Glossary

Hello there everybody,

Today I'm going to include a glossary to the page because, as I get carried away, I tend to slip into the language of the game and forget that some people seeking deckbuilding blogs may not be in tune with all of the Magic: the Gathering language. So, without further ado... (This won't be alphabetical, but if you're looking for a specific term Ctrl + f can help you find it)

Deck Types:

Aggro - A deck that focusses on ending the game as quickly as possible. Often uses a lot of low costing creatures with high power, and cheap removal to remove threats to clear the board. Popular colours in this genre are Red, Black or Green. For an example of aggro: This deck here is one of my favourites.

Control - Decks which typically aim to stall out the game in order to utilise a powerful endgame strategy. Key strategies involve holding a lot of kill spells/board wipes to keep the pressure off their life total. Popular most recently in Blue, Black and White, This deck here exemplifies the control aspect.

Combo - A rare deck type recently, these decks can more commonly be seen outside of standard in various storm decklists that are around. The combo deck often wins the game in lightning-fast fashion once they utilise the combo pieces - often a pool of two or more cards with strong synergy - in order to devastate the opponent at once. Popular colours for this in my experience include Red, Blue and Black, using powerful storm cards like Grapeshot or Tendrils of Agony.

Midrange - A deck archetype which involves use of ramping spells in the early game in order to reach large mid and late game threats before the opponent. Embodied in Green and quite recently Red, decklists for midrange decks generally look like this deck here.

Blitz - A hyper-aggressive form of aggro, Blitz decks generally utilise a lot of burn spells straight to the opponent's face on top of very cheap, aggressive creatures to win the game out as quickly as is humanly possible. Popular in Blue, Red and Black, this deck here is a somewhat good example of blitz.

Aggro-Control - As the name suggests, this deck type combines small, aggressive creatures with protection to keep those creatures safe (usually kill spells or counter spells) in order to execute the foe. Popular in most colours except for Green, this deck here is an example of this because, even though it ends out later, it places a lot of value on it's early game creatures.

Control-Combo - This deck forces the game to slow down, as with Control, but it does have the tools in combo form to end the game in a flash if need be. These are rare nowadays, most Control-Combo decks only exist in Legacy, but this deck here is a taste of control-combo, using synergies with Crucible of Worlds and Smokestack to starve the opponent out.

Aggro-Combo - This deck combines the aggressive creatures of Aggro with the blinding synergy of combo decks, allowing turn 4 kills to become possible by sheer overwhelming force. These decks are popular in most colours, but I'm a particular fan of Boros (Red and White) which can be seen with this deck here.

Aggro-Control-Combo - The most convoluted of the lot, this deck type functions by stalling until certain pieces are found, often having multiple ways of finding these pieces, then brute forcing your way into your opponent's funeral. These decks are phenominally popular in blue, with a card named Tinker to cheat an insanely powerful beast onto the fiel as early as turn 3. The decklist for such a deck exists here. Caution: NSFWallet.

Colour Combinations:

Mono - (W/U/B/R/G) - A deck containing only one colour. U when talking about colours is Blue, as B is taken by black and L in the early days of Magic was used to talk about land.

Azorius - W/U - A deck containing only Blue and White mana. This archetype is named after the Azorius Senate, a guild of lawmages on the plane Ravnica. Qualities which synergise between the two colours often make decks of this type Control in nature, but with Theros W/U decks have breached into Aggro.

Orzhov - W/B - A deck containing only Black and White mana. Named after the Orzhov Syndicate on Ravnica, an oligarchy of spectres who exchange wealth for eternal servitude. W/B has been seeing success as anything from Control, to Midrange, to Aggro.

Dimir - U/B - A deck containing only Black and Blue mana. This deck type is named for the House Dimir, a network of spies working underneath Ravnica. As this implies, Dimir decks often include trickery, often using Evasive creatures and spells that destroy the opponents library, making Dimir a formidable foe.

Izzet - U/R - A deck containing only Blue and Red mana. These are named after the Izzet League on Ravnica, a gathering of scientists obsessed with bending the line between magic and reality. Izzet is a malleable decktype, allowing for combos and blitz to occur, typically lacking the large creatures which the other colours have access to.

Rakdos - B/R - A deck containing only Black and Red mana. The decks with this namesake are based upon the Cult of Rakdos, a blood-crazed sect of Ravnica which worships the demon lord of the same name as the Guild. Often associated with aggro, Rakdos often favours going for the throat.

Golgari - B/G - A deck containing only Green and Black mana. This sort of deck is named after the Golgari Swarm, the caretakers of Ravnica's underworld, often formed of zombies and carnivorous plants. Often favouring tactics involving reanimation and unending hordes of creatures, Golgari decks often don't let up on pressure.

Gruul - R/G - A deck containing only Red and Green mana. Named after the Gruul Clans in Ravnica's Rubblebelt, Gruul decks often favour smashing fast, and smashing hard. As long as it involves smashing. Featuring many creature-heavy tactics such as Aggro, Midrange, or Combo-Aggro, Gruul decks are for those who love big creatures.

Boros - R/W - A deck containing only Red and White mana. This sort of deck is named after the Boros Legion, Ravnica's aggressive side of the law. Featuring many small threats with a choice of powerful finishers, Boros decks are often very fast aggro oriented.

Selesnya - G/W - A deck containing only Green and White mana. The namesake of the Selesnya Conclave, a guild on Ravnica which favours the power of the many over the power of the few, Selesnya decks often have a token-based win strategy, though more recently Selesnya decks have included a swift beatdown from the early game threats in the sets in green/white.

Simic - G/U - A deck containing only Green and Blue mana. These decks are named after the Simic Combine on Ravnica, a guild which blurs the lines between species in their genetic experimentation, Simic decks often take advantage of their Evolve mechanic to make a constantly strengthening force which slowly overwhelms the opponent.

Bant - W/U/G - A deck containing White, Blue and Green mana. Named after the Shard of Alara attuned to all 3 colours, Bant decks used to contain the Exalted mechanic, but since has branched out, more recently, decks such as Bant Auras, which utilise the keyword Hexproof with many auras to make the creatures large, or Bant Flash, which uses flash effect to spring creatures on unexpecting attackers.

Esper - W/U/B - A deck containing White, Blue, and Black mana. This deck is named after the shard of Alara which uses this mana, and historically is attributed to artifact-based shenanigans. More recently however, Esper control has had a lasting appearance in Theros Standard.

Grixis - U/B/R - A deck containing Blue, Black and Red mana. These decks are named after the Grixis shard of Alara, which use all colours. Originally based around reanimation in its home plane, decks have been brewed since which hinge on hard control, particularly in the fusing of Rakdos/Dimir in Ravnica.

Jund - B/R/G - A deck containing only Black, Red and Green mana. The namesake of the shard of Jund on Alara, originally Jund decks featured mana small threats early, which were sacrificed to Godlike dragons which then proceeded to one shot the opponent. Nowadays Jund is the most popular Modern decklist, featuring strong aggro components with graveyard shenanigans.

Naya - W/R/G - A deck which contains only White, Red and Green mana. Named for the shard of Alara with the same name, Naya characteristically possesses the big stompy forces, originally containing many mechanics which affected only creatures with power 5 or higher. Nowadays Naya is alive and well, featuring heavy aggro/midrange elements, it is tipped to break into standard with BNG.

Junk / Necra - W/B/G - A deck containing only White, Black and Green mana. These sorts of deck were titled 'Junk' because of their similarity to Jund, and also for their lack of empathy for their creatures, as it is the decktype with the single most amount of reanimation spells in the game (thus far)

RUG / Ceta - U/R/G - A deck containing only Blue, Red and Green mana. Named typically after its colour combination, RUG can be anything. I personally prefer them as the colours of chaos, as the Izzet league and Simic Combine allow the entire field to be shifted at will.

Patriot / Raka - W/U/R - A deck which contains only Red, White and Blue mana. Often termed 'Murica (For the Red, white and blue) Patriot often contains control elements with some semblance of combo as well.

Oros / Dega - W/B/R - A deck that contains White, Black and Red mana. One of my personal favourite combinations, these decks often contain malice and spite. Revenge mechanics, a LOT of death. It also contains all 3 colours that vampires have been in magic (Yes, I'm including Sorin, Lord of Innistrad)

BUG / Ana - U/B/G - A deck containing only Blue, Black and Green mana. Another referred to by its colour combination, BUG typically features reanimation elements with distinct aspects of creature growth (owed to all too well from the Golgari Swarm and simic Combine, which rests in this combination)

Glint - U/B/R/G - A deck featuring Blue, Black, Red and Green mana. The four colour decks are named after the Nephilim in Original Ravnica, this one being the Glint-Eye Nephilim. As the card implies, this combination allows for copious draw/discard power, with the reanimation of bug to keep it sustainable.

Dune - B/R/G/W - A deck featuring Black, Red, Green and White mana. This deck is named after Dune-Brood Nephilim. As the card suggests, this deck enjoys aggro, with copious token spawners to keep momentum going.

Ink - R/G/W/U - A deck featuring Red, Green, White and Blue mana. This decktype is named after Ink-Treader Nephilim, and by the cards effect we can see that this creature lives for the combo. Shenanigans are to be had for the deckbuilder who can implement these into their build.

Witch - G/W/U/B - A deck featuring Green, White, Blue and Black mana. Named after the Witch-maw Nephilim, this creature typically is at home in spell-heavy decks, which it then absorbs and translates into wanton destruction.

Yore - W/U/B/R - A deck featuring White, Blue, Black and Green mana. A namesake of the Yore-Tiller Nephilim, this deck type would be best served around graveyard manipulation, as the Nephilim itself synergises well with a full graveyard of scary creatures.

Polychrome - W/U/B/R/G - Also known as 5 colour, Sunburst, Pentacolour - what have you. Yes, this deck does involve all 5 colours. No, it isn't sorry. Sunburst decks typically used all colours in original mirrodin, and more recently with the spoiling of Chromanticore, players are trying to replicate it.

More additions to be done soon. Up next: Terminology and Keywords!