History UsefulNotes / MagicTheGathering

"Tapping", where one turns a card to a 90-degree angle, represents the usage of the card's available resource (whether extracting mana from a land or attacking with a creature). Players untap all their permanents at the beginning of their turn. Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast has issued a controversial patent on the "tapping" mechanic, and can legally challenge any card game which involves turning cards to a 90-degree angle to show that the card has been expended somehow[[note]]which may be the main thing keeping ''TabletopGame/FireEmblemCipher'' [[NoExportForYou locked in Japan]][[/note]].

Technically, all spells are one-use; if they "resolve," they're over and go away. However, some spells create an object with OntologicalInertia that stays in play even after the spell is finished building it. Such objects are called "permanents," and the spells which summon them are left on the battlefield (IE table) to represent said permanent; if the permanent is destroyed, the card is retired to the graveyard.

* '''[[SummonMagic Creatures]]''' (known in older sets as "Summon (creature type)") are the most common type of card, making up more than half the total cards published -- one set was even ''entirely composed of creatures''. They are permanents and represent the magical army summoned by the player/planeswalker to do battle on their behalf. They always have at least one {{Splat}} consisting of a creature ''type'' (Shark; Octopus; Crab; [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=457350 Shark Octopus Crab]]) and sometimes a class as well (Scout, Soldier, Cleric). They have two numerical values associated with them, found in the bottom-right corner of the card and separated by a slash: "power", the amount of damage they deal in combat, and "toughness", the amount of damage it takes to destroy them. As a rule, any damage a creature takes only lasts until end of turn, and it goes away if the creature is still alive at that point. This leaves it completely unhurt again at the start of the next turn; however, all damage taken over the same turn does [[HitPoints add up]]. Creatures are one of the most popular aspects of ''Magic'', and most decks use them; the few that don't are often notorious for that reason and treated with some skepticism by newer players. (For the curious, the ''second''-most-popular aspect of ''Magic'', and the only ''other'' theme to get an entire set built around it, are the Gold multicolor cards.)

** The impetus for this change was an attempt to streamline the uniqueness rules of the game, prevent like-typed Planeswalkers being "dead cards" in hand, and make deck building easier. Additionally, it's believed this was also done due to a desire from R&D to remove the limiting quality of the Planeswalker card-type (Supertypes are ostensibly what dictate any deviation from normal quantity limitations of the game; World, Legendary, & Basic are all Supertypes that alter the "X copies per deck / unlimited copies in play" nature of the game, while Planeswalkers were the only straight Type which had built-in limits -- a major design snarl from everything else.)
* '''Auras:''' Auras are a special type of Enchantment that are attached to a specific target, usually a permanent but possibly a player, a graveyard, etc. Standard Enchantments are permanents in their own right and have OntologicalInertia; they sit on your side of the table and have their effect. Auras, on the other hand, have NoOntologicalInertia and leave play when the thing they are aura-ing is removed. Auras used to have a type of "Enchant ____" (e.g. "Enchant Creature", "Enchant Artifact", "[[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=48 Enchant Dead Creature]]"), but this got unwieldy, leading to a naming generalization. You can still enchant a dead creature, but the card says so in its text box now instead of its type line.
* '''Equipment:''' Equipment are artifact cards that typically do nothing on their own, but have an additional cost that lets it attach to creatures to give them bonuses or new abilities. Unlike Auras, Equipment can be moved between creatures during your turn (usually for some sort of cost), and remain in play if the creature wearing them dies.

* First Strike: Under normal circumstances, when two creatures fight each other, they [[CrossCounter hit simultaneously]]. A creature with First Strike, on the other hand, gets to assign damage before everyone else. Such a creature might be able to deal its opponent lethal damage before it has a chance to hit back. This is particularly useful in warding off enemy creatures whose abilities activate when they deal combat damage, like Deathtouch or Lifelink. (If two creatures with First Strike fight each other, basically the effect cancels out and damage is dealt normally.) This also partially negates the need to have a particularly high toughness for the creature if their power is exceptionally high. Generally white and red.

** Jokes and urban legends have extended the concept of first strike to things like "firstest strike" and "last strike" but these do not exist in the current rules.
* Flash: this started out as a modifier on creature cards, which, like sorceries, can only be played during your turn. "Flash" allows them to enter the battlefield at "instant speed" and at any time. Gradually, "Flash" began to appear on artifacts and enchantments as well, and Mark Rosewater is now on record as stating that, if he could, he'd get rid of "Instants" as a card type and instead make it a supertype which grants the Flash ability to just about anything. [[labelnote:Explanation]]For instance, just as one would have a "Legendary Creature -- Warrior", one could have an "Instant Enchantment -- Aura" or something similar.[[/labelnote]] But he can't, because it would cause the rules to explode. So Flash continues as a keyword, mostly found in green, blue, and white.

* Bloodthirst X: If any damage was dealt to any opponent at any point in the current turn before this summoning resolves, this creature comes into play with X +1/+1 counters on itself. Is primarily a Red, Green, or Black ability, given its savage nature.

** Cycling has the interesting distinction of being a purely mechanical mechanic. There's no explanation for what this means ''in-universe'', how a planeswalker contemplates cycling and what it looks like to them. That said, it's a really simple and practical mechanic; invented within 5 years of the game's creation (by Richard Garfield himself, no less), it has been used the most frequently out of every mechanic on this "Doesn't appear in ''literally'' every set" list.

# If a game rule ever contradicts the text on a card, the card wins. [[note]]There is one exception to this rule - A player can always concede the game.[[/note]]

* '''Planeswalkers''' are the newest type of permanent, representing a temporary ally in the form of another powerful wizard — a planeswalker like yourself — whom you can call on for aid. They come into play with a particular amount of "loyalty" (read: HitPoints), and, on each of your turns, can use one of their abilities at the cost of gaining or losing loyalty. They can also be attacked like players, which ''also'' damages their loyalty. Planeswalker cards are supposed to invoke the idea of {{Guest Star Party Member}}s, with their decks represented by the character's on-card abilities.

* Emptying your opponent's library (known as "decking" them, or alternatively "milling" them, after [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=370737 Millstone,]] one of the earliest cards to support such a strategy). They will lose if unable to draw a card when required to do so, so if you can somehow manage to force them to draw 54 cards, you've won.

** Many combo decks have been built around cards with the "Storm" ability, especially [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=46424 Mind's Desire.]] When you play a spell with Storm, it creates an extra copy of itself for each spell played earlier in the turn. Each copy of "Mind's Desire" lets you play a random card from your deck for no mana, so if you play a bunch of spells and follow them with Mind's Desire, you get to play even more spells. If those spells happen to [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83377 make mana]] or [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=79090 draw extra cards,]] this can get out of hand really, really quickly. When it's time to actually end the game, either [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=45842 Tendrils of Agony]] or [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=47599 Brain Freeze]] can do the job pretty well.

** The most powerful combo in the history of the game involved [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=8883 Tolarian Academy]] from Urza's Saga. This land gives you one blue mana for each artifact you control. If you were to have a lot of artifacts, and have the ability to untap the Academy repeatedly -- say, due to a counterspell called [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5670 Rewind]] and other spells like it released in that set -- you could generate absurd amounts of mana. The favored win condition was another Urza's Saga spell, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5677 Stroke of Genius]], which invokes the secondary win condition of forcing your opponent to draw more cards than they own, at a cost of about 60 mana (counting the overhead of the spell itself). And the worst part was that, like [=Channel/Fireball=] of yore, this deck could win ''on its first turn''. It ushered in an era called [[https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Combo_Winter Combo Winter,]] where: you either played this deck or you lost; large numbers of players left the game; Wizards needed to announce the largest number of simultaneous card bannings in the game's history; a card was banned ''before it was released''; and the CEO of Wizards of the Coast became so upset at the state of the product that he called the entire ''Magic'' R&D team to his office and ''[[{{Angrish}} yelled at them]]''.

There used to be two other categories of non-permanent spell that were similar to instants. An "Interrupt" was even faster than an instant, allowing them to "interrupt" any other spell as it was being cast. A "Mana Source" was also "faster-than-instant" speed, as it could be cast to generate Mana while you were paying the cost for another spell that you'd already started casting. As part of a major overhaul of the game rules in ''Sixth Edition'', both of them have since been [[RetCon folded into the Instant category]] — with the rider that mana-providing abilities or spells in general can't be countered. Meanwhile, Instants played ''as'' interrupts, in response to each other, go on "The Stack", the game's ActionInitiative system where whichever spell was played last has its effect first. This seems counter-intuitive, but it ultimately makes sense in gameplay. [[labelnote:*]](i.e. Monster "M" uses ability, Player Z uses instant that removes M, M's ability never gets used because it is now gone.)[[/labelnote]]

* Wither and Infect: Against other creatures, a creature with Wither or Infect deals damage in the form of -1[=/=]-1 counters. This has several implications. First off, whereas normal damage to creatures is regenerated at the end of combat, a -1[=/=]-1 counter is ''permanent'' and needs to be removed by other means. Second, whereas normal damage to a creature [[CriticalExistenceFailure doesn't impair its damage-dealing ability]], -1[=/=]-1 counters do. Finally, Wither and Infect creatures can, as mentioned up in its heading, kill Indestructible creatures: any creature whose Toughness has been reduced to zero (say, by -1[=/=]-1 counters) dies instantly, regardless of any other considerations. (Honorable mention on ''that'' score to [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=130713 Force of Savagery,]] a card with 8 Power and ''0'' Toughness; it arrives dead unless you used a separate spell to cast it that grants +1[=/=]+1 counters, or have something in play that buffs all your creatures.)
** Infect is Wither with an additional clause: whereas Wither creatures deal normal damage to a player, Infect creatures deal player damage in the form of [[BreakMeter poison counters]]. For example, if the creature would deal two damage, the player would get two poison counters instead of losing two life. Any player with 10 poison counters loses the game, and poison counters are nigh-impossible to get rid of.

*** Card Copy Limit: 1 copy of each card other than Basic Lands.

** History: One of the game's earliest formats, EDH was first codified in 1996. Its name needs some explaining: the "Legends" expansion had just been released, and with it the five Elder Dragon cards, powerful three-color legendary creatures. These became the Generals/Commanders we know today, with the rules revised to allow ''any'' Legendary creature, not just the Elder Dragons themselves, to serve in the role. Why Highlander? Because, to quote the slogan of [[Franchise/{{Highlander}} the TV show]], "ThereCanBeOnlyOne" of any card in your deck unless it's a basic land. The resulting decks are (intended to be) DenserAndWackier, as opposed to the SeriousBusiness of streamlined, mana-curved decks (which have dominated the game since '94).
** Popularity: Very High. Since 2019, it is '''the''' most popular format overall, even overtaking Standard and Draft, and is commonly used as a GatewaySeries introduction to the game as a whole.

* Fear / Intimidate: The original Alpha magic set had a creature enchantment called [[http://magiccards.info/al/en/17.html Fear.]] The creature enchanted with Fear cannot be blocked except by black or artifact creatures (the idea being that these creatures are so fearsome that only black creatures, unafraid of death, and artifact creatures, with no mind of their own, are willing to do battle with them). It eventually started appearing innately on other cards, almost exclusively on Black creatures, but still often enough that Wizards decided to make it a keyword ability, [[NamesTheSame called, appropriately enough, "Fear"]].

** Board Control decks are almost always Black and/or White, and rely primarily on destroying creatures using KillEmAll-style apocalypses and then dropping something very large and problematic in the aftermath. They tend to be good at that particular job, but are slow and have a hard time dealing with big splashy spells or combo decks, making them almost the opposite of Blue Control. Many decks have successfully hybridized these strategies, though.

* '''Basic''': This supertype is only used for lands. The four-copy limit does not apply to basic lands, and basic lands are usually the only lands you need in your deck in order to play the game. Plains, Forest, Mountain, Swamp, and Island cards are basic lands, as are the snow-covered lands from Ice Age. Keep in mind that "Island", "Mountain", "Plains", "Forest", and "Swamp" are all subtypes, meaning that nonbasic land cards can have any of these types without being considered a basic land. The Battle for Zendikar block added the “Waste” type for colorless mana.

** The most powerful combo in the history of the game involved [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=8883 Tolarian Academy]] from Urza's Saga. This land gives you one blue mana for each artifact you control. If you were to have a lot of artifacts, and have the ability to untap the Academy repeatedly -- say, due to a counterspell called [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5670 Rewind]] and other spells like it released in that set -- you could generate absurd amounts of mana. The favored win condition was another Urza's Saga spell, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5677 Stroke of Genius]], which invokes the secondary win condition of forcing your opponent to draw more cards than they own, but just about anything that converts mana into damage (EG Fireball) would have sufficed (and frankly would have been more efficient, as Stroking the opponent to death costs a minimum of 55 mana, a Fireball 21). And the worst part was that, like [=Channel/Fireball=] of yore, this deck could win ''on its first turn''. It ushered in an era called [[https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Combo_Winter Combo Winter,]] where: you either played this deck or you lost; large numbers of players left the game; Wizards needed to announce the largest number of simultaneous card bannings in the game's history; a card was banned ''before it was released''; and the CEO of Wizards of the Coast became so upset at the state of the product that he called the entire ''Magic'' R&D team to his office and ''[[{{Angrish}} yelled at them]]''.

** Black also has a variant called "Reanimator," which uses cheap spells that [[TheUndead bring dead creatures back from the graveyard]]. This allows you to get around the usual requirement of "hard-casting" your AwesomeButImpractical 8-mana badass; instead, you find a way to put that creature card ''directly'' into your graveyard, with the express intent of using cheap zombification to get it onto the battlefield. Players using the most successful Reaminator decks do this ''long'' before their opponent has 8 mana of their own for an effective defense. And, even if they do manage to kill your creature, well, [[DeathIsCheap you can rez it again]]! HilarityEnsues! (Fortunately for the opponent, there are spells that make creatures DeaderThanDead.)

* Shroud: Creature cannot be targeted by spells or abilities, including your own. As with Protection From Whatever, this doesn't stop non-targeting effects or wide-scale spells that affect more than one creature. Generally green and blue. Shroud has been retired in favor of...
** Hexproof: The Magic 2012 Core Set provided a powerful update to shroud. Previously called [[FanNickname "troll-shroud"]] by players due to its presence on the popular [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=373416 Troll Ascetic,]] hexproof means the creature that has it can't be targeted by spells or abilities... but only the ones your opponents control. ''You'' can target it all you want, with all the offensive and defensive implications that brings along. It's primarily in green, but it's found in white and blue as well. (See again: "does the ability work the way players ''think'' it should?" Being unable to StatusBuff your own creature is unintuitive.)

* Cycling: A keyword that does not affect cards on the battlefield. "Cycling: [Cost]" means "[Cost], discard this card from your hand: draw a card". Some cards, such as [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=45141 Decree of Justice,]] have additional effects that trigger on being cycled, and some, such as [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=41148 Astral Slide,]] have abilities that trigger when a card is cycled.

** Landhome: a creature with Landhome could not ''attack'' a player unless that player controlled a [Land], and must be sacrificed if ''you'' don't control a [Land]. This was predominantly Blue (Island), representing seagoing leviathans which would be helpless out of water, but appeared so infrequently that Wizards [[{{Retcon}} un-keyworded]] it, preferring to just spell out the two sentences instead. (It didn't help that the ability was an unintentional LampshadeHanging on the fact that Merfolk, typically illustrated on the cards with fish tails and everything, don't have this drawback.)
** Both of these have been mostly dropped, because there's been a general trend away from the idea that land cards represent the physical terrain your creatures are fighting on.

Wizards releases four sets of cards annually. These sets used to be organized by story: the fall, winter and spring sets would all be one "block," a contiguous PlotArc (with the winter and spring sets consisting of fewer cards, so that R&D could relax a bit) involving the same characters and the same plane, whereas the summer set would be a "Core" set suitable for introducing new players to the game. This was used to structure the MetaGame: the most commonly played format is "Standard," which allows only cards that are less than two blocks and/or Core Sets old. (This -- at least in theory -- allowed Wizards to stop caring about PowerCreep, since cards had to be balanced against a much smaller, less complicated environment.) The first seven years of the game was a MythArc involving affairs on Dominaria, the hub-world of the ''Magic'' MultiVerse, and specifically the life and times of the planeswalker [[TheHero Urza]], his [[BigBad arch-nemesis]] Yawgmoth of Phyrexia, and the efforts Urza took to defend Dominaria from invasion by same. The individual expansions ''Arabian Nights'' and ''Homelands'' briefly explored new settings, and the ''Tempest'' and ''Masques'' blocks had Dominarian heroes visit new planes on their travels, but it wasn't until ''Mirrodin'' that it became standard practice for the game to visit a new world every year. Plane-hopping became such an accepted practice that it was a shock when the game ''returned'' to a previous setting -- also Mirrodin, as it happens.

Eventually, Wizards found the three-sets-per-block paradigm restrictive. At first they discontinued the core sets and started doing fall-winter / spring-summer arcs, with the second set again consisting of fewer cards, but even ''this'' was too restrictive, and now they move to new planes / stories whenever they desire. After giving up the two-set-block model, they spent one set re-visiting Dominaria for the first time in decades (Q2 2018), had ''three'' on Ravnica (Q4 '18 to Q2 '19 -- there was a re-instated Core set in between the Ravnica sets and Dominaria), and then released single-set blocks contiguously until the somewhat-confusing double Innistrad set which ([[TimeTravelTenseTrouble will have been]]) released in Q4 2021.

Spells in ''Magic'' are associated with one of five "colors", each with its own ideology and basic land (in parentheses):
* '''White:''' (Plains) The color of peace. Its trademarks include LightEmUp, civilization, and law (but [[LightIsNotGood not necessarily good]] -- white is also the color of [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]], {{Cult}}s, and AllOfTheOtherReindeer). White cards focus on [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=25886 healing]] or [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83027 preventing damage,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=14481 changing the rules of the game,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129572 strengthening its own creatures,]] and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=14500 clearing]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129808 the]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5637 playing]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=41168 field.]] White doesn't like killing a single creature, but it has no problem with [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=141817 destroying everything]]; a core strategy with white is breaking the symmetry of [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2321 its supposedly "fair" effects]] and MutualDisadvantage. It uses its discipline to create armies, composed of lots of [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=44212 small,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129668 fast,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=48988 weak]] ([[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=79217 but efficient]]) creatures, with an [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=42049 occasional large champion.]] Its strategies lend themselves to either [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=136148 defensive control]] decks or aggressive "[[RedshirtArmy weenie]]" decks that commit everything in a single rush. A more in-depth discussion of white can be [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr57 found here.]]
* '''Blue:''' (Island) The color of perfection. Blue's hallmarks are logic, reason, coldness (MakingASplash, BlowYouAway, AnIcePerson, etc), and TheTrickster. Blue's intellect makes it good at strategy and research, but it has nothing but contempt for [[ThePowerOfLove The Powers of Love]] and [[ThePowerOfFriendship Friendship]]. The strengths of blue include the ability to [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5677 draw extra cards,]] a wide array of powerful spells, and the [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=178092 ability]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=153966 to]] [[{{Counterspell}} counter]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=111057 enemy]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4706 effects.]] Blue is also the color of AwesomenessByAnalysis, allowing it to [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=176435 work]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=8883 best]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=51634 with]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=194980 artifacts,]] and is able to [[RealityWarper apply raw power to simply alter reality]], getting a new, unusual, unique effect (which has caused problems in the past; look no further than the [[GameBreaker/MagicTheGathering Power Nine]], of which six are artifacts, and the other three are blue). They have trouble causing damage, as most blue creatures are quite weak; further, blue is a slow starter, and involves a lot of ''re''action instead of action. However, blue is ''the'' color of strategy, and given enough time, it can become a powerhouse of steady damage behind an [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=10421 impenetrable wall]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=19809 of defense.]] A more in-depth discussion of blue can be [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr84 found here.]] Blue has historically been the strongest color in ''Magic'', due to its power set; card drawing alone is a borderline GameBreaker, since every card you draw is another chance to win the game, and countermagic is notoriously difficult to defend against. Most of its more broken mechanics have since been toned down, though.
* '''Black:''' (Swamp) The color of power. Black utilizes death, [[ItsAllAboutMe selfishness]], [[DespairEventHorizon despair]], ambition, [[TheCombatPragmatist pragmatism]], and [[PowerAtAPrice power at all costs]] (but [[DarkIsNotEvil not necessarily evil]] -- black is also the color of self-improvement, individualism, and {{Anti Hero}}es). Black's strength is death; they can [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=45988 kill]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83046 enemy]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=6097 creatures]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=174967 quickly]] and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=50210 cheaply,]] and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=21160 bring]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=21155 their]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83220 own]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=10655 creatures]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5629 back]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=48588 from]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=6103 the grave.]] Black can use [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129544 fear]] to make its creatures almost unstoppable, and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=27171 force]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4653 your]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=24619 opponent]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29746 to]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5187 discard]] their cards. [[YouCantMakeAnOmelette Black is among the most versatile of colors,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=69 willing]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29952 to]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=15193 do]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=89088 anything,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29953 make]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=20361 any]] [[DealWithTheDevil dark]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3629 deal,]] in order to achieve their goals, but often at the cost of AnArmAndALeg -- literally. "CastFromHitPoints" is a rare penalty in the other colors, a way of life in Black. "IDidWhatIHadToDo," indeed. In addition, a good chunk of its spells can't be used against certain creatures, [[ApeShallNeverKillApe most often black creatures themselves]] (artifact creatures being a second, green creatures being a far third), or care about creature types. Lastly, Black can have trouble with a target if it's not a creature or player; enchantments particularly can stymie a black mage. A more in-depth discussion of black can be [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr109 found here.]]
* '''Red:''' (Mountain) The color of freedom. Red trades in PlayingWithFire, ShockAndAwe, DishingOutDirt, passion, creativity, and anarchy. Red is the color of aggressiveness and war, but it is also a force of passion, art, and change. (These aspects of its personality [[InformedAbility do not often come through in cards]], due to the game's focus on war and conflict.) Red can deal [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=23087 massive]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=24650 damage]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4040 to the enemy]] ([[KillItWithFire fire]] and [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning]] are common damage-dealing motifs, though it can even do NonElemental damage), and has [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=108835 the most]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=87972 cards]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=79223 for directly]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=26260 destroying]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5817 an opponent's]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5544 lands,]] but [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4031 many]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=39737 of]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=45127 its]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=108922 creatures]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=145981 are]] [[GlassCannon Glass Cannons]]. Red's [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=78606 affinity]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1326 for chaos]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3167 makes randomness]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2615 an integral part]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=45395 of many Red cards.]] Red [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=87971 trades long-term survivability]] for [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=80275 early-game power,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2288 sacrificing long-term resources and life points for direct and immediate damage]] or [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=243487 sudden spurts of mana]] ([[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer usually used for direct and immediate damage]]). It's the ZergRush color, and [[FragileSpeedster a Red deck]] [[AttackPatternAlpha often wins either fast]] [[DeathOrGloryAttack or not at all]]. Red is the TropeNamer for the BloodKnight. A more in-depth discussion of red can be [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr133 found here.]]
* '''Green:''' (Forest) The color of acceptance. Green loves its GreenThumb, beasts, nature (in the NatureEqualsPlants sense), and instinct; it believes that the natural world is already perfect, and thus is inherently conservative. Green can be [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=130506 highly dangerous]] due to its [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=136288 unthinking primal tendencies]]; on the other hand, Green can also be [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3150 tender,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=11517 nurturing]], and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=11540 even peaceful.]] The rare Green villain rages [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159215 against the corrupting influence]] of [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3970 civilization and artifice,]] but Green also ''defines'' the NatureHero. Green creatures [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=22892 have]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4505 the]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=35166 strongest]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=8820 stats,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=39669 making]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=121264 them]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=152068 mountains]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=24671 on]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74613 the]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83977 battlefield,]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=23120 and]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=184692 many]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=146777 of]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=12433 its]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=122367 spells]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5720 make]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=26838 those]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=81702 creatures]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74049 even]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=75366 stronger]]; however, Green has difficulty dealing direct damage and destroying enemy creatures. Green is a color that lacks flying and other evasive creatures, causing them difficulty in punching through some defenses, though it's also one of the better colors for defense against aerial attacks. Because Green believes LuddWasRight, it has the best DispelMagic abilities in the game. Green is also the [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=10422 "mana color,"]] having the most ways to get [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=49437 land into play,]] the most [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=189878 creatures that can make mana]], and has [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2203 the easiest time]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=73565 generating mana of]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=139502 the other four colours.]] Green was historically considered the weakest color in competitive play due to its lack of strategic, non-creature-related abilities; in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, the game developers have focused on it more, and it's shaken off this reputation (although it might've just tranferred it to White). A more in-depth discussion of green can be [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr43 found here.]]

However, some spells require more than one colored mana to cast. This makes them impractical, and accordingly they become more awesome. Let's compare Blanchwood Treefolk, who does 4 damage and has 5 HitPoints, to the [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=197856 Leatherback Baloth]], which has the same "body" but costs GGG instead of 4G. It seems ridiculous: the Baloth has a "mana value" of 3, while the Treefolk is 5! What gives? Well, the answer is simple: the Treefolk are ''way'' easier to play in a multicolored deck. They only need 1 Forest out. The Baloth needs three... and if you're playing a two-color deck, it's not unreasonable for you to not have 3 Forests out until Turn 5 -- which, [[BlatantLies by what is undoubtedly pure coincidence]], is the same time the Treefolk become playable. In the same vein, Gold multicolor cards get an additional power boost because their casting costs are even more difficult to obtain, at least unless you've essentially designed the deck around accessing them. Simply put, the more colored-mana symbols a spell has, the more powerful it is likely to be... but, accordingly, the harder it is to cast. 3R and 2RR have the same mana value, but ''very'' different practical costs.

* Spells consume {{mana}} to do something. Once that thing has been done, the spell goes to the "graveyard," the in-game zone for expended cards.
** Technically, all spells are one-use; if they "resolve," they're over and go away. However, some spells create an object with OntologicalInertia that stays in play even after the spell is finished building it. Such objects are called "permanents," and the spells which summon them are left on the battlefield to represent said permanent; if the permanent is destroyed, the card is retired to the graveyard.

* '''[[SummonMagic Creatures]]''' (known in older sets as "Summon (creature type)") are the most common type of card, making up more than half the total cards published — one set was even ''entirely composed of creatures''. They are permanents and represent the magical army summoned by the player/planeswalker to do battle on their behalf. They always have at least one {{Splat}} consisting of a creature ''type'' (Beast, Horror, Elf) and sometimes a class as well (Scout, Soldier, Cleric). They have two numerical values associated with them, found in the bottom-right corner of the card and separated by a slash: "power", the amount of damage they deal in combat, and "toughness", the amount of damage it takes to destroy them. As a rule, any damage a creature takes only lasts until end of turn, and it goes away if the creature is still alive at that point. This leaves it completely unhurt again at the start of the next turn; however, all damage taken over the same turn does [[HitPoints add up]]. Creatures are one of the most popular aspects of ''Magic'', and most decks use them; the few that don't are often notorious for that reason and treated with some skepticism by newer players. (For the curious, the ''second''-most-popular aspect of ''Magic'', and the only ''other'' theme to get an entire set built around it, are the Gold multicolor cards.)

* Through the use of a variety of cards [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=23216 which]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=136048 set]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83133 up]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=135259 alternate]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29978 win]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=33697 conditions.]] These are what Wiki/TVTropes calls "{{Golden Snitch}}es," and there is a big list of them on the trope page.

** Some older large expansions also came in Starter Decks, later renamed Tournament Packs. These contained 60 (later 75) cards, 20 (later 30) of which were basic land. The remaining 40ish cards followed the same rough distribution as Booster Packs: at least 3 rares, around 10 uncommons, and the rest common.

* '''Control''', the StoneWall deck. A Control deck seeks to win by... Well, that's not really accurate. A Control deck doesn't try to win: it tries to stop ''you'' from winning. It does this by using various measures to deprive you of resources. In theory, a Control deck is all about endurance: You use countermeasures until your opponent has thrown everything they have at you, and failed to kill you, after which you send [[MightyGlacier something big and nasty over]] to mangle them at its leisure. In practice, Control is about limiting your opponent's options. Whenever they try to do something you don't like, you stop it. Where precisely along the process they get stopped is something that depends on the deck itself, but when played right, Control gradually establishes a complete lockdown. However, Control suffers from one WeaksauceWeakness: it's not fun to play against, since, if it works correctly, its victim is reduced to a motionless practice dummy. For this reason, Wizards have been working to moderate the power of Control decks in general.

** Remember what we were saying above about how different Control decks stop your opponent at different times? Here's where we qualify that statement. The previous decks have all dealt with an opponent's spells ''after'' they play them, except MUC which stops them ''while'' they play them. Well, now we get into "Land Destruction," which stops them ''before'' they play them. Land Destruction destroys lands in play, on the theory that, if the opponent has no mana, they can't do anything. Most such cards are Red, though Black and Green have a few options as well. This deck also gives an example of how Control has been purposefully {{nerf}}ed. The archetypal land-destruction spell, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2307 Stone Rain]], can be cast on your second turn if you used your first turn to drop an artifact source; if you went first, you could use it to destroy your opponent's only land in play. And then do it again next turn. And the turn after that. And the turn after that... And that's why land destruction spells all cost 4 mana or more now.

** Discard is almost exclusively Black, because Black has most of the spells which force the opponent to discard cards from their hand. It strikes even lower on the food-chain than does Land Destruction; after all, if your opponent has no hand, they can do even less. Because the point of Discard is to take cards from your opponent's hand and put them in the graveyard, it is essentially immune to Permission: even if they counter your discard spell, [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose a card from their hand has still gone to their graveyard]]!
** "Milling" is named after the card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1126 Millstone]] which provided the original effect. It forces the opponent to take cards from their ''library'' and put them in their graveyard. As Millstone is an artifact, this tactic is technically colorless, but Blue, and especially Blue-Black, now have spells which do this sort of thing. It's the least focused of the Control options, since it doesn't strike at specific spells but instead uses a KillEmAll approach.

* '''Pioneer''' - ''(Constructed)''

*** Legal Sets: All core sets and expansion block sets from ''Return to Ravnica'' (2012) onwards. (Cards only reprinted or introduced in supplements aren't allowed in Pioneer.)
*** Banned Cards: [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/formats/pioneer#bnr-pioneer Current list.]] Note that the list may quickly change due to format's relatively undeveloped metagame.
** Popularity: Medium to High (Introduced in late 2019 as new-player friendly alternative to Modern, quickly grew in popularity thanks to relatively low investment)
*** Current metagame:[[https://mtgdecks.net/Pioneer Pioneer decks.]]
* '''Modern''' - ''(Constructed)''
** Playstyle: 1-on-1
** Starting Life: 20
** Deck Construction: Prior to play
*** Deck Size: Minimum of 60
*** Card Copy Limit: 4 copies of each card other than basic lands.

** Popularity: Very Low (Real Life); Medium (MTGO). It's very hard to make the format work without the use of a computer

*** Booster packs in ''Arena'' only have 8 cards: 5 commons, 2 uncommons, and a rare, which has a 1-in-10 chance of being a mythic rare instead, the same as physical packs. Starting with ''Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty'', players can also buy “Mythic Packs” which cost more than standard packs but which guarantee a mythic rare in the rare slot. One or more cards in a pack may instead be a “wildcard” of the same rarity, which can be redeemed for a copy of a card of the same rarity. Opening packs also fills up a gauge which awards uncommon, rare, and mythic rare wildcards at different intervals. Finally, the game has a “vault” system: commons and uncommons players obtain past the 4-copy maximum are converted to Vault progress points; accruing enough points resets the Vault and awards players with 3 uncommon, 2 rare and 1 mythic rare wildcard.

* Commons cards usually cover the basics of the set. This includes the nuts and bolts that make a set functional, and are simple to understand. Certain complex mechanics are either not printed at common or are rarely printed; however, if a set has a certain theme (such as “artifacts matter”), that theme has to be present at common even if it’s typically prohibited or seldomly printed there. Lands that produce mana of multiple colors used to be, well, rare, but as Wizards increasingly visits the multicolor space (Ravnica sets are designed around two-color factions; "Shards of Alara" and "Khans of Tarkir" focused on ''three''-color factions; Ixalan had both!), it became clear that players would need easy access to multiple colors of mana, and lands which provide this are now routinely printed at common.

For much of the game's lifespan, there was not much correlation between complexity and rarity. Commons might have really confusing abilities, and rares could be bland and boring. Additionally, R&D had some trouble keeping themes relevant; the ''Kamigawa'' block was centered around Legendary cards, but very few players were able to apprehend this because all the Legendaries were rare, meaning that a tournament player (who builds a deck using 3 or 6 booster packs) would only have 7% of their cards displaying (what was supposed to be) the most visible and accessible element of the set. It didn't work very well, and Wizards eventually instituted their "New World Order", which uses rarity as a guideline for content. They employ the InverseLawOfComplexityToPower and save the confusing cards (not to mention the {{Junk Rare}}s) for the higher rarities. This stops a beginning player — who mostly sees and owns commons — from being overwhelmed by waves of minutiae and giving up in confusion. (And that's not an idle concern; in reading this page, you've seen the LoadsAndLoadsOfRules for yourself.)
* Equipment is no longer printed at common. Certain keywords don't show up at common. ''Instants'' aren't even allowed at common anymore. What ''is'' at common are the important parts of a set. If the game's central theme is "Legendary creatures matter," then Legendary creatures need to show up at common. (Actually, they didn't push it ''that'' far, but in the "Dominaria" set they revised it as "Historic things matter, where 'Historic' includes Artifacts, and those ''can'' be printed at common, so there we go.") This includes the nuts and bolts that make a set functional. Lands that produce mana of multiple colors used to be, well, rare, bur as Wizards increasingly visits the multicolor space (Ravnica sets are designed around two-color factions; "Shards of Alara" and "Khans of Tarkir" focused on ''three''-color factions; Ixalan had both!), it became clear that players would need easy access to multiple colors of mana, and lands which provide this are now routinely printed at common.

* Rare is where the really complex stuff lives, particularly the cards that break the rules in some way.
* And finally, Mythic rares have to feel badass in some way. This doesn't mean they are automatically {{Game Breaker}}s or instant game-winners -- there are mythics that have lower prices than uncommons -- but they do have to make your eyes bug out with possibility. Some cards have actually been ''demoted'' to Rare because they failed this test.

* '''Primary:''' An ability is Primary in a color if it shows up there the most, if not exclusively. Primary abilities will be printed the most and at the lowest allowable rarities in that color, will push the boundaries of what they’re capable of in that color at higher rarities, and will show up in that color in every set if it’s an ability that’s done in every set. That being said, certain powerful abilities will show up less than more mundane ones - for example, Flying is Secondary in Black, but Black flyers are far more common than cards that let you take extra turns, an ability Primary in Blue. Examples of Primary abilities include Lifelink and First Strike in White, Flying card draw in Blue, Deathtouch and targeted creature destruction in Black, Haste and direct damage in Red, and Trample and making creatures fight each other [[note]]Unlike Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon, you're not usually allowed to have a creature directly attack another unless a card effect instructs you to[[/note]]in Green.

* '''Primary:''' An ability is Primary in a color if it shows up there the most, if not exclusively. Primary abilities will be printed the most and at the lowest allowable rarities in that color, will push the boundaries of what they’re capable of in that color at higher rarities, and will show up in that color in every set if it’s an ability that’s done in every set. That being said, certain powerful abilities will show up less than more mundane ones - for example, Flying is Secondary in Black, but Black flyers are far more common than cards that let you take extra turns, an ability Primary in Blue. Examples of Primary abilities include Lifelink in White, card draw in Blue, targeted creature destruction in Black, Haste in Red and “fight” [[note]]A creature you control fights/deals damage to a creature your opponent controls[[/note]] in Green.

** History: One of the game's earliest formats, EDH was first codified in 1996. Its name needs some explaining: the "Legends" expansion had just been released, and with it the five Elder Dragon cards, powerful three-color legendary creatures. These became the Generals/Commanders we know today, with the rules revised to allow ''any'' Legendary creature, not just the Elder Dragons themselves, to serve in the role. Why Highlander? Because you're only allowed to have a single copy of anything that's not a basic land: "ThereCanBeOnlyOne," to quote the slogan of the TV show ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}''. The resulting decks are (intended to be) DenserAndWackier, as opposed to the SeriousBusiness of streamlined, mana-curved decks (which have dominated the game since '94).
** Popularity: Very High (since 2019, '''the''' most popular format overall, even overtaking Standard and Draft)

*** Special Deckbuilding Rules: Each General/Commander's Color Identity (CID) establishes the legal Color ID's of all cards in the deck (if you have 2 "Partner" Generals, they add their CID together).[[labelnote:Explanation]]A card's CID is determined by all Mana symbols printed in its Rules Text (Reminder Text does not count as Rules Text), Mana Cost, and any Color Markers on both sides of the card (i.e. the colored circle on the leftmost side of the Type Bar, shown on transformed cards, cards with no Mana costs, and retroactively added to cards whose colors are different than their Mana Costs like Kobolds of Kher Keep)[[/labelnote]]. Cards cannot have a CID that includes a color other than their Commander's. For example, [[https://edhrec.com/commanders/najeela-the-blade-blossom-warrior-tribal Najeela, the Blade Blossom]] has a Color Identity of Red, White, and Black, because her basic Color is Red (determined by her Mana Cost), while her Text Box includes White and Black mana symbols (hybridized, in this case). All cards in her deck (with her as Commander), including Lands (even Basic Lands), must have a CID of Red, White, Black, Colorless, Red-White, White-Black, Black-Red, or Red-White-Black. Lands which list no mana symbols and/or say "Add [n] mana of any color to your mana pool" are also legal; lands with such an ability or which are given that ability may produce mana outside of your Commander's CID. [[labelnote:Elaboration]] Cards like [[https://edhrec.com/cards/volraths-stronghold Volrath's Stronghold]] have a CID of Black, because Black Mana Symbols are found in its text box; however, while [[https://edhrec.com/cards/urborg-tomb-of-yawgmoth Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth]] is obviously ''associated'' with Black, it has a Color ID of "Colorless" because it contains no colored Mana Symbols anywhere. This means that Volrath's Stronghold can only be used in decks who's Commander's CID contains Black, while Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth can be played in any deck, including a Mono-White deck![[/labelnote]]