Reference
Premodern glossary
Format-specific terminology. Archetype nicknames (Stiflenought, Pande-Burst), combo names, slang, and Premodern-internal jargon. Plain-text definitions, with see-also links where relevant.
A
- Accumulated Knowledge
- A Premodern-legal blue instant that draws cards equal to the number of copies of itself in all graveyards plus one.
- Aggro
- A strategic archetype focused on deploying threats quickly and reducing the opponent's life total to zero as fast as possible.
- Aluren Combo
- A Premodern combo deck using the enchantment Aluren to cast creatures with converted mana cost 3 or less for free, generating infinite loops with Cavern Harpy and Raven Familiar.
- Angry Hermit Combo
- A Premodern combo sequence using Hermit Druid (now banned) that mills the entire library in one activation when playing zero basic lands.
- Animate Dead
- A Premodern-legal black aura from Alpha/Revised that returns a creature from any graveyard to play under the enchanted creature controller's control.
- Astral Slide
- A Premodern control-value archetype that uses Astral Slide and cycling cards to flicker (exile and return) creatures for repeated ETB effects.
B
- Birds of Paradise
- A Premodern-legal green creature from Alpha that taps for one mana of any color, the gold standard of mana accelerants.
- BUG Survival
- A Premodern midrange deck using Survival of the Fittest in a black-blue-green shell to tutor silver-bullet creatures.
- Burn
- Damage dealt directly to a player (or planeswalker) via red spells, often used to describe the Mono-Red Burn archetype or the strategy of aiming all damage at the opponent.
C
- Cabal Coffers
- A Premodern-legal land from Torment that taps for black mana equal to the number of Swamps controlled, enabling enormous mana in mono-black decks.
- Cabal Therapy
- A Premodern black disruption spell that names a card and strips all copies from the opponent's hand, with flashback via creature sacrifice.
- Card Advantage
- The state of having more cards in hand or drawing more cards than the opponent, creating more options each turn.
- Cephalid Breakfast
- A Premodern combo deck that uses Cephalid Illusionist and Nomads en-Kor to mill the entire library, then wins with Sutured Ghoul and Krosan Reclamation.
- Chrome Mox
- A zero-mana artifact from Mirrodin that imprints a non-artifact, non-land card to produce one mana of that card's color.
- City of Traitors
- A Premodern-legal Reserved List land that taps for two colorless mana but sacrifices itself when you play another land.
- Combo
- A strategic archetype focused on assembling a specific combination of two or more cards that, together, win the game or create an insurmountable advantage.
- Control
- A strategic archetype focused on denying opponent resources — through counterspells, removal, and sweepers — before winning with a powerful late-game threat.
- Counterspell
- A spell that counters — negates — another spell on the stack. Counterspells are a central mechanic in blue-based Premodern control and tempo decks.
- Cycling
- A keyword ability allowing a player to discard a card and pay its cycling cost to draw a new card.
D
- Dark Ritual
- A Premodern-legal black instant from Alpha that produces {B}{B}{B} for {B}, providing two mana of acceleration for one mana spent.
- Daze
- A Premodern-legal blue instant from Nemesis that counters a spell unless the opponent pays {1}, by bouncing an Island you control.
- Deadguy Ale
- A Premodern black-white disruption deck combining hand disruption, efficient threats, and removal. Named after a beer and associated with aggressive attrition strategies.
- Deathtouch
- A keyword ability introduced in Future Sight (2007), outside the Premodern card pool. Not a legal keyword in Premodern.
- Devourer Combo
- A Premodern combo deck using Sutured Ghoul and Krosan Reclamation to assemble a game-winning creature, often in the graveyard with Careful Study and Wonder.
- Diabolic Edict
- A Premodern-legal black instant that forces the opponent to sacrifice a creature, bypassing protection and shroud.
- Discard
- The action of removing cards from a player's hand, either voluntarily or forced by an opponent's spell.
- Discard Rack
- A Premodern black control archetype using discard spells and The Rack to punish opponents for having an empty hand.
- Doomsday (combo)
- A Premodern combo deck using the sorcery Doomsday to stack a five-card library, then drawing through it with cantrips to assemble a kill.
- Dragon Stompy
- A Premodern red prison/stompy archetype using Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon, and Chrome Mox to disrupt opponents while deploying large red threats.
- Draw Chain
- A sequence of draw spells cast in one turn that build on each other for exponential card advantage, common in Psychatog and control finisher turns.
- Draw Trigger
- A triggered ability that fires when a card is drawn, common in Premodern blue enchantments like Phyrexian Arena and Howling Mine.
- Dream Halls
- An Premodern-legal blue enchantment from Stronghold that allows casting spells by discarding a card of the same color instead of paying the mana cost. A powerful engine card.
- Dual Land
- The ten original basic-land-type dual lands from Alpha through Revised, each producing two colors of mana without a drawback.
- Duress
- A Premodern-legal black sorcery that forces the opponent to reveal their hand and discard a noncreature, nonland card.
E
- Elves
- A Premodern tribal combo-aggro archetype that generates excessive mana through Elf lords and Llanowar Elves, winning with large Elves or combo finishers.
- Enchantment
- A permanent spell type that remains on the battlefield and produces ongoing effects. Enchantments are a defining card type in many Premodern archetypes.
- Enduring Renewal Combo
- A Premodern infinite combo using Enduring Renewal, a zero-cost creature (Phyrexian Walker, Shield Sphere), and Goblin Bombardment to deal infinite damage.
- Entomb
- A banned Premodern instant that puts any card from the library directly into the graveyard for one black mana.
- Equipment
- An artifact subtype from Mirrodin block that attaches to creatures, granting them bonus abilities. Equipment uses equip costs to move between creatures.
- Erratic Explosion
- A Premodern combo-aggro deck using Erratic Explosion to reveal and deal damage equal to the revealed card's converted mana cost.
- ETB Trigger
- An enters-the-battlefield triggered ability, which fires whenever a creature or permanent with the ability comes into play.
F
- Fetchland
- A land that sacrifices itself to search the library for a specific type of land. In Premodern, Mirage fetchlands (Flood Plain, Bad River, etc.) are legal; Onslaught fetchlands are not.
- Fizzle
- When a spell or ability loses all its legal targets before it resolves, causing it to be countered by the game rules without effect.
- Flashback
- A keyword mechanic from Odyssey that allows casting a spell from the graveyard for an alternate cost, after which it is exiled.
- Flashback Cost
- The alternate mana cost printed on a flashback card that allows casting it from the graveyard.
- Forbidden Orchard
- A Premodern-legal land from Champions of Kamigawa... No — Champions of Kamigawa is 2004, outside the card pool. Forbidden Orchard is not Premodern-legal.
- Force of Will
- An alternate-cost counterspell from Alliances: exile a blue card from hand and pay 1 life to counter any spell for free. Not in the Premodern card pool — Alliances is not Premodern-legal.
- Force Spike
- A Premodern-legal blue counterspell that counters a spell unless the opponent pays {1} extra mana.
- Full English Breakfast
- A Premodern combo deck using Survival of the Fittest and Volrath's Shapeshifter to copy Phage the Untouchable's ability, winning instantly.
G
- Goblin Bidding
- A Premodern Goblin combo-aggro deck that uses Patriarch's Bidding to return all Goblins from the graveyard to play, generating a lethal board state.
- Goblin Lackey Trigger
- The combat damage trigger on Goblin Lackey that puts a Goblin card from hand into play tapped and attacking. A key threat in Goblins and Goblin Bidding decks.
- Gold-Bordered Cards
- Collector's Edition and International Collector's Edition reprints of Magic cards, distinguishable by their gold-bordered backs. Some Premodern events allow them; many don't.
- Graveyard
- The game zone where discarded, destroyed, sacrificed, and countered cards go. The graveyard is actively used by many Premodern archetypes.
- GW Enchantress
- A Premodern combo-control deck using enchantress creatures (Argothian Enchantress, Verduran Enchantress) to draw massive amounts of cards off enchantment casts.
H
- Hand Disruption
- Spells or effects that force the opponent to discard cards, removing options from their hand.
- Haste
- A keyword ability allowing a creature to attack and use tap abilities the turn it enters the battlefield.
- Hate Bear
- A creature that hoses (hates on) a specific strategy, such as Ravenous Baloth against burn or Tormod's Crypt against graveyard decks, often played in creature form.
- Hatred Combo
- A Premodern combo-aggro line using the instant Hatred to pay life to grant a creature +X/+0, often enabling a one-hit kill.
- Hymn to Tourach
- A Premodern black disruption spell that makes the opponent randomly discard two cards for two black mana.
I
- Impulse
- A Premodern-legal blue instant from Visions that looks at the top four cards and keeps one.
- Islandwalk
- An evasion ability on creatures that makes them unblockable as long as the defending player controls an Island.
K
- Kicker
- An optional additional cost for a spell that enhances its effect when paid. A mechanic from Invasion block.
L
- Land Destruction
- Spells that destroy opponent lands, denying mana development. A primary strategy in Pox and Terra-geddon decks.
- Land Drop
- The act of playing a land on a given turn. Each player may play one land per turn (barring abilities that grant extra land drops).
- Landstill
- A Premodern control archetype using Standstill (which draws the opponent into it) and Mishra's Factory as a land-based win condition.
- Lifelink
- A keyword ability introduced in Future Sight (2007), outside the Premodern card pool. Similar effects appear as 'whenever deals damage, you gain that much life' in Premodern.
- Living Death Reanimator
- A Premodern combo/control strategy that uses Living Death as a reanimation effect, swapping graveyards with the battlefield to bring back a stocked graveyard of large creatures.
- Llanowar Elves
- A Premodern-legal green creature that taps for {G}, the classic one-drop mana accelerant.
M
- Madness
- A Premodern aggro-combo archetype that generates card advantage by discarding cards with the madness mechanic via Wild Mongrel or Aquamoeba.
- Madness (mechanic)
- A keyword mechanic from Torment that lets a player cast a spell for its madness cost instead of discarding it, turning discard outlets into card advantage.
- Mana Acceleration
- Any card or ability that produces more mana than the investment spent to play it, enabling earlier or larger plays.
- Mana Flood
- A situation where a player draws too many lands and runs out of spells, often resulting in a top-deck war.
- Mana Screw
- A situation where a player draws too few lands and cannot cast their spells, often resulting in a loss.
- Manabase
- The collection of lands and mana-producing permanents in a deck, determining what colors of mana are available and in what quantities.
- Merfolk
- A Premodern tribal aggro-tempo archetype using blue Merfolk creatures combined with islandwalk and Lord of Atlantis.
- Midrange
- A strategic archetype that plays efficient threats while maintaining interactive elements, sitting between aggro and control on the speed spectrum.
- Mishra's Factory
- A Premodern-legal land from Antiquities/Fourth Edition that taps for colorless or animates into a 2/2 Assembly-Worker creature for one colorless mana.
- Mono-Black Control
- A Premodern control archetype that leverages powerful black spells — removal, recursion, hand disruption — to out-resource opponents.
- Mono-Black Discard
- A Premodern aggressive-discard archetype combining hand disruption with fast black creatures and recursive threats.
- Mono-Blue Control
- A Premodern control archetype using blue counterspells, card draw, and permission to deny all threats before winning with Morphling.
- Mono-Green Stompy
- A Premodern aggressive archetype that deploys efficient green creatures and pump spells on a low curve to end games quickly.
- Mono-Red Burn
- A Premodern direct damage deck that burns the opponent to zero life with Lightning Bolt, Fireblast, Price of Progress, and similar spells.
- Mono-White Aggro
- A Premodern white weenie archetype that uses evasive creatures, disruption spells, and anthem effects to overwhelm opponents.
- Mono-White Control
- A Premodern control archetype using Wrath of God, Enlightened Tutor, and enchantment packages to deny opponents and win with Serra Angel or Decree of Justice.
- Morph
- A keyword ability from Onslaught that allows a creature to be cast face-down as a 2/2 for {3}, then turned face-up later by paying its morph cost.
- Morphing
- The act of turning a face-down morph creature face-up by paying its morph cost.
- Morphling
- A Premodern-legal blue legend from Urza's Saga known as 'Superman' — the quintessential blue finisher with multiple combat manipulation abilities.
- Mox Diamond
- A zero-mana Premodern-legal artifact from Stronghold that taps for one mana of any color but requires discarding a land as an additional cost.
- Mulligan
- The act of taking a new opening hand by shuffling back the current hand and drawing one fewer card (in the London mulligan rule used in Premodern).
O
- Oath of Druids
- A Premodern combo/control strategy centered on the enchantment Oath of Druids, which puts creatures from the library into play while the opponent controls more creatures.
- Opalescence
- A Premodern-legal white enchantment from Urza's Saga that makes all other enchantments 4/4 creatures.
- Oracle Text
- The current official card text as maintained by Wizards of the Coast, which may differ from the printed text on older cards.
P
- Pande-Burst
- A Premodern combo deck built around Pandemonium and Saproling Burst, dealing lethal damage by putting large token creatures into play.
- Pernicious Deed
- A Premodern-legal black-green enchantment from Apocalypse that destroys all permanents of CMC X or less at instant speed for X mana.
- Phyrexian Dreadnought
- A Premodern-legal 12/12 trampler from Mirage for {1} that requires sacrificing creatures totaling 12 power when it enters the battlefield, unless Stifle counters the trigger.
- Planeswalker
- A permanent type introduced in Lorwyn (2007), outside the Premodern card pool. No planeswalkers are legal in Premodern.
- Pox
- A Premodern prison-control archetype using Pox to simultaneously destroy lands, sacrifice creatures, and discard cards, leaving the opponent with nothing.
- Priority
- The right to cast spells or activate abilities at a given point in the turn. Understanding priority is essential for casting spells at the right time.
- Prison
- A strategy or deck type that locks the opponent out of taking meaningful actions, often using enchantments, artifacts, or activated abilities.
- Protection
- A keyword ability that prevents damage, auras, equipment, blocking, and targeting from sources of the protected quality (color, creature type, etc.).
- Proxy
- An unofficial stand-in for a card, typically a printout or handwritten replacement. Proxy policies vary by tournament.
- Psychatog (deck)
- A Premodern tempo-control archetype built around the creature Psychatog, using counterspells and card-drawing to fuel a lethal one-turn kill with Psychatog's pump abilities.
R
- Ramp
- The act of accelerating mana production beyond one land per turn, typically with artifacts, elves, or land-fetching spells.
- Reanimate
- A Premodern-legal black sorcery that returns any creature from any graveyard to play, with the caster losing life equal to the creature's CMC.
- Reanimation
- The act of returning a creature from the graveyard directly to the battlefield, typically for less mana than its casting cost.
- Reanimator
- A Premodern combo archetype that puts large creatures directly into the graveyard and returns them to play with Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Exhume.
- Regeneration
- An activated ability that, when paid, causes the next lethal damage to a creature to be prevented and the creature to remain on the battlefield tapped instead.
- Removal
- Spells or abilities that destroy, exile, bounce, or otherwise eliminate opposing creatures or permanents.
- Replenish Combo
- A Premodern combo strategy centered on discarding enchantments to the graveyard and then returning them all to play simultaneously with Replenish.
S
- Sacrifice Effect
- An effect that forces a player to sacrifice one or more permanents, bypassing indestructibility, regeneration, and protection.
- Shadow
- An evasion ability from Tempest block: a creature with shadow can only block or be blocked by other creatures with shadow.
- Show and Tell
- A Premodern-legal blue sorcery from Urza's Saga that lets each player put any permanent from their hand into play.
- Shroud
- A keyword ability that prevents a permanent or player from being the target of spells or abilities.
- Sideboard
- The 15-card supplement to a main deck, swapped in after the first game to adjust to the opponent's strategy in game 2 and 3.
- Silver Bullet
- A specific card that particularly hates on or is uniquely effective against a specific archetype or threat.
- Sligh
- A Premodern aggro-burn archetype named after player Paul Sligh, characterized by a low mana curve, cheap creatures, and direct damage spells.
- Slivers
- A Premodern tribal aggro archetype using Sliver creatures that share abilities, creating exponentially powerful boards.
- Sneak Attack
- A Premodern combo deck using Sneak Attack to put large creatures into play for {R}, attack, and then sacrifice them at end of turn.
- Snow-Covered Land
- The five basic land variants (Snow-Covered Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest) introduced in Ice Age, which count as basic lands and have the snow supertype.
- Squirrel Storm
- A Premodern storm combo deck using Goblin Charbelcher or Empty the Warrens backed by mana acceleration and cantrips.
- Stack
- The game zone where spells and abilities wait to resolve. In Premodern, the stack matters particularly for counterspells, triggered abilities, and split-second interactions.
- Standstill
- A Premodern-legal blue enchantment: the first player to cast a spell causes all players to draw three cards. A lock piece in Landstill decks when combined with Mishra's Factory.
- Stasis
- The specific card Stasis: an enchantment that stops all players from untapping. A key component of Mono-Blue Stasis decks in Premodern.
- Stasis Lock
- A Premodern lockdown position achieved with the enchantment Stasis, which prevents all players from untapping unless a cost is paid each turn.
- Stiflenought
- A Premodern combo deck that abuses Phyrexian Dreadnought's enters-the-battlefield trigger by countering it with Stifle, leaving a 12/12 trampler for two mana.
- Storm (mechanic)
- A keyword mechanic from Scourge that copies a spell for each previous spell cast in the same turn. A defining mechanic in Premodern combo decks.
- Storm Count
- The number of spells cast before a storm spell in the same turn, determining how many copies are created.
- Survival of the Fittest
- A Premodern-legal green enchantment that lets you discard a creature card to tutor any creature to hand.
- Survival-Squee Engine
- The combination of Survival of the Fittest and Squee, Goblin Nabob, which returns to hand from the graveyard each turn — enabling free Survival activations every turn.
- Sweeper
- A spell that destroys or removes multiple creatures at once, such as Wrath of God or Pernicious Deed.
- Swords to Plowshares
- The premier white removal spell in Premodern: exile target creature for one white mana, giving the opponent life equal to its power.
T
- Tempo
- The concept of using fewer resources than the opponent to accomplish the same goal, effectively gaining time advantage. Tempo is a central strategic axis in Premodern.
- Tempo Play
- A play that gains time by using a cheap spell to negate a more expensive one or disrupt the opponent's plan without spending a full card.
- Terra-geddon
- A Premodern prison/control archetype that combines Armageddon with Terravore or other win conditions, destroying all lands after gaining an advantage.
- The Rock
- A Premodern midrange archetype named after The Rock (wrestler), combining black disruption and green creatures. Also called 'Rock and His Millions' in reference to multiple threats.
- Threshold (mechanic)
- A keyword mechanic from Odyssey block that grants bonus abilities when seven or more cards are in a player's graveyard.
- Tinker
- A Premodern combo deck using the artifact tutor Tinker to put Goblin Charbelcher, Sundering Titan, or other large artifacts into play.
- Tinker Targets
- The set of large artifact creatures and utility artifacts that Tinker decks search for with the sorcery Tinker, including Sundering Titan, Goblin Charbelcher, and Colossus of Sardia.
- Top-Deck
- Drawing and immediately playing (or relying on drawing) a specific card from the top of the library, often as a last resort in a losing position.
- Trample
- A keyword ability allowing a creature to deal combat damage exceeding a blocking creature's toughness to the defending player.
- Transmute
- An Dimir guild ability from Ravnica that allows discarding a card to tutor another card of the same converted mana cost.
- Two-for-One
- A trading outcome where one card answers or generates two opposing cards, creating card advantage.
V
- Vigilance
- A keyword ability that allows a creature to attack without tapping.
W
- Wake
- A Premodern combo-control archetype using Mirari's Wake, which doubles mana and empowers creatures, combined with Mirari to generate repeated spells.
- Wasteland
- A Premodern-legal land that taps for one colorless mana or sacrifices to destroy a target non-basic land.
- Wasteland Chain
- A sequence of Wasteland activations used to deny an opponent sufficient mana across multiple turns, often combined with Sinkhole or Stone Rain.
- Welder MUD
- A Premodern artifact-based prison/combo deck using Goblin Welder, Mishra's Workshop, and large artifacts like Sundering Titan and Covetous Dragon.
- Wild Mongrel
- A Premodern green creature that discards a card to get +1/+1 and change its color until end of turn, acting as a free madness enabler.
- Wizards
- A Premodern tempo-combo archetype using Wizard tribal synergies, particularly Riptide Laboratory and Arcanis the Omnipotent.
- Wrath of God
- The premier white sweeper in Premodern: destroys all creatures for {2}{W}{W} and cannot be regenerated around.
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