In a tournament setting, you might play a “limited” deck, which has a minimum number of 40 cards, with no upper limit. A player’s 60- or 40-card deck is also called their library.

When a player discards a card, uses a card, or when a creature dies or a spell is destroyed, that card is put in a player’s graveyard. The graveyard is a face-up pile that players usually place adjacent to their library.

Players deal “damage” to both creatures and to each other. Damage is dealt either by creatures or by spells. Damage is measured by the number of hit points it causes. If player one deals 4 damage to player two, player two loses 4 life. If player two started out with 20 life, she now was only 16 life. (20 - 4 = 16. )

When a player’s life total is at or below 0, that player has lost. When, at the beginning of their turn, a player can no longer draw any cards from his or her library, that player has lost. When a player has received 10 poison counters, that player has lost.

White is the color of protection and order. The symbol of white is a white orb. White’s strengths are a host of small creatures that collectively become powerful; life-gaining; reducing the powers of opposing creatures; and “equalizing” cards that wipe large swaths of cards off the board. Blue is the color of deceit and intellect. The symbol of blue is a blue water drop. Blue’s strengths are drawing cards; taking control of opponents cards; “countering,” or negating opponent’s spells; and “flying” creatures or creatures that cannot be blocked. Black is the color of decay and death. The symbol of black is a black skull. Black’s strengths are destroying creatures; forcing opponents to discard cards; making players lose life; and returning creatures from graveyards. Red is the color of fury and chaos. The symbol of red is a red fireball. Red’s strengths are sacrificing resources for great power; dealing “direct damage” to players or creatures; and destroying artifacts and lands. Green is the color of life and nature. The symbol of green is a green tree. Green’s strengths are powerful creatures with “trample”; the ability to regenerate creatures, or bring them back from the graveyard; and getting lands faster.

The five basic lands are as follows: White lands, or Plains, which produce white mana Blue lands, or Islands, which produce blue mana Black lands, or Swamps, which produce black mana Red lands, or Mountains, which produce red mana Green lands, or Forests, which produce green mana There are also different kinds of lands (dual- and tri-lands, for example), but the most a beginner needs to know is that basic lands produce mana of one color only, and that irregular lands can produce mana of two or more colors

Enchantments are “permanents,” meaning that they stay on the battlefield, unless they are destroyed. Permanents do not immediately go to the graveyard right after they are cast.

Normal artifacts: these artifacts are similar to enchantments. Equipment artifacts: these cards can be attached to creatures, giving them extra abilities. If the creature leaves the battlefield, the equipment stays on the battlefield; it doesn’t follow the creature into the graveyard, even if it was attached to it. Artifact creatures: these cards are creatures and artifacts at the same time. They are just like creatures, except they usually don’t take specific mana to summon: you can summon them with any mana you want. Because they are often colorless, most are also immune to certain spells that affect specific colors.

Creatures enter the battlefield with what’s called “summoning sickness. " Summoning sickness means that a creature cannot be “tapped,” or used, on the same turn it was brought into play. This means it cannot attack or use certain abilities that cause the creature to tap. On the other hand, the creature is allowed to block; blocking is not affected by summoning sickness. Creatures have many special abilities, such as “flying,” “vigilance,” or “trample” that we’ll learn more about later.

Each planeswalker comes with a certain number of loyalty counters, indicated in the bottom right side by a number. The symbol “+X” means “put X number of loyalty counters on this planeswalker” when you use an ability, while “-X” means “remove X number of loyalty counters from this planeswalker” when you use the ability. You can activate these abilities, and the powers that come with them only when you can use a sorcery, and only once per turn. Planeswalkers can be attacked by your opponent’s creatures and spells. You can block the oncoming attack on the planeswalker with your creatures and spells. In the case that your opponent deals damage to a planeswalker, it removes as many loyalty counters as points of damage dealt. When a planeswalker has no loyalty counters on them they are put into the graveyard.

Take a look at the card above. You’ll notice a “1” followed by a white mana symbol — the white sun. In order to summon this particular card, you need to have enough lands to produce one mana of any color, along with one white mana.

The first card, “Sylvan Bounty,” costs 5 colorless mana — mana of any kind you want — along with one green mana — mana produced by a forest, for a total of six mana. The second card, “Angelic Shield,” costs one white mana — mana produced by a Plains — along with one blue mana.

Tapping a card means that you cannot use certain abilities for one turn. If, for example, you tap a card in order to use its ability, it stays tapped until the beginning of your next turn. You can’t use its tapping ability again until it is untapped. In order to attack, you need to tap your creature. A creature expends its energy going into battle, causing it to be tapped. You do this unless the card specifically says you should not tap it. (Some cards do not tap when they attack. ) You cannot block with a creature that is tapped. When a creature is tapped, it is ineligible to block.

Power is the number of points a creature can deal in combat. If a creature has a power of 5, it deals 5 damage to any creature who chooses to block it in combat. If that creature goes unblocked in combat, it deals 5 damage directly to the opponent, who subtracts that number from his or her total life. Defense is the number of points a creature can withstand in combat before it dies and is sent to the graveyard. A creature with a defense of 4 can withstand 3 points of damage in combat without dying. Once it is dealt 4 points of damage, it goes into that player’s graveyard at the end of combat.

Let’s say that Anathemancer is attacking and Magus of the Moat is blocking. Anathemancer has a power of 2 and a defense of 2. It’s a 2/2. Magus of the Moat has a power of 0 and a defense of 3. It’s a 0/3. What happens when they square up for battle? The Anathemancer deals 2 damage to the Magus, while the Magus deals 0 damage to the Anathemancer. The 2 damage that the Anathemancer deals to the Magus isn’t enough to kill it. The Magus can withstand 3 damage before it gets put in the graveyard. On the flip side, the 0 damage the Magus deals to the Anathemancer isn’t enough to kill it. The Anathemancer can withstand 2 before it gets put in the graveyard. Both creatures survive.

Ictian Crier comes with an ability that says: “Put two 1/1 white Citizen creature tokens into play. " But there’s also some mana signs and text before it. That’s the mana cost it takes in order to activate this ability. In order to activate this ability, tap one basic land of any color (that’s for the 1 colorless mana), as well as one Plains (that’s for the one white mana). Now tap the card itself, Ictian Crier — that’s for the “tap” sign after the mana requirements. Finally, discard a card from your hand — any one will do, but you probably want to discard your least valuable card. Now you get to put two 1/1 Citizen tokens into play. These function as basic 1/1 creatures.

Untap step: the player untaps all his cards unless that card stays tapped during Untap. Upkeep step: not usually used, but sometimes a player has to pay mana — i. e. tap lands — during this step. Draw step: the player draws one card. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/b/b2/711701-21. jpg/v4-460px-711701-21. jpg”,“bigUrl”:”/images/thumb/b/b2/711701-21. jpg/aid711701-v4-728px-711701-21. jpg”,“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

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Declare attack: this is where the player first declares attack. The defender may play spells after the attack has been declared. Declare attackers: after attack has been declared, the attacking player chooses which creatures he wishes to attack with. Attacking player cannot choose which defending creatures he wishes to attack. Declare blockers: the defending player chooses which, if any, attacking creatures s/he wishes to block. Multiple blockers can be assigned to a single attacker. Assign damage: creatures deal damage to one another during this step. Attacking creatures with equal (or higher) power compared the blocking creature’s defense destroy that blocking creature. Blocking creatures with equal (or higher) power compared the attacking creature’s defense destroy that attacking creature. It is possible for both creatures to destroy each other. End of combat: nothing much happens during this phase; both players are given the opportunity to cast instants.

During this phase, the player whose turn is about to end discards down to 7 cards if s/he has more than 7 cards.

Creatures with flying, however, can block creatures without flying.

Usually, damage is assigned at the same time; if the attacking creature’s strength overpowers the defending creature’s toughness, and the defending creature’s strength overpowers the attacking creature’s toughness, both creatures die. (If neither creature’s strength is higher than the opponent’s toughness, both creatures stay alive. ) If, however, one creature has first strike, that creature is given a “first chance shot” at knocking the other creature out with impunity: if the creature with first strike can kill the defending creature, the defending creature dies immediately, even if the defending creature would otherwise kill the attacking creature. The attacking creature stays alive. For example. if an Elite Inquisitor (a 2/2 with first strike) blocks a Grizzly Bear (a 2/2 with no abilities), the Inquisitor deals damage before the Bear can, so the Bears dies and the Inquisitor survives

Vigilance means that a creature can attack and block in successive turns. Normally, if a creature attacks, it cannot block the next turn. With vigilance, a creature can attack and then block the next turn because it isn’t tapped.

For example, let’s say that Kavu Mauler is attacking and Bonethorn Valesk decides to block it. The Mauler is a 4/4 with trample, while the Valesk is a 4/2. The Mauler deals 4 damage to the Valesk, while the Valesk deals 4 damage back to the Mauler. Both creatures die, but the Mauler manages to sneak in 2 damage to the opponent. Why? Because the Valesk’s toughness is only 2, and the Mauler has trample, which means 2 of its 4 damage gets dealt to the Valesk, and 2 gets dealt to the opponent.

For example, a Frost Titan (a 6/6 creature) blocking a Typhoid Rats (a 1/1 creature with deathtouch) will die. The Rats will also die.