Mechanics encyclopedia

How the building blocks of Magic actually work — keyword abilities, keyword actions, zones, and core concepts — each with the situations that trip people up. Grounded in the Comprehensive Rules; not a substitute for it.

Keyword abilities

FlyingAn evasion ability — only flying or reach can block it.TrampleExcess combat damage spills over to the player or planeswalker.DeathtouchAny amount of damage from this source is lethal.IndestructibleCan't be destroyed — but plenty of other things still kill it.LifelinkDamage dealt by this source also gains its controller that much life.MenaceCan't be blocked except by two or more creatures.VigilanceAttacking doesn't cause this creature to tap.Hexproof & WardTwo different protections from being targeted — one blanket, one a tax.FlashCast this spell any time you could cast an instant.First & double strikeDeal combat damage in an earlier step — double strike deals in both.CyclingPay a small cost, discard the card, draw a new one — from your hand, at instant speed.FlashbackCast it a second time out of your graveyard, then it's exiled for good.Auras & EquipmentTwo ways to strap something onto a creature, with two very different failure modes.ProtectionDEBT: the four things "protection from X" stops — and the board wipe it doesn't.Crew & VehiclesTap your creatures to turn a Vehicle into a creature until end of turn.KickerAn optional extra cost you pay as you cast a spell, for a bigger effect.EvokeCast a creature cheaply for its enters effect — then sacrifice it.ChangelingThis object is every creature type — in every zone, all the time.LandfallTriggers whenever a land enters under your control — not only when you play one.

Keyword actions

OverloadAn alternative cost that changes 'target' to 'each.'CascadeExile from the top until a cheaper spell, then cast it free.ProliferateAdd one more of each kind of counter already present.ScryLook at the top N cards and choose to keep or bin them.ConvokeTap your creatures to help pay for the spell.GoadForce a creature to attack — and to attack somebody other than you.MillPut cards from the top of a library straight into its owner's graveyard.RegenerateA shield against the next destruction — not a blanket save.FightTwo creatures deal damage to each other at once — and it isn't combat.

Zones & actions

ExileA zone outside the game — not the graveyard, and hard to get back.TokensGame objects created by effects that vanish once they leave the battlefield.+1/+1 countersPermanent stat boosts that stick — and cancel against -1/-1 counters.Tapping & untappingTurning a permanent sideways to use it — and what that does and doesn't do.Sacrifice vs. destroyTwo ways to send a permanent to the graveyard that play very differently.Treasure, Food & ClueThe three predefined artifact tokens — and the one whose ability can't be responded to.Face-down creaturesMorph, disguise, manifest and cloak: what the anonymous 2/2 is, and how it flips.Blink & flickerExile a permanent and return it — as a brand-new object, for better and worse.PhasingA phased-out permanent is treated as though it doesn't exist — until your next untap step.

Core concepts

The stackWhere spells and abilities wait to resolve — last in, first out.Mana & costsHow you pay for things — generic vs. colored, and additional vs. alternative costs.X spellsSpells where you choose X as you cast — and X is 0 everywhere else.Partners & BackgroundsThe five ways a Commander deck is allowed to run two commanders.Double-faced cardsTransforming vs. modal DFCs — which face counts where, including in Commander.The monarch & the initiativeTwo Commander-born designations that draw you value — and get stolen in combat.Poison, infect & toxicTen poison counters and you lose — even in Commander, even at 40 life.

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