MTG Glossary
Every keyword, counter, token, and rules term in Magic, explained with the actual rules text and worked examples.
11guides
Blood Tokens in MTG: The Best Filtering Token in the Game
A Blood token discards a card and draws a card for one mana. It is card filtering rather than card advantage, and it is at its best in graveyard and madness decks.
Cumulative Upkeep in MTG: The Self-Destructing Keyword
Cumulative upkeep adds an age counter each upkeep, then charges the cost once per counter. The total grows triangularly, so most such cards die by turn six.
Fear in MTG: The Evasion Keyword That Became Intimidate
Fear means the creature can only be blocked by artifact creatures and black creatures. It was replaced by intimidate, which was itself replaced by menace.
Food Tokens in MTG: What They Do and Which Decks Want Them
A Food token is an artifact with two, tap, sacrifice: gain three life. The lifegain is usually the least valuable thing about it, and the sacrifice is the point.
MTG Card Types Explained: All Nine, and What Each One Does
Magic has nine card types. Six are permanents that stay on the battlefield, two are spells that resolve and leave, and land is the one you play instead of casting.
Phasing in MTG: What Phasing Out Actually Does
A phased out permanent is treated as though it does not exist, yet never leaves the battlefield. That is why it dodges removal without triggering anything.
Poison Counters and Infect in MTG: The Ten Counter Kill
Ten poison counters and you lose, whatever your life total. Infect, toxic, and proliferate all feed the same counter, and life gain does nothing against it.
Protection in MTG: The Four Things It Stops (DEBT)
Protection stops Damage, Enchanting and Equipping, Blocking, and Targeting. It does not stop sacrifice, destruction, or minus one counters.
Rad Counters in MTG: How They Work and How to Use Them
Rad counters mill you and drain you at the same time, but only for nonland cards. They shrink by one each upkeep, so a single rad counter is a slow bleed.
Shroud vs Hexproof in MTG: The Difference, and Why It Matters
Shroud stops everyone targeting the permanent, including you. Hexproof only stops your opponents. Ward is a third thing entirely, and it taxes rather than prevents.
Split Second in MTG: What It Does and Why It Is Not a Counterspell
Split second stops opponents casting spells or activating abilities while your spell is on the stack. It does not stop triggers or state-based actions.