Auras & Equipment
Keyword abilities
Two ways to strap something onto a creature, with two very different failure modes.
How it works
An Aura is an enchantment you cast targeting a permanent. Its "Enchant creature" line defines what it may legally be attached to, and it enters the battlefield already attached.
Equipment is an artifact that enters unattached and does nothing until you pay its equip cost. Equip is an activated ability with sorcery timing — your turn, main phase, empty stack — and it can only ever move Equipment onto a creature YOU control.
The difference that decides decks: when the creature leaves, an Aura goes to the graveyard with it, while the Equipment simply falls off and waits on the battlefield for the next creature. That is why Voltron decks are built on Equipment, and why an Aura deck needs far more protection to be worth playing.
Common confusions
“They killed the creature in response to my equip.”
Equip targets, so the ability does nothing — but you lose only the mana. The Equipment stays on the battlefield unattached, ready to equip again later.
“Can I put an Aura on an opponent's hexproof creature?”
No — casting an Aura targets. And a creature with protection from the Aura's colour can't be enchanted by it at all; an Aura that ends up attached illegally falls off as a state-based action.
“Can I move Equipment during combat to surprise a blocker?”
Not with a plain equip ability — that's sorcery speed. Only cards that explicitly say otherwise can rearrange Equipment mid-combat.
“Does equipping tap anything?”
No. Equip has no tap symbol in its cost; you just pay the mana. A creature can attack and still be equipped afterwards in your second main phase.
Auras & Equipment
Ranked by how often Commander decks actually play them.
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