Comprehensive Guide to MTG Keyword Abilities

In the vast and intricate world of Magic the Gathering (MTG), keyword abilities play a crucial role, in defining the unique properties of cards and shaping the dynamics of the game. Each keyword embodies a specific rule or set of rules, enriching gameplay and strategy. Here’s a brief explanation of various MTG keyword abilities:

• Absorb: This ability negates a certain amount of damage dealt to the creature each time it would be damaged.
• Affinity: Affinity reduces the card’s mana cost based on a particular condition, usually related to the number of a type of permanents you control.
• Afflict: When a creature with afflict becomes blocked, it deals damage to the defending player.
• Afterlife: A creature with afterlife creates a specific number of token creatures when it dies.
• Aftermath: Aftermath allows you to cast a spell from your graveyard, but only the half with aftermath, and then exile it.
• Amplify: Amplify lets a creature enter the battlefield with additional +1/+1 counters if you reveal cards that share a type with it from your hand.
• Annihilator: A devastating ability where a creature forces the opponent to sacrifice a number of permanents whenever it attacks.
• Ascend: Players achieve the “city’s blessing” if they control ten or more permanents.
• Assist: Another player can help you pay the mana cost of a card with assist.
• Augment: Augment allows you to combine one creature with another to enhance its abilities and stats.
• Aura Swap: This ability lets you exchange an aura card in play with one from your hand.
• Awaken: Awaken turns lands into creatures in addition to their other types.
• Backup: This keyword allows you to bring backup cards into play under specific conditions.
• Banding: Banding lets multiple creatures attack or block together.
• Bargain: Bargain enables a player to perform a certain action at a reduced cost.
• Basic landcycling: A form of cycling that lets you search your deck for a basic land card.
• Battle Cry: When a creature with battle cry attacks, other attacking creatures get a power boost.
• Bestow: Bestow lets you cast a creature card as an Aura, enchanting another creature.
• Blitz: Blitz is a mechanic that allows you to cast a creature for a different cost with haste but requires you to sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
• Bloodthirst: If an opponent was dealt damage this turn, a creature with bloodthirst enters the battlefield with extra +1/+1 counters.
• Boast: Boast abilities can be activated only if the creature declaring it has attacked this turn.
• Bushido: Bushido increases a creature’s power and toughness when it blocks or becomes blocked.
• Buyback: You can pay an additional cost to return a spell with buyback to your hand instead of the graveyard.
• Cascade: When you cast a spell with cascade, you may reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland card that costs less. You can cast it without paying its mana cost.
• Casualty: A mechanic that allows you to sacrifice a creature when you cast a spell to amplify its effect.
• Champion: A creature with champion can only enter the battlefield if you exile another creature you control until it leaves the battlefield.
• Changeling: Changeling gives a creature every creature type.
• Choose a background: This mechanic allows a player to select a background card that provides additional abilities or enhancements.
• Cipher: After casting a spell with cipher, you can encode it on a creature to recast the spell whenever that creature deals combat damage.
• Cleave: Cleave allows you to pay a different mana cost to remove certain words from a spell, changing its effect.
• Commander ninjutsu: A form of ninjutsu that applies when the creature is in the command zone.
• Companion: Companion allows you to reveal the card from outside the game and play it if you meet its deckbuilding condition.
• Compleated: This keyword signifies a permanent that has been corrupted or transformed, often gaining additional abilities or characteristics.
• Conspire: As you cast a spell with conspire, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that share a color with it to copy the spell.
• Convoke: Your creatures can help cast this spell by tapping to pay for its mana cost.
• Craft: Craft provides a way to modify or enhance artifacts or creatures during the game.
• Crew: A vehicle becomes an artifact creature until the end of the turn when you tap any number of creatures with total power equal to or greater than the vehicle’s crew number.
• Cumulative upkeep: At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.
• Cycling: By paying a card’s cycling cost, you can discard it to draw a new card, offering deck flexibility.
• Dash: You can cast a creature for its dash cost, giving it haste and returning it to your hand at the beginning of the next end step.
• Daybound/Nightbound: These abilities are part of a mechanic that reflects the day-night cycle, altering the behavior or stats of creatures.
• Deathtouch: Any amount of damage this creature deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.
• Decayed: A creature with decayed can’t block, and when it attacks, you sacrifice it at the end of combat.
• Defender: Creatures with defender can’t attack.
• Delve: You may exile any number of cards from your graveyard to pay for this spell’s mana cost.
• Demonstrate: When you cast a spell with demonstrate, you can copy it. If you do, choose an opponent to also get a copy.
• Desertwalk: A creature with desertwalk is unblockable as long as the defending player controls a Desert.
• Dethrone: Whenever this creature attacks the player with the most life or tied for most life, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
• Devoid: This card has no color.
• Devour: As this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. It enters with twice that many +1/+1 counters on it.
• Disguise: This ability allows a creature to enter the battlefield as if it were a different card.
• Disturb: You can cast this card from your graveyard transformed for its disturb cost.
• Doctor’s Companion: When a card has Doctor’s Companion, it usually works alongside another specific card for a combined effect.
• Double Agenda: This is typically found on conspiracy cards, allowing you to name two cards instead of one.
• Double Strike: Creatures with double strike deal both first-strike and regular combat damage.
• Dredge: If you would draw a card, instead you may put exactly N cards from the top of your library into your graveyard. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Echo: At the beginning of your next upkeep after this permanent comes under your control, pay its mana cost or sacrifice it.
• Embalm: You can exile this card from your graveyard to create a token that’s a copy of it, except it’s a white Zombie in addition to its other types.
• Emerge: You may cast this spell by sacrificing a creature and paying the emerge cost reduced by that creature’s converted mana cost.
• Enchant: This card must be attached to a target as dictated by its enchant ability.
• Encore: Exile this card from your graveyard and pay its encore cost to create a token copy for each opponent, each token attacking that opponent this turn if able.
• Enlist: When you attack with a creature, you may have it enlist, gaining power equal to the power of another tapped creature you control.
• Entwine: You may pay an additional cost to choose both if the spell has multiple modes.
• Epic: For the rest of the game, you can’t cast spells. At the beginning of each of your upkeeps, copy this spell except for its epic ability.
• Equip: Attach this equipment to a target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.
• Escalate: Pay this cost for each additional mode chosen beyond the first.
• Escape: You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost and exile other cards from your graveyard at the same time.
• Eternalize: Exile this card from your graveyard to create a token that’s a copy of it, except it’s a black Zombie with base power and toughness 4/4.
• Evoke: You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it’s sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.
• Evolve: Whenever a creature with greater power or toughness enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
• Exalted: Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until the end of the turn.
• Exploit: When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice another creature.
• Extort: Whenever you cast a spell, you may pay {W/B}. If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life.
• Fabricate: When this creature enters the battlefield, you may put a number of +1/+1 counters on it or create a number of 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature tokens.
• Fading: Fading is followed by a number, indicating how many fade counters are placed on the creature. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter. If you can’t, sacrifice the creature.
• Fear: This creature can only be blocked by artifact creatures and/or black creatures.
• First Strike: Creatures with first strike deal their combat damage before creatures without first strike.
• Flanking: Whenever a creature without flanking blocks this creature, the blocking creature gets -1/-1 until the end of turn.
• Flash: You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.
• Flashback: You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost, then exile it.
• Flying: Creatures with flying can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.
• For Mirrodin!: This ability is often associated with cards that represent the battle for Mirrodin, granting them additional power or effects.
• Forecast: During your upkeep, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its forecast cost to use its effect.
• Forestcycling: Forestcycling allows you to discard this card, search your library for a Forest card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Forestwalk: This creature is unblockable as long as the defending player controls a Forest.
• Foretell: During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.
• Fortify: Attach this to a land you control, giving it additional abilities or stats.
• Frenzy: If this creature attacks and isn’t blocked, it gets +N/+0 until the end of turn.
• Friends Forever: Two commanders can lead your deck if they both have Friends Forever.
• Fuse: You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.
• Graft: This creature enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it. You may move a +1/+1 counter from this creature onto a target creature that enters the battlefield.
• Gravestorm: For each permanent put into a graveyard this turn, you may copy this spell for each time it’s been cast this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.
• Haste: This creature can attack and {T} as soon as it comes under your control.
• Haunt: When this card is put into a graveyard, exile it haunting target creature.
• Hexproof: This creature can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.
• Hexproof from [quality]: This creature can’t be the target of [quality] spells or abilities your opponents control.
• Hidden Agenda: You may start the game with this card face down in the command zone and turn it face up at any time for its hidden agenda cost.
• Hideaway: This card enters the battlefield tapped. When it does, look at the top four cards of your library, exile one face down, then put the rest on the bottom of your library.
• Horsemanship: This creature can’t be blocked except by creatures with horsemanship.
• Improvise: Your artifacts can help cast this spell. Each artifact you tap after you’re done activating mana abilities pays for {1}.
• Indestructible: This creature cannot be destroyed by damage or by effects that say “destroy.”
• Infect: This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.
• Ingest: Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles the top card of their library.
• Intensity: Intensity accumulates as certain conditions are met, enhancing the creature or spell’s effect.
• Intimidate: This creature can only be blocked by artifact creatures and creatures that share a color with it.
• Islandcycling: Islandcycling allows you to discard this card, search your library for an Island card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Islandwalk: This creature is unblockable as long as the defending player controls an Island.
• Jump-start: You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a card in addition to paying its other costs, then exile this card.
• Kicker: You may pay an additional cost as you cast this spell for an additional or altered effect.
• Landcycling: Landcycling allows you to discard this card to search your library for a land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Landwalk: A creature with landwalk is unblockable as long as the defending player controls a land of the specified type.
• Legendary landwalk: This creature is unblockable as long as the defending player controls a legendary land.
• Level Up: You can pay a specific cost to put a level counter on this creature. As it gains levels, it gains new abilities or stats.
• Lifelink: Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.
• Living metal: A mechanic that allows an artifact to become a creature as long as a certain condition is met.
• Living weapon: This equipment enters the battlefield attached to a 0/0 black Germ creature token.
• Madness: If you discard this card, you may cast it for its madness cost instead of putting it into your graveyard.
• Megamorph: You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}. Turn it face up any time for its megamorph cost and put a +1/+1 counter on it.
• Melee: This creature gets +1/+1 until the end of the turn for each opponent you attacked with a creature this turn.
• Menace: This creature can’t be blocked except by two or more creatures.
• Mentor: Whenever this creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature with lesser power.
• Miracle: You may cast this card for its miracle cost when you draw it if it’s the first card you drew this turn.
• Modular: This creature enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it. When it dies, you may put its +1/+1 counters on target artifact creature.
• More Than Meets the Eye: This ability allows a card to transform or reveal additional aspects under certain conditions.
• Morph: You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.
• Mountaincycling: Mountaincycling allows you to discard this card, search your library for a Mountain card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Mountainwalk: This creature is unblockable as long as the defending player controls a Mountain.
• Multikicker: You may pay an additional cost any number of times as you cast this spell. Each time you pay the multikicker cost, you get an additional or enhanced effect.
• Mutate: You can cast this card for its mutate cost, placing it over or under a target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.
• Myriad: When this creature attacks, for each opponent other than the defending player, you may create a token that’s a copy of this creature that’s tapped and attacking that player or a planeswalker they control.
• Nightbound: Part of the day/night mechanic. If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.
• Ninjutsu: A return a creature you control to your hand cost that allows you to put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.
• Nonbasic landwalk: This creature is unblockable as long as the defending player controls a nonbasic land.
• Offering: You may cast this card any time you could cast an instant by sacrificing a creature and paying the difference in mana costs between this and the sacrificed creature.
• Outlast: {T}, Pay a cost: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Outlast only as a sorcery.
• Overload: You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change its text by replacing all instances of “target” with “each.”
• Partner: You can have two commanders if both have partner.
• Partner with: When this creature enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a card with a specific name, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Persist: When this creature dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a -1/-1 counter on it.
• Phasing: This permanent is treated as though it doesn’t exist during the phase it’s phased out.
• Plainscycling: Plainscycling allows you to discard this card, search your library for a Plains card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Plainswalk: This creature is unblockable as long as the defending player controls a Plains.
• Poisonous: This creature deals damage to players in the form of poison counters.
• Protection: This creature can’t be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything of the specified quality.
• Prototype: A mechanic that allows you to cast a creature with a lesser effect or stats for a reduced cost.
• Provoke: When this creature attacks, you may have target creature defending player controls untap and block it if able.
• Prowess: This creature gets +1/+1 until the end of the turn each time you cast a noncreature spell.
• Prowl: You may pay this spell’s prowl cost rather than its mana cost if a player was dealt combat damage this turn by a creature of the same type.
• Rampage: When this creature becomes blocked, it gets +N/+N until the end of the turn for each creature blocking it beyond the first.
• Ravenous: A mechanic that enhances a creature’s abilities or power based on the number of specific actions or conditions met.
• Reach: This creature can block creatures with flying.
• Read Ahead: A mechanic that allows you to look at and possibly cast the top card of your library under certain conditions.
• Rebound: If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast it from exile without paying its mana cost.
• Reconfigure: This ability allows you to attach an Equipment creature to another creature as if it were an Equipment.
• Recover: When a creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, you may pay the recover cost. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Reinforce: You can discard this card and pay its reinforce cost to put a number of +1/+1 counters on target creature.
• Renown: When this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn’t renowned, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it becomes renowned.
• Replicate: When you cast this spell, copy it for each time you paid its replicate cost. You may choose new targets for the copies.
• Retrace: You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.
• Riot: This creature enters the battlefield with your choice of a +1/+1 counter or haste.
• Ripple: When you cast this spell, you may reveal the top N cards of your library. You may cast any revealed cards with the same name as this spell without paying their mana costs. Put the rest on the bottom of your library.
• Scavenge: You may exile this card from your graveyard and pay its scavenge cost to put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to this card’s power on target creature.
• Shadow: This creature can block or be blocked by only creatures with shadow.
• Shroud: This creature or player can’t be the target of spells or abilities.
• Skulk: This creature can’t be blocked by creatures with greater power.
• Slivercycling: Slivercycling allows you to discard this card to search your library for a Sliver card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Soulbond: You may pair this creature with another unpaired creature when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.
• Soulshift: When this creature dies, you may return target Spirit card with lesser or equal mana cost from your graveyard to your hand.
• Specialize: This mechanic allows a permanent to transform, often unlocking new abilities or enhanced stats.
• Spectacle: You may cast this spell for its spectacle cost rather than its mana cost if an opponent lost life this turn.
• Splice: You may reveal this card from your hand as you cast another spell. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.
• Split second: As long as this spell is on the stack, players can’t cast other spells or activate abilities that aren’t mana abilities.
• Squad: This mechanic involves multiple creatures teaming up to provide a collective bonus or ability.
• Storm: When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.
• Sunburst: This enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.
• Surge: You may cast this spell for its surge cost if you or a teammate has cast another spell this turn.
• Suspend: Rather than cast this card from your hand, you may pay its suspend cost and exile it with time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost.
• Swampcycling: Swampcycling allows you to discard this card, search your library for a Swamp card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Swampwalk: This creature is unblockable as long as the defending player controls a Swamp.
• Totem armor: If enchanted creature would be destroyed, instead remove all damage from it and destroy this Aura.
• Toxic: This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters, with the number indicating the potency of the toxic effect.
• Training: Whenever this creature attacks with another creature with greater power, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
• Trample: This creature can deal excess combat damage to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking if enough damage is dealt to the blockers.
• Transfigure: Pay the transfigure cost, sacrifice this creature, and search your library for a creature card with the same converted mana cost and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
• Transmute: Pay the transmute cost, discard this card, and search your library for a card with the same converted mana cost, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Tribute: As this creature enters the battlefield, an opponent of your choice may place a number of +1/+1 counters on it.
• Typecycling: Typecycling is a form of cycling that allows you to search your library for a specific card type instead of just drawing a card.
• Undaunted: This spell costs less to cast for each opponent.
• Undying: When this creature dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a +1/+1 counter on it.
• Unearth: Pay the unearth cost to return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield.
• Unleash: You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It can’t block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.
• Vanishing: This creature enters the battlefield with a number of time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, sacrifice the creature.
• Vigilance: Attacking doesn’t cause this creature to tap.
• Ward: Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays the ward cost.
• Wither: This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.
• Wizardcycling: Wizardcycling allows you to discard this card, search your library for a Wizard card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Each of these keyword abilities introduces a unique layer of strategy and depth to Magic the Gathering, making it a continually evolving and captivating game for players of all levels. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or new to the game, understanding these abilities can significantly enhance your gameplay experience.