Wisdom

Wisdom or handsize matters is a non-keyworded mechanic and theme, featured in Saviors of Kamigawa.^[1]^[2] It's called wisdom, because, creatively speaking, your library and hand symbolize your mind. Similar cards have appeared before and after the set.

The theme is the more cards you have in your hand, the "wiser" you are. Wisdom-cards may work in three different ways:

Get extra abilities if you have seven or more cards in your hand. Examples: Akki Underling, Deathmask Nezumi
Scale effects based on the number of cards in your hand. Saviors cycle of legendary creature with Maro ability. Examples: Masumaro, First to Live
Improve when you have more cards in your hand than your opponent. Most soratami help enhance this ability by returning land cards to your hand, as did the Sweep mechanic. Examples: Akuta, Born of Ash, Descendant of Kiyomaro

The mechanic played out as encouraging players to use as few spells as possible, stagnating games.

References

↑ Mark Rosewater (May 16, 2005). "The Sun’ll Come Out To Maro". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-12.
↑ Mark Rosewater (January 31, 2022). "The Making of a Dynasty, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

Mechanics

Keyword Abilities

Evergreen	Deathtouch Defender Double strike Enchant Equip Equip [quality] Equip planeswalker First strike Flash Flying Haste Hexproof Hexproof from [quality] Indestructible Lifelink Menace Protection Reach Trample Trample over planeswalkers Vigilance Ward

Other	Absorb Affinity Afflict Afterlife Aftermath Amplify Annihilator Ascend Assist Aura swap Awaken Backup Banding Bands with other [quality] Bargain Battle cry Bestow Blitz Bloodthirst Boast Bushido Buyback Cascade Casualty Champion Changeling Cipher Cleave Companion Compleated Conspire Convoke Craft Crew Cumulative upkeep Cycling [Type]cycling Dash Daybound Nightbound Decayed Delve Demonstrate Dethrone Devoid Devour Devour [type] Disguise Disturb Dredge Echo Embalm Emerge Encore Enlist Entwine Epic Escalate Escape Eternalize Evoke Evolve Exalted Exhaust Exploit Extort Fabricate Fading Firebending Fear Flanking Flashback Forecast Foretell Fortify For Mirrodin! Freerunning Frenzy Fuse Gift Graft Gravestorm Harmonize Haunt Hidden agenda Double agenda Hideaway Horsemanship Impending Improvise Infect Ingest Intimidate Job select Jump-start Kicker Multikicker Landwalk Level up Living metal Living weapon Madness Mayhem Melee Mentor Miracle Mobilize Modular More Than Meets the Eye Morph Megamorph Mutate Myriad Ninjutsu Commander ninjutsu Offering Offspring Outlast Overload Partner Choose a Background Doctor's companion Friends forever Partner with [name] Persist Phasing Plot Poisonous Prototype Provoke Prowess Prowl Rampage Ravenous Read ahead Rebound Reconfigure Recover Reinforce Renown Replicate Retrace Riot Ripple Saddle Scavenge Shadow Shroud Skulk Solved To solve Soulbond Soulshift Space sculptor Spectacle Splice Split second Spree Squad Start your engines! Max speed Station Storm Sunburst Surge Suspend Tiered Toxic Training Transfigure Transmute Tribute Umbra armor Undaunted Undying Unearth Unleash Vanishing Visit Prize Waterbend Warp Web-slinging Enweb Wither

Keyword Actions

Evergreen	Activate Attach Cast Counter Create Double Destroy Discard Exchange Exile Fight Goad Mill Play Reveal Sacrifice Scry Search Shuffle Surveil Tap Triple Untap

Other	Abandon Adapt Airbend Amass Assemble Behold Bolster Clash Cloak Collect evidence Connive Convert Detain Discover Earthbend Endure Exert Explore Face a villainous choice Fateseal Forage Harness Incubate Investigate Learn Manifest Manifest dread Meld Monstrosity Open an attraction Planeswalk Populate Proliferate Regenerate The Ring tempts you Roll to visit your attractions Set in motion Support Suspect Time travel Transform Venture into the dungeon Venture into [quality] Vote

Ability words

Other

Additional rules	Coin flip Copy Day and night Dice roll Die Enter Energy Expend Initiative Intrinsic ability Manipulate time Monarch Rad counter Subgame

Digital only	Backbone Boon Conjure Draft Double team Heist Incorporate Intensity Perpetually Seek Spellbook Specialize Unstoppable

Miscellaneous	Abyss Alt con Animate Anti-discard Attack alone Balance Basic land counting Batching Historic Modified Party Outlaw Bidding Biting Bloodlust Bloodthirsty vampire Board wipe Bounce Cantrip Card filtering City's Blessing Clockwork creature Color changer Commander storm Committing a crime Creature pumping Firebreathing Cremate Curiosity Daunt Devil's Deal Devotion Dexterity card Direct damage Divvy Edict Enchantress En-Kor ability Flicker Fog Free mechanic Free spell Freeze Future Sight mechanic Gating Ghostly Prison effect Gingerbrute ability Grind Growing permanent Guess Guildmage Hoser Illusion ability Imprisoning Invoker Keyword soup Kindle Land changer Lobotomy Loner Looting Lucky charm Lure Mana acceleration Mana washing Meddling Mix-and-match Modal Pawprint Anchor word Odd or even Orochi ability Ping Pitch spell Polymorph Power/Toughness switcher Punisher Quest counter Reanimation Relentless Removal Artifact destruction Land destruction Reverse threshold Rewards for death Rhystic Rule-setting Ruthless Saboteur Saga creature Sengir ability Sleeping enchantment Speed Spiritcraft Stalking Star creature Starting player Taxing Threaten Torment ability Transformation Tuck Tutor Unblockable Uncounterable Unlocking a door Wheel Timespiraling Wisdom Wish X

Acorn	Art menace Rampage Augment Ban Best in show Blurry Combine Coolness Crank‎ Denimwalk Family gathering Gear Up Gobble Gotcha Hide Install Just a second Knightlifelink Last strike Rangeling Reassemble Stare down Super haste Switch Triple strike Typelink Undeathtouch Uninstall Wrap

Playtest	Aggressive Annihinfect Assist kicker Bank Batching Afraid Familiar Bedtime story Buddy list Challenge Construct Coststorm Curse Deworded Equipment swap Firstest strike Flashforward Four-faced Grazing type Hope Host Interplanar Kinfall Land drop Landship Legacy Library ninjutsu Megalegendary Monk Track Mono Eminence Motivate Negamorph Nimble Oil Scavenge Old Companion Onionfect Partner with itself‎ Pass the ball Performing a magic trick Planeswalkerwalk Plot booster Poison Modular Poison Tolerance Positioning Proliferatelink Ransom Ratmanship Reflect Requirement Rulebreaker Scrycast Scryfall Shackle Sinecure Spaceship Spark Spellmorph Tantrum Tasty Teach Thoughtweft Token card Underdog Upgrade Ustujnin Way behind Whammy deck

Unreleased	Double-tap Forbidden Glorify‎ Hieroglyphics‎ Link Mummify‎ Reckless Unique‎

Former	Bury Landhome Substance

See also	List of Acorn mechanics List of deprecated mechanics List of obsolete terminology List of unreleased mechanics Special action Storm Scale

Wisdom

See also

References

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