BinderLoot / Glossary
Card keywords
The single words printed on a card that stand for a whole rule.
52 terms
Keywords that change combat
These words decide who can block, who deals damage first, and what that damage does.
- Annihilator
- Whenever this creature attacks, the defending player sacrifices N permanents.
- Annihilator triggers when the creature attacks, before the defending player declares blockers. That player chooses which permanents to sacrifice. A block does not stop the trigger, and the sacrifice happens even when the attacker dies in combat.
Example
A creature with annihilator 2 attacks. Before you declare blockers, you sacrifice two of your permanents, and you choose which ones.
- See alsoSacrificeBlocking
- Deathtouch
- Any damage from this creature to another creature destroys that creature.
- One point of damage is enough. Deathtouch does not destroy a creature with indestructible, because the damage is still damage. Deathtouch with trample assigns one damage to each blocker and the rest to the player.
Example
Your 1/1 with deathtouch blocks a 6/6. One damage is lethal from that creature, so the 6/6 is destroyed.
- See alsoIndestructibleTrample
- Defender
- This creature cannot attack.
- A creature with defender can still block, and it can still use activated abilities. Walls and other creatures with high toughness use defender to hold the ground. Some cards remove defender or let the creature attack anyway.
Example
Your 0/4 with defender blocks every turn and never attacks, even when the opponent controls no creatures.
- See alsoBlocking
- Double strike
- This creature deals combat damage twice, in the first strike step and the normal step.
- A creature with double strike deals its damage in two steps. If it kills the blocker in the first strike step, the second hit reaches nobody without trample. Double strike also doubles the life that lifelink gains.
Example
Your 3/3 with double strike attacks and nothing blocks. It deals three damage, then three more, so the opponent loses six life.
- See alsoFirst strikeTrampleLifelink
- Exalted
- Whenever a creature that you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
- Attacks alone means that it is the only creature that attacks this turn. Each instance of exalted triggers, so three exalted permanents give +3/+3. The bonus goes to the attacking creature, even when the exalted permanent is something else.
Example
You attack with one creature and leave the rest at home. Each exalted ability gives that lone attacker +1/+1 until end of turn.
- See alsoCombat damage
- Fight
- Two creatures fight, and each one deals damage equal to its power to the other.
- Fight damage is not combat damage, and a fight can happen outside combat. Both creatures deal damage at the same time, so both can die. If one creature leaves the battlefield before the fight resolves, neither creature deals damage.
Example
Your 4/4 fights their 2/2. The 2/2 takes four damage and dies, and your creature takes two damage and lives.
- See alsoCombat damageDeathtouch
- First strike
- This creature deals combat damage before creatures without first strike.
- Combat damage happens in two steps when a creature with first strike is in combat. If the first strike damage kills the other creature, that creature deals no damage back. First strike does not help against a creature that survives the first hit.
Example
Your 2/2 with first strike blocks a 2/2. Your creature deals its damage first, so it kills the attacker and survives.
- See alsoDouble strikeCombat damage
- Flying
- A creature with flying can be blocked only by creatures with flying or reach.
- Flying limits who can block the creature. It does not limit what the creature can block, so a flying creature can block a ground creature. Flying does not protect the creature from removal or from a spell that deals damage.
Example
Your 2/2 with flying attacks. The opponent controls two 3/3 creatures on the ground, and neither one can block it.
- See alsoReachBlockingMenace
- Haste
- This creature can attack and use tap abilities on the turn that it arrives.
- Haste removes summoning sickness. A creature without haste must wait until the start of your next turn before it attacks. Haste does not matter for a creature that only blocks, because blocking never needs haste.
Example
You cast a 4/4 with haste on turn four and attack with it the same turn. It does not wait.
- See alsoSummoning sicknessVigilance
- Landwalk
- This creature cannot be blocked if the defending player controls a land of the named type.
- Islandwalk, forestwalk, and the other forms each name one land type. The land type matters, and the color of the deck of the opponent does not. Scryfall lists each form under its own name, for example Islandwalk.
Example
Your creature has islandwalk. The opponent controls one Island, so nothing can block your creature at all.
- See alsoBlocking
- Lifelink
- Damage from this source also gains you that much life.
- Lifelink works for combat damage and for any other damage from the source. The life gain happens at the same time as the damage, not afterwards. Two creatures with lifelink that trade in combat both gain you life.
Example
Your 3/3 with lifelink attacks and nothing blocks. The opponent loses three life and you gain three life.
- See alsoDeathtouchCombat damage
- Menace
- This creature cannot be blocked except by two or more creatures.
- Menace forces the defending player to spend two blockers on one attacker. A player with one creature cannot block it at all. Menace and flying together are hard to stop, because the two blockers also need flying or reach.
Example
Your 3/3 with menace attacks. The opponent controls one creature, so nobody can block, and the damage goes through.
- See alsoFlyingBlocking
- Prowess
- Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
- Prowess triggers on the cast and not on the resolution, so a countered spell still gives the bonus. Each prowess creature triggers for each noncreature spell. The bonus ends in the cleanup step of the turn.
Example
You attack with a 1/1 with prowess and then cast an instant. The creature is a 2/2 and it deals two damage.
- See alsoSpellCleanup step
- Reach
- A creature with reach can block creatures with flying.
- Reach does not give flying, and it does not let the creature fly over blockers. It only removes the block restriction of flying. Spiders and large defenders often carry reach.
Example
A 2/2 with flying attacks you. Your 1/4 with reach blocks it, because reach catches what flies.
- See alsoFlyingBlocking
- Trample
- Assign lethal damage to the blockers, and the rest goes to the defending player.
- Trample needs a blocker to trample over, because an unblocked creature already deals all of its damage. Lethal damage counts the damage that is already on the blocker. Deathtouch with trample makes one damage lethal for each blocker.
Example
Your 5/5 with trample is blocked by a 1/1. One damage kills the blocker and the other four hit the opponent.
- See alsoBlockingDeathtouchCombat damage
- Vigilance
- Attacking does not cause this creature to tap.
- A creature with vigilance attacks and stays untapped, so it can block on the turn of an opponent. Vigilance does not untap a creature that is already tapped. It also keeps a tap ability available after the attack.
Example
Your 3/3 with vigilance attacks and stays untapped. On the next turn it blocks the creature that attacks you.
- See alsoTap and untapBlocking
Keywords that keep a permanent safe
These words stop removal, blockers and damage before they reach your card.
- Hexproof
- Your opponents cannot target this permanent with their spells and abilities.
- Hexproof stops targeting only. A board wipe that destroys all creatures still kills a hexproof creature, because it targets nothing. You can still target your own hexproof permanent with your own spells.
Example
The opponent casts a spell that reads destroy target creature. Your creature with hexproof cannot be chosen.
- See alsoShroudWardTargetBoard wipe
- Indestructible
- Damage and the word destroy do not remove this permanent.
- An indestructible creature survives any amount of damage and a board wipe that destroys. It still dies to a sacrifice, to exile, and to an effect that sets its toughness to 0 or lower. Deathtouch does not kill it.
Example
A board wipe destroys all creatures. Your indestructible creature stays on the battlefield and attacks next turn.
- See alsoDestroyExileSacrifice
- Protection
- Protection from a quality stops damage, Auras, blockers, and targeting from that quality.
- Remember the four letters DEBT: Damage, Enchant and Equip, Blocking, and Targeting. Protection from red stops red damage, red Auras, red blockers, and red spells that target. It does not stop a red spell that destroys every creature without targeting.
Example
Your creature has protection from red. A red creature cannot block it, a red spell cannot target it, and red damage is prevented.
- See alsoHexproofBlockingTarget
- Regenerate
- Regeneration replaces the next destruction of this creature this turn.
- You must create the shield before the destruction happens. When the shield works, the creature taps, leaves combat, and loses all damage on it. Regeneration does not stop exile, a sacrifice, or an effect that sets toughness to 0.
Example
You pay the regeneration cost before combat. Your creature takes lethal damage, and it taps and stays instead of dying.
- See alsoDestroyIndestructibleSacrifice
- Shroud
- This permanent cannot be the target of any spell or ability.
- Shroud stops every player, including you. You cannot put your own Aura on a creature with shroud. Hexproof is the newer version that stops only your opponents.
Example
Your creature has shroud. Your own spell that gives +3/+3 cannot target it either, because shroud stops every player.
- See alsoHexproofTarget
- Ward
- Ward counters an opposing spell or ability that targets this permanent unless the opponent pays.
- Ward is a triggered ability and not a shield. It triggers only on a spell or an ability that targets, so a board wipe ignores it. The opponent can pay the ward cost and continue, so ward is a tax and not a stop.
Example
Ward {2} sits on your creature. The opponent targets it with removal and must pay {2} more, or the spell is countered.
- See alsoHexproofTargetTriggered ability
Keywords that change what you pay, or when
These words cut the cost of a spell, add to it, or move the moment you can cast it.
- Affinity
- Affinity for artifacts makes this spell cost {1} less for each artifact you control.
- Affinity reduces only the generic part of the cost. The colored mana symbols stay, so a spell that costs {3} never costs less than . Affinity counts the artifacts at the moment that you cast the spell.
Example
You control three artifacts. A spell that costs {5} with affinity for artifacts costs you {2} instead.
- See alsoConvokeDelveGeneric mana
- Buyback
- Pay the extra buyback cost, and the spell returns to your hand after it resolves.
- Buyback is an additional cost that you pay as you cast the spell. If you pay it, the card goes back to your hand instead of the graveyard. A counterspell stops the spell, and the card goes to the graveyard.
Example
You pay the buyback cost on top of the normal cost. The spell resolves and returns to your hand for the next turn.
- See alsoKickerGraveyard
- Convoke
- Tap untapped creatures that you control to help pay for this spell.
- Each creature that you tap for convoke pays {1} or one mana of the color of that creature. Convoke does not use the tap ability of the creature, so a creature with summoning sickness can convoke. Those creatures stay tapped, so they cannot block on the next turn.
Example
A spell costs {4}. You tap two lands and two creatures that you control, and the creatures pay the rest.
- See alsoSummoning sicknessTap and untap
- Crew
- Tap creatures with total power N or more to turn this Vehicle into a creature.
- A Vehicle is an artifact and not a creature until you crew it. It stays a creature until the end of the turn. Crew does not use the tap ability, so a creature with summoning sickness can crew. You can crew any time that you have priority.
Example
Crew 3 asks for three power. You tap one 3/3, or a 2/2 and a 1/1, and the Vehicle attacks as a creature.
- See alsoSummoning sicknessPriority
- Cycling
- Pay the cycling cost and discard this card from your hand to draw a card.
- Cycling is an activated ability that you use from your hand. You can cycle any time that you can cast an instant. Cycling does not cast the card, so a counterspell cannot stop it.
Example
You draw a card that does nothing this game. You pay its cycling cost, discard it, and draw a fresh card.
- See alsoGraveyardFlash
- Delve
- Exile cards from your graveyard as you cast this spell to pay generic mana.
- Each card that you exile pays {1}. Delve cannot pay a colored mana symbol. The exiled cards leave your graveyard for good, so delve competes with flashback and escape for the same cards.
Example
A spell costs {6}. You exile four cards from your graveyard and pay {2}, and the spell is cast.
- See alsoExileGeneric manaEscape
- Echo
- At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this permanent unless you pay its echo cost.
- Echo triggers on the first upkeep after the permanent came under your control. You pay the echo cost one time, and the permanent stays. The echo cost is not always the same as the mana cost of the card.
Example
You cast a creature with echo on turn three. On your next upkeep you pay the echo cost, or you sacrifice it.
- See alsoUpkeepSacrifice
- Enchant
- Enchant tells you what an Aura can attach to, for example enchant creature.
- You choose the target when you cast the Aura, and the target must match the enchant line. If the enchanted permanent leaves or stops matching, the Aura goes to the graveyard. This happens as a state-based action, and nobody can respond.
Example
An Aura reads enchant creature. You cannot attach it to a land, and you pick a creature when you cast it.
- See alsoState-based actionsTarget
- Equip
- Pay the equip cost to attach this Equipment to a creature that you control.
- You can equip only during your main phase, when the stack is empty. The Equipment stays on the battlefield when the creature dies, so you can equip it again. Equip can attach the Equipment only to a creature that you control.
Example
You pay the equip cost in your main phase. The Equipment leaves one creature and attaches to another creature that you control.
- See alsoMain phaseBattlefield
- Flash
- You can cast this spell any time that you can cast an instant.
- Flash lets you hold a creature and cast it during the turn of an opponent. The creature has summoning sickness, so it cannot attack until your next turn. It can block right away, if you cast it before blockers are declared.
Example
The opponent attacks. You cast a creature with flash during their turn, and it arrives in time to block.
- See alsoSummoning sicknessPriority
- Kicker
- Kicker is an extra cost that you can pay as you cast the spell for more effect.
- You choose to pay the kicker cost when you put the spell on the stack, and you cannot change that choice later. A kicked spell and an unkicked spell are the same spell with a different result. Multikicker lets you pay the cost more than one time.
Example
The spell costs {1}. You pay {2} more for the kicker, and the spell deals extra damage when it resolves.
- See alsoBuybackStack
Keywords that give a card a second life
These words cast a card out of the graveyard, out of exile, or on a later turn.
- Escape
- Cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.
- The escape cost includes mana and the exile of other cards from your graveyard. You cast the card from the graveyard, so a counterspell can stop it. If the card returns to the graveyard, you can escape it again.
Example
Your creature card sits in the graveyard. You pay its escape cost, exile three other cards from there, and it returns.
- See alsoGraveyardDelveFlashback
- Flashback
- Cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost, then exile it.
- Flashback gives one extra use of an instant or a sorcery. The card leaves the game after it resolves, and a countered flashback spell is also exiled. You cast the card, so the normal timing of an instant or a sorcery applies.
Example
You cast the spell from your hand on turn three. On turn six you pay its flashback cost from the graveyard, and it is exiled.
- See alsoExileEscape
- Foretell
- Pay {2} during your turn to exile a card from your hand face down.
- You cast the card later for its foretell cost, which is often lower than the mana cost. You cannot cast a foretold card on the turn that you foretold it. The card stays face down, so the opponent does not know what it is.
Example
You pay {2} on turn two and hide the card face down. On a later turn you cast it for its cheaper foretell cost.
- See alsoExileMana cost
- Madness
- If you discard this card, you can exile it and cast it for its madness cost.
- Madness turns a discard into a cheaper spell. It works for a discard that you choose and for a discard that an opponent forces. If you do not cast the card, it goes to your graveyard.
Example
A spell makes you discard a card with madness. You exile it instead, pay the madness cost, and cast it at once.
- See alsoGraveyardExile
- Miracle
- If this is the first card that you drew this turn, cast it for its miracle cost.
- You must reveal the card as you draw it, before you do anything else. The miracle cost is much lower than the normal mana cost. Miracle works on any draw, not only on the draw for the turn.
Example
The first card that you draw this turn has miracle. You reveal it and pay a much smaller cost than the printed one.
- See alsoCard draw
- Morph
- Cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}.
- A face down creature has no name, no creature types, and no abilities. Pay the morph cost at any time to turn it face up. Turning it face up does not use the stack, so an opponent cannot respond.
Example
You pay {3} and play the card face down as a 2/2. Later you pay its morph cost and turn it face up.
- See alsoStackPriority
- Suspend
- Exile this card from your hand with time counters, and cast it free when they run out.
- You pay the suspend cost one time to exile the card with N time counters. Remove one counter at the beginning of each of your upkeeps. When the last counter comes off, you cast the card without paying its mana cost, and a creature gains haste.
Example
You exile the card with three time counters. One counter comes off in each of your upkeeps, and then you cast it free.
- See alsoExileUpkeepHaste
- Unearth
- Pay the unearth cost to return this creature from your graveyard to the battlefield.
- The creature comes back with haste, and the game exiles it at the beginning of the next end step. You can unearth only when you can cast a sorcery. Unearth gives one attack, not a permanent return.
Example
You pay the unearth cost and the creature returns with haste. At the end of the turn the card is exiled.
- See alsoHasteEnd stepExile
Keywords that add counters, cards or copies
These words grow a creature, dig through your library, or make more of something.
- Adapt
- Adapt N puts N +1/+1 counters on the creature if it has none.
- Adapt does nothing when the creature already has a +1/+1 counter. A second adapt on the same creature is wasted mana. The counters stay on the creature, so they raise power and toughness for the rest of the game.
Example
You pay adapt 2 on your 2/2, and it becomes a 4/4. You pay adapt 2 again later, and nothing happens.
- See also+1/+1 counter
- Amass
- Amass N puts N +1/+1 counters on an Army creature that you control.
- If you control no Army, amass first creates a 0/0 black Army token. The counters then make that token a real creature. The card names the type of the Army, for example Amass Orcs 2. Every amass can build the same Army, so the counters add up.
Example
You control no Army. Amass Orcs 2 makes a 0/0 Army token and puts two counters on it, so it is a 2/2.
- See also+1/+1 counterToken
- Cascade
- When you cast this spell, you can cast a cheaper nonland card for free.
- Cascade exiles cards from the top of your library until it exiles a nonland card with a lower mana value. You can cast that card without paying its mana cost. The other exiled cards go to the bottom of the library in a random order. Cascade triggers on the cast, so the free spell resolves first.
Example
You cast a {5} spell with cascade. You exile cards until a {3} nonland card appears, and you cast that card free.
- See alsoMana valueStack
- Connive
- To connive, draw a card and then discard a card.
- If the card that you discard is not a land, the creature that connived gets a +1/+1 counter. Connive N draws N cards and then discards N cards. You get one +1/+1 counter for each nonland card that you discard.
Example
You connive while you hold a land that you do not need. You draw a fresh card and discard the land.
- See also+1/+1 counterCard draw
- Explore
- Reveal the top card of your library, then act on what that card is.
- If the revealed card is a land, put it into your hand. If it is not a land, put a +1/+1 counter on the creature that explored. Then choose to keep that card on top of your library or put it into your graveyard.
Example
Your creature explores. You reveal a land, put it into your hand, and the creature gets no counter this time.
- See alsoSurveilLibrary
- Investigate
- Create a Clue token.
- A Clue is a colorless artifact token. The token reads "{2}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card". Investigate turns spare mana into a card later in the game. The Clue stays on the battlefield until you pay for the draw.
Example
You investigate and get a Clue token. On a later turn you pay {2}, sacrifice the Clue, and draw a card.
- See alsoTokenCard draw
- Mill
- To mill N, put the top N cards of your library into your graveyard.
- Mill moves cards between two zones, and it deals no damage. A player who must draw from an empty library loses the game. Some decks mill themselves on purpose to fill the graveyard for flashback and escape.
Example
You mill three. The top three cards of your library go to your graveyard, and you never draw them.
- See alsoLibraryGraveyard
- Proliferate
- Choose any permanents and players with counters, and give each one more of each kind.
- Proliferate adds one counter of a kind that is already there. It cannot add a kind of counter that the permanent does not have. Proliferate works on +1/+1 counters, loyalty counters, and poison counters at the same time.
Example
You proliferate. Your creature with a +1/+1 counter gets one more, and every other counter on the table grows the same way.
- See also+1/+1 counterPoison counter
- Scry
- To scry N, look at the top N cards and put any of them on the bottom.
- The cards that you keep go back on top of your library in any order that you choose. Scry sets up your next draw and hides a bad card. Scry does not draw a card by itself.
Example
You scry two. You see two cards that you cannot use and put both on the bottom, so your next draw is fresh.
- See alsoSurveilLibrary
- Storm
- When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn.
- The count includes the spells of every player, and it counts spells that were countered. The copies go on the stack above the original spell. You can choose new targets for each copy.
Example
You cast two spells this turn, then a spell with storm. The storm spell is copied twice, so it happens three times.
- See alsoStackSpell
- Surveil
- To surveil N, look at the top N cards and put any of them into your graveyard.
- The cards that you keep go back on top of your library in any order. Surveil is scry with the graveyard as the second place. A deck that uses the graveyard prefers surveil over scry.
Example
You surveil one. The top card is a land that you no longer need, so you put it into your graveyard.
- See alsoScryGraveyard