Card Types
Land: Lands are the only type of card in Magic that you don’t cast as a spell. To play a land, you put it onto the battlefield from your hand. You can play one land during each of your turns. You can tap most lands to add mana that you can then spend to cast spells, although some lands might have other abilities as well. Basic lands come in five colors: Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest.
Creature: Creatures attack and block in combat and often have other abilities that impact the game. A creature’s power and toughness are found in the lower right corner of the card. Power (the first number) is how much damage the creature deals in combat. Toughness (the second number) is how much damage must be dealt to the creature in a single turn to destroy it. You can’t attack with a creature or activate any of its tap abilities on the turn it enters the battlefield. This is informally known as “summoning sickness.” Summoning sickness wears off as you begin a turn with a creature under your control. Any untapped creature can block, even if it just entered on the last turn.
Artifact: Artifacts are permanents that represent relics, weapons, and other magical objects. You can tap artifacts to activate their abilities as soon as you control them, unless they’re artifact creatures. Artifact creatures can attack and block, but like other creatures, they have summoning sickness.
Equipment: is a subtype of artifact that can attach to creatures. Each equipment enters the battlefield unattached. You can then use its equip ability to attach it to a creature you control, giving it stat bonuses, new abilities, or both! You can use the equip ability to strategically move the equipment around. If the equipped creature leaves the battlefield, the Equipment stays behind, ready to be equipped again!
Enchantment: Enchantments represent magical incantations and impact the game in a variety of ways. An aur is a subtype of enchantment that attaches to other permanents and occasionally even to players. When casting an aura spell, look for its enchant ability. This will tell you what you can choose as its target. If an enchanted permanent leaves the battlefield, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard.
Sorcery: has a one time effect and can only be cast during your main phases and only while no other spell or ability is waiting to resolve.
Instant: Has a one time effect that may be cast at any time, including during an opponent’s turn or in response to another spell. In this case, the instant happens first.