Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “New Player Resources”
Wither, from the back half of the Lorwyn block, is a pretty scary mechanic that leaves a lasting effect. Wither is a static ability that can appear on any card type. When a card with Wither deals damage to a creature, it deals that damage in the form of -1/-1 counters. Essentially, Wither is a way for damage to stick …
Magic can be an extremely complex game. Tom takes a look at 5 of the most common rules pitfalls that players run into. Magic’s last few sets have been praised for the dynamism of their card effects. Every few months the design team at WotC are pushing back the boundaries of the existing rules. We’ve gotten new keywords, new kinds …
Persist is from Lorwyn block, and has proven to have an impact that reverberates throughout Magic to this day. Persist appears on creatures. When a creature with it dies (goes from the battlefield to the graveyard), if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, it comes back to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a -1/-1 counter on it. …
Conspire is a creature-based mechanic from Lorwyn block that appears exclusively on Instants and Sorceries. You read that all correctly, none of that was a typo. Conspire lets you copy a spell that has it, as long as you control two creatures that share a color with that spell. When you cast a spell with Conspire, as you pay costs, …
Reinforce is a mechanic originally from Lorywn block, and lets you use cards to buff up your creatures. Reinforce, always written as Reinforce N, is an activated ability that works when the card with Reinforce is in your hand. It essentially turns the card into a modal card. You can play the card normally and pretty much ignore Reinforce. Or, …
Hideaway, originally from Lorwyn, appears only on six cards so far in Magic…and here they are! It represents two abilities – the first, way more boring one, is that the permanent with Hideaway will enter the battlefield tapped. The second says that when the Hideaway permanent enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library, then exile …
Champion, from Lorwyn Block, appears on creatures, and appears on those cards as “Champion a ____” where the blank is a creature type. There are two abilities that go along with Champion – the first says that when it enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you exile another ____ you control” (again, a creature type). The second ability says that …
Transfigure is from the set Future Sight, and as of the time of this post appears on only one card: Fleshwrither. It’s a pretty simple mechanic, working like Transmute but for creatures. On your turn, at sorcery speed, if Fleshwrither is on the battlefield, you may pay the Transfigure cost. When you do, sacrifice Fleshwrither, then search your library for …
Poison counters are an alternate win condition that has been around since the early days of Magic. Instead of dealing 20 damage to your opponent, you could give them 10 poison counters and win the game. But the keyword “poisonous” didn’t appear until Future Sight, where it codified the mechanic and gave tribal Sliver decks an even more powerful angle …
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty marks the return of fan-favorite mechanics like ninjutsu, as well as a powerful mechanic from the faraway plane of New Phyrexia! What is Phyrexian Mana? Phryexian mana denotes a mana cost that can be paid in one of two ways: You can either pay one mana of the appropriate color, or you can pay two life. Take …
