Magic The Gathering - Glossary

This is an unofficial list of terms and abbreviations commonly used in relation to Magic, along with short definitions. Additions or corrections should be sent to whicken@tower.itis.com.

Last updated: May 25, 1994

Alpha Edition - The original print run of Magic cards, 35 of which were discontinued starting with the Revised Edition. This set was released around September 20, 1993, and consists of 2.6 million cards. For the Beta Edition, CoP: Black, Volcanic Island, and 1 of each basic land were added to bring the total to 302 cards. The alpha edition can be distinguished from the beta edition by the larger corner radius on the alpha cards.
AN (abbreviation) - Arabian Nights.
Ante - The stakes for which the game is being played. Typically this is one card taken from the top of each deck before the games begins.
Artifact - a magically powered object; also one of the basic spell types. Mages who build Artifacts are called Artificers.
Antiquities - Second expansion set for Magic: The Gathering, based on the War of the Artificers. There are 100 unique cards in this set (counting multiples of some cards which have different art, e.g. Mishra's Factory), 19 of which (so far) have been recirculated into the Revised Edition. Approximately 15 million cards were printed. The symbol for the Antiquities is an anvil.
Arabian Nights - First expansion set for Magic: The Gathering, released on December 17, 1993, based on stories from A 1001 Arabian Nights. There are 78 unique cards in this set, 20 of which (so far) have been recirculated into the Revised Edition. The symbol for the Arabian Nights is a scimitar.
Approximately 5 million cards were printed. Although the set contained 78 unique cards, 14 of these have two variants so collectors consider it a 92 card set. The Erg Raiders, Oublitte, Fishliver Oil, Giant Tortoise, Naf's Asp, Wyluli Wolf, Bird Maiden, Rukh Egg, Army of Allah, Moorish Cavalry, Piety, and War Elephant have versions with light and dark backgrounded colorless mana symbols. The Hasran Ogress and Stone Throwing Devils have a variation with whitish versus orangish black mana symbols in the casting cost.
AQ (abbreviation) - Antiquities.
Banding - A special ability which allows a creature to combine with other creatures for attack or defense. Banding can be broken down into Mutual Assistance and Damage Sharing.
Bands with Other - A special ability first introduced in Legends.
Banned List - A list of cards banned during official Convocation tournaments.
Basic Land - Plains (white), Islands (blue), Mountains (red), Forests (green), and Swamps (black).
BEB (abbreviation) - Blue Elemental Blast.
Beta Edition - The original run of Magic cards, black bordered. This set was released on October 4, 1993, and consists of 7.3 million cards. The beta set corrects many errors on the alpha cards.
Black - One of the five colors. Black magic is the magic of death, and gains its power from Swamps and Bogs. Its traditional enemies are Green and White.
Bleeder Deck - A deck constructed to deny the opponent cards at every opportunity, and bury them when he does get them.
Blue - One of the five colors. Blue magic is the magic of the mind, and gains its power from Islands. Blue magicians are often adept at deceiving others and casting illusions. Air and water are also strongly associated with Blue. Its traditional enemies are Green and Red.
Booster Pack - (Also known as simply Booster) A smallish pack of Magic cards, typically 8 to 15, which retail for about $1.50 to $2.50. Revised Edition boosters have 15 cards for $2.45, and typically contain 1 Rare, 3 Uncommons, and 11 Commons, although there's no guarantee. Cards can also be bought in Starter Decks.
Buried - Sent to Graveyard without chance of regeneration.
Chronicles - An unlimited Magic: The Gathering expansion set, reprinting cards from the first 5 Magic expansion sets. These cards will be white-bordered.
Collector's Edition - A special set of Magic cards which was distributed as a complete set. There were ten thousand of these printed. They have square corners and the words "Collector's Edition" on the back in gold. There were also five thousand International Editions printed for sales overseas. This set was released on December 10, 1993. Collector's Edition cards are forbidden from official Convocation tournaments.
CoP (abbreviation) - Circle of Protection.
Convocation - see Duelist Convocation.
Cumulative Upkeep - coming soon.
Dark, The - Fourth expansion set for Magic: The Gathering. Based on the Dark Ages of Dominia. There are 119 unique cards in this set, and about 70 million were printed. The symbol for The Dark is a crescent.
Discard Phase - The fifth phase of your turn. If you are holding more than seven cards at this point, you must discard to the graveyard until you have exactly seven cards.
Dominia - The multiverse where Magic: The Gathering takes place. For a more complete description, refer to the PPG.
Duelist - Official magazine published by Wizards of the Coast, dedicated to Magic and other collectible trading card games.
Duelist Convocation - Offical organization from Wizards of the Coast for players.
Duelist Supplement - Addendum to the Duelist, released in June 1994. Describes differences between Unlimited and Revised cards, and so forth.
Enchant - One of the basic spell types. In addition to the basic Enchantment, there is Enchant Land, Enchant Artifact, Enchant Creature, Enchant Wall, and Enchant World. Enchantments are permanent until destroyed (or the card they are enchanting is destroyed). They may only be cast during your Main phase.
End Phase - The sixth phase of your turn. This is the phase where you let your opponent know you are finished (since it isn't always obvious).
Expansion Set - A limited edition run of Magic cards (typically 90 to 310), printed with a black border. The expansions announced or released so far are:
- Arabian Nights
- Antiquities
- Legends
- The Dark
- Fallen Empires
- Ice Age
- Chronicles - a white-bordered, unlimited expansion.
Fallen Empires - Fifth Magic: The Gathering expansion set, released November 14, 1994. There are 102 unique cards, but 187 unique illustrations - many of the common cards have different versions. A whole bunch of these were/are being printed. The symbol for Fallen Empires is a crown.
Fast Effect - Interrupts, Instants, and effects of Permanents which are not continuous. Fast effects may happen at any time except during the damage-dealing subphase.
First Edition - see Beta Edition.
First Strike - A creature with first strike will not take any damage if the creature they are fighting takes a lethal amount of damage during the exchange. Two first strike creatures are considered to attack each other simultaneously.
Flying - A creature with this ability cannot be blocked by non-flying creatures.
FoN (abbreviation) - Force of Nature.
Forestwalk - A creature with this ability cannot be blocked if the defender has Forests in play (see Walk).
Fourth Edition - The current standard set of Magic cards, distributed in Starter Decks and Booster Packs.
Gold - Cards with a gold-border are multi-colored, i.e. casting requires mana of more than one color. They should be considered as though they are of each of the colors needed to cast (there is no gold color as such, nor are they colorless). So far, all legends have been gold.
GoM (abbreviation) - Gauntlet of Might.
Graveyard - Where cards go when they are killed, used, discarded, or otherwise taken from active play. Some cards will allow you to later bring cards back from the Graveyard. Any player may, at any time, look through anyone's graveyard.
Green - One of the five colors. Green magic is the magic of life and peace, and draws its energies from forests. Its traditional enemies are Blue and Black.
Heal Creatures Phase - The seventh and final phase of your turn. This is the phase where all damage to creatures is healed.
Ice Age - Sixth Magic: The Gathering expansion set, scheduled for release in June of 1995.
Instant - One of the basic spell types. Unless otherwise specified, instants where off at the end of your turn. Special abilities are also considered instants for purposes of timing.
Interrupt - One of the basic spell types, it may be cast at any time. This is the only way a fast effect may be countered.
Islandwalk - A creature with this ability cannot be blocked if the defender has Islands in play (see Walk).
Land - Land is a special card type, which may only be played during your main phase, and only once per turn. There are basic lands and more exotic, special lands. Any Magic card which is not a land is a spell until successfully cast.
Legends (card) - a new kind of card introduced for the Legends expansion set. Legends cards require multiple mana to cast, and have gold borders. Only one of each Legend may be in play at a time. Note that Legendary Lands, also introduced in the Legends expansion set, have some things in common with legend cards (i.e. the uniqueness property), but are not considered legends.
Legends (expansion set) - Third expansion set for Magic: The Gathering, released June 13, 1994, based on the Legends of Dominia. There are approxiamately 300 cards in this set. 35 million cards were printed, distributed in 15 card boosters with a retail price of $2.45. Each booster also included a 16th "rules card", which explained the new rules (Legend cards, Bands with Other, Rampage, Enchant World). The Legends symbol is a broken column.
LoP (abbreviation) - Lord of the Pit.
LotP (abbreviation) - Lord of the Pit.
M:tG (abbreviation) - Magic: The Gathering.
Main Phase - The fourth phase of your turn. During this phase you may cast sorceries, enchantments, artifacts, play land cards (at most 1 per turn), and attack your opponent (at most once per turn).
Mana - A term for magical energy, used to cast spells and cause special effects. The most common source of Mana is tapping lands.
Mana Burn - Damage taken from unspent mana at the end of any phase or attack. Each point of unspent mana causes one point of damage. This damage is considered colorless.
Mana Pool - The amount of mana you have available at any given time. If you have any mana left at the end of any phase or attack, you take Mana Burn.
Mountainwalk - A creature with this ability cannot be blocked if the defender has Mountains in play (see Walk).
Permanent - any card which remains in play after being used (e.g. Land, Artifacts, Enchantments, and Creatures).
Permission Deck - A term used to describe a deck which would cause the other player to ask for permission before playing any card (due to frustration at having every card countered in one form or another). Blue decks can manage this quite well.
Phase - Your turn is broken up into several phases, which must happen in the following order:
1. Untap Phase
2. Upkeep Phase
3. Draw Phase
4. Main Phase
5. Discard Phase
6. End Phase
7. Heal Creatures Phase
Plainswalk - A creature with this ability cannot be blocked if the defender has Plains in play (see Walk).
PPG abbreviation - Pocket Players' Guide.
Pocket Players' Guide - A separate book about Magic from Wizards of the Coast. Lots of information on the basic rules, including variant rules, and collector info. Last seen selling at $7.95.
Poison - Some creatures will poison a player when damaging him or her. When any player has 10 (or more) poison counters, they lose the game. Poison was first introduced in the Legends expansion set.
Protection - A creature with protection from a color cannot be damaged, blocked, or targeted by cards or effects of that color. It may still be affected by non-damaging, non-targeting effects.
Rainbow Magic - A special five-player variation of Magic, where each player has a different, single-color deck. Described in Duelist 1, and the PPG.
RA (abbreviation) - Royal Assassin.
Rampage - A special ability first introduced in the Legends expansion set. For each defender above one, an attacking creature with rampage: x gains +x/+x until the end of the turn.
REB (abbreviation) - Red Elemental Blast.
Red - One of the five colors. Red magic is the magic of destruction, chaos, and war. It is also associated with earth and fire. Red magic derives its powers from mountains. Its traditional enemies are White and Blue.
Regeneration - Creatures on the way to the Graveyard may be regenerated under special circumstances. In this case, they return to play with any enchantments on them intact. Creatures become tapped when regenerated, but they need not have been untapped before regenerating.
Restricted List - A list of cards restricted during official Convocation tournaments. There may be no more than 1 of each of these cards in a single player's deck.
Revised Edition - Also known as the Third Edition. The current edition is the fourth.
Sacrifice - Taking a card and placing it into your graveyard. This is an unavoidable cost, even if you have a card which would normally stop something from going to the graveyard. Some cards, like Lord of the Pit require a sacrifice during upkeep.
Second Edition - see Sideboard - A term used to describe an extra set of 15 cards which may be used during tournament play to tune your deck.
Sorcery - One of the basic spell types. They take effect immediately after being cast, but may only be cast during your Main phase.
Special Ability - Some creatures have special abilities beyond those of normal creatures. Common abilities are Banding, Walking, Trample, Rampage, Flying, First Strike, and Protection.
Spells - There are six basic spell types: Artifact, Enchant, Instant, Interrupt, Sorcery, and. Summon.
Starter Deck - A pack of 60 Magic cards, including a small rulebook with everything you need to know (last seen selling at$7.95). Typically includes 2 Rares, 13 Uncommons, and 45 Commons, although there is no guarantee. Cards may also be bought in Booster Packs.
Summon - One of the basic spell types.
Summoning Sickness - A term applied to creatures the first turn they are summoned. The practical upshot of Summoning Sickness is that a creature cannot attack or using a power that requires tapping until it has been on your side at the beginning of your turn.
Supplement - see Duelist Supplement.
Swampwalk - A creature with this ability cannot be blocked if the defender has Swamps in play (see Walk).
Tapping - Tapping has two meanings in Magic. The first is the physical act of marking a card somehow, most commonly by turning it sideways or sticking a marker (beads, anyone?) on it. Sometimes the word tapping is used in the more general sense of using something, which has the side-effect of tapping a card. Cards are typically untapped during the Untap phase.
Third Edition - see Tim - A nickname for a Prodigal Sorcerer.
Trample - A special ability which lets excess damage go from a blocker directly to the defending player.
Unlimited Edition - A white-bordered set of cards, first released on December 1, 1993. This was later replaced by the Revised Edition with many improvements.
Untap Phase - The first phase of your turn, when tapped cards are untapped. All cards are considered untapped simultaneously (i.e. no one can take any actions while untapping is happening).
Upkeep Phase - The second phase of your turn, when upkeep costs are paid (e.g. paying mana, or sacrificing cards).
Walk - see Forestwalk, Islandwalk, Mountainwalk, Plainswalk, and Swampwalk. A creature with one of these abilities cannot be blocked if the defender has the appropriate type of card in play.
Wall - A special kind of creature which is not allowed to attack.
Weenie Deck - A term used to describe a deck composed primarily of creatures that take two or less mana points to summon. The best defenses against a Weenie Deck are cards which can destroy lots of small creatures in one shot, e.g. Pestilence and Earthquake.
White - One of the five colors. White magic is the magic of healing and protection, and draws its energies from the plains. Its traditional enemies are Black and Red.
WoC (abbreviation) - Word of Command.
WotC (abbreviation) - Wizards of the Coast.

Thanks to the following for additions and corrections:

Chris Bickford - <cbickfor@ucs.indiana.edu>
Aaron C. Smith - <aaron@cea.berkeley.edu>
Michael Constant - <mconst@soda.csua.berkeley.edu>
Markus Bjartveit Kruger - <markusk@stud.unit.no>

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