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How to read a card

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1. Name and mana cost The card's name, then what it costs to cast: here three mana of any kind plus two white.
2. Art The illustration. The artist's name is at the bottom.
3. Type line and set symbol What the card is (a creature) and its subtype (Angel). The symbol at the right names the set, and its color the rarity: silver is uncommon. In the glossary
4. Rules text What the card does. Flying and vigilance are keyword abilities; the words in italics after them are reminder text. In the glossary
5. Flavor text A line of story in italics. It has no effect on the game. In the glossary
6. Power and toughness 4/4: it deals 4 damage in combat and takes 4 damage to die. In the glossary
7. Collector line Rarity letter (U for uncommon), collector number (0740), set code (FDN), language (EN) and the artist. In the glossary

The mana symbols

Mana is what you spend to cast spells. Each color has its symbol; a number means that much mana of any kind. Lands make most of it: a Plains makes white, an Island blue, a Swamp black, a Mountain red and a Forest green.

• {W} one white mana
• {U} one blue mana
• {B} one black mana
• {R} one red mana
• {G} one green mana
• {C} one colorless mana
• {1} one generic mana
• {2} two generic mana
• {X} X generic mana
• {W/U} one white or blue mana
• {2/W} two generic mana or one white mana
• {W/P} one white mana or two life
• {S} one snow mana
• {T} tap this permanent
• {Q} untap this permanent
• {E} an energy counter

The parts of a turn

Each turn runs through five phases in the same order. Things happen only when the rules or a card say so; between steps, players can cast instants.

1. Beginning phase

   1. Untap Your tapped cards untap.
   2. Upkeep "At the beginning of your upkeep" effects happen.
   3. Draw You draw a card. In a two-player game the player who goes first skips this draw on their first turn; in most multiplayer games, Commander among them, nobody skips it.

2. First main phase

   1. Main Play a land (one per turn) and cast creatures, sorceries and other spells.

3. Combat phase

   1. Beginning of combat
   2. Declare attackers You choose which creatures attack, and what each attacks.
   3. Declare blockers Your opponent chooses blockers.
   4. Combat damage Creatures deal their damage.
   5. End of combat

4. Second main phase

   1. Main The same as the first, if you didn't play your land yet.

5. Ending phase

   1. End step "At the beginning of the end step" effects happen.
   2. Cleanup Discard down to seven cards; damage wears off.

From Wizards' How to Play page, read October 22, 2026, and the Comprehensive Rules (rule 103.8 for the first draw), read October 23, 2026.

Where cards go: the zones

• Library Your deck, face down. You draw from the top.
• Hand The cards you hold. Only you see them.
• Battlefield Where lands, creatures and other permanents are, face up.
• Stack Where spells and abilities wait to resolve; the last one in resolves first.
• Graveyard Your discard pile, face up.
• Exile Cards removed from play, set apart.
• Command zone Commanders before they are cast, emblems, and Planechase and Archenemy cards.

Where to play

• At a store

  Stores run weekly Magic nights, Commander nights and prereleases. Wizards' store and event locator finds the ones near you.

  Source: locator.wizards.com; read October 22, 2026.

• MTG Arena

  Wizards' digital Magic, free to download on PC, Mac and mobile, with a tutorial; new players begin with starter decks.

  Source: magic.wizards.com; read October 22, 2026.

• Magic Online

  Wizards' other digital Magic, for Windows 10 and 11, with the paper formats, Leagues and Challenges. Its Event Tickets cost $1.00 each.

  Source: mtgo.com; read October 22, 2026.

• Over a webcam

  SpellTable, on Wizards' own site, is built for playing paper Magic remotely: a webcam, or a phone held above your play area, shows your cards to the other players.

  Source: spelltable.wizards.com; read October 22, 2026.

• At a kitchen table

  Two decks and something to keep score with is enough. Life Log keeps life totals, commander damage and poison for up to six players on one phone.

A first deck

Ways in that need no deckbuilding, as Wizards describes them. Which suits you is your call; these are the facts.

• Starter Kit

  Wizards lists it as made for learning how to play, with everything you need to play and teach Magic.

  Source: magic.wizards.com; read October 22, 2026.

• Jumpstart

  Shuffle two 20-card Jumpstart packs together and play; Wizards says the packs include all the lands you need.

  Source: magic.wizards.com; read October 22, 2026.

• Commander decks

  Ready-to-play 100-card decks for Commander, the multiplayer format; Wizards lists at least 10 new rares and mythics in each.

  Source: magic.wizards.com; read October 22, 2026.

• MTG Arena's starter decks

  On Arena you begin with starter decks, can unlock 14 more through the Color Challenge, and play other newcomers in Starter Deck Duels.

  Source: magic.wizards.com; read October 22, 2026.

• Any precon, card by card

  The Precons shelf in Decks lists preconstructed decks from MTGJSON's deck files: open one to see every card, its curve and its price, or copy it to change it.

This site's tools, in plain words

Everything here is free and needs no account; what you make stays in your browser.

• Find any cardSuper Search: Find any card by what it does, not just what it says.
• Build a deck, or open one a friend sentDecks: Build, test and price decks for every format, with castability on every card.
• Keep score at the tableLife Log: A life counter that writes down every change, with its turn.
• Keep track of my cards and what they are worthCollection: Everything you own, every printing and finish, priced daily.
• Check a format's rules and banned listFormats: The rules and lists for every format people play, dated and sourced.
• Plan what to craft on MTG ArenaWildcard Planner: What your Arena decks cost in wildcards after what you own.
• Play a deck alone to see how it runsKing Goldfish: Play your deck against an empty board, with live odds on every card in hand.
• Practice draftingDraft Sim: Draft the newest sets against bots built from real draft data, then build the deck.
• See what decks people are playingMeta Lens: What the field is playing and how each deck is doing, from MTGO decklists.
• Get ready for an eventPrep: Choose a deck for an event from your own matches, with honest ranges.
• Review the games you playedFilm Room: Your Arena log, turned back into your match history.
• Work out a fair tradeTrade Calculator: Both sides of a trade, priced card by card, with sources and dates.
• Look up a wordGlossary: every term the site uses, in one sentence each.
• See every setSets: every Magic set by year, with its cards one tap away.