List of Magic slang
Magic: The Gathering players have invented many new terms over the years the game has existed, covering a wide variety of aspects of the game, from deckbuilding to card mechanics. These Magic: The Gathering Terms are listed here.
Terms
This is not a list of Magic: The Gathering "keywords". Most terms listed below are informal, player-created terms not truly a part of the game rules.
Accel
Short for 'acceleration', accel are the elements in a deck which help it gain access to mana faster than the standard one-additional-mana-per-turn rate. It generally refers to placing additional mana-producing permanents into play, but also refers to one-use spells that provide a temporary mana boost (i.e. Dark Ritual). The most famous category of acceleration cards are the Moxes and Black Lotus, which significantly increase the amount of mana available in the early turns of a game.
Aggro
Short for 'aggressive', aggro is used to define a deck or archetype which is highly dependent on creature combat and aggressive attacks. The aim is to develop an advantage in the game before the opponent. See Aggro deck.
Allied Colors
Refers to the five pairs of colors which are adjacent on the color wheel: 
/
, /
, /
, /
and /.
Archetype
Has two meanings. Firstly, refers to a specific branch of very influential or competetive decks in a metagame. Deck archetypes tend to revolve around a particular card, combo, or strategy. Alternatively, refers to the core strategy groups a deck can fall into: control, combo, or aggro (beatdown) (or some hybrid of these "pure" strategies).
Bah-roken
The superlative form of 'broken' (see below).
Barn
Short for 'barnacle,' this refers to a player who follows around much better, more famous players, hoping to benefit from their experience and success. Usually negative. Its history comes from its association with the term 'Hull,' noted below. This, however, is the more popular of the two words.
Basilisk
The Basilisk-ability refers to the following ability "dealing damage to a creature, destroys that creature at end of combat." The ability is mainly green, although black has seen this ability, and it was first seen on the Alpha set's Cockatrice and Thicket Basilisk.
Beatstick
A Beatstick, or "stick," is a creature that is effective to attack with. They are usually but not necessarily, large creatures.
Big Ass
A creature with a 'Big Ass' is a creature with a low power, but a high toughness, making it ideal for defense. Examples are the 1/4 Horned Turtle and the 1/7 Kami of Old Stone. It is less common, but not unheard of, for a creature with a high power and low toughness to be referred to as having a 'small ass'.
Big Pants
Creature enchantments that increase the enchanting creatures toughness higher than the amount it increases the creatures power are 'Big Pants'. This comes from the card Hero's Resolve (aka Heroic Pants), which gives the creature it enchants +1 power but +5 toughness.
Board
The collection of permanents currently on the table. Each player has their own 'board' and the word also describes the collective 'board.' e.g. "There's a lot of creatures on the board" See Also: Board Sweeper
Board Sweeper
A spell which destroys/removes/neutralizes all creatures currently in play. Famous examples include Wrath of God and Jokulhaups. Also known as Board Wipes in some groups.
Boltbait
Boltbait are small, powerful creatures that are rendered impractical to play because they 'attract' removal spells (like Lightning Bolt). That is, they are so potentially dangerous that they are killed as soon as they are played. Hypnotic Specter is a classic example of boltbait.
Bomb
A bomb is a card powerful enough to change the course of the game on its own. Usually used in the context of limited formats, where drafting or opening a bomb greatly improves one's chances. This is largely due to the relative scarcity of quality removal and other answers in limited formats, compared to constructed.
Bombo
A combo which seems to work, but upon further rules clarification is actually discovered to be invalid.
Burn
Direct damage not dealt through combat, but rather by spells or effects of cards already in play, such as that dealt by a Lightning Bolt spell or the ability of Prodigal Sorcerer. Burn can also be shorthand for mana burn.
Capping
Named after the card Jester's Cap, the first card to use the effect, this term refers to searching an opponent's library for specific cards and removing them from the game in order to deny the opponent of their use at some future time. This strategy is effective against combo decks, which usually rely on one or two specific cards in order to work at all, and control decks which have a lot of control elements but very few win conditions, but is close to useless against most aggro decks, which usually don't rely on any specific card to win.
CIP
Short for "comes into play", used to refer to a variety of abilities which trigger when a creature comes into play. Can also be spelled "CITP" (Comes into the play zone).
CIPT
Shorthand for "comes into play tapped", a common drawback on nonbasic lands.
Clock
A 'Clock' or 'X Turn Clock' is a threat that will lead to victory over an opponent in a finite number of turns, thus giving the opponent a known time limit in which to either win or answer the threat. For example, if a player is at 20 life and an unblockable creature with a power of 4 is played by their opponent, that player is said to be on a 5-turn clock.
Color Screw
'Color Screw' refers to a specific type of mana screw, where a player , while perhaps having plenty of mana/acceleration, lacks the correct colour to play certain spells. e.g. A player may have six Mountains, but lacks the Swamp they need to cast a Wrecking Ball.
Combo
Short for 'combination', combo can refer to a variety of concepts.
- Card combination Any combination of 2 or more cards which produces a beneficial effect, designed to gain an advantage over the opponent.
- Combo deck A deck or archetype which uses a combo as its victory condition. The deck is designed entirely for the purpose of setting up and protecting the combo.
Control
Control refers to ways in which players use cards to control the flow of the game.
- Card - A control card is any card designed to help a player control cards in the game. Control cards might destroy an opponent's useful cards, keep an opponent from playing useful cards, or force the opponent to discard his cards before he uses them.
- Control deck or Archetype - A deck or archetype which attempts to gain a decisive advantage using control cards to hinder the opponent and protect its victory condition. A control deck makes sacrifices in speed in order to improve chances of playing past an opponent's defenses.
- Part of a deck - The controlling elements in a deck.
Control was also the codename for the large set Ravnica: City of Guilds, along with its small sets Alt (Guildpact) and Delete (Dissension).
Control Slaver
A control deck designed to control all of the opponent's turns by recurring Mindslaver with a Goblin Welder.
Curve
The power level of a card can be judged by players as being 'above', 'on' or 'below the curve'. For example, the power and toughness of most 3 casting cost creatures is 2/2. A 2/2 creature with a casting cost of 3 is considered on the curve, while a 3/3 of the same cost would be above the curve and a 1/1 creature would be below the curve. Often, but not always, creatures that are above or below the curve have a corresponding drawback or ability to balance the card.
Deck Description
There are no hard and fast rules to deck naming, popular decks get their own unique nickname, but decks are usually described by color, archetype and format. The colors being, Black, Blue, White, Green and Red (artifacts can be included). The archetypes being Aggro, Combo and Control (however, Combo decks are usually described by shorthanding the cards that form the actual combo). The formats are varied, but the most popular sanctioned formats are Vintage (Type 1), Legacy, Extended, Standard (Type 2), Block and Limited. If the deck uses only one color, it is referred to as mono. For example "My standard deck is mono blue Eye of the Storm combo", "It's an extended green blue aggro control deck".
Decking
To 'deck' someone is to run their library out of cards, thus causing them to lose the game for being unable to draw cards when required to do so (see Winning and losing). The original method of doing this involved the card Millstone, and is therefore also commonly known as milling (see Mill).
Disruption
The elements of a deck that stop, delay, or hinder the development of an opponent's deck. Common disruption elements include counterspells (which stop an opponent's spells from resolving), discard (which forces the opponent to discard needed cards from his or her hand), land destruction (which stops an opponent from being able to produce enough mana to cast the spells in his or her hand), or removal (which destroy or otherwise eliminate an opponent's cards in play). Other forms of removal include graveyard removal (which removes cards from an opponent's graveyard to prevent the recursion or reanimation of those cards), library removal (aka "capping", which eliminates specific cards from an opponent's library to eliminate the chance of the opponent being able to use them at some time in the future), control-changing spells (which allow one to gain control of an opponent's cards in play), target-changing (spells or abilities which allow you to change the targets of other spells or abilities, turning them against their original caster), damage prevention and redirection (which do just what their names imply), and cards which disallow specific cards or spells from being played or used at all.
Draw-Go
Draw-go refers to a stagnating period of gameplay in which both players, often because they are waiting for the other player to make the first move, simply draw a card and pass their turns. A draw-go situation can also occur when neither player has a beneficial spell to play and controls no important cards on the table. The term Draw-Go also refers to a deck that, because of its reactive nature, often played spells primarily during the opponent's turn. Draw-Go became the name of that deck because its turns usually consisted only of card drawing.
Drop
Refers to a permanent which can be played without major strategic consideration. It is usually used in the context of "2 drop", "3 drop" etc, referring to the turn when a permanent can first be played, which is equal to its converted mana cost. Also, to play a land, i.e. "I drop a plains."
Emerald Alice
Short for a deck capable of switching between Oath and Gro by using the sideboard.
Enemy Colors
Refers to the five pairs of colors which are opposite on the color wheel: /, /, /, / and /.
Engine
An engine card is a card that converts one resource into another. For example, Channel converts life points to mana, Mind Over Matter converts cards in hand to untaps of target permanents, Skullclamp converts small creatures into cards in hand, and so on. Engines often form the heart of combos and are often restricted in tournaments due to being too effective.
EOTFOFYL
An acronym for "End of turn, Fact or Fiction, you lose." Fact or Fiction has such versatility and ability that it can win the game solely by forcing your opponent to give you at least one card that you need from the top five cards in your library. Michelle Bush coined this phrase after playing the card at its debut tournament.
Fatty
Refers to a large (usually 4/4 or greater) creature, generally offensive in nature. A fatty is the opposite of a weenie. (See Fat: A Retrospective)
Firebreathing
Firebreathing is the name commonly given to a creature ability that allows the creature to get a power boost for a certain amout of mana (usually red). The ability was first seen on the Alpha set's Shivan Dragon, which had the basic form of the ability ": Shivan Dragon gets +1/+0 until end of turn". The name probably comes from the card Firebreathing, which grants any creature the ability. The concept is that the red mana (fire) turns into a power boost (the fire hurts the creature's enemy more).
Fish
A blue aggro-control deck. Older versions featured a merfolk theme.
Fix
'Fixing' cards is the process used by Wizards of the Coast to create less powerful versions of older, popular, but broken (overpowered) cards. For example Shock is considered a fixed version of Lightning Bolt.
Floating
Refers to mana in a player's mana pool that has not been used, especially after that player has just played a spell or ability. Usually, a player will only tap as much mana as required by the particular spell or ability they wish to play, and only when they wish to play it. However, in various situations a player may leave some amount of mana in their mana pool.
The most common situation in which this occurs is when a player is using a recurring loop of spells or abilities to produce an arbitrarily large amount of mana. Each iteration of the loop produces extra mana, which is left floating until the player has acquired enough excess mana to achieve his or her desired end.
FTW
For The Win. Often declared as "X for the win" where X is the card that wins the game (directly or indirectly). The worse the card, the more likely the phrase will be used. "Chimney Imp for the win!!"
GAT
Short for Gro-A-Tog, a deck featuring Quirion Dryad (Gro) and Psychatog.
GG
Stands for "Good Game." Also said as "geeg" in a more sarcastic form.
God
A 'God hand' or 'God draw' is the most optimal hand or draw a player could have. E.g 'with a god hand, this deck can pull off a turn three win.' The best possible hand is also called "the nuts".
Gro
Refers to a class of decks featuring Quirion Dryad. The original gro deck was Miracle Gro, though others followed (such as Super Gro).
Hate (card hate/strategy hate)
Hate (generally in the context of "hate cards" or "hate for X") refers to altering the composition of one's deck not to make it generally better, but to try to lower the effective power of an opponent's powerful card or deck. For example, in Vintage magic, blue cards and artifacts are considered to be considerably more powerful than other cards, and decks often include hate for blue or artifacts. See also: Metagame,Splash damage. Also: In the context of draft, to select a card you probably will not play to keep it from others, e.g. a "Hate Draft" or "Hate Pick."
Hardcasting
To 'hardcast' a permanent is to put it into play without using any spell or ability, paying its mana cost and playing it normally. This term is used to describe situations that deviate from the norm or to describe a card's rules text. "I won by hardcasting Darksteel Colossus." "You must hardcast Hypnox for its ability to work."
Highlander
One of the most popular casual formats. Highlander rules are that, excluding basic land, there can be no two cards with the same name in the one deck. The term has its origins in the catchphrase of the movie Highlander: "There can be only one". Interestingly enough, this format goes by the name "Singleton" in official Wizards of the Coast communications and advertising even though the format is almost exclusively referred to as Highlander by players. This is most likely to avoid any copyright issues that might arise.
Hoser
A Hoser is a card, deck, or style of play that is extremely powerful against another certain deck or archetype. ie The card Wrath of God "hoses" or is a hoser of creature-based decks. See also: Hate
Hull
Associated with the word "Barn." A Hull is a player who attracts many players, often less skilled, to him or her and seems to be treated as such. As a Hull, his or her Barns are constantly following the Hull around in order to leech off of them or simply to attain another level of play or social status.
Ineffable, The
The phrase 'The Ineffable' is used to refer to Yawgmoth on some Magic: The Gathering forums. For example, 'Will of the Ineffable' refers to Yawgmoth's Will.
Inevitability
In a given matchup, the deck with inevitability is the one that becomes more and more likely to win as the game continues. While still a theoretical science, inevitability can go to to the deck with more threats, a better late game, an unstoppable trump card, or the deck that simply has more cards in its library to prevent decking.
Keeper
A deck built to abuse the most powerful cards in Vintage, or a favorable initial hand of cards.
Landstill
A deck featuring Standstill and Manlands.
LD
LD is an abbreviation for Land destruction — a viable but unpopular strategy for victory in which a player uses spells and abilities to destroy an opponents land, making it impossible for them to play any spells.
Legs
A 'card on legs' is a creature which possesses the same characteristics as a non-creature spell which preceded it. For example, 'Fog on legs' is used to refer to Kami of False Hope, which can be sacrificed for the same effect as the instant, Fog. Sometimes, rather than saying 'Fog on legs', a player will use 'Mr. Fog' for the same meaning. Also used is '(Spell name) on wings' or '(Spell name) with wings', meaning a creature with flying that has the same effect as the spell.
Lockdown
During a match, lockdown refers to a period where a player, through card interactions, has made it difficult or impossible for the opponent to mount an effective defense. "Breaking out" of a lockdown takes skill and luck, but often an effective lockdown will allow the lockdown player to secure victory before the other player can break out. In many tournament communities, decks are built with the tools to break out of locks, reducing the effectiveness of most lockdown cards. As a result, some decks specialize in lockdown strategies and use an arsenal of locks in order to form an exceptionally strong lockdown, followed by a swift victory.
Long.dec
Short for an explosive combo deck that abused Burning Wish to fetch Yawgmoth's Will. Long.dec boasted the impressive ability to win more than half the time on the first turn, prompting the restriction of Burning Wish in Vintage. Current versions include Grim Long and Death Long, which feature Grim Tutor and Death Wish as ways to replace the restricted Burning Wish.
Lucksack
A consistently lucky person, usually used with a slightly resentful tone, i.e., "He is such a lucksack, that Wrath of God won him the game!"
Lunchroom
Refers to a fast pace game of Magic where you can draw three cards at a time and play any number of land during a single turn. This comes from the idea that when playing in a school lunchroom, time is too short to play a full game of Magic.
Manland, Man Land
A manland or man land is slang for a land that can change into a creature. The most famous of these is Mishra's Factory from the Antiquities expansion.
Mana Burn
Mana Burn is when a player loses a certain amount of life equal to the amount of unused mana in their mana pool at the end of a phase. Common slang for this term in "burn", ie someone may say they "burn for 3" when they lose 3 life due to Mana Burn.
Mana Drop
Mana Drop is an unofficial style of gameplay, most often used when there is a very limited amount of time available to play the game. Similar to Lunchroom, Mana Drop is a fast paced game where whenever you draw a land or have a land in your hand, you play (or "drop") each of those lands (regardless of whose turn it is) and draw a number of cards equal to the number of lands put into play. Then repeat this process until you have no lands in hand.
Mana Flood
During a match, mana flood refers to a situation where a player draws too many land cards and/or acceleration cards, resulting in too much available mana and too few useful spells.
Mana Optimisation
A magic theory that is the basis for the mana curve (see above). Mana optimisation theory states that a player who best uses the mana available to them in every turn will win the game. At its most basic level applies to the player who uses the most mana in a turn ie: a player who spends 5 mana in a turn will be able to do more and more powerful things than a player with only 3 mana available. Conversely, the player who spends less resources to produce the same effect will have greater mana optimisation
Mana Screw
Mana screw refers to when a player doesn't draw enough land cards and/or acceleration for his or her deck to work effectively. The joke set "Unhinged" has a card called Mana Screw which satires the random nature of mana screw by providing mana at random. The illustration depicts an acual screw. Another meaning of mana screw is having a problem with colors available to play. In multicolored decks, there is a chance of having lands that provide mana of one color and spells of another color. This is a color screw. A third meaning is when a player draws only land cards and/or mana sources.
Mise
A very lucky happening, most commonly used to refer to a needed card being drawn at the right moment ("Drawing that Black Lotus was an excellent mise,") or the act of doing so ("I mised that Lotus just in time"). MiseTings (so named for the expression) defined a mise as "something unusually great or unexpected" or the act of obtaining such [1]. The expression "mise" is derived from the phrase "might as well" - as in 'mise well draw that wrath'. Its meaning has since changed to the usage described above, however. The joke set Unhinged had a card called Mise, which played on this by giving the player great card advantage, but only if that player is lucky enough to know the top card of their library.
Mr. Smash
Refers to Kamahl, the protagonist of the Odyssey and Onslaught blocks, which are considered smashfests by many players.
Ms. Smash
Refers to Glissa Sunseeker, the protagonist of the Mirrodin block, which is considered a smashfest by many players.
Netdeck
Any deck copied from the internet or a published tournament listing and changed to deal with the local metagame is called a netdeck. In some cases, players use the same deck as a winning tournament player without any changes. Netdecking is sometimes considered "cheap", but many successful players use the successful strategies engineered by other players rather than finding brand new strategies. Netdecking does not necessitate a lack of skill; in fact, successful netdeckers refine and otherwise optimize their decks in order to gain the best advantage. The practice of using netdecks is most common among Spike players who wish above all else to win a tournament. (See Spike player) It is worth mention that people who can build the best decks may not be the best players, and vice-versa
Noodles
The dual lands printed in the Ravnica block. Comes from slurring "new duals" together. These cards are better known as shock lands.
Okra
"Words that are actually real but may seem fake". An expression created in an article about Vorthos.
...on a stick!
Refers to a creature or other permanent that has an ability which another card can produce. ex: Kamahl is a "Lightning Bolt on a stick!". Can also refer to a card imprinted on an Isochron Scepter.
Permission
A style of play that involves hardcore/dedicated counter-magic. The permission player attempts to counter every important spell the opponent plays, and simply to draw plenty of extra cards to ensure more counters are available. The term "permission" comes from the way the opponent will end up asking whether each of their spells resolves or is countered.
Pile
The term pile refers to a deck or collection of cards which are either unplayable or would appear to be unplayable. Cards which are unreliable or anti-synergystic or weak may constitute a 'pile'. This term is often used to describe a deck which attempts to do something, and succeeds, but does so inefficiently. For example, "My deck is an absolute pile, but somehow it wins."
Pip
A pip is the number of mana symbols in a card's casting cost. Not to be confused with converted mana cost. This is sometimes confusing as a card like Necropotence has 3 pips and costs 3 total mana, whereas Aladdin's Lamp has 1 pip and costs 10.
Pitch
To pitch a card is generally to discard it from your hand. Occasionally it is used when referring to the remove-from-the-game alternate cost (see pitch card) of Force of Will; one of the game's more famed counterspells.
Player Types
Over the history of Magic's development, the research and development at Wizards of the Coast noticed that Magic: The Gathering players could be characterized by four general stereotypes. Cards then and since have usually been designed with one of these four players in mind. References to them in casual Magic play are usually in jest, but most players do nonetheless tend to subscribe to one of the styles, or a conglomeration of the four.
Timmy players
The first player type to be given a name, Timmy is most associated with playing for fun, and all kinds of huge creatures, fantastic spells, and mythical enchantments. He is the most social archetype, enjoying the interaction that Magic provides. A stereotypical Timmy is usually a younger player with a simple (yet fun for him) deck. Timmy does not care whether he wins or loses, he simply wants to have fun playing really big effects. Timmies see Johnnies as too focused on certain combos and Spikes too bent on winning.
Johnny players
Johnny, the second named archetype, plays for the mental challenge that Magic presents. He likes to find interesting combinations of cards that can win the game or give him an advantage. Johnny may be a player who seeks niche cards, or cards widely reputed as bad, and tries to "break" them, exploiting them in ways to give abnormal power and win the game. He is also a combo player, sometimes choosing for elaborate but ineffective win conditions. Johnny is happiest when his decks work and he wins his way; for him, one in many leaves him happy, if that win is on his own terms. Johnnies see Timmies as simplistic and Spikes as uptight and unoriginal.
Spike players
Previously called the tournament player, Wizards R&D chose "Spike" as a name that sounded aggressive and competitive. Spike plays to win. He will find the best deck in the format, even if it requires copying another innovator's work (see Netdecking). Spike's cards are effective, designed to secure a fast and effective victory over opponents. If spike plays several games and loses only one, but feels he should have won it, he may be malcontent. Spikes see Timmies as rookies and Johnnies as eccentric and annoying.
Vorthos players
Vorthos was the last archetype to get a name. The name Vorthos was first used by Matt Cavotta in the article Snack Time With Vorthos. Vorthos enjoys the flavor of the game. The player community generally used 'Pierre' to refer to the Vorthos player before this name was released.
Pop
The act of sacrificing a permanent, usually for an effect. e.g. 'Popping' the artifact Pyrite Spellbomb to deal two damage to a target.
Prosperous Bloom, ProsBloom
An old Mirage-era combo deck based around Prosperity, Cadaverous Bloom, and Squandered Resources. The deck would remove most of its hand to generate large amounts of mana with Cadaverous Bloom, feed that into a Prosperity, sacrifice its lands to Squandered Resources, and eventually win with a giant Drain Life. While the deck is no longer played, it was one of the first true combo decks to dominate the Pro Tour.
Raffinity
Ravager Affinity, the deck using cards with affinity for artifacts and an Arcbound Ravager - Disciple of the Vault combo that dominated Mirrodin block and standard. Raffinity is despised by most players (who did not play the deck) for its simple yet dominating and flexible gameplay. Raffinity is designed to take out one player as fast as possible, and it caused a huge series of bans in standard and Mirrodin block.
Reanimation
Reanimation effects return cards from a graveyard directly to play. Named for the card Reanimate, from Tempest.
Recursion
Recursion spells allow a player to return needed cards from his or her graveyard to his or her hand or library, allowing them to be reused.
Response or Responsive strategy
Refers to plays made in order to neutralize an opponent's threat. Responsive cards form the strategic base of any control deck (See Control).
RFG
Short for 'Removed from Game'. It is usually used to describe when a card is in the removed-from-game zone, or used as a verb to express that an action is being taken to move a card to said zone.
Rip
See Topdeck.
The Rock
A term to describe most Black/Green control decks. Short for "The Rock and His Millions," a term referencing WWE wrestler The Rock, who always spoke of his millions of fans. The original version of the deck abused the combo of Phyrexian Plaguelord and Deranged Hermit.
Rock, Paper, Scissors of Magic
Aggro, Combo, and Control, as generally described here, form the rock, paper, and scissors of Magic: The Gathering. Aggro tends to beat control because it develops an advantage before control can play its signature cards. Control tends to beat combo because it can disrupt the most important pieces of the card combo, leaving the combo player with weak cards. Combo tends to beat aggro because the combo player can finish his combo, killing the aggro player, while the aggro player is still fighting towards victory. Because of this tendency, elements of aggro, combo, and control are used by wise players in order to build the most effective possible deck.
Rock, Paper, Scissors was also featured in a three-card series of artifact creatures in the parody Magic: The Gathering series, Unglued. They were "Rock Lobster," "Paper Tiger," and "Scissors Lizard." Each one had an ability that would render one of the others unable to attack or block (Rock Lobster rendered Scissors Lizard useless, Scissors Lizard would disable Paper tiger and so on.)
Twinkie
"Completely fake and not of this world". An expression created in an article about Vorthos.
RTFC
Abbreviation for "Read The F***ing Card" or "Read The Friendly Card". Often used by judges at tournaments who have to explain something about a card to someone who would not have asked the question in the first place if they had RTFC.
Sac
Refers to the act of sacrificing a permanent. As an example, a player might remark, "I'll sac my Chromatic Sphere to my Grinding Station." A sacrifice is often paid as a cost, so a player might also say "I sac two mountains to play Fireblast." Also, may be used as a shortened form of the term Lucksac (above).
Scrub
A player that makes consistent, unwise choices; whether in regard to construction of a deck or decisions made during gameplay. Usually, this is someone who is relatively inexperienced with tournament play. Scrub can also be used to describe an adept player who makes (a) significant player error(s) during a game or tournament. In that situation, the player in question is said to have "scrubbed out". Another characteristic of such a player is the outright refusal to improve
Sligh
A mono red deck that usually wins by gaining tempo on the opponent by playing cheap creatures followed by red damage spells that are usally used to destroy possible blockers. In the absence of opposing blockers the cheap red damage spells are used to damage the opposing player.
Smashfest
A novel whose protagonist is inexplicably able to defeat any opponent, no matter how powerful. For example, the Odyssey, Onslaught, and Mirrodin blocks are considered smashfests. The term 'smashfest' usually also implies that a book is poorly written and has a simple plot, a large number of fight scenes, and banal dialogue.
Solidarity
A combo deck featuring many blue instants and capable of winning on its opponent's turn. (See Legacy Solidarity deck.)
Splash
A term used in deck construction. To 'Splash' is to add cards of another color or strategy to a deck predominantly of another color (or colors) or strategy. E.g "My deck is white blue splash red."
Splash damage
Splash damage is said to occur when hate against a popular deck hurts the strategies of other decks, even though the hate may not have been directed at them. This is an important consideration for deckbuilders. See also: Metagame
Squirrelcraft
The combo of Squirrel Nest and Earthcraft, which generates any number of 1/1 Squirrel tokens.
STAX
A Vintage(T1) artifact deck designed to lock down the opponent with cards like Smokestack, Sphere of Resistance, & Crucible of Worlds. A derivation of the phrase $T4KS, which means The Four Thousand Dollar Solution. A Deck originally created as a Metagame deck to counteract Gro-A-Tog, and its fragile land base. The name was also partially inspired by the deck's extensive use of stacking multiple triggered abilities in the upkeep.
Stompy
An aggressive green deck with cheap creatures and pump spells.
Swing
Swing has two meanings:
- To attack with creatures.
- A dramatic change in the game such that one player who was previously losing is now winning.
Swiss
In tournament play, Swiss refers to a scoring and pairing that allows large-scale card tournaments to be played through in a relatively short period of time. Players are matched with other players according to their record in the tournament, with players with similar records being paired against each other. At the end of any arbitrary number of swiss rounds, the eight players with the most swiss points advance to a separate single-elimination tournament called the Top 8 bracket. See also: Top 8, Swiss system tournament
Synergy
Synergy refers to the small, positive interactions of individual cards in a deck. A synergistic deck is one where every card benefits from every other card in some way or fashion. Even a deck full of seemingly bad cards can be a good deck if it showcases potent synergy. Tribal decks, such as Goblin or Elf decks, rely on synergy to win games.
In contrast, decks with good cards that seem to contradict each other suffer from disynergy.
Tapped out
When a player is 'tapped out', it means that he or she has run out of mana, and therefore is unable to play any more spells or abilities.
TBTSNBN
TBTSNBN is short for The book That Shall Not Be Named and refers to the Legions novel.
Tech
Tech generally refers to an individual's innovation to a deck or archetype using a card or strategy that is not commonly seen, or that is used in a different manner than that which is common in the current metagame. Tech often appears in large tournament events and serves to throw other strategies off balance by changing some part of how a deck usually works. Tech is generally researched in secret by an individual or a team prior to a large tournament in order to keep competitors from knowing what tricks will be put into a competing deck.
Tier
Refers to the popularity of a certain deck or deck archetype. Tier 1 decks are the most popular decks, Tier 2 decks are less popular, Tier 3 decks are the least popular. Tier is often confused with the power level of a certain deck. Although sometimes it's true that more popular decks are more powerful, many powerful decks do not achieve a good Tier level. Also, cards tend to be referred to similarly, based on their popularity in these decks. For example, a Tier 1 card is one that shows up in many top level decks, and is easy to trade or sell.
Tofu
"Made up of real stuff but seems bizarre and alien". An expression created in an article about Vorthos
To the Air(!)
Originating with the card Angelic Blessing, this can be said whenever a creature without flying gains flying. More frequently said when the now-flying creature is about to deal lethal damage.
Top 8
In tournament play, a Top 8 tournament refers to a single-elimination tournament whose participants are chosen from those of a previous Swiss tournament. Players who win play will play each other, and so will players who lose. This format is commonly used to determine the exact ranking of tournament players. However, placing anywhere in the top 8 is widely seen as a success for the player, his deck, and his team.
Topdeck
Topdecking is the act (some call it an art) of a player drawing the exact card they need at exactly the time they need it. Many non-scientific "techniques" have been developed to perform a perfect topdeck, but many tournament players build their decks using "tutors", which are cards that actually move desired cards to the top of the deck.
Topdeck Mode
'Topdeck Mode' is where a player has no cards in hand and relies solely on the cards they draw each turn to be able to play effectively. It is a situation players try to avoid as it means the player relies entirely on the luck of the draw. See also, Draw-Go.
...to the head/dome
'X to the head/dome' is a term used to announce damage dealt directly to a player instead of a creature. e.g 'Deal 3 to the head' or 'Fireball for 6 to the dome'.
Tradebait
Tradebait are cards which a player trades for not because they want the card for a deck or their collection, but because they might be able to trade it later on to someone else for cards that they are after.
Tribe
Refers to a large group of creatures which share a creature type and work well together in a deck. Such a deck is called a Tribal deck. An example of a competitive tribe is Goblins, which work together in order to win with astounding numbers and force. Rebels previously had a similar strategy, allowing the Rebel player to win with sheer numbers and utility of creatures. Many other competitive Tribe-based decks also exist.
Trick
A 'Trick' or 'Combat Trick' is a spell or ability used by a player to alter the outcome of a combat. Common ways in which this is achieved include increasing or decreasing a creatures power and/or toughness, by granting or removing abilities from a creature or even removing the creature entirely from combat or play.
Trix
Short for a combo deck based around the interaction of Illusions of Grandeur and Donate.
TSTTBTSNBN
TSTTBTSNBN is short for The Sequel To The Book That Shall Not Be Named, and refers to the Scourge novel.
Un-sets
Un-Sets is a term used to describe joke sets produced by Wizards of the Coast. They are not sanctioned in any format and currently are made up of Unglued and Unhinged.
Vanilla
A vanilla creature is any creature without rules text (text that grants the creature extra abilities). The creature's only purpose is for attacking and blocking, or occasionally to power things that need creatures. Eager Cadet is an example.
Weenie
Refers to a small creature, with low power and toughness. Any archetype or deck which uses Weenies as the victory condition is also referred to as a Weenie Deck (usually abbreviating weenie to W and preceding it by the color of the deck; White Weenie becomes WW).
Win Condition
See Victory Condition.
Yard
Short for graveyard.
Card Nicknames and Abbreviations
The Magic community has given many nicknames to cards, and a number of those nicknames have passed into the mainstream and become part of M:TG terminology.
Academy
Short for Tolarian Academy, one of the key components of decks during Combo Winter.
AK
Short for Accumulated Knowledge.
BEB
Short for Blue Elemental Blast.
Bob
Refers to the card, Dark Confidant, created by Bob Maher Jr. when he won the 2004 Invitational Tournament.
Bolt
Short for Lightning Bolt. Can also refer to Chain Lightning and other 3-damage burn spells, such as Incinerate.
Buffy
Nickname for the legendary creature Rashka the Slayer, as this card was originally designed to block and kill the Sengir Vampire, provided it hadn't increased in power. The nickname is derived from the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the T.V. show first aired after the Homelands set was released.
Chimney Pimp
Refers to the incredibly underpowered card Chimney Imp from the Mirrodin set, and is often written in a variant of leet speak (such as 7he p1mp, t3h p!mp, etc). In a similar manner as Throat Wolf, it became a common joke in the official Magic forums that The Pimp was an extremely broken card because "it untaps for free", which in fact is a trait shared by almost all permanents.
CoB
CoB is a common name for the card City of Brass.
Deed
Short for Pernicious Deed.
Deep Anal
Short for Deep Analysis.
Dog
Refers to Isamaru, Hound of Konda because it is a popular card and its creature type is Hound.
Drain
Short for Mana Drain, or cards with effects similar to Drain Life.
Dr. Teeth
A nickname for the card Psychatog. Sometimes this card is announced as "The doctor's in."
Edict
Short for Diabolic Edict or Chainer's Edict.
ESG
Short for Elvish Spirit Guide.
Finkel
Shadowmage Infiltrator, the card made by Invatational winner Jon Finkel in the Odyssey set. Finkel's Cloak refers to the card Sleeper's Robe, as it grants the Shadowmage Infiltrator's abilities onto any other creature, even though the Robe was printed earlier than the Infiltrator itself. Occasionally called "infilmage finkletrator" as an affectionate play on the name. Mask of Riddles from Alara Reborn is also referred to as the Finkel Suit, as, being Equipment, creatures can slip in and out of the suit, becoming Finkel whenever the player has the mana and wishes.
Force
Short for Force of Will.
FOW
Another acronym for Force of Will.
Hippy
Hypnotic Specter, one of the most beloved cards in Magic. Hippy (or Hippie) is a derivative of the Specter's name.
Hymn
Short for Hymn to Tourach.
I am Superman
Refers to Pemmin's Aura. As described in an article in magicthegathering.com, the designer who named the card decided to make a tribute to Morphling, which was known as "Superman". Since it was an enchantment which gave the enchanted creature the same abilities that Superman possessed, he made the name, Pemmin's Aura, be an anagram for the phrase "I am Superman". When asked "Who's Pemmin?" he simply responded "The guy who made the aura", as there was no background for said character, although it did end up in the flavor text of another card in Scourge: Stifle.
Jens
Name of Jens Thoren's Solemn Simulacrum, the card he created when he won 2002s Invitational Tournament. Also known as Robo-Jens.
Keg
Short for Powder Keg.
Larry Niven's Disk
Slang for Nevinyrral's Disk. "Nevinyrral" is Larry Niven spelled backwards.
Mis-D
Short for Misdirection.
Moxen
Plural short form for Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, and Mox Emerald. Can also refer to Mox Diamond or Chrome Mox.
Mox Monkey
The Gorilla Shaman, with the ability to destroy low-costed artifacts quite inexpensively, is called the "Mox Monkey" because he can destroy (or often "eat") the oft-used Moxen for a minimal cost, netting a great card advantage.
Oath
Short for Oath of Druids, or a deck featuring the card.
Ophie the One-Eyed Snake
Ophie, known in print as Ophidian, was a card that powered many Blue control decks to victory with its card-drawing mechanic which could be used every turn. Its art depicts a one-eyed snake, giving him the nickname among control players and their opponents.
OwN
Short for One with Nothing, a card from the Saviors of Kamigawa set previously perceived to have no practical purpose, though the results of Pro Tours: Honolulu has had some players suggesting it as an answer to the "Owling Mine" deck that had gained prominence during the tournament. It is sometimes, ironically, used as a pun of the term owned.
PORN
Often used to refer to the card Masticore due to its similarity to the word "masturbate', and the phallus-like structure coming out of its mouth.
Pump Knights
Four functionally equivalent white and black knights from Ice Age and Fallen Empires: Order of Leitbur, Order of the White Shield, Order of the Ebon Hand, and Knight of Stromgald. The name refers to their +1/+0 pumping ability.
REB
Short for Red Elemental Blast.
Recall
Short for Ancestral Recall.
Rectal Agony
Short for a deck featuring Academy Rector and Tendrils of Agony. The deck uses Rector to fetch a Yawgmoth's Bargain. The Bargain draws many cards, allowing the player to play many spells and Tendrils as a finisher.
Ritual
Short for Dark Ritual. Sometimes further shortened to "Rit", although "Dark Rit" is not unheard of, either.
Sac Elder
Short for Sakura-Tribe Elder, which is usually sacrificed (see "sac") for mana acceleration (see "accel"). Other nicknames include Saccy Tribe Elder, Tribe-Elder, and sometimes just 'Elder.
Sex Monkey
The art on the Uktabi Orangutan card depicts monkeys in a position that resembles the sexual act in its background, hence the appellation. The background was noticed during the reign of the "Artifact" block, where it became wildly popular because of its ability to destroy an opponent's artifacts. In the joke set Unhinged, there was a parody of the card, called Uktabi Kong, with a larger version of the original Orangutan in the foreground, and an expectant pair of monkeys in the background, playing on the original art and its implications. The effects of that card are relevant to the act, too, allowing you to tap two Apes to generate another one.
SoLoMoxen
Short for Sol Ring, Black Lotus, and the five Moxen from Alpha.
STEve
An acronym for Sakura-Tribe Elder. See also Sac Elder.
Stick
Refers to Isochron Scepter, a powerful card in the Mirrodin set which allows a player to Imprint an Instant on the Scepter and activate the Scepter to play a copy of that card. The name is derived from the card's art, which shows a humanoid woman holding the scepter (which obviously looks like a stick).
"Card on a stick" is a term used to refer to an Isochron Scepter in play with a particular card imprinted on it.
"(thing) on a stick" can also mean a creature with some useful ability. For example: "Temporal Adept" is a "boomerang on a stick", because his ability resembles the card Boomerang, while being a creature.
Stripwaste
Short for a combination of Strip Mine and Wasteland.
Superman
Refers to Morphling, a very powerful creature which received the name because it could fly and was practically invulnerable. Would give birth to the nickname I am Superman.
Swords
Short for Swords to Plowshares, the best creature-removal spell ever printed. Creatures targeted by a Swords to Plowshares are said to be "Swordsed" or "Plowed." Sometimes abbreviated STP.
Throat Wolf
Throat Wolf is a non-existent card. Shortly after the release of the first large expansion set, Legends, a couple of players on usenet decided to pull a prank and start rumors about this card. Since this was before the ubiquity of the Internet, many players didn't have access to full card lists and spoiler lists, and so had no way of knowing whether this card was real or not. Later, the term was used in a variety of in-jokes, and Magic developers occasionally use it as a temporary name for a card in development. Various versions circulate on the internet, many with really obscure or rule-technically impossible rules text. The main ability that seems consistently attributed to the throat wolf is effectively 'double first strike' or 'firstest strike', worded in various ways. In an article in the Duelist #9, Throat Wolf was described 5 colorless mana for a 4/4 Summon Throat Wolf. The abilities read, "Firstest Strike. Throat Wolf may attack during your opponent's untap phase. Attacking does not cause Throat Wolf to tap." The flavor text read "The most feared of Dominia's mythical creatures, the Throat Wolf is wylie and unpredictable. Its incredible speed and attack abilities have prompted many net.wizards to wonder if it is real. Ask the Throat Wolf, he'll tell you..." In the short story Chef's Surprise by Sonia Orin Lyris in the Magic: The Gathering anthology Distant Planes, the main character, Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, works as a chef for the demon Vincent, Lord of the Pit. All of the meals she cooks for him are actual cards from the game (for example, atog pate on honey-soaked ironroot bark; Atog and Ironroot Treefolk are both creature cards) except one: Barbequed Throat Wolf ribs.
'Tog
'Tog refers to the card Psychatog. This card is now generally given as the most powerful creature in Magic, allowing for you to easily attack for the win in a single attack when playing a control deck.
Urzatron
The Urzatron is the nickname for the card trio Urza's Power Plant, Urza's Mine, and Urza's Tower all in play, which combine to provide 
with three lands.
Walk
Short for Time Walk.
Welder
Short for Goblin Welder.
WoG
Abbreviation of Wrath of God, which has been a staple card due to its ability to destroy many creatures using only one card.
YawgWin
YawgWin or Yawgmoth's Win refers to the card Yawgmoth's Will. Yawgmoth's Will allows all previously played cards to be played a second time, netting an enormous advantage, and usually wins the game for its caster immediately.