15 Amazing Quotes About Magic the Gathering to Inspire and Amaze You

Last updated on January 22, 2024

Enlightened Tutor | Illustration by Howard Lyon

Magic is such a lucky game. It’s gathered an incredible following filled with passionate people who love the game. For many, it’s the basis on which they fostered lasting relationships and learned many lessons.

When a game touches that many people, they’re bound to say some interesting things about it. This list collects some of the best MTG quotes that have inspired me as a player and person to do better in many ways, in and beyond the game.

“Math Is For Blockers.”

Omenspeaker | Illustration by Dallas Williams

This phrase, by Marshell Sutcliffe, has become quite a meme in the Magic community. It’s also a bit misleading. Sometimes, you need to swing for the stars and let your opponent figure out the finer details of combat damage, especially in a close game, but thinking through the combat step is pretty important. Math is for blockers, but thoughtless attacks lead to quick deaths on the crackback.

“Being Balanced Doesn’t Make It Fun.”

This is a slight paraphrasing of a sentiment LSV has experienced several times on stream and in YouTube videos while playing. It’s an interesting way to look at game design in general. It’s easy to get caught up in chasing ideals of perfection, like ensuring a Draft format is perfectly balanced.

“Draft the Good Cards.”

The advice Sam Black received from Mike Hron is the height of simplicity but also very applicable. It’s eyerollingly obvious but sometimes it’s good to remember the basics. When deckbuilding in any format, but especially Commander, it’s easy to fall into the trap of making grand machinations of constructing a Rube Goldberg machine that topples your foes. But in Magic, the best option is often the simplest. Draft the good cards.

“Died to Mana Screw? You Probably Made a Mistake Before That.”

Carmen Klomparens said this on stream one day, and it’s stuck with me. It’s a vital mindset for players to have when they’re seriously trying to improve their gameplay. Losing sucks, and it’s easy to fall into blaming it on variance. If only they hadn’t had that last removal spell. If only they hadn’t drawn a bomb. If only I hadn’t drawn those last two lands. Writing off your game losses to variance hampers your growth as a player, especially because variance might not have been responsible. Maybe if you had played tighter, you could have taken out your opponent the turn before they played the bomb. Perhaps different deck construction could have mitigated flooding. Assessing your games honestly is a vital step towards becoming better at the game.

“That’s Magic, Baby!”

On the other side of the variance coin, we have the phrase said often by Numot on his streams and YouTube videos. You can do a lot to mitigate variance. Careful deckbuilding, expert mulligans, and even crafting the perfect meta deck all do a lot to help you win through the RNG. But sometimes, there's nothing you can do. Sometimes your opponent’s opening hand is Forest, Mox Emerald, Channel, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, and that’s the game. In Magic and life, sometimes things are just out of your control. And that's Magic, baby!

“…The Ability to React to Randomness Is Very Skill-Testing.”

Taken from a transcript of Mark Rosewater’s Drive to Work podcast, this looks at variance from a designer's perspective. Variance comes from many aspects of the game, and some players often write the game off, calling it all RNG, no skill—an attitude especially prevalent in my LGS’s Limited scene. But one of the joys of Magic is adaptation. If every game of Magic played out the same way… that would be chess. Just chess. Embracing the variance, learning deckbuilding skills, and how to play to mitigate it makes you a better Magic player but can also impart valuable lessons on flexibility in the randomness of the world at large.

“The Best Play Uses All Your Mana.”

This quote comes from the Limited Resources podcast, though I can’t remember if LSV or Marshall said it. Following this simple heuristic helps level up your gameplay. The correct play is often the most mana-efficient, the one that lets you use as many of your lands as possible. It’s easy to overthink a line and do something convoluted that makes sense if all the pieces fall just so and get punished because you should have taken the simple route and spent all your mana.

“Bolt the Bird.”

Likely the most iconic phrase in Magic, bolt the bird is a tale of two 1-drops, the eternal bond between Lightning Bolt and Birds of Paradise. The core idea is trading off resources and ensuring your opponent doesn’t get ahead. Moreover, it’s about stopping the opponent from snowballing. Birds of Paradise can cascade into a quick win, and it’s important to identify cards that do so and remove them, even if it means ignoring other cards.

“The Big Thing Is Not to Project Your Own Emotions on What Other People Are Trying to Get Out of Magic.”

This quote from Brad Nelson on an SCG segment was aimed at the strangely persistent take that players who net deck aren’t playing Magic properly, but it can be useful well outside the original context. Different people will play the game for different reasons, and it’s important to respect that. Some people play Magic because they want to win and test themselves. Others play it because it’s a convenient excuse to get four friends around the same table and keep the conversation flowing. Neither is faulty. They’re both correct insofar as Magic is a game, and we should play it how we enjoy it and allow others the same dignity.

“Restrictions Breed Creativity.”

A common phrase popularized in the Magic community by icon Mark Rosewater, there’s a lot to take from this saying. In terms of pure art, setting yourself restrictions and limitations allows you to be creative. Instead of trying to compose every possible idea, you have to think outside the box you’ve created. Restrictions also make deckbuilding far more interesting, especially for a format like Commander that’s all about brews. These restrictions range from simple power level restraints to adding a companion to trick-builds like no creatures. Giving yourself a defined sandbox to play in is often fun and enlightening.

“Playing Wrenn’s Resolve Is the Reward for Having a Low Curve.”

More Draft wisdom from the lips of LSV! This quote comes from a March of the Machine draft on YouTube. It refers to the impulse draw spell Wrenn's Resolve. It’s a great tip that doesn’t just focus on drafting the good cards, but on how those cards work together. The higher your deck’s curve, the less likely you are to play all the spells exiled from Resolve, weakening the card overall. Deckbuilding is a careful dance of raw power and synergy to ensure you can make the most of every spell in your deck.

“If Your Deck Isn’t 25% Brew, You’ve Got No Heart. But If You Aren’t At Least 25% Netdeck, You’ve Got No Brain.”

This quote from Patrick Chaplin’s book Next Level Magic is important for Magic, but I think it can extend further. The idea is that you need to take information from multiple sources. If you only focus on what you think is great, you’ll miss key cards. But constantly netdecking, while not a crime, can lead to stagnation. Pulling from multiple sources of information and wisdom is a great way to expand your horizons in Magic and beyond the game.

“Do Use Sideboard Guides—They Are Good Resources—But Don’t Be a Slave to Them.”

The quote from Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa’s sideboarding article provides valuable advice for players looking to level up their gameplay. Sideboard guides often tell you what cards to take out in what match-up, but they don’t often explain why. Learning why you need to do something is vital to mastering any discipline. We can take this outside Magic; if you’re an artist and find advice that tells you to use shadows and a guide that shows the basic techniques, you can add shadows to your work, but you can’t master them until you understand why and how shadows add depth and texture to a piece.

“Magic Is Not One Game, But Many Games.”

Another long-time quote from Mark Rosewater, this one gets to the heart of what makes Magic special. I’m primarily a Limited player. My game experience is radically different than somebody dedicated to Modern, whose experience diverges from one who loves Vintage. Yet, we can all connect over the same game and can share our experiences. This gives the game a rich texture we can enjoy for years.

“The Gathering Makes Magic Special.”

If there’s anybody to attribute this quote to, it’s the Magic community as a whole, as it’s a sentiment often echoed by many, many people who touch the game. Is it a little trite? Yes, but that doesn’t make it less true. Even as we get to win prizes, even as we get to play for victory, it’s the people that make this game truly special. They're why we go to prereleases, why local game stores provide community and fun, and what has kept this trading card game alive for thirty years. Magic would be nothing without the people it’s gathered, and it’s essential to remember that.

Wrap Up

Blightspeaker | Illustration by Ron Spears

These quotes draw from a variety of sources, but they have one thing in common: They’re said by people who truly, deeply love the game. They show the influence Magic can have, and many offer advice applicable well beyond Magic.

As long as the game has people who care about it, it will endure in quotes and moments like these. What are your favorite MTG-related quotes? Who’s your favorite pro player to get advice from? Let me know in the comments or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!