Picked for what they do in James's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit James'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
explain how James works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Wizards of the Coast8 Mar 2024
Activated abilities contain a colon. They're generally written "[Cost]: [Effect]." Some keywords are activated abilities and may have colons in their reminder text.
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 glossaryUPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Big ManaBig Mana decks build up far more mana than usual, then spend it on huge spells. Some are X spells, which have X in their cost and get stronger the more mana you put in.Open the Big Mana pageBig ManaProduces several mana at once from a single source, rather than the one extra mana most acceleration gives you. That surplus is what lets a deck cast something enormous far ahead of schedule. Compare Ramp, which is a reusable source you build up over time, and Burst Mana, which pays out once and is then gone. Cabal Coffers, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Savage VentmawOpen the Big Mana pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageRampAn effect that accelerates your mana, giving you a reusable mana source beyond the usual one land per turn. Cultivate Rampant GrowthOpen the Ramp pageGame ChangerCards that warp the game disproportionately around themselves, requiring immediate answers.What the brackets meanClues MatterClue tokens are artifacts you can pay 2 mana and sacrifice to draw a card. Making one is called investigate.Open the Clues Matter page
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