Picked for what they do in Sandman's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Sandman'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 Sandman 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 Coast19 Sep 2025
Sandman's first ability works in all zones, not only the battlefield.
Wizards of the Coast19 Sep 2025
Sandman's second ability applies only at the time blockers are declared. For example, if Sandman is blocked by a creature with 4 power, and then an effect gives that creature -3/-0, it won't stop blocking Sandman.
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 glossaryGPlayers write colors as letters: G for green.LandfallLandfall decks reward you each time a land enters the battlefield for you, then find ways to play extra lands. You can normally play only one land a turn, so cards that let you play more, or pull lands out of your deck, make everything happen more often.Open the Landfall pageLand RecursionReturns land cards from your graveyard to your hand or to the battlefield, or lets you play lands from your graveyard. Lands-matter decks use it to hit a land drop every turn and to trigger Landfall again and again. Crucible of Worlds, Ramunap Excavator, Life from the LoamOpen the Land Recursion pageReanimationReturns a creature card from a graveyard straight to the battlefield, skipping its mana cost. That is why decks built around it put their biggest creatures into the graveyard on purpose. Named for Reanimate. Animate DeadOpen the Reanimation pageRecursionBrings cards back from the graveyard: to your hand, to the battlefield, or letting them be cast again from where they lie. Eternal Witness, Reanimate, VictimizeOpen the Recursion pageStat ScalingA creature whose power and toughness count something, so it grows as the game goes on. It might count lands you control or cards in your graveyard. Craterhoof Behemoth, Psychosis CrawlerOpen the Stat Scaling pageMana SinkGives you somewhere useful to spend spare mana, usually through an ability you can activate again and again. Rogue's Passage, Mind StoneOpen the Mana Sink pageReanimatorReanimator decks put big creatures into their own graveyard early, then bring them back onto the battlefield without paying their cost. It gets a huge creature into play far sooner than you could afford to cast it.Open the Reanimator page
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