Magic: The Gathering — Game Night: Free For All
Magic: The Gathering — Game Night: Free For All Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 5 single-color 60-card decks
- 5 reference cards
- 15 double-sided tokens
- 5 Spindown life counters
- 5 life counter platforms
- 20 +1/+1 counters
- Reusable storage tray
The First Time You Play
Before your first game, pop out the cardboard life counter platforms and +1/+1 counters from the included part sheet. Unwrap each deck. Discard any extra material.
Setup
Choose Your Deck
Each Game Night deck provides a unique play experience. Choose the deck that best fits your style of play—or whichever one sounds like the most fun!
Once you've chosen your deck, you can either set aside the deck description card or turn it over to use the "On Your Turn" side as a reference during the game. Each deck also contains several double-sided tokens—remove these from the deck before shuffling.
Get Ready
Place the double-sided tokens and +1/+1 counters in piles near the play area so players can easily reach them during the game.
Take the Spindown life counter and life counter platform that match the color of your deck. Each player then rolls to see who goes first—highest roll wins. Then set your life counter in front of you with 20 facing up, shuffle your deck, and get ready to play!
Let's Play!
Game Night is a free-for-all Magic game where the last player left standing wins! Each player starts with 20 life, and once a player's life total gets down to 0, they're out.
Every player draws seven cards from their deck to get started—but if you don't like your hand, you can take a mulligan to exchange it. (See the "Mulligan" glossary entry on page 29 for more information.)
On Your Turn (reference card)
- Begin: Untap (turn your cards upright); Draw a card
- Main phase: Play a land (only 1 per turn); Cast creatures and other spells
- Combat: Declare attackers; Your opponent declares blockers; Combat damage is dealt
- Main phase (again): Play a land (if you haven't already); Cast creatures and other spells
- End: Creatures heal; Pass the turn
(Deck description cards show Speed, Creatures, Spells and Complexity ratings; the example shown is Draconic Fury: "Burn away early threats and let your Dragons rule the battlefield.")
Game Night can be played with as few as two and as many as five players, with some slight differences in gameplay.
Two Players
The starting player skips their first draw step, which balances the advantage of going first.
Three to Five Players
Each player, including the starting player, draws a card on their first turn. On each player's first mulligan, they don't have to return a card to their library. Subsequent mulligans reduce a player's opening hand by one card per mulligan (not counting the first mulligan) as normal.
You can attack multiple opponents in the same combat. Anytime a card refers to an opponent, it means any of the other players, even if you've agreed not to attack each other.
Mix and Match Decks
The five single-color decks included in Game Night are ready to play right out of the box, but they are also built to be easily divided and recombined into whatever two-color configurations you like best.
See pages 6–10 for complete decklists and detailed information about each deck.
Glorious Combat (White)
Command a well-honed army with this aggressive white deck. Deploy your small creatures early, then equip them with powerful artifacts to give them bonuses against the toughest defenses. Attack early and often to press your advantage. Later in the game, deploy your Angels to fly over the opposition and deal the final points of damage.
Key cards: Zamriel, Seraph of Steel; Swords to Plowshares; Heavenly Blademaster; Sword of Vengeance.
Creatures
- 1 Zamriel, Seraph of Steel*
- 2 Banisher Priest
- 1 Captain of the Watch
- 1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon
- 1 Forbidding Spirit
- 1 Heavenly Blademaster
- 2 Kitesail Apprentice
- 2 Kor Duelist
- 2 Kor Outfitter
- 2 Pilgrim of the Ages
- 2 Serra Angel
- 1 Howling Golem
Other Spells
- 2 Ancestral Blade
- 1 Path to Exile
- 1 Strength of Arms
- 1 Swords to Plowshares
- 2 Valorous Stance
- 1 Vow of Duty
- 1 Argentum Armor
- 1 Colossus Hammer
- 1 Greatsword
- 1 Moonsilver Spear
- 1 Ring of Thune
- 1 Sword of Vengeance
- 2 Trusty Machete
Lands
- 26 Plains
* Unique card for this release
Political Trickery (Blue)
Play tricks on your opponents using this reactive blue deck. Use the goad mechanic to force your opponents to attack each other, and play spells on other players' turns to interfere with their game plans. No one will know what's up your sleeve, and when the time is right, your army of flyers will take you to victory.
Key cards: Maeve, Insidious Singer; Counterspell; Murmuring Mystic; Plea for Power.
Creatures
- 1 Maeve, Insidious Singer*
- 1 Angler Drake
- 1 Angler Turtle
- 3 Brineborn Cutthroat
- 1 Diluvian Primordial
- 2 Fog Bank
- 2 Illusory Ambusher
- 1 Jeering Homunculus
- 3 Murmuring Mystic
- 2 Sea Gate Oracle
- 1 Howling Golem
Other Spells
- 1 Counterspell
- 2 Fact or Fiction
- 2 Impulse
- 1 Plea for Power
- 1 Precognitive Perception
- 1 Pull from Tomorrow
- 1 Repulse
- 2 Run Away Together
- 1 Split Decision
- 1 Supreme Will
- 2 Talrand's Invocation
- 1 Vow of Flight
- 1 Bloodthirsty Blade
Lands
- 25 Island
* Unique card for this release
Dark Sacrifice (Black)
Sacrifice your creatures for fun and profit with this resilient black deck. In this deck, you benefit when your creatures die. Afterward, use your dark magic to bring them back, starting the gruesome cycle all over again. A black mage knows that death is inevitable—for their opponents.
Key cards: Vogar, Necropolis Tyrant; Sign in Blood; Demon of Loathing; Zombify.
Creatures
- 1 Vogar, Necropolis Tyrant*
- 1 Bushmeat Poacher
- 1 Demon of Loathing
- 2 Doomed Dissenter
- 1 Dusk Legion Zealot
- 1 Fleshbag Marauder
- 2 Gavony Unhallowed
- 2 Gifted Aetherborn
- 1 Gravewaker
- 2 Lord of the Accursed
- 1 Maalfeld Twins
- 1 Priest of the Blood Rite
- 1 Ravenous Chupacabra
- 1 Reassembling Skeleton
- 1 Vilis, Broker of Blood
- 1 Howling Golem
Other Spells
- 1 Bloodsoaked Altar
- 1 Demonic Embrace
- 3 Doom Blade
- 1 Liliana's Mastery
- 2 Moan of the Unhallowed
- 2 Sign in Blood
- 1 Supernatural Stamina
- 2 Village Rites
- 1 Vow of Torment
- 1 Zombify
Lands
- 25 Swamp
* Unique card for this release
Draconic Fury (Red)
Turn up the heat with this smoldering red deck. Incinerate your opponents' early forces with a salvo of burn spells while your minions wear down their defenses. When the smoke has cleared, deploy your enormous Dragons and watch them rule the battlefield.
Key cards: Nogi, Draco-Zealot; Lightning Bolt; Flameblast Dragon; Crucible of Fire.
Creatures
- 1 Nogi, Draco-Zealot*
- 1 Ancient Hellkite
- 1 Dragon Egg
- 2 Dragon Hatchling
- 1 Dragon Mage
- 3 Dragonspeaker Shaman
- 1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
- 1 Flameblast Dragon
- 1 Flametongue Kavu
- 2 Furnace Whelp
- 1 Goblin Motivator
- 3 Kargan Dragonrider
- 1 Knollspine Dragon
- 2 Rapacious Dragon
- 1 Shivan Dragon
- 1 Howling Golem
Other Spells
- 2 Abrade
- 2 Blaze
- 1 Crucible of Fire
- 1 Dragon Tempest
- 2 Lightning Bolt
- 1 Mana Geyser
- 2 Seize the Spoils
- 1 Vow of Lightning
Lands
- 25 Mountain
* Unique card for this release
Boundless Elves (Green)
Draw upon the elvish connection to nature in this primal green deck. Play as many Elves as possible to get extra mana so you can cast your spells much earlier than your opponents. Once you have a huge army of Elves, overwhelm your foes with large creatures and pumped-up effects.
Key cards: Imaryll, Elfhame Elite; Llanowar Elves; Elvish Archdruid; Overrun.
Creatures
- 1 Imaryll, Elfhame Elite*
- 1 Beast Whisperer
- 2 Dwynen's Elite
- 1 Elvish Archdruid
- 2 Elvish Rejuvenator
- 1 Elvish Skysweeper
- 3 Elvish Visionary
- 1 End-Raze Forerunners
- 1 Immaculate Magistrate
- 1 Joraga Visionary
- 3 Llanowar Elves
- 2 Llanowar Tribe
- 2 Sylvan Messenger
- 1 Taunting Elf
- 1 Thorn Lieutenant
- 2 Thornweald Archer
- 1 Howling Golem
Other Spells
- 1 Broken Wings
- 1 Elven Ambush
- 2 Invigorate
- 1 Overrun
- 1 Rabid Bite
- 1 Ram Through
- 1 Regrowth
- 1 Vow of Wildness
- 1 Wirewood Pride
Lands
- 24 Forest
* Unique card for this release
Magic Gameplay
If you are new to Magic, this section is for you! First is an introduction to the game, followed by a rulebook to refer to when you have questions.
Basic topics: How to Read a Magic Card (p. 12); Your Play Area (16); Game Actions (18); Parts of the Turn (21). Advanced topics: Targeting (23); The Stack (24); Glossary (26).
How to Read a Magic Card
Magic cards are formatted so that the information you need to know is always in the same place. (Diagram labels: Name, Mana Cost, Type Line, Expansion Symbol, Text Box, Power/Toughness; example card: Beast Whisperer, 2 + two green mana, Creature — Elf Druid, 2/3.)
Name
Each card has a name that serves as its unique identifier. Though a card may be reprinted in many Magic sets, no two cards with the same name will ever function differently. In most Magic formats, you can have up to four copies of a card with the same name in your deck (except basic lands, which are unlimited). When a card's name appears in its text box, the card is referring only to itself, not to any other cards with the same name.
Mana Cost
Mana is the resource used to cast spells in Magic. All spell cards have a mana cost in the upper right corner. Beast Whisperer's mana cost, {2}{G}{G}, means that you must pay two mana of any kind plus two green mana to cast it.
Type Line
Every card in Magic has a type, and some cards also have subtypes or supertypes that provide more information. For example, Beast Whisperer's type is creature, and its subtypes are Elf and Druid.
There are six card types included in Game Night: land, creature, artifact, enchantment, sorcery, and instant.
Lands
You'll use lands to generate mana, the game's primary resource, which is used to cast spells and activate abilities. Each basic land makes mana of a particular color. Plains make white mana, Islands make blue mana, Swamps make black mana, Mountains make red mana, and Forests make green mana.
You can play one land during each of your turns. To play a land, just put it from your hand onto the battlefield during either of the main phases of your turn. Once you play a land, you can use it to make mana on the turn you played it and every turn after that.
Creatures
Creatures fight for you: they can attack during the combat phase of your turn and block during the combat phase of an opponent's turn. You can cast a creature as a spell during your main phase, and it remains on the battlefield until it's destroyed, sacrificed, exiled, or otherwise removed.
Creatures enter the battlefield with "summoning sickness," which means that a creature you control can't attack (or use an ability that has the tap symbol in its cost) until it starts your turn under your control. You can block with a creature no matter how long it's been on the battlefield.
Artifacts
Artifacts represent machines or magical objects. As with creatures, you can cast an artifact as a spell during your main phase, and it remains on the battlefield unless it's destroyed, sacrificed, exiled, or otherwise removed. Most artifacts are colorless, which means you can cast them with any color of mana, but some require colored mana to cast.
Enchantments
Enchantments have persistent magical effects that affect the game as long as they're on the battlefield. As with creatures, you can cast an enchantment as a spell during your main phase, and it remains on the battlefield unless it's destroyed, sacrificed, exiled, or otherwise removed.
Sorceries
Sorceries are spells that you can cast only during a main phase of your turn. They have a one-time effect. You do what the spell says, and then put the card into your graveyard.
Instants
Instants are spells that can be cast at any time, even during your opponent's turn or during combat. Like sorceries, instants have a one-time effect. You do what the spell says, and then you put it into your graveyard.
Text Box
Some cards have special abilities that are printed in the text box (in the area above the divider bar), and abilities sometimes have reminder text in parentheses to help explain what they do. Flavor text may also appear in the text box, usually below a divider bar. Flavor text has no effect on gameplay; it's a bit of story information about the card.
Abilities of creatures and other permanents on the battlefield fall into one of three categories: static abilities, triggered abilities, and activated abilities.
Static Abilities
A static ability is text that's always true while that card is on the battlefield. For example, Liliana's Mastery is an enchantment with the static ability "Zombies you control get +1/+1." You don't have to activate a static ability; it just does what it says.
Triggered Abilities
A triggered ability is an ability that is triggered by a specific event occurring in the game. For example, Beast Whisperer is a creature with the triggered ability "Whenever you cast a creature spell, draw a card." Each triggered ability starts with the word "when," "whenever," or "at." You don't activate a triggered ability—it automatically happens whenever the condition or conditions stated in the first part of the ability are met.
Activated Abilities
An activated ability is an ability that you can activate whenever you want (like casting an instant), as long as you can pay the cost. Each activated ability is formatted in the same way: "Cost: Effect." For example, Dragon Hatchling is a creature with the activated ability "{R}: Dragon Hatchling gets +1/+0 until end of turn." You pay one red mana, and the creature gets more powerful!
Some activated abilities contain the {T} (tap) symbol in their costs; this means that you must tap that card to activate the ability. You can't activate this kind of ability if the permanent is already tapped or if it's a creature with summoning sickness. (See page 18 for more information about tapping and untapping cards.)
Power/Toughness
Every creature card has a box in the lower right corner that shows its power and toughness. A creature's power (the first number) is the amount of damage it deals in combat. Its toughness (the second number) is the amount of damage that must be dealt to it in a single turn to destroy it.
Expansion Symbol
This symbol tells you which Magic set the card is from. Each Magic set has its own distinct symbol, and the color of the symbol tells you the card's rarity (mythic rare, rare, uncommon, common). For example, a version of Howling Golem was printed especially for Game Night, and its rarity is common.
The Play Area
A game of Magic starts with only players' decks and life counters on the table, but once each player has had a few turns to play lands, cast spells, and attack with creatures, a kind of freeform game board begins to take shape. That game board is divided into several different game zones. (A diagram shows a two-player game after a few turns, labeling Battlefield, Library, Graveyard, Hand and Exile.)
Library
Your library is your draw pile, which remains face down throughout the game. You lose the game if you are forced to draw a card but cannot because your library is out of cards.
Hand
You start the game by drawing a hand of seven cards. If you have more than seven cards in your hand as your turn ends, you must discard down to seven.
Battlefield
You and your opponents share the battlefield. Cards that go onto the battlefield (including lands, creatures, artifacts, and enchantments) are called permanents. Instants and sorceries are never on the battlefield. You can arrange your permanents however you want (we recommend putting your lands closest to you), but your opponents must be able to see all of them.
Graveyard
Your graveyard is your discard pile: creatures that die, sorceries and instants you cast, artifacts and enchantments that are destroyed, and cards you discard from your hand go here. Cards in your graveyard are always face up, and anyone can look at them at any time. Each player has their own graveyard.
Exile
If a spell or ability exiles a card, that card is set apart from the rest of the game. Cards in exile are normally face up.
Game Actions
This section describes the actions that you'll take during a game, including tapping your cards, casting spells, and attacking and blocking with creatures in combat.
Tapping and Untapping
To tap a card is to turn it sideways to show that it has been used for the turn. You do this when you use a land to make mana, when you attack with a creature, or when you activate an ability that has the {T} symbol as part of its cost ({T} means "tap this permanent"). When a card is tapped, you can't tap it again until it's untapped (turned back upright). As your turn begins, untap your tapped cards so you can use them again.
Casting Spells
To cast a spell, you must pay its mana cost (located in the upper right corner of the card) by tapping lands (or other permanents) to make the amount and type of mana which that spell requires. For example, if you were casting Serra Angel, which costs {3}{W}{W}, you could tap three basic lands of any type to pay {3} plus two Plains to pay {W}{W}.
Once a spell has been cast, one of two things happens. If the spell is an instant or a sorcery, you follow the instructions on the card, and then you put the card into your graveyard. If the spell is a creature, artifact, or enchantment, you put the card on the table in front of you. The card is now on the battlefield.
Cards on the battlefield are called permanents to differentiate them from instants and sorceries, which are never on the battlefield.
(Diagram: a tapped Swamp makes {B}; a cost of {1}{B} requires black mana only for the {B}, while the {1} can be paid with white, blue, black, red or green mana.)
Attacking and Blocking
The most common way to win the game is to attack with your creatures. If a creature that is attacking an opponent isn't blocked, it deals damage equal to its power to that opponent.
The middle phase of each turn is the combat phase. In your combat phase, you choose which of your creatures will attack, and you choose which opponents they will attack. Tap your creatures to show that they are attacking. Your opponents then choose which of their creatures will block, if any. Tapped creatures can't be declared as blockers.
Once all blockers have been chosen, each creature—both attackers and blockers—simultaneously deals damage equal to its power (the number on the left side of the slash in the lower right corner of the card).
- An attacking creature that isn't blocked deals damage to the player it's attacking.
- An attacking creature that is blocked deals damage to the creature or creatures that are blocking it, and vice versa.
- If damage is dealt to your opponents, they lose that much life.
If one of your attacking creatures is blocked by multiple creatures, you decide how to divide its combat damage among them. You must assign at least enough damage to the first blocking creature to destroy it before you can assign damage to the second one, and so on.
If a creature is dealt damage equal to or greater than its toughness over the course of a single turn (whether it be combat damage, damage from spells or abilities, or a combination of both), that creature is destroyed, and it goes to its owner's graveyard (or "dies"). If a creature isn't dealt enough damage to destroy it in a single turn, that creature stays on the battlefield, and the damage wears off at the end of the turn.
(Diagram: a 3/3 creature and a 2/3 creature dealing damage to each other.)
Combat Examples
In the following examples, an opponent is attacking you with a variety of red creatures, and you're (usually) blocking each attacking creature with one blue creature.
- A 2/2 red creature that isn't blocked deals 2 damage to you.
- A 2/2 red creature blocked by a 2/4 blue creature: the red creature is destroyed.
- A 2/4 red creature blocked by a 2/4 blue creature: both creatures survive.
- A 4/3 red creature blocked by a 2/4 blue creature: the blue creature is destroyed.
In the example below, the black creature (2/4) is attacking, and you have two green creatures that can block. When you block one attacker with two or more creatures, your opponent must order the blockers. Remember, the attacking player always chooses the order in which blocking creatures receive damage.
Your green creatures (Creature A, 3/2, and Creature B, 2/3) will deal a total of 5 damage to the black creature, which is enough to destroy it. Meanwhile, the black creature can deal enough damage to destroy one of your blockers (Creature A), but not enough to destroy the other one (Creature B). Since your opponent's creature will be destroyed in either case, they order Creature A before Creature B to destroy at least one of your creatures.
Once blockers have been ordered, damage is dealt. The black creature deals 2 damage to Creature A, destroying it, and deals no damage to Creature B. The green creatures deal a total of 5 damage to the black creature, destroying it.
Parts of the Turn
Game Night includes reference cards that explain the basic parts of a turn. This section explains each phase and step in detail.
Each turn proceeds in the same sequence. Whenever you enter a new step or phase, any triggered abilities that happen during that step or phase trigger and are put on the stack. (See page 24 for a detailed explanation of the stack.) The active player (the player whose turn it is) gets to start casting spells and activating abilities, then each other player can do so in turn order. When all players decline to do anything more and everything on the stack has resolved, the game moves on to the next step.
Beginning Phase
- Untap step: You untap all your tapped permanents. On the first turn of the game, you don't have any permanents, so you just skip this step. No one can cast spells or activate abilities during this step.
- Upkeep step: Players can cast instants and activate abilities. This part of the turn is mentioned on a number of cards. If something is supposed to happen just once per turn, right at the beginning, an ability will trigger "at the beginning of your upkeep."
- Draw step: You must draw a card from your library (even if you don't want to). The player who goes first in a two-player game skips the draw step on their first turn to make up for the advantage of going first. Players can then cast instants and activate abilities.
First Main Phase
- You can cast any number of creatures, artifacts, enchantments, sorceries, and instants so long as you have the mana to pay for them, and you can activate abilities. You can play a land during this phase, but remember that you can play only one land during your turn. Your opponents can cast instants and activate abilities.
Combat Phase
- Beginning of combat step: Players can cast instants and activate abilities.
- Declare attackers step: You decide which, if any, of your untapped creatures will attack, and which player they will attack. This taps the attacking creatures. Players can then cast instants and activate abilities.
- Declare blockers step: Your opponent decides which, if any, of their untapped creatures will block your attacking creatures. If multiple creatures block a single attacker, you order the blockers to show which will be first to receive damage, which will be second, and so on. Players can then cast instants and activate abilities.
- Combat damage step: Each attacking or blocking creature that's still on the battlefield assigns its combat damage to the defending player (if it's attacking that player and wasn't blocked), to the creature or creatures blocking it, or to the creature it's blocking. If an attacking creature is blocked by multiple creatures, you divide its combat damage among them by assigning at least enough damage to the first blocking creature to destroy it, then by assigning damage to the second one, and so on. Once players decide how the creatures they control will deal their combat damage, the damage is all dealt at the same time. Players can then cast instants and activate abilities.
- End of combat step: Players can cast instants and activate abilities.
Second Main Phase
- Your second main phase is just like your first main phase. You can cast any type of spell and activate abilities, but your opponents can only cast instants and activate abilities. You can play a land during this phase if you didn't play one during your first main phase.
Ending Phase
- End step: Abilities that trigger "at the beginning of your end step" go on the stack. Players can cast instants and activate abilities.
- Cleanup step: If you have more than seven cards in your hand, choose and discard cards until you have only seven. Next, all damage on creatures is removed and all "until end of turn" effects end. No one can cast instants or activate abilities, and the only triggered abilities are ones that say they trigger during this step.
Advanced Topics
One of the most fun and interesting aspects of the Magic game is the tremendous number of unique cards you can play with, which in turn provides an incredibly wide range of things that could happen in any given game. This section is a reference for when you need to know more details about the rules of Magic.
Targeting
Some spells and abilities use the word "target" to describe something that the spell or ability will affect. You must choose all targets for a spell when you cast it, and for an ability when it triggers or when you activate it. If you can't meet the targeting requirements, you can't cast the spell or use the ability. For example, if a spell has the text "Destroy target nonblack creature," but there are no nonblack creatures (or no creatures at all) on the battlefield, you can't cast that spell because it has no valid targets.
If a spell "deals damage to any target," you can choose any creature or player (or planeswalker, if a player has one) as a target for that spell. (Game Night doesn't include any cards with the planeswalker card type, but they're featured in other Magic products.)
Once you choose targets, you can't change your mind later. When the spell or ability resolves, it checks the targets to make sure they're still legal (that is, they're still there and they still match the requirements of the spell or ability). If a target isn't legal, the spell or ability can't affect it. If none of the targets are legal, the spell or ability is removed from the stack and does nothing at all.
The Stack
The stack is a game zone shared by all players (like the battlefield) where spells and abilities wait to resolve. Resolving a spell or ability simply means that its effect happens—but this doesn't happen right away! The stack gives players an opportunity to respond to one another's spells and abilities, making the game more interactive and fun.
How It Works
When you cast a spell or activate an ability, it doesn't resolve immediately—it goes on the stack. Triggered abilities also go on the stack. Spells and abilities remain on the stack until all players choose not to cast any new spells or activate any new abilities.
Each time you put a spell or ability on the stack, each other player has an opportunity to cast an instant spell or activate an activated ability in response, in turn order. If a player does respond with a spell or ability, or if something in the game has caused a triggered ability to trigger, that spell or ability goes on the stack on top of what was already waiting there. When all players pass—that is, they all decline to do anything more—the spells and abilities on the stack begin to resolve.
Spells and abilities on the stack resolve one by one, beginning with the last one put on the stack. After a spell or ability resolves, all players again get the chance to respond. If no one does, the next thing waiting on the stack resolves. If the stack is empty when this happens, the current step of the turn ends, and the game proceeds to the next step.
How you use the stack can make a big difference in a game of Magic, and it's a central part of the strategy of the game. The examples below will help you understand how the stack works—and how you can make it work to your advantage!
(Diagram: the last spell played resolves first; the first spell played resolves last.)
Example of Spells on the Stack
Your opponent casts Lightning Bolt targeting your Llanowar Tribe, a 3/3 creature. Lightning Bolt goes on the stack. You respond to Lightning Bolt by casting Invigorate. Invigorate goes on the stack on top of Lightning Bolt. You and your opponent both decline to do anything else.
Invigorate resolves first, making your Llanowar Tribe a 7/7 until the end of the turn. Then Lightning Bolt resolves and deals 3 damage to the pumped-up Elves, which is not enough to destroy the creature.
What Happens If Invigorate Is Cast First?
If you cast Invigorate first, Lightning Bolt goes on the stack on top of it. Lightning Bolt resolves first and deals 3 damage to the Llanowar Tribe, but this time that damage is dealt before Invigorate can resolve and take effect—so 3 damage is enough to destroy the Llanowar Tribe! Then, since the original target of Invigorate is no longer a legal target (because the Llanowar Tribe is no longer on the battlefield), Invigorate is removed from the stack and put into its owner's graveyard.
Glossary
{T} (Tap)
This symbol means "tap this permanent" (turn it sideways to show that it's been used). It appears in activation costs. You can't pay a {T} cost if the card is already tapped, or if it's a creature that still has summoning sickness.
Additional Cost
Some spells say they have an additional cost. To cast such a spell, you must pay both the mana cost in the upper right corner of the card and its additional cost.
Aura
Aura is a subtype that appears on an enchantment that can be attached to a permanent. Each Aura has the keyword "enchant" followed by what it can be attached to—for example, "enchant creature," "enchant land," and so on. When you cast an Aura spell, you choose its target. When the Aura resolves, it's put onto the battlefield attached to that permanent. The Aura stays there until it's destroyed or until the permanent it's attached to leaves the battlefield. If the permanent leaves the battlefield, the Aura card is put into your graveyard.
Basic Land
There are five types of basic lands: Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. Any land with the Plains subtype has the intrinsic ability "{T}: Add {W}" (white mana). Similarly, Islands tap for {U} (blue mana), Swamps tap for {B} (black mana), Mountains tap for {R} (red mana), and Forests tap for {G} (green mana). If an effect refers to a "basic land card," it's referring to a card with the words "basic land" on its type line (basic is a supertype). Other lands are often referred to as "nonbasic lands."
Color
The five Magic colors are white, blue, black, red, and green. If a spell or ability tells you to choose a color, you must choose one of those five. A card's color is determined by its mana cost. For example, a card that costs {1}{U} is blue, and a card that costs {R}{W} is both red and white.
Colorless
Lands and most artifacts are colorless. Colorless is not a color. If something tells you to choose a color, you can't choose colorless.
Combat Damage
Creatures deal combat damage by attacking and blocking. Each creature deals combat damage equal to its power. This damage is dealt during the combat damage step. Any other kind of damage doesn't count as combat damage, even if it's dealt during the combat phase or as the result of a creature's ability.
Control
You control spells you cast and permanents that enter the battlefield on your side. You also control abilities that come from permanents you control. Only you can make decisions for things you control. If you control a permanent, only you can activate its activated abilities. Some spells and abilities let you gain control of a permanent. Most of the time, this means the card will move from your opponent's side to yours.
Controller
A spell's controller is the player who cast it. A permanent's controller is the player who cast it—unless another spell or ability changes who controls it.
Cost
A cost is something you have to pay to take most actions. You must pay a cost to cast a spell or activate an activated ability. Sometimes a spell or ability will also ask you to pay an additional cost to cast or activate it. For example, in addition to its mana cost, Village Rites requires you to sacrifice a creature in order to cast it. You can't cast it if you have no creature to sacrifice.
Counter a Spell or Ability
Countering a spell or ability causes it to have no effect. If a spell is countered, it's removed from the stack and put into its owner's graveyard. Once a spell or ability starts to resolve, it's too late to counter it. Lands aren't spells, so they can't be countered.
Counter on a Permanent
Some spells and abilities tell you to put a counter on a permanent. The counter marks a change to the permanent that lasts for as long as it's on the battlefield with the counter on it. A counter usually changes a creature's power and toughness. You can use anything you want as counters: many players find that glass beads and dice work best. Game Night includes special +1/+1 counters for your use.
Damage
Damage reduces a player's life total and destroys creatures. Attacking and blocking creatures deal damage equal to their power. Some spells and abilities can also deal damage. Damage can be dealt only to creatures or players. Damage dealt to a player is subtracted from the player's life total.
If a creature is dealt damage equal to or greater than its toughness in a single turn, it is destroyed. Damage dealt beyond a creature's toughness is "excess damage."
Deathtouch
A keyword ability found on creatures. A creature dealt any amount of damage by a creature with deathtouch is destroyed.
Defender
A keyword ability found on creatures. Creatures with defender can't attack.
Destroy
When a permanent is destroyed, you move it from the battlefield to its owner's graveyard. Creatures are destroyed when they've taken damage equal to or greater than their toughness. Many spells and abilities can also destroy permanents without dealing damage to them.
Discard
To discard, take a card from your hand and put it into your graveyard. If a spell or ability forces you to discard, you get to choose which card(s) to discard unless the spell or ability says another player chooses the cards or you have to discard "at random."
If you have more than seven cards in your hand as your turn ends, you have to discard until you have seven.
Double Strike
A keyword ability found on creatures. Creatures with double strike deal their combat damage twice. When you reach the combat damage step, check to see if any attacking or blocking creatures have first strike or double strike. If so, an extra combat damage step is created just for them. Only creatures with first strike and double strike get to deal combat damage during this step. After that, the normal combat damage step happens. All other attacking and blocking creatures that survived, as well as the ones with double strike, deal combat damage during this second step.
Enchant
All Auras have this keyword ability, and it is always followed by the kind of permanent that the Aura can be attached to (for example, "enchant creature" or "enchant land"). When you cast the Aura, you must target that kind of permanent.
When an ability of an Aura says "enchanted creature" (or "enchanted artifact," "enchanted land," and so on), it means "the creature the Aura is attached to." See the glossary entry for "Aura."
Enters the Battlefield
Some triggered abilities start with "When [this permanent] enters the battlefield, . . ." When a permanent with an ability like this is put onto the battlefield, the ability triggers right away. Some abilities also trigger when certain other permanents enter the battlefield.
Equipment
Equipment is a subtype that appears on an artifact that can be attached to a creature. Most Equipment cards have the activated ability "equip" followed by a cost—for example, "Equip {2}." An equip ability can be activated only any time you could cast a sorcery.
When you activate an equip ability, you choose a creature you control as its target. When the ability resolves, the Equipment artifact becomes attached to that creature. The creature is then "equipped." The Equipment remains attached until it's destroyed, or until the creature it's attached to leaves the battlefield, or until you activate the equip ability again and move the Equipment to a new creature.
Exile
Some spells and abilities can exile permanents on the battlefield or cards in other zones. Exiled cards are set apart from the rest of the game. You can't interact with cards in exile unless an ability specifies otherwise.
First Strike
A keyword ability found on creatures. Creatures with first strike deal all of their combat damage before creatures without first strike or double strike. When you reach the combat damage step, check to see if any attacking or blocking creatures have first strike or double strike. If so, an extra combat damage step is created just for them. Only creatures with first strike and double strike get to deal combat damage during this step. After that, the normal combat damage step happens. All other attacking and blocking creatures that survived, as well as the ones with double strike, deal combat damage during this second step.
Flash
A keyword ability found on cards. A spell with flash can be cast any time you could cast an instant.
Flashback
A keyword ability found on instants and sorceries. A spell with flashback can be cast from the graveyard by paying its flashback cost. The spell's effects will happen as usual. A spell cast using flashback will be exiled afterward, regardless of whether it resolves or is countered.
Flying
A keyword ability found on creatures. A creature with flying can be blocked only by creatures with flying or reach.
Goad
A keyword action. If you goad a creature, that creature has to attack and has to attack a player other than you during its controller's next combat, if able. The creature's controller still chooses who it attacks.
Haste
A keyword ability found on creatures. A creature with haste isn't affected by summoning sickness. It can attack as soon as it comes under your control. You can also activate its activated abilities with {T} in the cost right away.
Hexproof
A keyword ability that prevents a permanent or player from being the target of spells or abilities an opponent controls.
Indestructible
A keyword ability found on creatures, artifacts, and other permanents. An indestructible permanent can't be destroyed by damage or by effects that say "destroy," but it can still be put into the graveyard for other reasons—such as an effect that reduces its toughness to 0.
Leaves the Battlefield
A permanent leaves the battlefield when it moves from the battlefield zone to any other zone. It might return to a player's hand from the battlefield, go to a graveyard from the battlefield, or go to some other zone. If a card leaves the battlefield and later returns to the battlefield, it's like a brand-new card. It doesn't "remember" anything from the last time it was on the battlefield.
Legendary
Legendary is a supertype, so you'll find it written on the type line before the card type. If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name at the same time, that player must choose one of those permanents to keep and immediately put the rest into their graveyard. Different players can control legendary permanents with the same name.
Lifelink
A keyword ability found on creatures. When a creature you control has lifelink and deals damage, you simultaneously gain that much life.
Mana
The magical energy you use to pay for spells and some abilities is called mana. Most mana comes from tapping lands. There are five colors of mana: {W} (white), {U} (blue), {B} (black), {R} (red), and {G} (green). Some nonbasic lands make {C} (colorless mana), which can be spent to pay costs that don't require mana of a specific color.
Mana Ability
An ability that generates mana. Mana abilities can be activated abilities or triggered abilities. Mana abilities don't go on the stack or wait to resolve—you simply get the mana immediately.
Mana Value
The total amount of mana in a mana cost, regardless of color. For example, a card with a mana cost of {3}{U}{U} has a mana value of 5. A card with mana cost {R}{R} has a mana value of 2.
Menace
A keyword ability found on creatures. A creature with menace can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.
Mulligan
At the beginning of a Magic game, you draw the top seven cards of your library. That's your starting hand. If you don't like your starting hand for any reason, you can take a mulligan. The choice to take a mulligan is made after the starting player is determined, but before doing anything else. To take a mulligan, shuffle your hand back into your library and draw a new hand of seven cards. If you are satisfied with that hand, put one card from it on the bottom of your library. If not, you can take another mulligan. You can take a mulligan as many times as you want, but you put one card on the bottom of your library for each mulligan you've taken this game.
Opponent
A person you're playing against is your opponent. If a card says "an opponent," it means one of its controller's opponents.
Owner
The person who starts the game with a card in their deck is that card's owner. Even if your opponent gains control of one of your permanents, you're still its owner. (If you loaned your friend a deck, they're the "owner" of all the cards in it during the game.) The owner of a token is the player who controlled it when it entered the battlefield.
Permanent
A card or token on the battlefield. Permanents can be artifacts, creatures, enchantments, or lands. Once a permanent is on the battlefield, it stays there until it's destroyed, exiled, sacrificed, or otherwise removed according to the game rules. You can't remove a permanent from the battlefield just because you want to, even if you control it.
Planeswalker
Planeswalkers are an important type of Magic card that doesn't appear in Game Night. Visit Magic.Wizards.com/PlaneswalkerRules for more information about these exciting cards!
Player
You and your opponents are all players. If a spell or ability lets you choose a player, you can choose yourself. You can't choose yourself if the spell or ability says "opponent."
Put onto the Battlefield
When a spell or ability tells you to put something onto the battlefield, you move that card into the battlefield zone. This is different than casting it—you just put it onto the battlefield without paying its costs.
Reach
A keyword ability found on creatures. A creature with reach can block a creature with flying. Note that a creature with reach can be blocked by any kind of creature.
Sacrifice
If a spell or ability tells you to sacrifice a kind of permanent, choose one of your permanents of that type on the battlefield and put it into its owner's graveyard (usually your graveyard, but some spells and abilities allow you to gain control of cards owned by an opponent). You can sacrifice only permanents you control. Sacrificing a permanent is different from destroying it. You can sacrifice a permanent only if a spell or ability tells you to, or if it's part of a cost.
Scry
A keyword action that allows a player to see the future! "Scry N" means you look at N cards from the top of your library. You can put any number of those cards on the bottom of your library, then you put the rest back on top of your library in any order.
Shuffle
Some cards will instruct you to shuffle. This is a keyword action that has you randomize the cards of your library, so that no one knows the order of its contents.
Source
Damage and abilities each come from a spell or permanent—the source of that damage or ability. Once an ability is on the stack, removing its source doesn't stop it from resolving.
Spell
All types of cards (except lands) are spells while you're casting them. For example, Angler Turtle is a creature card. While you're casting it, it's a creature spell. When it resolves, it becomes a creature.
Token
Some instants, sorceries, and abilities can create artifacts and creatures. These artifacts and creatures are represented by tokens. Tokens are permanents, and they're affected by all the rules, spells, and abilities that affect permanents. If one of your tokens leaves the battlefield, however, it moves to the new zone (such as your graveyard or your hand) and then immediately vanishes from the game.
Trample
A keyword ability found on creatures. Trample allows a creature to deal excess combat damage to the player it's attacking, even if the creature is blocked. If you're attacking with a creature that has trample and it is blocked, you have to assign its combat damage to the creatures blocking it first. If it destroys all of those creatures, then you can assign any excess damage to the player it's attacking.
If an attacking creature with trample is blocked, but there are no creatures blocking it when damage is assigned (for example, if you used a spell to destroy the blocking creature), then all of its damage is assigned to the player it's attacking.
Vigilance
A keyword ability found on creatures. A creature with vigilance doesn't tap to attack. Vigilance doesn't allow a tapped creature or a creature that entered the battlefield this turn to attack.
X
When you see {X} in a mana cost or an activation cost, you get to choose the number that {X} stands for. For example, Pull from Tomorrow is an instant that costs {X}{U}{U}. Its text reads, "Draw X cards, then discard a card." When you cast Pull from Tomorrow, you choose what number X is. If you pick one, for example, Pull from Tomorrow costs {1}{U}{U}, and you will draw one card, then choose and discard a card from your hand. If you pick eight, Pull from Tomorrow costs {8}{U}{U}, and you will draw eight cards, then choose and discard a card from your hand.
You
The word "you" on a spell or ability refers to the current controller of that spell or ability.
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