When I came back to playing Magic around the Innistrad and Return to Ravnica era, I met populate for the first time. I’m very fond of Selesnya decks and mechanics and, despite loving convoke more, there’s a lot to like about populate.
Read moreLife is an important resource in Magic. We’ve seen how using your life total as a resource can break the game countless times over the years, from Necropotence to Gitaxian Probe. Lifegain is an underappreciated stratagem, and the history of...
Read moreSome cards have restrictions placed on them in their text that prevent them from attacking, but still allow them to defend you or use their abilities. That’s what we call the defender mechanic, and that’s what today is all about.
Read moreWard became evergreen from the moment it hit Magic, and while it’s used maybe a bit too often these days, it’s a great alternative to the obnoxious protection abilities of the past.
Read moreDeathtouch is bound to appear in your games as one of MTG’s evergreen mechanic. It shows the flavor of venom or poison or just a deathly gaze.
Read moreMonarch is a mechanic that shines the brightest in multiplayer games, particularly for Commander. It’s a great way to give your game a more “political” dynamic. It creates incentives to build alliances and causes everyone to take action as soon...
Read morePersist was introduced in 2008 with Shadowmoor. The defining mechanic in a multicolor block, persist is featured in all colors and on creatures of all sizes.
Read moreAlmost every Magic player can agree that Ravnica has consistently been a clear display of successful design. Today I’ll be talking about a mechanic that saw its origin as a guild mechanic for the Selesnya Conclave: convoke.
Read moreReleased in Battle for Zendikar in 2015, awaken turns your useless basics into fierce warriors. Let’s take a deep look and see how you can awaken your lands straight into the red zone!
Read moreShadow decks were the next weenie/fliers deck when the Tempest block was released. The idea of attacking each turn with nigh-unblockable creatures and tempo-ing your opponent out of the game isn’t novel these days.
Read morePhyrexian mana looks at the concept of mana as a resource and turns the heat up to 11 by letting you pay life instead of mana to cast a spell. Interested? Let’s take a deeper dive into everything about it!
Read moreFrom milling to commander damage, alternate win conditions have existed in Magic for a long time now. One of the most famous alternate win condition is poisoning your opponent. But what is poison, and how does it work? Let’s talk about that.
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