BinderLoot / Glossary
Words you hear at a store
The words that are not on any card, and that everybody at the table already knows.
25 terms
At the store
The events and the people you meet when you play outside your kitchen.
- Commander night
- Commander night is a casual store event where players bring Commander decks.
- Players sit in pods of three or four and play more than one game. Most tables talk about the power level before the first game. New players are welcome, and one precon deck is enough to join.
Example
You bring one Commander deck to the store. Four players sit down, and one game takes about an hour.
- See alsoPodRule zeroPrecon
- FNM
- FNM is Friday Night Magic, the weekly casual event at a game store.
- FNM is the usual first event for a new player. The format changes by store and by week, and draft is common. Ask the store which format runs this week before you build a deck.
Example
You arrive at the store on Friday evening with a deck. You play three rounds and go home.
- See alsoLGSDraft
- Judge
- A judge is the certified official who answers rules questions at an event.
- Call a judge when the table does not agree on a rule. A judge call is not an accusation, and it is the normal way to settle a question. At a casual table, players usually read the Oracle text instead.
Example
You and the opponent disagree about a trigger. You raise a hand, and the judge answers with the rule.
- See alsoOracle textFNM
- LGS
- LGS means local game store, the shop where players buy cards and play events.
- The LGS runs FNM, prereleases, and Commander nights. Store staff often help a new player choose a first deck. Prices at a store are usually higher than online, and the events are the reason to pay them.
Example
You buy a pack at your LGS on a Wednesday and stay for the Commander night after.
- See alsoFNMPrereleaseCommander night
- Pod
- A pod is the group of players at one Commander table, usually three or four.
- A pod of four is the standard Commander game. The pod agrees on the power level before the first game. A pod with one deck far above the rest is not a good game for anybody.
Example
Four players sit at one table for a Commander game. That table is your pod.
- See alsoCommander nightPower levelRule zero
- Prerelease
- A prerelease is an event on the weekend before a set goes on sale.
- You get a kit with packs, and you build a 40 card sealed deck from it. The event is casual, and the cards are new to everybody. You keep every card in the kit.
Example
You play with a new set one week before it reaches the shelves. You open six packs and build a deck there.
- See alsoSealedPackLGS
- Rule zero
- Rule zero is the talk before a casual game about what the table allows.
- The players agree on the power level, on proxies, and on cards that nobody enjoys. Rule zero has no official text, and it works only with an honest answer from every player. Have the talk before the first card, not after a bad game.
Example
Before the game you ask whether a fast combo is welcome. The table says no, and you play another deck.
- See alsoPower levelBracketProxy
Draft and sealed
The two ways players build a deck out of packs on the spot.
- Pack
- A pack is a sealed booster of random cards from one set.
- A Play Booster is the pack type for a normal set, and draft and sealed events use it. A Collector Booster holds special versions at a higher price. The card list and the odds change with the type of pack.
Example
You open a sealed pack. The cards inside are random, and one of them is a rare or a mythic rare.
- See alsoDraftSealedFoil
- Draft
- In a draft, players open packs and pick one card at a time, then build a deck.
- A table of eight players passes the packs around, and each player takes one card per pass. After three packs, each player builds a deck of 40 cards with free basic lands. The cards that you pick are yours to keep.
Example
Eight players open a pack, take one card, and pass the rest. You end with forty five cards and build a deck.
- See alsoSealedPackBomb
- Sealed
- In a sealed event, you build a 40 card deck from six packs that you open.
- You keep every card, and you cannot trade for cards during the event. Sealed decks are slower than constructed decks, so the games last longer. Basic lands are free at the event.
Example
You open six packs and build a forty card deck from what is inside. Nobody trades and nobody passes.
- See alsoDraftPrereleasePack
Words about the cards themselves
Printings, prices, and where the real wording of a card lives.
- Foil
- A foil is a card with a shiny finish, printed in smaller numbers than the normal card.
- A foil plays the same as the normal card, and no format treats it differently. Foils often bend, so put them in sleeves. The price of a foil is not always higher than the price of the normal version.
Example
You pull a shiny version of a common. The card plays the same, and it trades for more.
- See alsoReprint
- Oracle text
- The Oracle text is the current official wording of a card.
- Wizards of the Coast updates the wording of old cards to match the current rules. The printed text on an old card can be wrong, and the Oracle text is the text that counts. Look up the Oracle text on Scryfall or in Gatherer.
Example
Your old printing reads differently from the app. The Oracle text is the wording that counts at the table.
- See alsoScryfallJudge
- Precon
- A precon is a preconstructed deck that you can buy and play at once.
- Wizards of the Coast sells Commander precons with each set. A precon is the cheapest way to start a Commander deck. Most players upgrade a precon with ten to twenty cards over time.
Example
You buy a Commander precon on the way to the store and play it that evening without changing a card.
- See alsoCommander nightBracket
- Proxy
- A proxy is a stand-in card that represents a card that you do not own.
- A proxy is not legal in a sanctioned event. Many casual tables allow proxies, and the group decides this under rule zero. A proxy lets you test an expensive card before you buy it.
Example
The card costs two hundred euros. You print a stand-in for a casual game, and the table agrees first.
- See alsoRule zeroPlaytesting
- Reprint
- A reprint is a new printing of an old card in a later set or product.
- A reprint lowers the price of a card and makes it easier to find. The new printing is the same card, and it is legal wherever the card is legal. Cards on the Reserved List never get a reprint.
Example
A card from 1999 appears in a new set. More copies exist, and the price falls.
- See alsoReserved ListOracle text
- Reserved List
- The Reserved List is a set of old cards that Wizards of the Coast never reprints.
- The company made that promise in 1996, after collectors complained about reprints. The cards on the list are expensive, because the supply never grows. Many of those cards are legal in Commander and in Legacy.
Example
A card on the Reserved List stays rare forever. No new printing arrives to bring the price down.
- See alsoReprintProxy
- Scryfall
- Scryfall is the community card search engine for Magic.
- It holds the Oracle text, the images, the prices, and the printings of every card. A search language lets you filter by color, by type, and by format. Many deck tools read the Scryfall API.
Example
You search Scryfall for green creatures under three mana. The search names every printing in seconds.
- See alsoOracle text
- Staple
- A staple is a card that appears in most decks of a format.
- Sol Ring is a staple of Commander, and it is in every Commander precon. Staples hold their price, because every new deck wants them. Buy staples first, because they move from deck to deck.
Example
Almost every Commander deck plays the same two mana ramp artifact. That card is a staple of the format.
- See alsoPreconNetdecking
Words you hear across the table
What players say during a game, and what they expect you to do about it.
- Bomb
- A bomb is a card that wins the game if the opponent has no answer.
- The word comes from limited, where one large rare often decides the game. Take the bomb early in a draft. In constructed, a bomb still needs a deck that survives long enough to cast it.
Example
You open a 6/6 with flying in your sealed pool. Nobody at the table answers it, and it wins every game.
- See alsoDraftSealedThreat
- Bracket
- A bracket is the Commander power level scale from one to five.
- The five brackets are Exhibition, Core, Upgraded, Optimized, and cEDH. Bracket three is the normal home for an upgraded deck. Wizards of the Coast keeps a Game Changers list of strong cards that push a deck into a higher bracket.
Example
You say that your deck is bracket two. The table knows to expect a casual game with no fast combo.
- See alsoPower levelRule zerocEDH
- cEDH
- cEDH is competitive Commander, where every deck plays to win as fast as possible.
- cEDH decks use fast mana, search effects, and combos, and games often end in the first turns. The format uses the normal Commander rules and the normal Commander ban list. A cEDH deck in a casual pod is a bad match for everybody.
Example
A cEDH pod takes one turn each, and the game ends on turn three.
- See alsoBracketComboPower level
- Chump block
- A chump block is a block with a small creature that you expect to lose.
- You trade one creature for the damage that it stops. Chump block when the damage kills you, and not before. A creature with trample makes a chump block much weaker.
Example
A 7/7 attacks and you are at five life. You block with a 1/1 token, lose the token, and stay alive.
- See alsoBlockingTrample
- Power level
- Power level is how strong a deck is next to the other decks at the table.
- A high power level is not better, because the goal is a match between the decks. Describe a deck by its speed, its search effects, and its combos. The bracket system gives the table a shared word for this.
Example
Your deck wins on turn four and the other three decks win on turn ten. Your power level is wrong for that table.
- See alsoBracketRule zeroPod
- Scoop
- To scoop is to concede the game and pick up your cards.
- A player can concede at any time, even without priority. A scoop is normal when the game is over and the result is clear. In a match, a scoop gives the game to the opponent and saves time for the next game.
Example
You cannot win and three players are waiting. You scoop, and the next game starts at once.
- See alsoPriority
- Top-deck
- To top-deck is to draw the exact card that you need from the top of your library.
- Players also say top-deck mode for a game where both hands are empty. A deck with card draw wins top-deck mode. Scry and surveil raise the chance of a good top-deck.
Example
You are at one life and hold no cards. You draw the removal spell that you needed, and you survive.
- See alsoScrySurveilCard draw