Learn to Play

Game Glossary

The lingo you’ll hear around the table, explained in plain English.

Mana

The resource spent to cast spells, produced by tapping lands.

Tap / Untap

Turning a card sideways to use its ability or pay a cost; it untaps at the start of your next turn.

Mana Curve

The spread of how much mana your deck's spells cost, from cheap to expensive.

Command Zone

The special zone where your Commander starts each game, and returns to if it would die or leave the battlefield.

Commander Tax

Each time you cast your Commander from the command zone again, it costs {2} more than the last time.

Singleton

A deck-building rule allowing only one copy of each card, apart from basic lands.

Pod

The regular group of people you play Commander with — power level and house rules are usually agreed within a playgroup.

Removal

Cards that deal with an opponent's threats, e.g. destroying, exiling, or bouncing them.

Ramp

Cards or effects that let you produce more mana earlier than usual.

Board Wipe

An effect that destroys most or all creatures/permanents in play, resetting the board.

EDH

Short for Elder Dragon Highlander, the original name for the Commander format — you'll still hear the two used interchangeably.

The Stack

Where spells and abilities wait to resolve, last in first out. If you respond to something, your response resolves first.

ETB

Short for "enters the battlefield" — a trigger that happens the moment a permanent shows up under your control.

Tutor

A card that lets you search your library for a specific card, usually putting it in your hand or onto the battlefield.

Value

Getting more out of a card than you put in — extra cards, extra mana, or extra board presence for the same investment.

Token

A marker (not a real card) representing a creature or other permanent, usually created by another card's effect.

Wheel

An effect where everyone discards their hand and draws a fresh one — a big swing in a format built around multiple opponents.

Precon

Short for "preconstructed deck" — an unmodified, factory-built Commander deck. Every deck we build is customized, not a precon.

Flying

A creature with flying can only be blocked by other creatures with flying or reach — a common way to get damage through.

Trample

Excess combat damage beyond what's needed to kill a blocker spills over to the defending player.