casual players
109 entries
Deckbuilding
Alt-Art
An alternate illustration of a card, different from its original printing. Alt-art versions are often found in special products like Secret Lair drops, collector boosters, or promotional releases. They’re the same card rules-wise, just with different artwork.
Anthem
A permanent (usually an enchantment or creature) that gives a static bonus to your creatures, like +1/+1. Named after the classic card Glorious Anthem. Anthem effects are a staple of go-wide token strategies.
Archetype
A recognized deck pattern or strategy, such as “mono-red aggro” or “Azorius control.” Archetypes emerge from card synergies and are the building blocks of any format’s metagame.
Bulk
Cards with minimal financial value, typically worth pennies. After opening packs, bulk is what’s left after pulling the money cards. Many players donate or sell bulk by the thousand.
Casting Cost
See Mana Cost. The amount and type of mana required to play a spell from your hand. Sometimes called “mana value” when referring to the total converted cost.
CMC
Stands for Converted Mana Cost, now officially called Mana Value. It’s the total amount of mana in a card’s cost, ignoring colors. A card that costs 1WU has a mana value of 3. This number matters for many game effects and deckbuilding decisions.
Color Identity
The set of mana colors represented on a card, including its mana cost and any mana symbols in its rules text. In Commander, your deck can only contain cards whose color identity fits within your commander’s color identity.
Curve
See Mana Curve. The distribution of mana costs in your deck, typically visualized as a graph. A good curve means having plays available on each turn of the game.
Deck Tech
A detailed breakdown of a specific deck: what’s in it, why each card is included, how to play it, and what its matchups look like. Deck techs are popular content in the MTG community for learning new strategies.
Fetch Land
A type of land that you sacrifice to search your library for another land. The original cycle (Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, etc.) can find dual lands, making them the best mana fixing in the game. They also shuffle your library, which matters for effects like Brainstorm.
Jank
A deck or strategy that’s intentionally off-meta, unusual, or built around obscure card interactions. Jank decks prioritize fun, creativity, and surprise over raw competitive power. “Jank” is a term of endearment in casual Magic circles.
Mana Base
The collection of lands and mana-producing cards in your deck. A good mana base ensures you can reliably cast your spells on time. Building a proper mana base — with the right number of lands and color sources — is one of the most important deckbuilding skills.
Mana Cost
The amount and type of mana required to cast a spell, shown in the upper right corner of the card. A mana cost of 2UU means you need two mana of any color plus two blue mana (four total). Also informally called “casting cost.”
Mana Curve
The distribution of mana costs across your deck, typically visualized as a bar graph. A smooth curve means having efficient plays at every stage of the game — cheap spells early, powerful ones late. Getting your curve right is fundamental to consistent gameplay.
Mana Dork
A creature that produces mana, typically a small green creature like Llanowar Elves or Birds of Paradise. Mana dorks accelerate your game plan by letting you cast bigger spells a turn earlier than normal.
Nonbasic Land
Any land that isn’t one of the five basic land types (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest). Nonbasic lands often produce multiple colors of mana or have special abilities, but they can be affected by cards that specifically target nonbasics.
Reprint
When a previously released card is printed again in a new set or product. Reprints increase card supply and typically lower prices. Some iconic cards are reprinted frequently, while Reserved List cards can never be reprinted.
Reserved List
A list of cards Wizards of the Coast has promised never to reprint. Created in 1996 to protect collector value after Chronicles crashed card prices. It includes iconic (and expensive) cards like the original dual lands and Black Lotus.
Shock Land
A cycle of dual lands (like Stomping Ground and Hallowed Fountain) that enter the battlefield tapped unless you pay 2 life. They have basic land types, making them fetchable. Shock lands are staples in Modern, Pioneer, and Commander.
Sideboard
A set of 15 cards you can swap into your deck between games in a best-of-three match. Sideboards let you adjust your deck to better handle specific matchups. Building a good sideboard is a crucial competitive skill.
Staple
A card so powerful or versatile that it appears in a large percentage of decks in a format. Sol Ring is a staple in Commander. Lightning Bolt is a staple in Modern. Knowing the staples of a format is key to understanding its metagame.
Tech
A specific card or strategy included in a deck to address a particular matchup or metagame trend. “Sideboard tech” refers to niche cards brought in for certain matchups. “Tech choices” are what separate good deckbuilders from great ones.
Vanilla
A creature with no abilities — just power, toughness, and a mana cost. “French vanilla” refers to creatures with only keyword abilities (like a 3/3 with flying). Vanilla creatures are the baseline for evaluating whether a card’s stats are worth its cost.
X Spell
A spell with X in its mana cost, where X can be any amount of mana you choose to pay. Cards like Fireball (deal X damage) and Sphinx’s Revelation (draw X cards, gain X life) scale in power based on how much mana you invest.
Formats
cEDH
Competitive Elder Dragon Highlander. A subset of the Commander format where players build the most powerful, optimized decks possible and play to win. cEDH games are faster, more cutthroat, and run expensive staple cards compared to casual Commander.
Commander
The most popular casual format in Magic, also known as EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander). Each player starts with 40 life, builds a 100-card singleton deck led by a legendary creature (the commander), and typically plays in multiplayer pods of 4. Commander is the format where kitchen-table Magic thrives.
Draft
A Limited format where players open booster packs, pick one card at a time, pass the remaining cards, and build a 40-card deck from what they’ve drafted. Drafting is one of the most skill-testing ways to play Magic because it combines evaluation, signaling, and deckbuilding.
EDH
Elder Dragon Highlander. See Commander. The original community name for the Commander format, named after the Elder Dragon legends from early Magic sets.
Format
A set of rules defining which cards are legal for deck construction. Formats exist to keep games balanced and diverse. Major formats include Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, and various Limited formats like Draft and Sealed.
Legacy
An eternal Constructed format allowing nearly every card ever printed (minus a ban list). Legacy is defined by extremely powerful interactions and iconic cards like Force of Will and Brainstorm. It has a high barrier to entry due to expensive staples.
Limited
A category of formats where players build decks from a limited card pool opened on the spot, rather than from their collection. Draft and Sealed are the main Limited formats. Decks are 40 cards, and games tend to be more creature-focused than Constructed.
Meta** / **Metagame
The overall landscape of strategies and decks being played in a format at a given time. “The meta” refers to what’s popular and winning. Understanding the meta helps you choose the right deck and sideboard to succeed.
Modern
A non-rotating Constructed format allowing cards from Eighth Edition (2003) forward. Modern is one of the most popular competitive formats, offering a wide card pool and diverse metagame without the expense of Legacy’s reserved list cards.
Pauper
A Constructed format where only cards printed at common rarity are legal. Pauper is beloved for its low cost of entry and surprisingly deep gameplay. It has its own metagame, ban list, and competitive scene.
Pioneer
A non-rotating Constructed format allowing cards from Return to Ravnica (2012) forward. Pioneer sits between Standard and Modern in card pool size and power level. It’s become a major competitive format with its own distinct metagame.
Pod
In Commander, a pod is the group of players (typically 4) sitting down for a game together. “Finding a pod” means getting a group together to play. The term is also used in Draft, where 8 players form a draft pod.
Sealed
A Limited format where each player opens 6 booster packs and builds a 40-card deck from the contents (plus any number of basic lands). There’s no drafting — you build from what you open. Sealed is common at prereleases and is a great way to explore new sets.
Singleton
A deckbuilding rule that limits you to one copy of each card (except basic lands). Commander is a singleton format with 100-card decks. The singleton restriction increases deck variety and makes games more unpredictable.
Standard
A rotating Constructed format using only the most recent sets (typically the last 2-3 years of releases). Standard rotates annually, keeping the format fresh and accessible. It’s the format most closely tied to new product releases.
Vintage
An eternal Constructed format allowing every card ever printed, with some cards restricted to one copy per deck. Vintage is the most powerful format in Magic, home to the Power Nine (Black Lotus, the Moxen, etc.) and combo decks that can win on turn one.
Lore
Color Pie
The philosophy behind Magic’s five colors, each representing distinct values, strengths, and weaknesses. White values order, blue values knowledge, black values power, red values freedom, and green values nature. The color pie is the design foundation of the entire game.
Planeswalker
A card type representing powerful allies who fight alongside you. Planeswalkers enter with loyalty counters and have abilities that add or remove loyalty. They can be attacked by creatures. Each planeswalker is a character in Magic’s storyline.
Mechanics
Deathtouch
A keyword ability that means any amount of damage this creature deals to another creature is enough to destroy it. A 1/1 with deathtouch trades with the biggest creatures in the game, making it an efficient deterrent on defense.
Defender
A keyword ability that means a creature can’t attack. Creatures with defender are designed purely for blocking. Some cards have abilities that reward you for controlling defenders.
Double Strike
A keyword ability that lets a creature deal damage in both the first strike and regular combat damage steps. A 3/3 with double strike effectively hits for 6 damage in combat, making it incredibly powerful.
ETB
Stands for “Enters the Battlefield.” Refers to abilities that trigger when a creature or other permanent enters the battlefield. “ETB effects” are a major part of Magic strategy — flickering or bouncing creatures to re-trigger their ETB abilities is a whole deck archetype.
First Strike
A keyword ability that lets a creature deal its combat damage before creatures without first strike. If the first strike damage kills the opposing creature, it never gets to hit back. This makes first strike excellent in combat.
Flash
A keyword ability that lets you cast a spell any time you could cast an instant, even during your opponent’s turn. Creatures with flash are particularly powerful because they let you keep mana open for counterspells while still deploying threats.
Flicker
Exiling a permanent and immediately returning it to the battlefield. Flickering resets the permanent and re-triggers any ETB abilities. Cards like Restoration Angel and Ephemerate are famous flicker effects.
Flying
A keyword ability meaning this creature can only be blocked by creatures with flying or reach. Flying is one of the most common and important forms of evasion in the game.
Foil
A card printed with a reflective, metallic finish. Foils are collectible premium versions of cards. Different treatments include traditional foils, etched foils, and textured foils, each with varying levels of rarity and value.
Haste
A keyword ability that lets a creature attack and use tap abilities the turn it enters the battlefield. Normally, creatures have “summoning sickness” and can’t act on their first turn. Haste bypasses this restriction, making it especially valuable for aggro decks.
Hexproof
A keyword ability meaning this permanent can’t be targeted by spells or abilities your opponents control. Hexproof creatures can still be affected by board wipes and non-targeted effects, but they’re immune to spot removal like Murder or Path to Exile.
Indestructible
A keyword ability meaning this permanent can’t be destroyed by damage or “destroy” effects. Indestructible permanents can still be exiled, bounced, sacrificed, or given -X/-X to reduce their toughness to zero.
Keywords
Abilities that appear so frequently they’ve been given a single word or short phrase to represent them. Evergreen keywords (like flying, trample, and haste) appear in nearly every set. Other keywords are set-specific mechanics that appear for one block and may return later.
Lifelink
A keyword ability that means damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life. A 3/3 with lifelink attacking and dealing damage gains you 3 life. Lifelink is strong because it makes races very hard for aggro decks to win.
LTB
Stands for “Leaves the Battlefield.” Refers to abilities that trigger when a permanent leaves the battlefield for any reason (destroyed, exiled, bounced, or sacrificed). Less common than ETB effects but still strategically relevant.
Menace
A keyword ability that means this creature can only be blocked by two or more creatures. Menace is a form of evasion that forces your opponent to commit multiple blockers or take the damage.
Proliferate
Proliferate is a keyword action that lets you add one counter of each kind already present on any number of permanents or players you choose. It is the engine behind some of Magic’s most explosive counter-based strategies — from charging up planeswalkers to finishing opponents with poison. What is Proliferate? Comprehensive Rule 701.27: “To proliferate, […]
Protection
A keyword ability meaning this permanent can’t be damaged, enchanted, blocked, or targeted by anything with the specified quality (usually a color). Protection from red means red spells can’t target it, red creatures can’t block it, and red sources can’t damage it.
Reach
A keyword ability that lets a creature block creatures with flying. Creatures with reach can’t fly themselves (unless they also have flying), but they serve as defensive answers to aerial threats.
Trample
A keyword ability that lets excess combat damage carry over to the defending player. If your 5/5 trampler is blocked by a 2/2, the 2/2 takes 2 lethal damage and 3 damage tramples through to the opponent. Trample is green’s signature combat keyword.
Vigilance
A keyword ability meaning this creature doesn’t tap when it attacks. Vigilance lets a creature attack and still be available to block on the opponent’s turn, giving you both offensive and defensive capability without having to choose.
Ward
A keyword ability that means whenever this permanent becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter that spell unless they pay an additional cost (usually mana or life). Ward is a softer version of hexproof that still allows interaction but taxes your opponent for it.
Rules
Activation Cost
The cost you pay to use an activated ability on a permanent. It appears before the colon on a card (for example, “2, T: Draw a card” means pay 2 mana and tap that permanent to draw). You can activate abilities at instant speed unless the card says otherwise.
Artifact
A card type representing magical objects, weapons, or constructs. Artifacts are usually colorless, meaning any deck can play them. They stay on the battlefield as permanents and can be creatures, equipment, or provide various abilities.
Board State
The current layout of all permanents on the battlefield. A “good board state” means you have strong creatures and resources in play. Reading the board state — understanding who’s ahead — is one of the most important skills in Magic.
Creature
A card type representing beings that can attack and block in combat. Creatures have power (damage dealt) and toughness (damage absorbed) shown as P/T in the bottom right. They’re the backbone of most decks and strategies.
Enchantment
A card type representing ongoing magical effects. Enchantments stay on the battlefield and provide continuous abilities. Auras are a subtype that attach to specific permanents, while global enchantments affect the whole game.
Exile
A game zone for cards removed from the game. Exiled cards are generally gone for good (unlike the graveyard, which many effects can interact with). Exile-based removal is the cleanest answer to threats because it dodges graveyard recursion.
Graveyard
The discard pile where destroyed creatures, used spells, and discarded cards end up. Unlike exile, the graveyard is a resource — many strategies revolve around reanimating creatures or casting spells from the graveyard.
Instant
A card type representing spells that can be cast at any time you have priority, including during your opponent’s turn and in response to other spells. Instants go to the graveyard after resolving. Counterspells, removal spells, and combat tricks are typically instants.
Land
A card type that produces mana, the resource used to cast spells. Each player can play one land per turn. The five basic land types (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest) each produce one color of mana. Nonbasic lands often produce multiple colors or have special abilities.
Mana
The resource used to cast spells and activate abilities in Magic. Mana comes in five colors (white, blue, black, red, green) plus colorless. You generate mana primarily from lands, but also from artifacts, creatures, and spell effects.
Monarch
A game mechanic (introduced in Conspiracy) where one player is “the monarch” and draws an extra card during their end step. Other players can steal the monarchy by dealing combat damage to the current monarch. Popular in Commander and Pauper.
Mulligan
The process of shuffling back your opening hand and drawing a new one (minus one card) if your starting hand is unplayable. The current mulligan rule (London mulligan) lets you draw 7, then put cards on the bottom equal to the number of times you’ve mulliganed.
Permanent
Any card that stays on the battlefield after being played: creatures, artifacts, enchantments, planeswalkers, and lands. Instants and sorceries are not permanents — they go to the graveyard after resolving.
Phases
The structured segments of a turn in Magic. Each turn proceeds through: Beginning Phase (untap, upkeep, draw), Main Phase 1, Combat Phase (beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, damage, end of combat), Main Phase 2, and End Phase (end step, cleanup).
Power / Toughness
The two numbers in the bottom right of a creature card. Power (the first number) is how much damage the creature deals in combat. Toughness (the second number) is how much damage it can take before being destroyed.
Priority
The system that determines which player can act at any given moment. The active player (whose turn it is) gets priority first, then it passes. You can only cast spells and activate abilities when you have priority. Understanding priority is key to mastering the stack.
Sorcery
A card type representing spells that can only be cast during your main phase when the stack is empty. Sorceries go to the graveyard after resolving. Board wipes, tutors, and many powerful effects are sorceries because their timing restriction balances their power.
Stack
The game zone where spells and abilities wait to resolve. When you cast a spell, it goes on the stack, and your opponent gets a chance to respond before it resolves. Spells resolve in “last in, first out” order — the most recently added spell resolves first.
Tap
Turning a card sideways to indicate it’s been used. You tap lands to produce mana and tap creatures to attack. A tapped permanent can’t be tapped again until it untaps (usually at the beginning of your next turn). The tap symbol (T) appears in many activation costs.
Token
A creature or other permanent that isn’t represented by a real card. Tokens are created by spells and abilities (like “Create three 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens”). They exist on the battlefield but cease to exist when they leave any zone.
Tutor
A spell that lets you search your library for a specific card. Named after Demonic Tutor, one of Magic’s most iconic cards. Tutors increase deck consistency by letting you find exactly what you need for any situation.
Untap
Straightening a tapped card so it’s ready to use again. Your permanents untap at the beginning of your turn during the untap step. Some cards can untap permanents at other times as a special ability.
Strategy
Aggro
A deck strategy focused on winning quickly through early, aggressive creatures and direct damage. Aggro decks aim to end the game before the opponent can establish their game plan. Common aggro colors include red and white.
Board Wipe
A spell or ability that destroys or removes all creatures (or all permanents) from the battlefield at once. Cards like Wrath of God and Farewell are classic board wipes. They’re essential tools for control decks to reset a game that’s gotten out of hand.
Bomb
A powerful card that can take over a game on its own, especially in Limited formats like Draft and Sealed. Opening a bomb rare is one of the best feelings in a draft pod. Examples include large evasive creatures or planeswalkers with game-winning abilities.
Bounce
Returning a permanent from the battlefield to its owner’s hand. Bounce effects are tempo plays — they don’t permanently answer a threat, but they buy you time and can disrupt your opponent’s curve. Blue is the primary bounce color.
Burn
A strategy built around dealing direct damage to the opponent with spells like Lightning Bolt and Lava Spike. Burn decks are a classic aggro archetype in red, converting every card in hand into damage aimed at reducing the opponent from 20 to 0 as fast as possible.
Cantrip
A spell that replaces itself by drawing you a card in addition to its other effect. Opt, Ponder, and Preordain are classic cantrips. They’re popular because they smooth your draws while still doing something useful.
Combat Trick
An instant-speed spell played during combat to change the outcome of a fight, like giving a creature +3/+3 or first strike. Combat tricks are especially important in Limited formats where creature combat is the primary path to victory.
Combo
A combination of two or more cards that interact to create a powerful (often game-winning) effect. Some combos win the game on the spot — these are called “infinite combos.” Combo decks are built specifically to assemble these card interactions.
Control
A deck strategy focused on answering the opponent’s threats with removal, counterspells, and card draw, then winning with a few powerful finishers once the game is locked down. Control decks trade early aggression for late-game dominance.
Counterspell
An instant that cancels an opponent’s spell before it resolves. Counterspells are blue’s signature mechanic. Playing around counterspells — baiting them out or waiting for the right moment — is a core part of high-level Magic.
Evasion
Any ability that makes a creature harder to block, such as flying, menace, trample, or unblockable. Evasive creatures are valuable because they can reliably deal damage to your opponent.
Go Wide
A strategy focused on creating many small creatures (often tokens) rather than a few large ones. Go-wide decks are powerful with anthem effects, mass pump spells, and cards that reward you for controlling many creatures.
Midrange
A deck strategy that sits between aggro and control, using efficient creatures and removal to adapt to what the opponent is doing. Midrange decks beat aggro by being bigger and beat control by applying steady pressure. They’re the “fair” strategy of Magic.
Mill
A strategy that wins by putting cards from the opponent’s library into their graveyard until they can’t draw. Named after the card Millstone. When a player must draw from an empty library, they lose the game. Blue and black are the primary mill colors.
On-Curve
Playing a spell that matches the turn number’s mana availability. Playing a 1-drop on turn 1, a 2-drop on turn 2, and a 3-drop on turn 3 is “on-curve.” Staying on-curve is essential for aggro and midrange decks to maintain tempo.
Overrun
A type of effect that gives all your creatures a power/toughness boost and usually trample, used as a finisher to push lethal damage through blockers. Named after the original card Overrun.
Ramp
The strategy of accelerating your mana production to cast expensive spells ahead of schedule. Ramp decks use mana dorks, land-search spells (like Cultivate), and mana rocks to jump ahead on resources. Green is the primary ramp color.
Removal
Any spell or ability that eliminates a threat from the battlefield. Removal comes in many forms: destroy effects (Murder), exile effects (Swords to Plowshares), damage-based removal (Lightning Bolt), and enchantment-based removal (Oblivion Ring). Having the right removal is critical in every format.
Stompy
An aggro strategy built around playing efficient creatures that are above the normal power/toughness curve for their mana cost. Green stompy decks play big creatures fast, overwhelming opponents with raw stats.
Sweeper
See Board Wipe. A spell that removes all or most creatures from the battlefield. The term “sweeper” comes from “sweeping the board clean.”
Tempo
A measure of efficiency and momentum in a game. Gaining tempo means getting ahead on board presence relative to the mana spent. Bounce spells and cheap removal are tempo plays — they deal with threats for less mana than the opponent spent casting them.
Win Condition
The card or strategy that actually finishes the game for your deck. Control decks might have only 2-3 win conditions (like a single powerful creature), while aggro decks treat every creature as a win condition. Also called a “wincon.”
Other
Kamigawa: Lore, Meaning, Map, Sets, and Key Cards
Kamigawa is one of Magic: The Gathering’s most beloved and distinctive planes. Inspired by Japanese mythology and feudal culture, it introduced some of the game’s most iconic mechanics, the highest density of legendary permanents ever printed in a single block, and a story of gods at war with mortals. This guide covers everything: what the […]