MTG 101: Magic: the Gathering Card Types

Hey peeps! It's been a while since I've posted for Mtg 101 because of my "hectic" sked. Hehehe... Anyways, here's part two of my "tutorial" on playing Magic: The Gathering trading card game. This is an explanation about the card types of Magic cards, as based on the official Magic: The Gathering Basic Rulebook.

Every Magic card has one or more types. A card’s type tells you when you can play the card and what happens to the card after you do.

Sorcery
A sorcery represents a magical incantation. You can play a sorcery only during a main phase of one of your own turns. You can’t play it when another spell is on the stack. (You’ll learn about phases and the stack in a bit.) A sorcery has its effect—in other words, you follow the instructions on the card—then you put it into your graveyard, which is the game term for your discard pile.

Instant
An instant is just like a sorcery, except you can play it just about any time you want, even during your opponent’s turn or in response to another spell. Like a sorcery, an instant has its effect, then you put it into your graveyard.

Enchantment
An enchantment represents a stable magical manifestation. An enchantment is a permanent. This means two things: You can play one only at the time you could play a sorcery, and after you play one, you’ll put it on the table in front of you, near your lands. (Most players keep their lands closer to them, then put their other cards closer to the middle of the table.) The card is now in play. Any of your cards in play is called a permanent because it sticks around permanently (well, unless something destroys it).

Some enchantments are Auras. An Aura comes into play attached to a permanent and affects that permanent while it’s in play. If the permanent leaves play, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard.

Artifact
An artifact represents a magical relic. Like an enchantment, an artifact is a permanent, so it’ll stay in play affecting the game. Artifacts are colorless, so you can play one no matter what kinds of lands you have. Some artifacts are Equipment. You can pay to attach an Equipment to a creature you control to make that creature more powerful. If the creature leaves play, the Equipment stays in play.

Creature
Creatures fight for you. They’re permanents, but unlike any other kind of permanent, creatures can attack and block. Each creature has power and toughness. Its power (the first number) is how much damage it deals in combat. Its toughness (the second number) is how much damage must be dealt to it in a single turn to destroy it. Creatures attack and block during the combat phase.

Unlike other types of permanents, creatures come into play with “summoning sickness”: a creature can’t attack, or use an ability that has the tap symbol in its cost, until it has started your turn in play under your control. You can block with a creature or play its other abilities no matter how long it’s been in play.

Artifact creatures are both artifacts and creatures. They’re colorless like other artifacts, and they can attack and block like other creatures. An artifact creature can be affected by anything that affects artifacts, as well as anything that affects creatures.

Land
Although lands are permanents, they aren’t played as spells. To play a land, just put it into play. This happens immediately, so no player can play anything else in response. You can play a land only during one of your main phases while the stack is empty. You can’t play more than one land a turn.

Most lands have abilities that make mana. You’ll use lands to make the mana you need to pay for spells and abilities.

Each basic land has a mana ability that makes one mana of a particular color. Plains make white mana, Islands make blue mana, Swamps make black mana, Mountains make red mana, and Forests make green mana. Any land other than these five is a nonbasic land.

There ya go peeps, an explanation on the Magic: The Gathering card types. For the next tutorial, I'll show to you the zones or areas when you play the Magic game. Till next time peeps and thanks for reading... =)