Translating MTG for the Uninitiated

Magic: The Gathering (MTG) can be slightly overwhelming at first glance. Often, the best way to learn things is to link them to concepts you already understand (your constructs). Using these anchors can make the messy world of new knowledge easier to understand. And the quicker you can understand something, the more enjoyable it is!

Take a look at our jargon buster to help you understand even the simplest of steps.

Tap – this is a way to activate your cards in the form of turning them (do not actually tap your cards).

Summoning sickness - this is like your creature being travel sick. They feel too ill to do anything and need to take it easy until your next turn.

Haste – a creature with this ability has remembered to take their travel sickness medication, so does not suffer with summoning sickness.

If your creatures attacked, at the end of your turn they remain tapped – they are having a lie down to recover after attacking.

Vigilance – a creature with this ability is ready at any time; it does not need to lie down to recover.

Instants – like the name suggests, they can be played at any time. Sort of similar to the ‘Nope’ card in Exploding Kittens.

Mana – these are your magic points.

Untap land – recharges the mana. They are ready to be activated again.

Untap creatures – this wakes them up again.

Power/Toughness – this is the attack/defence value of your creature.

Mulligan – this enables you to change your starting cards, by taking one fewer with each mulligan. This is like the reverse of a ‘Dump’ in Bananagrams – where you take three tiles when putting one tricky one back in the pile.

Do you have any other handy links for new players?

Share them in the comment section below to get more people playing MTG.