A basic land is any card that has the Basic Land keywords on it such as Plains, Forests, Mountains, Swamps, and Islands. You can play one per turn and there are two types of lands: basic and non-basic. Lands, as mentioned above, are permanents and your resource for playing spells. Creatures are there to fight for you, Enchantments can be played in a variety of ways, and Lands help you to play those cards. Permanents, however, stay on the battlefield after they have been played. Once you play them they go away in some fashion usually to your discard pile (or graveyard for specific magic terms).
Instants and Sorceries, however, are not permanents. Creatures, Enchantments, Artifacts, and Lands are all permanents. Some permanents are spells, but not all spells are permanents. Here we have a sort of square and rectangle scenario. Some cards are more specific with how they interact with other cards, such as “Counter target creature” or “Deal target creature 3 damage”, but those cards are still spells at the end of the day. Lightning Bolt, that sweet 4/4 creature you have that costs 3, that counterspell you might have, or that enchantment that affects the game in some unique way. We’re going to work through those together and then talk about some tips to keep you on track for your next deck brew! Card Types SpellsĪ spell is anything that isn’t a land (because they’re cast into play using mana, provided by your land cards). What’s a spell? What do you mean by permanent? What are lands? Don’t worry, we got you. If you’re new to Magic, you may have questions. If you’ve caught our first episode of the newest season of Spellslingers(our Magic: The Gathering show) you’ll quickly learn Magic: The Gathering is an exciting, fun and quick playing game.