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Assist is a multiplayer mechanic that lets other players help you cast your spells. Might sound a little odd, but for now, here’s how it works. Assist is a static ability that changes the steps of casting the spell – specifically, when you get to the part where you pay costs. You then choose another player, and then before you …

Riot appears on creatures and is a static ability that gives you a choice: you may have the creature enter the battlefield with either haste or a +1/+1 counter. And as far as rules go, that’s about it! But there are some notes to help you out: Riot worked rather well, allowing some flexibility in your game plan depending on …

Mentor is a combat-focused creature-based triggered ability. When a creature with it attacks, you put a +1/+1 counter on another attacking creature that has less power. That’s pretty much the basics – if a Mentor creature attacks with a smaller creature, the smaller creature gets bigger. Multiple instances of the mechanic on a single creature would trigger separately, but that’s …

Afterlife is a triggered ability that appears on creatures, and triggers on those creatures’s death. It’s always written with a number after it (so, Afterlife N), and it means that when the creature with it dies, you create N 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying. And that’s…really it. Multiple instances of it on a single creature would …

Amass is a mechanic that originally appeared in War of the Spark and is now making a return in Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, but with a bit of a twist: this version is called Amass Orcs, and the armies you amass are made up, fittingly enough, of orcs. It will always be written with a number next …

The Ring, in this case, refers to The One Ring from Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. However, we’re talking about something on a lot of other cards in the set: the phrase “the Ring Tempts you.” The first time this happens in a game, you get an emblem in your Command Zone (which does exist even outside of …

Jump-Start appears on instants and sorceries, and functions from the graveyard. When a card with it is in your graveyard, you may cast that spell by paying its mana cost and discarding a card from your hand as an additional cost. You still have to follow any normal timing restrictions on the card. If you do cast a card using …

Ascend is…odd. It can exist on any card type, but works a little differently if it’s on an instant or sorcery as opposed to a permanent. On a permanent, it’s a static ability, while on an instant or sorcery, it’s a spell ability that check the game state upon resolution. In either case, Ascend means if you control ten or …

Afflict is a triggered ability that appears on creatures, and is always written with a number, like “Afflict N.” Whenever a creature with it becomes blocked, the defending player loses N life. Multiple instances of the mechanic on a single creature each trigger separately (which is something made possible by equipping Dagger of the Worthy to a creature that already …

Embalm is a creature keyword that works from the graveyard. When a creature with it is in your graveyard, you may pay that creature’s Embalm cost. When you do, you exile the creature from your graveyard and create a token copy of that creature, except that it’s white, has no mana cost, and is a zombie in addition to its …