The cornerstone of the Commander format is the commander itself—a legendary creature that not only shapes your deck’s strategy but also brings a distinctive thematic flavor to your play experience. Your commander determines the color identity you’ll play with, which is reflected in the narrative and mechanics of your 99-card singleton deck.
In Magic: the Gathering (MTG), we often find ourselves engaged in heated debates and conversations around strategy and gameplay. Among these discussions lies the topic of “salt” or “salt score,” which may be unfamiliar to newer players. Let’s rectify that by discussing the main factors that make a single card salt-inducing, why a card may garner just a little salt, and how to avoid making your friends salty at all.
What is Lifelink? Lifelink is a keyword ability in Magic: The Gathering that essentially allows you to siphon life from your opponents. Mechanically, if a creature you control with Lifelink deals damage, you gain life equal to the amount of damage.
When it comes to protecting your board state in Magic: The Gathering, you’ve got options: Hexproof, Shroud, Protection—the list goes on. But have you ever wished for something a little more, well, taxing for your opponents? Enter the Ward ability, as of 2021 a new evergreen mechanic. This new keyword ability is a form of creature protection that forces your opponent to pay a little extra if they want to mess with your game plan.
Protection is a keyword ability that represents a shield against certain elements. It typically comes in the form of “protection from [quality]”, where the quality could be a color, a card type, a subtype, a faction, or another characteristic. Protection from [specific color] is the most common form. It’s a static ability that grants protection from the stated quality.
Using a mono-color deck to learn Magic: the Gathering can provide several positive benefits for beginners. It may even speed up the learning curve! I like to teach with mono green for beginners MTG decks, but read through and see what color might work best for you!
