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MTG keywords and what they mean

You wouldn’t believe how many MTG keywords there are – so here’s a massive Magic: The Gathering guide to help you remember them all.

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of the Loxodon planeswalker, Quintorius Kand
Mollie Russell's Avatar

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Magic: The Gathering 

The sheer number of MTG keywords in Magic: The Gathering make it one of the most complex trading card games on earth. There’s no way one human mind can memorize so many mechanics – and thankfully, you don’t have to. This guide is here to do the hard work for you.

Below you’ll find a complete list of MTG keyword abilities and keyword actions. Alone, they can’t teach you how to play Magic: The Gathering, or which MTG Arena decks are best in the current meta. But they can expand your Magic-loving mind a little more, and they share an interesting slice of MTG set history.

Here’s a complete list of MTG keywords:

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of four planeswalkers from the Gatewatch

MTG Abandon

First set Archenemy
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Abandon is only seen in the Archenemy MTG format. To ‘abandon’ means to turn a face-up scheme card face-down and put it on the bottom of its owner’s scheme deck. 

MTG Absorb

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Absorb prevents X amount of damage from one source (X being a specific number on the card, e.g. ‘Absorb 3’. 

MTG Activate

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Activate keyword action describes the moment that an activated ability is put onto the Stack and has its costs paid. After you ‘activate’ an ability, it will resolve as long as nothing interferes. 

MTG Adapt

First set Ravnica Allegiance
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If a creature has an MTG Adapt value (e.g. Adapt 3) and has no +1/+1 counters on it, you can add counters equal to this value. You must pay the stated cost to activate this keyword. 

MTG Affinity

First set Mirrodin
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Affinity reduces the mana cost of a spell depending on how many permanents of a certain type you control. For example, if you controlled four MTG land, you would reduce the mana cost of a spell by four. 

MTG Afflict

First set Hour of Devastation
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Whenever a creature with MTG Afflict is blocked, the defending player loses an amount of life equal to the Afflict value (e.g. Afflict 2). 

MTG Afterlife

First set Ravnica Allegiance
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a creature with MTG Afterlife dies, it creates a number of 1/1 black and white Spirit creature tokens with flying. This number is equal to the Afterlife value (e.g. Afterlife 3). 

MTG Aftermath

First set Amonkhet
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Aftermath means that the second half of a split card can be cast from the graveyard. 

MTG Amass

First set War of the Spark
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If you are asked to use the MTG Amass keyword, you put X +1/+1 counters on an Army under your control and give it a specific subtype. The spell you’re casting will have an Amass value that tells you how many counters to place. If you don’t already control an Army, you will instead get to create a 0/0 Army creature token of a specific subtype first. 

MTG Amplify

First set Legions
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you play a creature with MTG Amplify, you can reveal any number of creatures in your hand that share the same creature type. Your first creature then enters the battlefield with +1/+1 counters equal to the number of cards you revealed. 

MTG Annihilator

First set Rise of the Eldrazi
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Annihilator attacks, it forces an opponent to sacrifice permanents equal to the Annihilator value (e.g. Annihilator 1). 

MTG Ascend

First set Rivals of Ixalan
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you control ten or more permanents, MTG Ascend means you get the ‘city’s blessing’ for the rest of the game. That blessing typically comes with some extra benefits, though what that is exactly changes. 

MTG Assemble

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Assemble keyword is commonly found on Contraption cards. To ‘assemble’ a Contraption, you place the top card of your Contraption deck face-up in one of three sprocket zones. 

MTG Assist

First set Battlebond
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Assist lets you choose another player to help pay the generic mana cost of a spell. 

MTG Attach

First set Mirrodin
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Attach keyword does what it says on the can – it ‘attaches’ an Aura, Equipment, or Fortification onto another object or player, passing on some kind of buff or consequence. 

MTG Aura Swap

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Aura Swap lets you switch an Aura on the battlefield for one from your hand. You’ll need to pay a cost to activate this ability. 

MTG Awaken

First set Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Awaken is an alternative way to pay for a spell, as well as an ability that turns one of your lands into an Elemental creature. ‘Awaken X’ represents how many +1/+1 counters your Elemental enters the battlefield with. 

MTG Banding

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Banding is a retired keyword that links up a group of attacking creatures. Any creature with banding, as well as up to one creature without, can attack as part of a band. They all attack a single target together and become blocked together. If one of the banded creatures takes damage, you can spread that damage among all the banded creatures.

‘Bands with other’ is a more limited version of the same thing, banding together cards that share a certain trait. 

MTG Battle Cry

First set Mirrodin Besieged
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Whenever a creature with MTG Battle Cry attacks, all other attacking creatures get +1/+0 for the turn. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of Liliana Vess

MTG Bestow

First set Theros
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Bestow can turn a creature into an Aura, which can then be cast on another creature to ‘bestow’ it with the first creature’s power, toughness, and abilities. 

MTG Blitz

First set Streets of New Capenna
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Blitz gives a card an alternative cost for casting. If you pay the Blitz cost, your creature gains Haste. Also, when it dies, you can draw a card. The card gets Sacrificed at the start of your next end step. 

MTG Bloodthirst

First set Guildpact
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Bloodthirst gives a permanent a certain number of +1/+1 counters when it enters the battlefield – provided that an opponent was dealt damage that same turn. 

MTG Boast

First set Kaldheim
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Boast means that an associated ability can only be activated after the creature with Boast attacks. It can also only be activated once each turn. 

MTG Bolster

First set Fate Reforged
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If a card has an MTG Bolster value (e.g. Bolster 4), you can put that many +1/+1 counters on a creature you control. That creature must have the least (or tied with the least) toughness among all creatures under your control. 

MTG Bushido

First set Champions of Kamigawa
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a creature with MTG Bushido becomes blocked, it gets +X/+X until the end of the turn. X equals the card’s Bushido value (e.g. Bushido 4). 

MTG Buyback

First set Tempest
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When casting an Instant or Sorcery with the MTG Buyback keyword, you can pay the extra Buyback cost to return the card to your hand after it resolves. 

MTG Cascade

First set Alara Reborn
Full guide MTG Cascade
Category Keyword ability

When a card with MTG Cascade is cast, you must exile cards from the top of your library until you find a non-land card with a mana value that’s less than that of the spell you’re casting. You can then cast that card for free. Finally, put all the other exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. 

MTG Cast

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Cast keyword refers to the act of playing a non-land card from your hand, paying its costs, and adding it to the Stack. More properly, this is known as ‘casting a spell’. 

MTG Casualty

First set Streets of New Capenna
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

As an extra cost of a card with MTG Casualty, you may sacrifice a creature with power X or greater (X being the Casualty value, e.g. Casualty 2). Doing so copies the spell. 

MTG Champion

First set Lorwyn
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

There are two different MTG Champion abilities. The first forces you to sacrifice a card with Champion when it enters the battlefield unless you exile another specific kind of card under your control. The second involves a card with Champion leaving the battlefield, and it returns the card you previously exiled to the battlefield. 

MTG Changeling

First set Lorwyn
Full guide MTG Changelings
Category Keyword ability

MTG Changeling means that a card counts as every single creature type. 

MTG Cipher

First set Gatecrash
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When an Instant or Sorcery has the MTG Cipher keyword, you can exile it and ‘encode’ it on a creature you control. This allows you to copy and cast the exiled card for free every time that creature deals combat damage. 

MTG Clash

First set Lorwyn
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If prompted by the MTG Clash keyword, each clashing player reveals the top card of their library and chooses to place it on the top or bottom of their deck. The player who revealed the card with the higher mana value wins the clash. 

MTG Cleave

First set Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Cleave is an alternative cost for Instants and Sorceries. Casting a card for its Cleave cost alters its effects. When you pay a card’s Cleave cost, you remove the text in square brackets, generally producing a more powerful effect.

MTG Cloak

First set Murders at Karlov Manor
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Cloak lets you put a card on the battlefield face-down as a 2/2 creature. The creature has Ward 2, and you can turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature. 

MTG Collect Evidence

First set Murders at Karlov Manor
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Collect Evidence is another recent keyword. A spell may ask you to “Collect Evidence X), which means exiling that many cards from your graveyard. The exiled cards must have a mana value equal to or greater than X. 

MTG Companion

First set Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Full guide MTG Companion
Category Keyword ability

A creature card with the MTG Companion ability will list a deck-building restriction, like only having cards of a certain mana value. As long as you meet the restriction, you can designate the card as your deck’s Companion.

This means that during the game you can pay three mana, at Sorcery-speed, to place the Companion from your sideboard into your hand. Originally, a Companion could be played right from the sideboard, but this was so overpowered that Wizards nerfed the entire keyword. 

MTG Compleated

First set Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Compleated is a keyword ability specific to MTG Planeswalker cards. A Compleated planeswalker has a Phyrexian mana symbol in its mana cost, which can be paid with mana or with two life. For each pip you pay with life instead of mana, the Planeswalker enters the battlefield with two fewer loyalty counters. 

MTG Connive

First set Streets of New Capenna
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If a card has MTG Connive, you can draw and then discard cards equal to its Connive value (e.g. Connive 2). You then place a +1/+1 counter on the creature with Connive, one for each card you discarded. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of key outlaws from Outlaws of Thunder Junction

MTG Conspire

First set Shadowmoor
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A spell with MTG Conspire can be copied if its controller taps two creatures that share a color with it as they cast it. 

MTG Convert

First set Transformers
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If a Transformers card has the MTG Convert keyword, the double-sided card can be turned to its opposite side. This functions just like the Transform keyword. 

MTG Convoke

First set Ravnica: City of Guilds
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Your creatures can be tapped to help you cast spells that have the MTG Convoke keyword. Each creature you tap will pay one mana of the card’s mana value. Each tapped creature can pay for generic mana, or for a color in its own color identity (i.e. a white/green creature could pay for white, green, or generic mana). 

MTG Counter

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Counter keyword puts a spell in its player’s graveyard, negating any effect it might have had. 

MTG Create

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

In MTG Create refers to the act of placing a token on the battlefield. 

MTG Crew

First set Kaladesh
Full guide MTG vehicles
Category Keyword ability

MTG Crew is a keyword associated with the Vehicle artifact sub-type. Vehicles feature the Crew keyword, followed by a number. This number refers to the cost required to turn the Vehicle from a regular artifact into an artifact creature until the end of the turn.

To Crew a Vehicle card, you have to tap creatures whose combined power is equal to or greater than the card’s Crew value. 

MTG Cumulative Upkeep

First set Arabian Nights
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A card with MTG Cumulative Upkeep has an extra cost that must be paid each turn. In your upkeep, you put an age counter on the card, then pay its Cumulative Upkeep cost multiplied by the number of age counters on it. If you don’t, or can’t, you sacrifice the card. 

MTG Cycling

First set Urza’s Saga
Full guide MTG Cycling
Category Keyword ability

If a card has an MTG Cycling ability, you can pay its Cycling cost to discard it and draw a new card. There are also Cycling variants that specify a card type (e.g. Basic landcycling). This is an MTG tutor effect where, rather than drawing the first card from your library, you search your library for any card of the specified type, and place that into your hand. 

MTG Dash

First set Fate Reforged
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you pay for a card with its alternate MTG Dash cost, it gains Haste, and is returned from the battlefield to your hand at the end of the turn. 

MTG Daybound and Nightbound

First set Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

This pair of keywords is found on certain transforming double-faced cards. If it’s Day (in game terms), the card enters with its Daybound side face up. If it’s Night, it enters with the Nightbound side face up. If it’s neither, the card enters on its Daybound face and it becomes Day. Once you play a double-faced MTG Daybound and Nightbound creature, you must then track Day/Night for the rest of the game. These cards will transform as the Day/Night cycle changes. 

MTG Deathtouch

First set Future Sight
Full guide MTG Deathtouch
Category Keyword ability

If a card with MTG Deathtouch deals any damage to another creature, that creature is destroyed. Any amount of damage is considered lethal damage. Deathtouch is an Evergreen keyword. 

MTG Decayed

First set Innistrad Midnight Hunt
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Decayed cannot block. When it attacks, it is Sacrificed at the end of combat. 

MTG Defender

First set Champions of Kamigawa
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with Defender cannot attack, only block. MTG Defender is an Evergreen keyword. 

MTG Delve

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Delve lets you play part (or theoretically all) of a spell’s mana cost by exiling cards from your graveyard. Each card exiled pays for one generic mana of the cost. You can’t pay colored mana in a card’s cost this way, however. 

MTG Demonstrate

First set Commander 2021
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When you cast a spell that has MTG Demonstrate you can copy it. If you do, you choose an opponent and they also copy the spell. Based on how the MTG Stack works, your opponent’s copy resolves first, then your copy, then the regular spell. This mechanic is designed with Commander in mind. 

MTG Destroy

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Destroy keyword refers to the act of moving a permanent from the battlefield to its owner’s graveyard. Being ‘destroyed’ also means a card has gone to the graveyard after taking lethal damage. 

MTG Detain

First set Return to Ravnica
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Detain means, until your next turn, a permanent with this keyword can’t attack, block, or activate abilities. 

MTG Dethrone

First set Conspiracy
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Dethrone attacks the player with the most or joint most life, you put a +1/+1 counter on it. 

MTG Devoid

First set Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi
Full guide Full guide
Category Keyword ability

If a card has MTG Devoid, it is considered a colorless card. This is true regardless of any MTG colors in the card’s mana cost. 

MTG Devour

First set Shards of Alara
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Before any creature with the MTG Devour keyword enters the battlefield, you can sacrifice any number of creatures. For every creature sacrificed, the card with Devour gets that many +1/+1 counters on it when it enters the battlefield. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of Eriette of the Charmed Apple

MTG Discard

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Discard keyword refers to the act of moving a card from a player’s hand to their graveyard. 

MTG Discover

First set The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If a spell has MTG Discover, you can exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a non-land card with X mana value or less (X being the spell’s Discover value, e.g. Discover 7). That non-land card can be cast for free or put into your hand, and the rest of the exiled cards return to the bottom of your library in a random order. 

MTG Disturb

First set Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A card with the MTG Disturb keyword can be cast from the graveyard for its Disturb cost. If you do so, the card transforms (and is flipped to its back face). 

MTG Double

First set Fifth Dawn
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Double means exactly the same thing as it does in a regular dictionary – whatever you’re doing, do it again. Maybe a card will ask you to double damage or a creature’s toughness, for example. 

MTG Double Strike

First set Legions
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Double Strike allows an attacking creature to deal damage twice in a combat phase. It deals its usual damage in an additional first combat damage step, and then it deals that same amount again in the second combat damage step, alongside creatures without Double (or First) Strike. 

MTG Dredge

First set Ravnica: City of Guilds
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card with MTG Dredge is in your graveyard, you can mill cards instead of drawing at the start of your turn. The number of cards you mill is equal to the Dredge number. After the mill, you can return the original card to your hand. 

MTG Echo

First set Urza’s Saga
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Echo forces you to pay an additional cost for any card with the keyword you control. This cost is paid at the start of your next upkeep phase after gaining control of the card with Echo. If you can’t or don’t want to pay, you must sacrifice the card. 

MTG Embalm

First set Amonkhet
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a creature with MTG Embalm is in your graveyard, you exile it to create a token copy of that creature. The new version has no mana cost and is a monocolored white zombie (as well as its original types). 

MTG Emerge

First set Eldritch Moon
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

The MTG Emerge keyword allows you to pay a reduced mana cost to cast a spell. The catch is that you have to sacrifice a creature as part of the casting. 

MTG Enchant

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

The MTG Enchant keyword limits what Aura spells can target and attach themselves to. For example, a card might prompt you to “Enchant a creature”. 

MTG Encore

First set Commander Legends
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Encore is activated when a creature with that keyword enters the graveyard. Once there, you can pay its Encore cost and exile it. This in turn creates a number of token copies of the card, equal to the number of opponents you’re playing against. Each token has Haste, must attack one of your opposing players, and is sacrificed during the end step of the turn. 

MTG Entwine

First set Mirrodin
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you pay the MTG Entwine cost when casting a spell, you can choose all options in the card’s text rather than just one. 

MTG Epic

First set Saviors of Kamigawa
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

The MTG Epic keyword adds the following rules to a card: “For the rest of the game, you can’t play spells. At the beginning of each of your upkeeps, copy this spell except for its Epic ability. You may choose a new target for the copy.”

MTG Equip

First set Mirrodin
Full guide MTG Equipment
Category Keyword ability

Equipment cards come with the MTG Equip keyword, which allows you to attach them to a creature by paying the Equip cost. 

MTG Escalate

First set Eldritch Moon
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Like Entwine, the MTG Escalate mechanic lets you choose multiple options from the modes on an Instant or Sorcery. You must pay the Escalate cost of the card equal to the number of extra options you want to activate. For example, if an Instant has an Escalate cost of 2, every option you activate after the first costs an extra 2 mana. 

MTG Escape

First set Theros Beyond Death
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Escape allows spells to be cast from the graveyard if you pay their Escape cost. An Escape cost is usually a mix of mana and a number of cards you must exile from your graveyard. 

MTG Eternalize

First set Hour of Devastation
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

The MTG Eternalize keyword activates when a creature with the keyword enters the graveyard. It then creates a token copy of the creature – with four differences. The creature’s power and toughness are now 4/4, it has no mana cost, it’s now a mono-black creature, and it gains ‘zombie’ as an additional creature type. 

MTG Evoke

First set Lorwyn
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Evoke gives any creature with the keyword an alternative cost you can pay when casting it. If you do, the creature is sacrificed when it enters the battlefield. 

MTG Evolve

First set Gatecrash
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Creatures with MTG Evolve gain a +1/+1 counter any time another creature enters the battlefield, providing that the new creature has a greater power or toughness. 

MTG Exalted

First set Shards of Alara
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a creature you control attacks alone, it gets +1/+1 counters equal to the number of permanents under your control with the MTG Exalted keyword. These counters last until the end of the turn. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of planeswalkers running into battle

MTG Exchange

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Exchange refers to the act of swapping two things, such as objects or life totals. 

MTG Exert

First set Amonkhet
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Exert applies the ‘exerted’ effect to a permanent, meaning it won’t untap during your next untap step. 

MTG Exile

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Exile keyword refers to the act of moving a card outside of play into the exile zone. 

MTG Exploit

First set Dragons of Tarkir
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with the MTG Exploit keyword enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice a creature. Cards with Exploit typically have a second ability that triggers a benefit when you sacrifice a creature with Exploit. 

MTG Explore

First set Ixalan
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Explore keyword allows you to reveal the top card of your library. If the card is an MTG land, it goes in your hand. Otherwise, the creature with Explore gets a +1/+1 counter, and the card goes in your graveyard or back on top of your library. 

MTG Extort

First set Gatecrash
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When you cast a spell with the MTG Extort keyword, you can pay one white or black mana. Doing so forces each opponent to lose a life, and you gain that much life in return. 

MTG Fabricate

First set Kaladesh
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

The MTG Fabricate keyword lets you put a number +1/+1 counters on the creature equal to the Fabricate number (eg Fabricate 2) or, alternatively, create that many 1/1 Servo artifact creature tokens. 

MTG Face a Villainous Choice

First set Doctor Who
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

Introduced in the Doctor Who set, MTG Face a Villainous Choice offers you two options to choose from. These options target your opponents, and both have negative consequences. 

MTG Fading

First set Nemesis
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A now retired keyword, cards with MTG Fading enter play with a number of Fade counters on them. You remove a counter on each upkeep, and if you can’t, must sacrifice the permanent.

This keyword itself faded out, to be replaced with Vanishing. The difference is that cards with Fading would disappear on the upkeep of the player’s next turn after the last counter was removed, which many players found unintuitive. Conversely, when the last time counter is removed from a Vanishing permanent, it immediately gets removed. 

MTG Fateseal

First set Mirage
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

A card with MTG Fateseal allows you to look at the top X cards of an opponent’s library, with X equal to your card’s Fateseal value (e.g. Fateseal 3). You can put any number of these cards on the bottom of the player’s library, and any remaining go back on top in any order. 

MTG Fear

First set Onslaught
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Creatures with MTG Fear can only be blocked by Black creatures or artifact creatures. 

MTG Fight

First set Innistrad
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Fight keyword causes two creatures to deal damage equal to their power to each other. 

MTG First Strike

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

This is another Evergreen keyword. Creatures with MTG First Strike apply their damage before creatures without it, in an extra combat damage step. 

MTG Flanking

First set Mirage
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A seldom-used mechanic found on creatures. When a creature blocks another creature that has the MTG Flanking ability, they get -1/-1 until end of turn. That is, unless they also have Flanking. 

MTG Flash

First set Time Spiral
Full guide MTG Flash
Category Keyword ability

A card with MTG Flash can be played any time an Instant could be played. 

MTG Flashback

First set Innistrad
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A card with the MTG Flashback keyword, which will always be an Instant or Sorcery, can be cast from the graveyard for an alternate cost. After it’s cast this way, it is exiled. 

MTG Flying

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Another well-known Evergreen keyword, creatures with MTG Flying can only be blocked by other creatures with the Flying keyword, or those with Reach. 

MTG Forecast

First set Dissension
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Forecast is a rather varied ability, associated with the Azorius guild from Ravnica. It’s an effect that lets you reveal the Forecast card from your hand during your upkeep and pay a cost to activate a different effect to casting the spell normally. You can only use a card’s Forecast ability once each turn. 

MTG Foretell

First set Kaldheim
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Foretell is a keyword ability found on all varieties of card. To Foretell a card you pay two mana and exile it from your hand. You can then cast it on a later turn, at any time you normally could, for its (usually cheaper) Foretell cost. 

MTG Fortify

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A card with an MTG Fortify activated ability can be attached to Lands to provide a bonus effect, the same way Equipment can be attached to creatures. You pay the Fortify cost (at Sorcery speed) and then attach the card to a target Land.

This is a very scarce keyword, only appearing on a single card for the longest time. Magic’s newly cavalier attitude to throwing keywords into Commander products allowed it to come back on a card for MTG Fallout. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of Urza

MTG Frenzy

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with the MTG Frenzy keyword attacks and isn’t blocked, it gets bonus power equal to its Frenzy value. 

MTG Friends Forever

First set Stranger Things Secret Lair
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A Stranger Things-specific variant of Partner, which allows you to have two MTG Commanders. Just as you can pair up any two legendary creatures with Partner in your command zone, you can have two Commanders if both have the Friends Forever ability. There is only a small handful of cards with this ability however, whereas Partner is much more common. 

MTG Fuse

First set Dragon’s Maze
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Fuse is a keyword ability specific to split cards. When you cast a card with Fuse you can choose to cast one or both sides of the card from your hand, paying the mana costs appropriately.

When both halves of a Fuse card are paid it is treated as one spell with the mana cost of both halves combined. You resolve the effects of the spell by following the instructions of the left half and then following the instructions of the right.

Note that if both halves of the Fuse spell require targets, you must pick targets for both at the same time. This is why the ‘Entering’ half of Breaking // Entering doesn’t target, as it allows you to benefit from the mill in ‘Breaking’. 

MTG Goad

First set Conspiracy: Take the Crown
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Goad forces a creature to attack each combat if able, attacking a player other than you if able. This effect lasts until your next turn. 

MTG Graft

First set Dissension
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Permanents with MTG Graft enter the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters equal to their Graft value. Then, whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you can move one of those +1/+1 counters from the card with Graft to the newly entered creature. 

MTG Gravestorm

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A variant of Storm. When you cast a card with MTG Gravestorm, you make a copy of it for each permanent placed in a graveyard that turn. 

MTG Haste

First set Sixth Edition
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

An Evergreen keyword found on creatures. A creature with MTG Haste doesn’t get summoning sickness when it enters the battlefield. That means it can attack (or use tap abilities) right away. 

MTG Haunt

First set Guildpact
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a card with the MTG Haunt keyword is put into a graveyard from play, it comes back ‘Haunting’ another creature. When the creature it haunts is put into a graveyard, an ability will trigger, which is generally the same as the creature’s ETB effect. 

MTG Hexproof

First set Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012
Full guide MTG Hexproof
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Hexproof cannot be targeted by opponents’ spells or abilities. While it’s still considered an Evergreen keyword, in recent years Wizards of the Coast has favored the more flexible Ward keyword over Hexproof. 

MTG Hidden Agenda

First set Conspiracy
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

The MTG Hidden Agenda keyword lets you put a Conspiracy card in the command zone, face-down. It’s placed there at the very start of the game, and you must secretly name a card. At any time, you can turn the Conspiracy card face-up and reveal that name. ‘Double Agenda’ is a similar keyword that lets you name two secret cards. 

MTG Hideaway

First set Lorwyn
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a card with MTG Hideaway enters the battlefield, you can look at the top X number of cards in your library. X equals the Hideaway value on the card, e.g. Hideaway 5. One of the cards you looked at must be exiled face-down, and the rest are placed on the bottom of your library. 

MTG Horsemanship

First set Evasion
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If an attacking creature has the MTG Horsemanship keyword, it can only be blocked by other creatures with Horsemanship. 

MTG Incubate

First set March of the Machine
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Incubate lets you create an Incubator token with X +1/+1 counters on it, equal to the card’s Incubate value (e.g. Incubate 2). You must spend 2 mana to transform it into a Phyrexian artifact creature. 

MTG Indestructible

First set Alpha
Full guide MTG Indestructible
Category Keyword ability

A card with MTG Indestructible can’t be destroyed by damage or any other effect with ‘destroy’ in its rules. It can still be removed in other ways, though. 

MTG Improvise

First set Aether Revolt
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Improvise is the Convoke of Artifacts – quite literally. Instead of using creatures to help pay for a spell with Improvise, you can tap one Artifact for every mana you want to replace. 

MTG Infect

First set Scars of Mirrodin
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Infect deals damage to creatures by giving them -1/-1 counters. If they deal damage to a player, the damage is dealt in the form of poison counters. 

MTG Ingest

First set Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with the MTG Ingest keyword deals combat damage to a player, the target must exile the top card of their library. 

MTG Intimidate

First set Zendikar
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Intimidate means that a creature with this keyword can only be blocked by artifact creatures or creatures of the same color. 

MTG Investigate

First set Shadows over Innistrad
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Investigate creates a colorless Clue artifact token. If you spend two mana and sacrifice the Clue, you can draw a card. 

MTG Jump-Start

First set Guilds of Ravnica
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Instants and Sorceries with the MTG Jump-Start keyword can be cast from the graveyard. There’s an extra cost, though – you’ll need to discard a card as well as pay its normal costs. After that, the card with Jump-Start is exiled. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of Bloomburrow animal characters

MTG Kicker

First set Invasion
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Kicker lets you pay an extra cost when you cast a spell. Doing so often comes with a neat effect. There’s also ‘Multikicker’, which lets you pay the extra cost of a card as many times as you want. 

MTG Landwalk

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Landwalk is unblockable as long as its controlling player also controls a specific kind of land. 

MTG Learn

First set Strixhaven: School of Mages
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Learn keyword allows you to reveal a Lesson card you own from outside of the game and place it in your hand. Alternatively, you can discard a card to draw a card. 

MTG Level Up

First set Rise of the Eldrazi
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Level Up lets you add a level counter to a card for a specific cost. Get that level counter to a certain number, and your creature will transform into something far stronger. 

MTG Lifelink

First set Mirrodin
Full guide MTG Lifelink
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Lifelink deals damage, you gain life equal to the damage dealt. 

MTG Living Weapon

First set Mirrodin Besieged
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

The MTG Living Weapon keyword turns an Equipment card into a 0/0 black Phyrexian Germ creature token when it enters the battlefield. The original Equipment card is equipped to that token. 

MTG Madness

First set Torment
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you discard a card with MTG Madness, it goes into exile. It can then be cast for its Madness cost or sent to your graveyard. 

MTG Manifest

First set Fate Reforged
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If a card has the MTG Manifest keyword, you can put it on the battlefield face-down as a 2/2 creature and turn it face-up later at any time by paying its mana cost. Only creature cards can be turned face-up. 

MTG Meld

First set Eldritch Moon
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

This keyword refers to the act of turning two MTG Meld cards into one oversized card. You must control both parts of the pair to do so. 

MTG Melee

First set Conspiracy: Take the Crown
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Melee attacks, it gets +1/+1 for each opponent you’ve already attacked with a creature in this combat. The counters last until the end of the turn. 

MTG Menace

First set Fallen Empires
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Menace can only be blocked by two or more creatures. Simple, but effective. 

MTG Mentor

First set Guilds of Ravnica
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Mentor attacks, it gives another attacking creature of lesser power a +1/+1 counter. 

MTG Mill

First set Antiquities
Full guide MTG Mill
Category Keyword action

The MTG Mill keyword refers to the act of moving cards from the top of a player’s library into their graveyard. 

MTG Miracle

First set Avacyn Restored
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A card with this keyword can be cast for its MTG Miracle cost when you draw it – but only if it’s the first card you drew on that turn. 

MTG Modular

First set Darksteel
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card has the MTG Modular keyword, it enters the battlefield with +1/+1 counters equal to its Modular value (e.g. Modular 4). When it dies, you can put that many counters on an Artifact creature of your choice. 

MTG Monstrosity

First set Theros
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

If a card with MTG Monstrosity isn’t already monstrous, place X +1/+1 counters on it and have it become monstrous. X equals the card’s Monstrosity value (e.g. Monstrosity 3). 

MTG Morph

First set Onslaught
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card has the MTG Morph keyword, you can cast it face-down as a 2/2 creature for three colorless mana. To turn it face up, you must pay its Morph cost (e.g. Morph 4). If a card instead has ‘Megamorph’, the card gets a +1/+1 counter when it is turned face-up. 

MTG Mutate

First set Unsanctioned
Full guide MTG Mutate
Category Keyword ability

A card with this keyword can be cast for its MTG Mutate cost. If you do so, place it over or under another Human creature that you own. The card on top merges with the creature below, gaining access to all its abilities. 

MTG Myriad

First set Commander 2015
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with the MTG Myriad keyword attacks, you create tokens equal to the number of opponents other than the player defending. These tokens are copies of your attacking creature, and they’re tapped and attacking each non-defending player. The tokens are exiled at the end of combat. 

MTG Ninjutsu

First set Betrayers of Kamigawa
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you attack with a creature and it isn’t blocked, you can put a card with MTG Ninjutsu onto the battlefield and return the attacking creature to your hand. The new creature now attacks in its place. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of a dinosaur with a soldier in their mouth

MTG Offering

First set Betrayers of Kamigawa
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card has MTG Offering, you can cast it at Instant speed by sacrificing a specific type of card and paying the difference in mana between the two cards. 

MTG Open an Attraction

First set Unfinity
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

Found in the 2022 Un- set, MTG Open an Attraction lets you put the top card of your Attraction deck on the battlefield. 

MTG Outlast

First set Khans of Tarkir
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Outlast lets you place a +1/+1 counter on a creature, as long as you tap it and play its Outlast cost. This can only be done as a Sorcery. 

MTG Overload

First set Return to Ravnica
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you cast a spell for its MTG Overload cost, replace every use of the phrase ‘target’ with each. 

MTG Partner

First set Commander 2016
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you have two Commanders with the MTG Partner keyword, they can both be your Commander. A card with the ‘partner with’ variant can only be paired with a specific card, which you can search your library to add to your hand. 

MTG Persist

First set Shadowmoor
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with the MTG Persist keyword dies, you can return it to the battlefield under its owners control if it had no -1/-1 counters on it. When it comes back, it does have a -1/-1 counter. 

MTG Phasing

First set Mirage
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Phasing can ‘phase in’ or ‘phase out’. When phased out, the creature is treated as if it doesn’t exist. It then returns to normal during its controller’s untap step. 

MTG Planeswalk

First set Planechase
Full guide Full guide
Category Keyword action

MTG Planeswalk refers to the act of placing a face-up plane card or phenomenon card on the bottom of its owner’s planar deck, face-down. As part of the keyword action, the player then moves the top card of the planar deck off the deck and turns it face-up. 

MTG Play

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Play keyword refers to the act of placing a land on the battlefield from your hand. If you play any other kind of card, that card is ‘Cast’ instead. 

MTG Poisonous

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with the MTG Poisonous keyword deals damage to a player, that player gets poison counters equal to the card’s poison value (e.g. Poisonous 2). 

MTG Populate

First set Return to Ravnica
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Populate keyword creates a token copy of a creature token you already control. 

MTG Proliferate

First set Scars of Mirrodin
Full guide MTG Proliferate
Category Keyword action

MTG Proliferate lets you choose any number of players or permanents and give them another counter of a kind that they already have. 

MTG Protection

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A card can have MTG Protection from a specific feature on another card. This could be color, creature type, or even card names. When a card has Protection, it can’t be targeted, blocked, damaged, enchanted, or equipped by any spell with that feature. 

MTG Provoke

First set Legions
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Provoke attacks, you can choose a creature on the defending player’s side to untap and block your attacker. 

MTG Prowess

First set Khans of Tarkir
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a creature has MTG Prowess, it gets a +1/+1 until the end of the turn any time you cast a non-creature spell. 

MTG Prowl

First set Morningtide
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Prowl is an alternative cost you can use to cast a spell. You can only choose to pay a card’s Prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player that turn, using a specific subtype of card. 

MTG Rampage

First set Legends
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Rampage is blocked, it gets +X/+X until the end of the turn for every creature blocking it (not including the first). X equals the card’s Rampage value (e.g. Rampage 1). 

MTG Reach

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Reach can block creatures with flying. 

MTG Rebound

First set Rise of the Eldrazi
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card with MTG Rebound was cast from your hand, you exile it instead of sending it to your graveyard. At the start of your next upkeep phase, you can cast it without paying the card’s mana cost. 

MTG Reconfigure

First set Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Reconfigure lets you attach or unattach an artifact creature to another creature you control (for a cost, of course). This is done as a Sorcery, and the attached card doesn’t count as a creature while in this state. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of key characters from Murders at Karlov Manor

MTG Recover

First set Coldsnap
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Recover is a keyword that, so far, has only ever been used in the Coldsnap set. When a creature with Recover enters the graveyard from the battlefield, you can pay its Recover cost to return it to your hand. If you don’t pay the cost, you must exile the card. 

MTG Regenerate

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

You can pay an additional cost to use a card’s MTG Regenerate keyword. The next time that card would be destroyed on this turn, Regenerate nullifies the effect. Instead, it is tapped, all damage is removed from it, and it is removed from combat. 

MTG Reinforce

First set Morningtide
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Reinforce lets you place X +1/+1 counters on a creature, but you’ll need to pay a mana cost and discard the card with the Reinforce keyword. X equals that card’s Reinforce cost (e.g. Reinforce 2). 

MTG Renown

First set Magic Origins
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Renown deals combat damage to a player, if it isn’t already Renowned, it gets X +1/+1 counters and becomes Renowned. X equals the card’s Renown value (e.g. Renown 3). We haven’t seen many cards with Renown lately, but there was one in the Lord of the Rings Holiday release. 

MTG Replicate

First set Guildpact
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When you cast a spell with MTG Replicate, you can pay its Replicate cost to make a copy. You can make as many copies as you can pay for, and you can choose new targets for these copies. 

MTG Retrace

First set Eventide
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card has the MTG Retrace keyword, you can cast it from your graveyard by discarding a land and paying its usual cost. 

MTG Reveal

First set Sixth Edition
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Reveal keyword refers to the act of showing a card to all players. 

MTG Riot

First set Ravnica Allegiance
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Riot enters the battlefield, it gets a +1/+1 counter or haste. You decide which. 

MTG Ripple

First set Coldsnap
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Another keyword that hasn’t been revived since Coldsnap, MTG Ripple lets you reveal cards from the top of your library equal to your spell’s Ripple cost (e.g. Ripple 5). You can cast any cards with the same name as the spell with Ripple, and you don’t have to pay their mana cost. All other cards go on the bottom of your library. 

MTG Sacrifice

First set Alpha
Full guide MTG Sacrifice
Category Keyword action

The MTG Sacrifice keyword refers to the act of moving a permanent you control into its owner’s graveyard. 

MTG Scavenge

First set Return to Ravnica
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you pay a card’s MTG Scavenge cost, you can exile it from your graveyard. Then, you put +1/+1 counters on a creature equal to the exiled card’s power. This can only be done as a Sorcery. 

MTG Scry

First set Alliances
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Scry keyword allows a player to look at a number of cards from the top of their library and place them back in any order. 

MTG Search

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Search keyword allows a player to look at all cards in a specific zone (e.g. their library) and find a card that matches a given description. 

MTG Set in Motion

First set Archenemy
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Set in Motion keyword refers to the act of moving a scheme card off the top of your scheme deck and turning it face-up. This is used in the Archenemy format. 

MTG Shadow

First set Tempest
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Shadow can only be block or be blocked by a creature that has the same keyword. 

MTG Shroud

First set Legends
Full guide MTG Shroud
Category Keyword ability

If a card has MTG Shroud, it can’t be targeted by any spells or abilities. Basically, this was Hexproof before Hexproof was a thing. 

MTG Shuffle

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Shuffle keyword refers to the act of randomizing the cards in your deck. 

MTG Skulk

First set Shadows over Innistrad
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A creature with the MTG Skulk keyword can’t be blocked by creatures that have greater power. 

MTG Soulbond

First set Avacyn Restored
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Soulbond enters the battlefield, it can be paired with another unpaired creature. As long as they’re both under your control, they remain paired. Becoming paired typically offers both cards some kind of advantage. 

MTG Soulshift

First set Champions of Kamigawa
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with the MTG Soulshift keyword dies, you can return a Spirit card from the graveyard to your hand. This Spirit must have a mana value equal to or less than the first creature’s Soulshift value (e.g. Soulshift 6). 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of Elesh Norn

MTG Spectacle

First set Ravnica Allegiance
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Spectacle is an alternative cost that can be paid to cast a spell if your opponent lost life on the current turn. 

MTG Splice

First set Champions of Kamigawa
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card has MTG Splice, you can reveal it from your hand and pay its Splice cost any time you cast another spell of a particular category (e.g. Instant or Sorcery). If you pay the Splice cost, the effects of the card with Splice are added to the spell you just cast. 

MTG Split Second

First set Time Spiral
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card with the MTG Split Second keyword is on the Stack, nobody can cast spells or trigger activated abilities. 

MTG Storm

First set Scourge
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Storm is an infamous keyword, as its absurd power levels led to the coining of the Storm Scale. This scale specifically measures how unlikely a card is to return to Magic: The Gathering.

When you cast a spell with Storm, you copy it for each spell cast before it on that turn. The new copies can have new targets. 

MTG Sunburst

First set Fifth Dawn
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a card with MTG Sunburst enters the battlefield, it has a +1/+1 or charge counter on it equal to the number of mana colors used to cast the spell. 

MTG Support

First set Oath of the Gatewatch
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Support keyword lets you put +1/+1 counters on each of up to X other target creatures. X equals the first card’s Support value, e.g. Support 5. 

MTG Surge

First set Oath of the Gatewatch
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

Cards with this keyword have an alternative MTG Surge cost. You can cast a spell for its Surge cost if you or a team-mate cast another spell already on this turn. 

MTG Surveil

First set Guilds of Ravnica
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Surveil lets you look at the top X cards of your library, where X equals a card’s Surveil value (e.g. Surveil 4). You can put any number of these cards in your graveyard and the remaining ones on top of your library in any order. 

MTG Suspect

First set Murders at Karlov Manor
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Suspect makes a creature ‘suspected, which means it has Menace and can’t block. 

MTG Suspend

First set Time Spiral
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a card has MTG Suspend, you can pay its Suspend cost to exile it with X time counters on it (X equals the card’s Suspend value, e.g. Suspend 12). At the beginning of your upkeep, you’ll remove a time counter, and when the last is removed, you can cast the spell for free – and with haste. 

MTG Tap and Untap

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Tap keyword refers to the act of turning a permanent sideways by 90 degrees. This represents it being temporarily ‘used’ in some way, for example by blocking an attack. Untapping is the act of turning a card upright again. 

The Ring Tempts You

First set The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

Designed for 2023’s Lord of the Rings set, MTG The Ring Tempts You gives you an emblem named The Ring if you don’t already have one. The emblem then gains an ability from a given list. If it already has some, it gains the next ability. You also choose a creature under your control to become (or remain) Ring-bearer – though the Ring can still tempt you if you have no creatures in play. 

MTG Time Travel

First set Doctor Who
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Time Travel lets you add or remove a time counter for each Suspended card (see Suspend keyword) you own and each permanent you control with a time counter on it. 

MTG Totem Armor

First set Rise of the Eldrazi
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

The MTG Totem Armor keyword is usually found on Enchantments, and it provides an extra layer of protection to enchanted creatures. If the enchanted creature would be destroyed while it’s attached to an Aura with Totem Armor, all damage is removed from the creature, and the Aura is destroyed instead. 

MTG Training

First set Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Training attacks alongside a creature with greater power, it gets a +1/+1 counter. 

MTG Trample

First set Alpha
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Trample is blocked, it still deals excess damage to the player or MTG planeswalker it was targeting. Essentially, if a 1/1 creature blocks a 6/6 creature with Trample, the player still takes 5 damage. 

MTG Transfigure

First set Future Sight
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

MTG Transfigure has only ever been printed on one card, Fleshwriter. If you pay the card’s Transfigure cost and sacrifice a permanent, you can search your library for a creature with the same mana value as Fleshwriter. That creature is put onto the battlefield, and you shuffle your deck. This can only be done as a Sorcery. 

MTG Transform

First set Innistrad
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

The MTG Transform keyword refers to the act of turning a double-faced card to its opposite side. 

MTG Transmute

First set Ravnica: City of Guilds
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If you pay a card’s MTG Transmute cost and discard a card, you can search your library for a card with the same mana value. This gets put in your hand, and you shuffle your deck. You can only do this as a Sorcery. 

MTG Tribute

First set Born of the Gods
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Tribute enters the battlefield, an opponent of your choice may place X +1/+1 counters on it, equal to the card’s Tribute value (e.g. Tribute 2). If they choose not to place the counters, a different enters-the-battlefield ability usually triggers instead. 

MTG keywords - Wizards of the Coast art of two characters from Duskmourn

MTG Undaunted

First set Commander 2016
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A card with MTG Undaunted costs one mana less to cast for each opponent you’re playing against. It’s unsurprising, then, that this card came from a Commander set. 

MTG Undying

First set Dark Ascension
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with the MTG Undying keyword dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters, it returns to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a +1/+1 counter. 

MTG Unearth

First set Shards of Alara
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

When a card with this keyword is in your graveyard, you can return it to the battlefield by paying its MTG Unearth cost. It then gains haste, and it’s exiled at the beginning of the next end step. You can only use Unearth as a Sorcery. 

MTG Unleash

First set Return to Ravnica
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

If a creature has the MTG Unleash keyword, it can enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. The downside is that, as long as it has this kind of counter, the creature can’t block. 

MTG Vanishing

First set Planar Chaos
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A permanent with this keyword enters the battlefield with X time counters on it, equal to its MTG Vanishing value (e.g. Vanishing 2). At the start of your upkeep, remove a time counter, and sacrifice the card when the last counter is removed. 

MTG Venture into the Dungeon

First set Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

MTG Venture into the Dungeon prompts you to enter the first or next room on a dedicated dungeon card. This triggers the effect of that room and ends the effects of any previous room. 

MTG Vigilance

First set Alpha
Full guide MTG Vigilance
Category Keyword ability

A creature with MTG Vigilance doesn’t tap when it’s attacking. It’s a simple keyword, but with nearly 500 cards, it’s one of the oldest and most prevalent. 

MTG Vote

First set Conspiracy
Full guide –
Category Keyword action

An MTG Vote is the same as any regular vote. When the keyword prompts it, players must vote for their preferred choice among a list of options. 

MTG Ward

First set Strixhaven: School of Mages
Full guide MTG Ward
Category Keyword ability

When a creature with MTG Ward is targeted by an opponent’s spell or ability, they must pay the creature’s Ward cost or have their efforts countered. 

MTG Wither

First set Shadowmoor
Full guide –
Category Keyword ability

A spell with MTG Wither deals damage as -1/-1 counters.

For more lists of important info, here’s everything you need to know about MTG Arena codes and the MTG banlist.

Mollie Russell is Wargamer's resident D&D and guides specialist. She has a degree in Creative Writing and English Literature, and you can also find her writing at Pocket Tactics and in various poetry magazines. She's covered some of the biggest and weirdest releases for Wargamer - including the DnD movie, Frosthaven, and Baldur's Gate 3. Mollie is constantly playing Dungeons and Dragons, but she's still on her quest to try every tabletop RPG she can get her hands on. An avid fan of MTG drafts and horror board games, she will take any opportunity to info-dump about why Blood on the Clocktower is the best social deduction game. (She/Her)