Welcome! This page will get you started with some common phrases you'll run into while playing Magic. From HASTE to EXILE to FLYING, you'll find quick answers for exploring the world's greatest TCG!
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{T} (THE TAP SYMBOL) 
If you see (the tap symbol) in an activated ability’s activation cost, it means you must tap the PERMANENT to activate that ability. If a CREATURE has an ability that includes , that ability can’t be activated if the creature still has “summoning sickness.”
ABILITY
A card’s rules text includes its abilities. Some abilities are simply statements that always work. These are called static abilities. Other abilities must be activated—those will have a cost followed by a colon and then the effect. There are also triggered abilities that state when they happen and what their effects are.
ADDITIONAL COST
Some SPELLS say they have an additional cost to cast them. To cast a spell with an additional cost, you pay both the mana cost in the upper right corner of the card and its additional cost. Some additional costs are optional and will include “you may” before telling you what the additional cost is.
ARTIFACT
Artifacts are PERMANENTS that represent relics, weapons, and other devices. Some have (TAP) abilities that you can activate as soon as you control them, unless they’re artifact CREATURES. Artifact creatures can attack and block like other creatures, but they enter with “summoning sickness.”
AURA
Auras are a type of ENCHANTMENT that can be attached to PERMANENTS or PLAYERS. They have effects that apply specifically to whatever they’re attached to. Each Aura has an ENCHANT ability that tells you what it can be attached to—for example, “enchant creature,” “enchant land,” etc. When you cast an Aura SPELL, you choose its TARGET based on what it can be attached to. As an Aura spell resolves, it enters the BATTLEFIELD attached to its target. If a permanent LEAVES THE BATTLEFIELD, each Aura attached to it is put into its OWNER’s GRAVEYARD.
BASIC LAND
There are five types of basic lands. Each one produces one of the five colors of MANA. Plains for 
, Islands for 
, Swamps for 
, Mountains for 
, and Forests for 
. Any land that doesn’t have “basic” on its type line is a nonbasic land, even if it has one or more of the five basic land types (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest).
BASIC LANDCYCLING
If a CARD in your HAND has a basic landcycling ability, you can pay the card’s basic landcycling cost and DISCARD it. Then, you search your LIBRARY for a basic land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you find yourself without a land to PLAY, basic landcycling can be very useful.
BATTLEFIELD
The battlefield is the zone shared by all PLAYERS where most of the action happens. CREATURES, lands, ARTIFACTS, ENCHANTMENTS, and other PERMANENTS are put onto the battlefield after they’re played.
CARD
Cards are the objects that make up your deck, regardless of what zone they are currently in. TOKENS are never considered cards.
CAST A SPELL
Any time you PLAY a CARD that isn’t a land, that’s called casting a SPELL. To cast a spell, you move a card from wherever it is (usually your HAND) to the STACK and pay its cost. All players have a chance to respond to the spell, and then it will RESOLVE. Lands are never cast as spells.
COLOR
The five Magic colors are white, blue, black, red, and green. If you’re asked to choose a color, you must choose one of those five. A card’s color is determined by its MANA COST. A card with mana cost 
is red, while one that costs is black and green.
COLORLESS
Lands are usually colorless because they don’t have MANA COSTS. Most ARTIFACTS are colorless. Colorless isn’t a COLOR. If you’re asked to choose a color, you can’t choose colorless.
COMBAT DAMAGE
Combat damage is DAMAGE dealt by attacking and blocking CREATURES during the combat damage step. Any other damage that’s dealt isn’t combat damage, even if it’s dealt during the combat phase or because of the ability of an attacking or blocking creature. Attacking and blocking creatures deal combat damage equal to their power.
CONTROL, CONTROLLER
The controller of a PERMANENT is the PLAYER who gets to use it during a game. If you cast a SPELL, you control that spell. If it enters the BATTLEFIELD as a permanent, you control that permanent. Some spells and abilities let you gain control of permanents controlled by your OPPONENTS. During a game, permanents you control are usually placed on your side of the battlefield.
COUNTER (A SPELL OR ABILITY)
Some SPELLS counter other spells or ABILITIES. To counter a spell or ability means to remove it from the stack. A spell or ability that has been countered will not resolve and will have no effect. A spell that has been countered is put into its OWNER’s GRAVEYARD.
COUNTER (ON A PERMANENT)
Counters are markers that can be placed on PERMANENTS you control. These include counters that confer abilities like flying counters, other named counters like stun counters, or +1/+1 counters that boost power and toughness. Counters on permanents remain there as long as the permanent is on the BATTLEFIELD. Once the permanent LEAVES THE BATTLEFIELD, the counters cease to exist. PLAYERS can also have counters.
CREATE (TOKENS)
TOKENS are PERMANENTS that are created by SPELLS and ABILITIES. They’re not CARDS that start in your deck, or cards at all. To create a token, you place an object to represent that token onto the BATTLEFIELD. They act like other permanents, except that when a token LEAVES THE BATTLEFIELD and moves to a new zone (such as your GRAVEYARD or your HAND), it immediately vanishes from the game. Tokens can be represented by printed tokens or any other object that can clearly represent that token.
CREATURE
Creatures attack and block in combat and often have other ABILITIES that impact the game. A creature’s power and toughness are found in the lower right corner of the card. Power (the first number) is how much DAMAGE the creature deals in combat. Toughness (the second number) is how much damage must be dealt to the creature in a single turn to DESTROY it. Creatures can’t attack or have any of their (TAP) abilities activated until they start a turn under your CONTROL. This is informally known as “summoning sickness.” Any untapped creature can block, no matter when it entered.
CREW
Crew is an activated ABILITY of VEHICLES that turns them into ARTIFACT CREATURES until end of turn. To activate a crew ability, TAP any number of untapped creatures you control with total power greater than or equal to the number listed after crew. For example, if you see crew 3, you could tap a creature with power 3, two creatures with power 2, or any other combination of creatures whose power adds up to at least 3.
DAMAGE
Damage reduces PLAYERS’ life totals, can cause CREATURES to be DESTROYED, removes loyalty counters from PLANESWALKERS, and removes defense counters from battles. Attacking and blocking creatures deal COMBAT DAMAGE. SPELLS can deal damage, and abilities can cause PERMANENTS to deal damage.
DEATHTOUCH
If a CREATURE has deathtouch, any amount of DAMAGE it deals to another creature is enough to DESTROY that creature. If an attacking creature has deathtouch and TRAMPLE, it may assign 1 damage to each creature blocking it and the remaining damage to the defending PLAYER.
DEFENDER
CREATURES with defender can’t attack, but they’re usually better than most creatures at defending you or deterring your OPPONENTS from attacking. They can still block and TAP to activate ABILITIES.
DESTROY
If a PERMANENT is destroyed, it’s put into its OWNER’s GRAVEYARD. Lethal DAMAGE can cause a CREATURE to be destroyed, and some effects can directly destroy a permanent.
DISCARD
To discard a CARD, you put it from your HAND into your GRAVEYARD.
DOUBLE STRIKE
CREATURES with double strike deal COMBAT DAMAGE twice in combat. If a creature with double strike is involved in combat, there will be two combat damage steps, the first for creatures with FIRST STRIKE and double strike, and the second for creatures with double strike and creatures that didn’t deal damage in the first combat damage step.
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E - L
ENCHANT
The enchant ABILITY of an AURA defines what that Aura targets as it’s cast as a SPELL. It also tells you what the Aura must be attached to while on the BATTLEFIELD. If an Aura is ever unattached or attached to something that doesn’t match what’s described by its enchant ability, it’s put into its OWNER’s GRAVEYARD.
ENCHANTMENT
Enchantment is a card type. Enchantments represent stable magical incantations and impact the game in a variety of ways. All enchantments are PERMANENTS that stay on the BATTLEFIELD after they’re cast. Some enchantments are AURAS and attach to permanents or PLAYERS, affecting what they attach to specifically.
ENTERS
Some CREATURES (or other PERMANENTS) have ABILITIES that say “When [this creature] enters.” These abilities trigger when the creature is put onto the BATTLEFIELD, either because you cast it or because you put it onto the battlefield some other way.
EQUIP
Found on EQUIPMENT, an equip ABILITY is an activated ability that attaches the Equipment to TARGET CREATURE you control. The cost to activate the ability is listed after the equip keyword. You can activate an equip ability only as a sorcery, meaning only during your main phase while no other SPELLS or abilities are waiting to RESOLVE.
EQUIPMENT
Equipment is a type of ARTIFACT that attaches to CREATURES. Equipment can boost a creature’s power and toughness, give it additional ABILITIES, or both. Each Equipment enters the BATTLEFIELD unattached. Its EQUIP ability allows you to attach the Equipment to a creature you control. If a creature LEAVES THE BATTLEFIELD, any Equipment attached to it remain on the battlefield so you can later attach them to other creatures you control.
EXILE
Exile is both a zone where CARDS can exist, separate from the BATTLEFIELD and GRAVEYARD, and also the instruction to move a card to that zone. To exile something, you move it from where it is to exile. Often, a card will be moved to exile indefinitely, but some effects exile cards from your LIBRARY (or other places) and allow you to PLAY them from exile for a limited time.
FIGHT
When CREATURES fight, they each deal DAMAGE equal to their power to the other at the same time. If either of the creatures is no longer on the BATTLEFIELD before the fight happens, no damage is dealt and the fight does not occur.
FIRST STRIKE
CREATURES with first strike deal COMBAT DAMAGE before other creatures. If there is a creature with first strike or DOUBLE STRIKE involved in combat, there is an additional combat damage step where only creatures with first strike or double strike deal combat damage. Then, during a second combat damage step, where all attacking and blocking creatures that haven’t yet dealt combat damage do so.
FLASH
SPELLS with flash can be cast at any time, including during combat or during an OPPONENT’s turn, just like instants.
FLYING
Attacking CREATURES with flying can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying or REACH. A blocking creature with flying can block an attacking creature with or without flying.
GOAD
If you goad a CREATURE, until your next turn, that creature attacks each combat if able and, if you’re in a multiplayer game, it attacks a PLAYER other than you if able. Some AURAS goad a creature for as long as those Auras are attached to that creature.
GRAVEYARD
Each PLAYER has their own graveyard. Any PERMANENT they OWN that’s DESTROYED is put into their graveyard. After you cast an instant or sorcery SPELL, that CARD is put into your graveyard. Additionally, any card you DISCARD is put into your graveyard, as well as cards you MILL from your LIBRARY. Cards in graveyards are always face up, so any player may see what’s in anyone’s graveyard.
HAND
Each PLAYER has their own hand, representing the CARDS you can PLAY at any given time. Your hand is secret, so don’t reveal it unless an effect tells you to. Each time you draw a card, you put the top card of your LIBRARY into your hand. Other effects put cards into your hand in different ways.
HASTE
CREATURES with haste can attack and their (TAP) abilities can be activated as soon as they come under a PLAYER’s CONTROL. They ignore “summoning sickness.”
HEXPROOF
A PERMANENT with hexproof can’t be chosen as the TARGET of a SPELL or ABILITY an OPPONENT controls. It can still be targeted by its CONTROLLER’s spells and abilities, and spells and abilities that don’t target may still affect it.
INDESTRUCTIBLE
A CREATURE with indestructible can’t be DESTROYED by DAMAGE or effects that say “destroy.” Creatures with indestructible can still be SACRIFICED or EXILED, and they will still die if they have toughness 0 or less.
KICKER
Kicker is an optional ADDITIONAL COST that gives SPELLS an alternative or additional effect if that cost is paid. If a spell’s kicker cost is paid, the spell is “kicked.” Some CREATURES have kicker and will have an ABILITY that triggers when it ENTERS if it was kicked.
LANDFALL
Landfall ABILITIES are triggered abilities that trigger every time a land you CONTROL ENTERS. Each landfall ability has a different effect, but they all trigger for each new land you control that enters. This could be because you PLAYED a land or because you PUT land onto the BATTLEFIELD because of a different effect.
LEAVES THE BATTLEFIELD
A PERMANENT leaves the BATTLEFIELD when it moves from the battlefield to any other zone. It might return to its OWNER’s HAND from the battlefield, go to a GRAVEYARD, or be EXILED. If a permanent leaves the battlefield and later returns, it has no memory of any effects or anything about the last time it was on the battlefield. It’s like a brand new permanent.
LEGENDARY
Legendary is a supertype, found before the card types on a card’s type line. If a PLAYER controls two or more legendary PERMANENTS with the same name, one of them can stay on the BATTLEFIELD and the rest must be put into the GRAVEYARD. In the popular Commander format, players use legendary CREATURES to set their deck’s theme and colors.
LIBRARY
During the game, your deck is known as your library. At the beginning of the game, it’s shuffled and kept face down throughout the game. Each time you draw a CARD, the top card of your library is put into your HAND. Several cards let you search your library for different types of cards and put them into your hand.
LIFELINK
DAMAGE dealt by a SOURCE with lifelink also causes its CONTROLLER to gain that much life. There’s no limit to how high a PLAYER’s life total can go.
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M - S
MANA
Mana is the magical energy used to cast SPELLS. It’s mainly produced by lands, although other effects can also add mana. There are six types of mana: white , blue , black , red , green , and colorless 
.
MANA ABILITY
An ABILITY that generates MANA. Mana abilities can be activated abilities or triggered abilities. Mana abilities don’t go on the STACK or wait to RESOLVE—you simply get the mana immediately.
MANA COST
A CARD’s mana cost tells you how much MANA and what kind of mana you need to cast that card as a SPELL. Mana costs are found in the upper right corner. Each colored symbol can be paid with one mana of that color, while a numerical symbol represents a generic cost that can be paid with mana of any type.
MANA VALUE
Mana value is the total amount of MANA in a CARD’s MANA COST, ignoring color. For example, the mana value of a card with a mana cost of 
is 4. (Each is one mana, so 2 + 1 + 1 = 4).
MENACE
CREATURES with menace can’t be blocked except by two or more creatures.
MILL
To mill a number of CARDS, you put that many cards from the top of your LIBRARY into your GRAVEYARD.
MULLIGAN
At the beginning of a game, you draw the top seven CARDS of your LIBRARY. If you don’t like your starting HAND for any reason, you can take a mulligan. To take a mulligan, SHUFFLE your hand back into your library and draw a new hand of seven cards. If you are satisfied with that hand, put one card from it on the bottom of your library. If not, you can take another mulligan. You can take a mulligan as many times as you want, but you put one card on the bottom of your library for each mulligan you take.
OPPONENT
A person you’re playing against is your opponent. If a CARD says “an opponent,” it means one of its CONTROLLER’s opponents.
OWNER
The person who starts the game with a CARD in their deck is that card’s owner. Even if your OPPONENT gains CONTROL of one of your PERMANENTS, you’re still its owner. (If you loaned your friend a deck, they’re the “owner” of all the cards in it during the game.) The owner of a TOKEN is the PLAYER who created it.
PERMANENT
Every CARD or TOKEN on the BATTLEFIELD is a permanent. They include ARTIFACTS, CREATURES, ENCHANTMENTS, lands, PLANESWALKERS, and more. Once a permanent is on the battlefield, it stays there until it’s DESTROYED, EXILED, SACRIFICED, or otherwise put into another zone by an effect or rule.
PLANESWALKER
Planeswalkers are formidable allies you can call on. Planeswalkers are PERMANENTS. Each one enters the BATTLEFIELD with a number of loyalty counters on them based on their starting loyalty, found in the lower right corner of the card. You may activate one of their loyalty ABILITIES each turn by adding or removing loyalty counters from it. Planeswalkers may be attacked by opposing CREATURES, and many SPELLS and abilities that cause DAMAGE to be deal can affect planeswalkers. Any damage dealt to a planeswalker causes that many loyalty counters to be removed from it. If a planeswalker ever has no loyalty counters on it, it’s put into its OWNER’s GRAVEYARD.
PLAY
To play a CARD means either CASTING A SPELL or putting a land onto the BATTLEFIELD during your main phase as your one land per turn.
PLAYER
You and your OPPONENTS are all players. If a SPELL or ABILITY lets you choose a player, you can choose yourself. You can’t choose yourself if the spell or ability says “opponent.”
PUT ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD
When a SPELL or ABILITY tells you to put something onto the BATTLEFIELD, you move that CARD into the battlefield zone. This is different than CASTING it—you just put it onto the battlefield without paying its costs.
REACH
CREATURES with reach can block creatures with FLYING.
RESOLVE
When a SPELL completes its effect and is PUT ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD (PERMANENTS) or into the GRAVEYARD (instants and sorceries), that’s called “resolving” the spell.
SACRIFICE
If a SPELL or ABILITY tells you to sacrifice a kind of PERMANENT, choose one of your permanents of that type on the BATTLEFIELD and put it into its OWNER’s GRAVEYARD. You can sacrifice only permanents you CONTROL. A permanent that’s sacrificed isn’t DESTROYED—sacrifice is a different way for a permanent to be put into the graveyard. You can sacrifice a permanent only if a spell or ability tells you to or if it’s part of a cost.
SAGA
A Saga is a subtype of ENCHANTMENT that tells a story over multiple turns. Each Saga enters with a lore counter on it. As your first main phase starts each turn, you put another lore counter on it. Each symbol on the left of a Saga’s text box represents a chapter ABILITY that triggers when the number of lore counters on the Saga reaches that number. PLAYERS can respond to chapter abilities. After the final chapter ability RESOLVES, the story is finished and the Saga is SACRIFICED.
SCRY
Scry is a keyword action that allows a PLAYER to see the future! “Scry N” means you look at N CARDS from the top of your LIBRARY. You can put any number of those cards on the bottom of your library, then you put the rest back on top of your library in any order.
SHUFFLE
Some CARDS will instruct you to shuffle. This is a keyword action that has you randomize the cards of your LIBRARY, so that no one knows the order of its contents.
SOURCE
DAMAGE and ABILITIES each come from a SPELL or PERMANENT—the source of that damage or ability. Once an ability is on the STACK, removing its source doesn’t stop it from RESOLVING.
SPELL
A spell is any CARD or copy that’s on the STACK waiting to RESOLVE. All cards except lands are cast as spells. Once a spell resolves, it’s no longer called a spell. For example, if you cast a CREATURE spell, once it resolves, it’s put onto the BATTLEFIELD, where it’s simply a creature.
STACK
The stack is a zone where SPELLS and ABILITIES go before they RESOLVE. This allows PLAYERS to respond to them. This system of interaction adds strategic depth and gives players countless opportunities to outmaneuver their OPPONENTS. Each time a player casts a spell, activates an ability, or has a triggered ability trigger, that spell or ability goes on top of the stack. If no player has any responses, the top spell or ability on the stack resolves. If the stack is empty and no player wishes to take any actions, the game advances to the next step or phase.
STATION
Station is an ABILITY often found on Spacecraft. It allows you to put charge counters on the PERMANENT that has it. To activate a station ability, TAP an untapped CREATURE you control. As the ability RESOLVES, you put charge counters equal to that creature’s power onto the permanent. Cards with station have additional abilities if the number of charge counters is equal to or greater than the number in the circle to the left. Some station cards also become creatures as they charge up! Look for a power/toughness box next to those abilities.
STUN COUNTER
A special type of counter that stops a PERMANENT from UNTAPPING. If a tapped permanent with one or more stun counters on it would untap, instead remove one stun counter from it and it stays tapped.
SURVEIL
To surveil a number of CARDS, you look at that many cards from the top of your LIBRARY. You may put each of those cards either into your GRAVEYARD or on top of your library in any order.
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T - Z
TAP
Tapping a CARD is a way to show that it’s been used for the turn. Lands tap when you use them for MANA. CREATURES tap when they attack. Other PERMANENTS may tap when their ABILITIES are activated. To tap a card, turn it sideways. Tapped permanents you CONTROL UNTAP at the beginning of each of your turns.
TARGET
Some SPELLS and ABILITIES require you to choose a target. The spell or ability will specify what kind of target is required, and you choose that target when you cast the spell or activate the ability. For example, Adamant Will is an instant spell that gives target creature +2/+2 and indestructible until end of turn. As you cast it, you choose a creature to be the target of the spell. If a spell “deals DAMAGE to any target,” you can choose any creature or PLAYER as the target for that spell. If all the targets of a spell or ability have become illegal as that spell or ability tries to RESOLVE, the spell or ability won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen.
TOKEN
Some SPELLS and ABILITIES can CREATE tokens. Tokens are always PERMANENTS, and they’re affected by all the rules, spells, and abilities that affect permanents. If one of your tokens LEAVES THE BATTLEFIELD, however, it moves to the new zone (such as your GRAVEYARD or your HAND) and then immediately vanishes from the game.
TRAMPLE
A keyword ABILITY found on CREATURES. Trample allows a creature to deal excess COMBAT DAMAGE to the PLAYER it’s attacking, even if the creature is blocked. If you’re attacking with a creature that has trample and it is blocked, you have to assign its combat damage to the creatures blocking it first. If it destroys all of those creatures, then you can assign any excess DAMAGE to the player it’s attacking. If an attacking creature with trample is blocked, but there are no creatures blocking it when damage is assigned (for example, if you used a SPELL to DESTROY the blocking creature), then all of its damage is assigned to the player it’s attacking. Trample does not work on PLANESWALKERS, unless the creature has “Trample over planeswalkers”.
UNTAP
To untap a PERMANENT, straighten it out to indicate it’s ready to be TAPPED again. All tapped permanents you CONTROL untap at the beginning of each of your turns.
VEHICLE
Vehicle is a subtype of ARTIFACT. Vehicle cards have a power/toughness printed on them, and they become CREATURES temporarily while crewed. You can CREW a Vehicle by tapping creatures with power equal to or greater than its crew requirement (see above).
VIGILANCE
CREATURES with vigilance don’t TAP when they attack.
X
Some SPELLS and ABILITIES have the symbol 
in their cost. You can choose any value for X, as long as you have enough MANA to pay for it. The amount of mana you pay determines the value of X in the spell or ability’s effect. Sometimes, an effect that includes X will tell you how to calculate the value of X in the text of the effect.
YOU
The word “you” on a SPELL or ABILITY refers to the current CONTROLLER of that spell or ability.
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