Picked for what they do in Ares's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Ares's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryBRPlayers write colors as letters: B for black, R for red.PoliticsPolitics decks turn opponents against each other, making their creatures attack someone else or letting the whole table vote. Goad is the most common tool: a goaded creature must attack, and must attack someone other than you if it can.Open the Politics pageForced CombatForces creatures to attack, or decides who they attack, often with goad. In multiplayer it points other people's creatures at each other instead of at you. Bident of Thassa, Toski, Bearer of SecretsOpen the Forced Combat pageAristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats pageDeath TriggerTriggers when a creature dies, whether it is this creature, one of yours or an opponent's. These are the cards that pay you in an Aristocrats deck: something else makes creatures die, and these decide what you get each time. Blood Artist, Solemn SimulacrumOpen the Death Trigger pageGods / DevotionGods, and cards that count your devotion: the number of mana symbols of one color among the costs of your permanents. The Theros Gods cannot be destroyed, and only become creatures when your devotion to their color is high enough.Open the Gods / Devotion pageGame ChangerCards that warp the game disproportionately around themselves, requiring immediate answers.What the brackets mean
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