MTG Slang 101: A Complete Guide to Magic the Gathering Slang Terms

[@GabetheFrog_]

My favorite one is Grave Titan. Slang for the best card in the format.

[@NitpickingNerds]

See also: poopy baby

[@Tymor666]

@@NitpickingNerds see also: dies to removal

[@TheZaros666]

Grave titan with a sac outlet and gift of immortality...yes please.

[@jackminten3415]

Funny way of saying storm crow, but ok

[@xxXDrManhattanXxx]

gravy titan

[@demolisherman1763]

What slang do you need to know besides “deathtouch”, “make two zombies” and “Grave Titan”?

[@NitpickingNerds]

We had a slang term that represented him, but it got trimmed last minute. It was "chaff"

[@eacey]

@@NitpickingNerds I see what you did there

[@Greg501-]

@@NitpickingNerds "In need of errata/new card"

[@bradensorensen966]

@@NitpickingNerds I never noticed, but based on loincloth he’s wearing and the dead bodies falling off him, I bet he IS chafing!

[@customizationhere1397]

@@NitpickingNerds you spelled Chad wrong. 😡

[@peyton107]

“Well Damn”. Slang for either the board wipe or having absolutely nothing to do in a disadvantageous position.

[@NitpickingNerds]

I like this one

[@jkattack2640]

4:30 "bounce" comes from the card waterfront bouncer, a spellshaper that turns any card into an unsummon

[@ELFanatic]

My man! Underrated

[@esrohm6460]

here is another one: "Do you pay the 1" which is short for "You idiot, just pay 1 mana for that rhystic study or we all gonna lose to that person drawing 10 cards for free"

[@jhemp]

And the other related slang "no" which means "I know we are going to lose, but you're getting so upset, that at this point it's more enjoyable just to make you upset"

[@DROSTAR123]

I've been playing magic for a while and I didn't i'd learn much from this video. suffice to say, I actually learnt a lil more about the game. great video guys. keep it up

[@NitpickingNerds]

Glad you enjoyed the video

[@mdchiesi]

Also goldfishing: playing your deck by itself to see how early it can kill opponents with no interaction -- a way to rehearse your gameplan and winning combinations to make sure you built it right : ) Some will actually line two decks up and play as if they were playing an opponent too just to see how interactions could work and make sure the decks are balanced

[@elipetrou9308]

“Oh shit” is my slang for saying pass while I had the win in my hand

[@NitpickingNerds]

OOF

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

LOL Takesey' backsey': When you try to fix a mistake you just made. Depending on the playgroup can be allowed up to 3 times before your OUT! ;p

[@mikechartier5607]

It would be cool to see a video around cards with nicknames. Steve, Gary, sad robot, etc.

[@IneptCardCollector]

Oh that's a thing?? Yeah I wanna see that now!

[@DanteInformal]

Oh! I'm surprised that you didn't include the slang "in the tank", "digging", and "answer." I use those all the time and I've had to explain them to a bunch of new players.

[@Flanagax]

Man, I haven't played in years. ETB used to be called "comes into play," so I used to call it CIP Also, did anyone else call it "popping" instead of "cracking?"

[@NitpickingNerds]

Pop and crack are interchangeable

[@TheFast221]

Popping to me has always been to destroy/exile/etc. a single permanent. Example when you bolt a bird you popped it.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

"Popping" was definitely more common when CIP was in the vernacular

[@mariodavila4162]

Stopped watching the command zone. Your content is so fresh and creative, thumbs up. Keep up the good work guys, u r on your way to becoming the #1 mtg channel

[@kingginger3335]

4:33 I love that you put Mystic Gate as the card instead of the actual one you said lmao

[@loganricard8713]

I think an important one that was left out was dig/digging. Used when searching for an answer. Overall awesome video! Part 2 possibility?

[@robinschiel2898]

Everytime I play Abrupt Decay I scream "Avada Kedavra" at the target because it just fits so good

[@PatThePauper]

This was GREAT! I'm returning to #MTG after a 15+ year hiatus, so this video was absolutely helpful to me. I recently attended a FNM for the first time since 2004 and I was completely lost. I wish I had seen this video first, than I might've understood some of that latin those middle-schoolers were talking!

[@anikiikardia8279]

From my own table: Full swing - attacking with everything reasonable (not dorks) Threaten lethal - an attack that would be lethal unless the defender chumps or trades into a poor board state Checkmate? - attempting to attack for lethal while the defender has suspicious amounts of available mana Pat - simply touching the top card of an opponents library after they shuffle instead of properly cutting. Used as a sign of trust Discard to seven - Self explanatory, prevalent at my table because we allow unlimited mulligans Sent to the Shadow Realm - a permanent exiled until a specific other permanent leaves the battlefield Baby jail - when a permanent is unable to activate it's abilities In Hell - when one or more players would take damage from a triggered ability for taking certain actions Building up - directing all resources into ramping, drawing, and putting permanents in play Bluff - keeping a conspicuous amount of mana available to trick opponents into playing defensively Big monster - any non vanilla creature with 5 or more power and toughness Supervillain - an archenemy player known to combo victory Bullying - when two or more players decide to quickly eliminate a third who has the weakest board state End of turn - a player taking an action at instant speed before their own turn begins End of turn, I'm gonna pee - self explanatory. a phrase at my table meaning that player passes from their turn and leaves for the bathroom. Racing - when exactly two players adopt an aggressive strategy to attempt to eliminate each other

[@UnknwonRecords]

I'm totally stealing some of these!

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

Funny enough, my playgroup uses some that are very similar: Tap: tapping the top of an opponent's library instead of cutting. Send X to the Shadow Realm: knocking player X out of the game well before the critical turn/before they are able to raise their defenses Baby Jail: where a commander can be found if it is phased out/turned into a bug/turned into a land/under the wrong player's control

[@madeofmandrake1748]

"Ship" should have been in here, especially for its 2 distinct meanings. It describes putting a card on the bottom of your library (usually after scrying), or simply to pass the turn without doing anything important. "I scry 2 lands on top of my library, I ship them to the bottom." "I just drew my fifth land in a row, I got nothing; ship the turn to you."

[@emmanuelmadail]

A couple of distinctions/corrections I would make, at least for how I use these terms. Solitaire, not Goldfishing, would mostly be applied to somebody who is taking an extremely long turn while doing a bunch of things, all without necessarily winning the game outright (think of decks like Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, or Korvold), since these players are practically playing a sub-game by themselves on their own board. Collector Ouphe is actually Stony Silence on a body, not a stick. Stick mostly refers to an artifact that can replicate a known ability repeatedly, usually by tapping it or paying some other cost.

[@billchretien6039]

I love how each group of MTG players has their own unique slang and a ton of overlap slang. There's one I'm surprised you guys don't have a slang term for yet. "Bonk" - When you tap a permanent and it doesn't untap during it's next untap step. Obviously a bit partial to blue, but we love it!

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

R&D calls that "freezing" a permanent

[@riverswater5688]

Just did your Kickstarter! Grats on your goal exceeded :). I remember when you guys first started; you’ve come a long way and your synergy and speech is a lot better. I look forward to your future Content

[@riverswater5688]

I’m Jack Dashing (Kickstarter)

[@AspavientosPC]

Great content! If you ever discuss more slang, I suggest specifying whether the word is a verb, a noun, or an adjective. I suspect it isn't very necessary because most players encounter these terms in use regularly but imagine someone saying "My fetchland is crack" because they misunderstood the way to use slang lol

[@masongrae5010]

If my fetchland is thawing glaciers this statement is true lmao

[@ericmilligan6603]

One small criticism. When describing what a "hate bear" is you describe it as "a stax piece on a body" - but if a person new to magic was watching this video in order to learn it's slang they wouldnt know what "stax" means.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

And even many entrenched players would not know why it's called $t4kS

[@blackdoomduck]

It's really interesting hearing terms that are used all the time and the card that they come from like wheel coming from wheels of fortune or mill or shock lands referring to shock

[@hobez64]

My favorite is "screw this" when I see someone playing mono blue

[@CDeVries]

I remember a few years ago on a Command Zone episode, they mentioned that WotC uses “on a stick” for artifacts that replicate an effect, and “on legs” if it’s a creature that replicates an effect. Ex. Circle of Dreams Druid is Gaea’s Cradle on legs.

[@placeholdername-1]

I thought that was on Friday Nights

[@tonydiazist]

Bonus: Steam or loosing steam when a player runs through his hand and has no relevant plays for various reasons usually plays his entire hand and starts to top deckinh( relying on the card on top to make a play) and "gas" Cards that you would like to draw, that are relevant, or the “fuel” to your game plan

[@thrillhouse4151]

“Alright gonna crack my fetch to get trop for birds.” “Looks like someone’s ramping without rocks!” Okay untap, upkeep, draw, gonna DT (for GT) and then I guess I might as well clamp Bob, cause I know Timmy here has a Wrath.” Your teachers or parents would think you were on drugs if they heard this!

[@HomeCookinMTG]

I've always used "eat" to mean to mean to sacrifice to something else, referencing the devour mechanic lol.

[@TheHive616]

I've liked your channel for quite a while now. But I gotta say, once you guys really started rolling with the daily videos, the quality overall just went through the roof. It was almost like the more content you had to make, the better your content became. There's more of a flow, less arguments (other than the standard minor back n forth) and the depth of the videos has gotten very good overall. You guys can actually spend some serious time discussing certain things. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate all the effort you guys put into the channel, and it has been really cool seeing you guys grow and get better and finally make this into a full time thing. You deserve any success you get!

[@NitpickingNerds]

Wow thank you so much for the kind words seriously means a lot to us.

[@jkattack2640]

"Whiff" usually refers to an effect that checks a limited number of cards for a specific type of card (including useful type cards) For example: casting CoCo and revealing 0 creatures with cmc 3 or less

[@ELFanatic]

Umm... wow dude, it's called mana value now. Just teasing.

[@mfitkin]

I don’t think I learned anything new in this one but I was entertained nonetheless! Thanks guys, this is a really good one to share with friends getting into commander for the first time.

[@patrickbartholomay6513]

I live in Buf- Hertel/Colvin; never heard of “F6” before, but I love it!

[@Dendara34]

The only time I've ever seen Yawgmoth's "Gravy" text become relevant actually worked against it. One of my opponents was an Abzan aristocrats deck and they had Yawg and Saffi Eriskdotter out. Someone went to remove Yawgmoth and the aristocrat player tried to sacrifice Saffi to save it but quickly realized they couldn't all because Saffi was a human. Pretty sad for them but also pretty funny tbh.

[@wakefieldwade4019]

That was a really fun video it's cool to see how many terms I knew considering I only started playing during Ikoria.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

Welcome to Magic!

[@jongailey85]

Really liked the video! I’m surprised that “shenanigans” didn’t make the list. I hear that all the time

[@SvviftDeath]

You briefly mentioned it when you talked about Grindy but I use Attrition a lot. I'll say things like "If it comes down to it my decks are built to win the game of attrition." Meaning they will go the distance if the game comes to a standstill or if the game goes long then my deck will outlast yours. Same thing overall just another way of saying it.

[@pneumomask4359]

I need this 😁 You guys are awesome by the way

[@NitpickingNerds]

Thank you lots!!!

[@harrisonlynch4701]

Other slang terms I’ve heard are Block Cow: a creature that has a good ETB but a weak body, so you usually chump block with it. Yougio: a very good top deck

[@chrisl9782]

At 26:56 (#92) They talk about 'Tutor' but have the subtitle for (#93) 'Ultimate'

[@Jaffonso23]

I love my skull briar deck. I made it after Ikoria came out and it plays well. I’d like too a deck tech of yours or a list.

[@MasonSheffield]

Beezy's whispered *never* into the mic at the end gave me unintentional ASMR.

[@tildukeball]

Stax comes from “$T4KS” an acronym for “The Four Thousand Dollar Solution,” which ran smokestack, sphere of resistance, tangle wire, 8 of the power 9, a play set of Mishra’s Workshop, and other pleasantries

[@Jackaroo.]

That's a really convoluted method of designating a nickname. XD

[@amingsus5831]

At 4:33 it shows mystic gate instead of mystic confluence. But I’m sure mystic gate can bounce things just as well;)

[@TheCommonColb01]

I saw that haha

[@jays1de]

good episode. one thing though: "on a stick" = artifact ; "on legs" = creature! keep up the good work!

[@SvviftDeath]

I've never heard voltron explained like that. I know the term is most commonly used when you assemble all the Urza Land's then you assembled voltron. In EDH when you are playing with a commander that is meant to be your wincon through commander damage you are playing a voltron deck. You build up your commander to deal 21 combined damage and win by attacking your opponent. Fun note voltron can be used interchangeably too. For instance I have some cards that go together to form a panorama so whenever I get all of them out I assembled one of my secret voltrons. Just a way to personalize my decks to make them more fun. I have thrown a game just to be able to assemble one of my voltrons but never if it means ruining the game for the other players. Just if I were to win in an unfun way then I might chose not to win without the others realizing it. Let someone else win, especially if I have been dominating all night, and have set a personal win for myself instead.

[@luisdelatorre2547]

Impulse draw is a weird one, because the card Impulse doesn’t have this ability and it’s much older than Act on Impulse.

[@HomeCookinMTG]

Not every magic slang term is born from a magic card. In this case I think the origin is more like "impulse section" in a store. You got it 'right now' without really planning on it. Similarly, impulse draw is draw is a card you get right now and only until the end of the term.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

@@HomeCookinMTG A fine point, but Impulse was/is a pretty iconic card. "Impulse X of Y" was shorthand you would sometimes hear for "look at the top Y cards of your library and put X" wherever they go

[@GabrielLopez-zr7gz]

"God DAMMIT man": Someone just cast Goblin Game or a similar spell

[@homemadejesus]

The Larry Niven biscuit- called a nevinyrral disc a biscuit then 6 months later heard it referenced (looking @ the time @ the new dark) as a biscuit... Felt like a god ever so briefly.

[@gsimscovers]

Me and my friends use “Spin the Wheel” for revealing off the top for something. Prismatic Bridge, Cascade, etc

[@Pokey370]

I like how they said mystic confluence for bounce but then the show mystic gate

[@RazgrizAce67]

Interesting, I always used the term "slow roll" more like the definition you gave for "sandbag". To me, slow roll is the opposite of over-committing to the board. Can be a good strategy if someone board wipes and then you have plenty of cards in hand to recover quickly.

[@egoish6762]

Punt is normally to take a chance, like casting a haymaker into a blue mage with open mana and one card in hand, he's representing a counter but i'm taking a punt on him not having it to close the game now.

[@tb.7788]

Alpha is a cool term but i always like to use “swing out” for attacking as an equivalent to tap out with lands. First time I played i just started saying it and it made sense 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@gordonrussell8613]

absolutely great info, glad I watched

[@MTGDuelist8870]

i think the term "bounce" comes from an old card from marcadian masks called "waterfront bouncer" which is literally just an unsummon but in creature form, so maybe that's the origin of the term?. i know unsummon is an older card then waterfront bouncer but i cannot find another card in blue with "bounce" in the name.

[@Eiyaa90]

you guys put Mystic Gate instead of Confluence on the Bounce examples.. but that nitpick aside.. i actually didnt realize how much of these i use.

[@themoakman]

I always thought Jam was when you are just putting a card into your deck you just really want to play regardless of if it's on theme you just jam it in there.

[@CaptTelnet]

Me and my group like to call small creatures with good effects nerds. You’d never attack with a nerd. Azami is a great example, tiny body with powerful effect.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

Love that, going to borrow it for sure

[@johnfarrier715]

Thank you!! I’ve watched like 500 of your videos and still don’t know what EDH means

[@Nikigettingbetter]

“Grind” also refers to Mind Grind and other effects that mill a player until they hit one or more lands

[@fredouellet3160]

Mana screw is generally used when you don't have the right color of mana, not when you have less mana than normal which is mana short

[@staggerlee2774]

We called it color screw. Mana screw was when you didn't draw lands.

[@fredouellet3160]

@@staggerlee2774 different region, different slang ;)

[@joshchaufty4991]

Love the mana sink comparison!!!👍

[@petrodon]

True nerds won't really know where "bounce" came from, after all, they've never even taken a glimpse of being negated or tossed out from a nightclub, a place far away from their habitat lol

[@calemr]

I understand why people don't like netdecking. Part of the game, a very important part, is the deck building aspect. If you're running someone else's deck, they've done that part, not you. So if you lose to a netdeck, there can be a sense of "Oh, cool, some guy I've never met beat me. Not the person across the table from me." Also, netdecking trends towards high power decks. People don't tend to go online and look for something very middle of the road. Which can conflict with more casual play.

[@FullmetalGanon]

this woulda been real nice when i first started playing haha thanks for the video guys

[@blaze556922]

I had never heard of Jam before and I don't think I'll be using that one but all the rest I use.

[@drpichi]

Wouldn't collector ouphe qualify more for a "stony silence on a body" rather than on a stick? I know those two slang terms intersect pretty much but I'd say the on a stick terminology is for things that are on creatures which normally are instants or sorceries while on a body effects are usually originally on permanents. Great video tho, i'm surprised I knew almost all of the terms

[@kingginger3335]

F6 is the auto pass button in Magic Online. It will automatically pass your priority because you know you have no response. If a person says it in real life, that's what they're referring to

[@TaIathar]

Some extra info and two corrections: SPOILERS DUH 4:30 "Bounce" comes from the Pokemon attack "Bounce" which is basically the same thing as "Fly" but for non-flying types and represents the concept of something leaving the field (going into the air/back to the hand) and needing to be played again next turn, imitating the 2-turn effect of the Pokemon moves "Fly" and "Bounce". It can also be thought of like a "bouncey ball" where it bounces back to where it came from. 7:45 "ETB" but where is LTB? 10:45 "Goldfish" You meant Solitaire right? 17:00 "META" is an acronym that stands for "Most Efficient Tactics Available" or in other words, one of the best ways to win. 18:45 "Prodigal Sorcerer" is one of the cards made popular by a specific "pro" player (before pro tour was removed). Other examples are: Prodigal Pyromancer is "Tom". Dark Confidant is "Bob". 21:15 "Ramp" is basically to play cards which allow you to generate more mana than you would normally have if you had not played those cards. "Llanowar Elves" or 'Lawnmower Elves' (not mentioned in this video) is a ramp card (and mana dork). Mana rocks are also ramp cards. Things which let you put an additional land into play, such as Explore are also ramp cards. (Explore is both 'ramp' and 'cantrip') 27:00 "92. Tutor" text was not present. The text "93. Ultimate" is a typo. 29:15 "Whiff" can also refer to playing a card such as Thoughtseize and looking at your opponents hand and finding only lands.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

Bounce comes from Waterfront Bouncer, and the name stuck because it was evocative of the action of picking a card up. Some sources claim the term is older than Waterfront Bouncer, but I always heard the effect called "boomeranging", after the eponymous card, before Waterfront Bouncer was printed. Either way, the term definitely predates the Gen III pokemon games. Tim is called Tim because of Monty Python, like they said. META as you have used it is a backronym, derived from and engineered to match the greek root meta-, meaning "beyond". When applied to the word game, the affix produces "metagame", or, when everyone knows you are talking about a game, "meta" for short. A metagame is the "game about the game" or the choices you make that aren't decisions based strictly on the rules interactions in a given match, often based on how you expect the game to go before starting a match, most typically during deck construction.

[@connoringram4948]

Het nitpicking do you know when the goin face slang came about? I thought it started in heartstone where you gotta character portrait so you attacked their face. Was going face or going to the dome around before hearthstone?

[@RandomGuy-nt1no]

could you to a video like this where you go over all the abilities like deaththouch, trample, storm, riot, etc.

[@looptydooptydoo]

Just built Mazirek myself, actually. Combo or no, it's a bad idea for your opponents to let Mazirek live for long. You don't want to drop him unless you can get some value out of him right away.

[@masongrae5010]

My favorite one is mill solely cause it went from slang to actual card mechanic text

[@jajahatman8842]

4:33 I think you used the wrong image for Mystic Confluence?

[@aa-tx7th]

alpha is also not a thing guys its *ahcktually* called a "swing" in most places. i have never heard alpha being used except in reference to the first set.

[@makeout-hill]

I don't mean to nitpick, but the text said Ultimate when you were talking about Tutors.

[@aa-tx7th]

boardwipe is usually just called a wipe or a wrath

[@ZacharyOtt]

Meta, Most Effective Tactics Available.

[@MissxAdventure]

I was just about to post this

[@Cyberium]

First slang I know is "187", for creature with enters the battlefield ability that kills.

[@HighCouncilStudios]

Y'all should do deck techs

[@DanG626]

20:47 “Oh that’s a rainbow land: It produces either blue, white, green, white, blue, red, you know, all the colors.” “Ah next-“ -(Black)”😆

[@Gonzakoable]

Remember, saying combat means declare attackers!

[@firebird504]

Best video ever 😂

[@IneptCardCollector]

Came for "dork", stayed for the other 99 26:55 Tutor?

[@JapLomm]

34 was a missed opportunity to make FETCH happen (it's not gonna)

[@Nik_M11]

54. Magical Christmasland sounds a whole lot like Copium, although not a Magic term

[@nzephier]

Yall forgot table flip: any action that gets you so salty you toss the table.

[@aarlavaan]

am I the only one who caught that you guys skipped 92 tutor, and it wen to 93 ultimate when it should have had 92 tutor?

[@GrimSoulBanisher]

Grave Titan belongs in a Chatterfang Deck.

[@curtisfarley6558]

I've also heard go tall as go big

[@MajigJamin]

the word stax actually is derived from the acronym of "the four thousand dollar sollution": $4ks

[@tonydiazist]

Question on the shorts what the heck is a "tribe strout" or whatever you say at the end💀

[@pairot01]

"A hatebear is a piece of stax", thanks for explaining a slang with a more obscure slang Edit: at least they explain it 20 minutes later

[@toctheyounger]

As a longtime Varina player I can confirm. Grave Titan has no place in a zombie shell.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

But zombies have a place in a Grave Titan shell badumtss

[@ethanwetzel7]

Hell yeah.

[@NitpickingNerds]

WOOO

[@markt43]

What happened to #92? :(

[@KleineKassiopeia]

Is it actually chump block? I allways thought it would be jump block, but I'm not a native speaker.

[@phillipmartinez8774]

What does Tron mean?

[@MeMe-ly9ic]

Ah yes. Mystic Gate. A classic bounce spell.