LEARN MAGEPUNK

The Basics

A Hearthstone-style card battler with a Magic: The Gathering heart — lands, instants, the stack, planes, and up to 8 players around one table.

Every player is a hero with 40 Life, a class with a hero power, and a 40-card deck. With 3 or more players it's a free-for-all around a circular table — each player gets their own slice of the board, turns pass clockwise, and the last hero standing wins. There is no healing cap: your Life can climb above 40.

Setup

• Opening hands: the first player draws 3 cards; everyone else draws 4 cards plus The Coin (a 0-cost card: “Gain 1 mana this turn only”). There is no mulligan — you keep what you're dealt.
• Companion & Commander: when building your deck you may optionally include a Companion and a Commander. They don't sit in your deck — they start the game in their own zones, playable from there; a Commander that dies returns to the command zone and costs 2 more each time.
• Turn one: the first player takes the normal start-of-turn draw, so they effectively see 4 cards on their first turn too.

Deck rules

• A standard deck is 40 cards, from your class's cards plus neutrals (multi-class cards count for each listed class). An optional Companion and Commander come on top of the 40, so a full deck can reach 42 cards.
• At most 2 copies of any card, and only 1 copy of each Legendary.
• Lands, colored W/U/B/R/G cards, and tokens are never deck cards — you get those during play.

Build decks in the game's deck builder, and browse every card in the Card Gallery.

Your Turn

No rigid phases — on your turn you act in any order you like.

• Mana: you start the game with 1 mana crystal, and your maximum grows by 1 at the start of each of your turns (up to 12). Unspent mana never carries over — whatever you don't use is gone at end of turn, and your crystals refill to your new maximum when your next turn starts. Temporary mana (The Coin, land taps, “gain mana” effects) also vanishes at end of turn — and unlike crystals, it doesn't come back. Cards with Overload lock that much of your mana next turn.
• Draw: you draw 1 card at the start of every turn.
• Do anything, in any order: play cards, attack, use each hero power once, buy or tap lands, use each creature's activated ability once, planeswalk, cash in tokens, trade Tradeable cards… then press End Turn.
• Hand limit: 15 cards. You never burn a draw — you can go over during your turn, then discard down to 15 at end of turn (you choose what to keep).
• Running out of cards: when your deck empties, your graveyard is shuffled back in (tokens excluded). Only when deck and graveyard are both empty does fatigue begin: each empty draw deals escalating damage to your hero (1, then 2, then 3…).

Cards & Types

2,500+ cards across 16 types. Click a type to see every card of that type in the wiki.

Rarity & spell schools

Cards come in Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Spells may belong to a school — Arcane, Fel, Fire, Frost, Holy, Nature, Shadow, or Song — which other cards can care about.

Classes & Hero Powers

Your class decides which cards you can put in your deck and your hero power — usable once per turn.

Combat

Creatures trade blows simultaneously — and every attack can be responded to.

• Declaring an attack goes on the stack — opponents can respond with instants before the damage lands.
• Who you can hit: any opponent's creatures, planeswalkers, or hero. If a defender has Taunt creatures, your attacks must hit a Taunt first (each player's Taunts protect only their own board). Piercing ignores Taunt entirely. Stealthed and dormant creatures can't be attacked.
• Attacks per turn: one per creature (Windfury: two). Creatures with 0 Attack, Pacifist, or that are Frozen or dormant can't attack.
• Damage is simultaneous: attacker and defender deal each other their Attack — unless one has First Strike, which deals its damage first; if that kills the other creature, there's no strike back. Two First Strikes cancel out.
• Hero attacks: your hero swings with weapon Attack + temporary hero Attack, once per turn (twice with a Windfury weapon). Attacking a creature means it strikes back at your hero. Each swing costs 1 weapon Durability. A temporary Attack buff lets even a weaponless hero swing.
• Armor absorbs hero damage before Life (Piercing skips it too).

Combat is where most keywords live — Divine Shield, Lifesteal, Deathtouch, Cleave, Trample, Sanguine and more. See the full glossary below.

Lands & Colors

Lands aren't in your deck — you buy them mid-game, and they power a whole second color system.

• On your turn, pay 3 mana to develop a land into one of your 5 land slots — and every opponent receives The Coin as compensation.
• The five basics — Plains (W), Island (U), Swamp (B), Mountain (R), Forest (G) — set your color identity. Advanced lands unlock only when your basics cover their colors.
• Tapping a basic, choose one: gain 1 mana, give a friendly creature that color's Boost, or Conjure a random card of that color into your hand.
• Lands and locations double-tap: after tapping they stay tapped through your next turn, untapping the turn after — so each is usable roughly every other turn.
• Any land can be sacrificed to draw a card.

Color Boost tables

A Boost rolls a d6 on that color's table and grants the result to a friendly creature. Chromatic creatures roll twice and keep both.

Planes & the Planar Die

The whole table shares one arena plane — and daring mages can roll to change it.

• The active plane belongs to nobody. It has an Arrival effect (fires when it appears), a Chaos ability, a Departure effect (fires when it leaves), and a continuous rule that applies the whole time it's the active plane.
• Planeswalking requires a planeswalker in play or having used a Spark card.
• Roll a d6: on a 6, Planeshift — swap to a random new plane (old Departure fires, new Arrival fires). On a 5, trigger the current plane's Chaos ability. 1–4: nothing.
• Cost: your first roll each turn is free; each further roll that turn costs 1 more mana than the last (0, 1, 2…).

The Stack & Instants

Nothing resolves instantly — everything can be answered.

• Spells, hero powers, activated abilities, land taps, and even attacks go on a last-in-first-out stack.
• Opponents holding an instant (or an instant-speed ability or land tap) get a priority window to respond before the top of the stack resolves. Priority passes clockwise; when everyone passes, the top resolves.
• Counter instants remove a spell from the stack entirely — it never resolves.
• The game has an Auto-pass toggle: turn it off and you get a short window to respond at instant speed to everything.

Tokens & Other Systems

Resource tokens

Tokens are exiled when they die — they never enter the graveyard or reshuffle. (The Coin is a real card, not a token, and does reshuffle.)

Corpses

Every friendly creature death banks a Corpse for its owner. All classes accrue them, but only Death Knights see a counter — their cards spend Corpses for effects.

The Coin economy

The Coin (+1 temporary mana) flows constantly: players going second start with one, and every time anyone develops a land, all their opponents get one.

Winning & Losing

When a hero's Life reaches 0 they are eliminated — their whole board and zones are cleared and their slice of the table goes dark. The game ends when one player remains: last hero standing wins. If everyone dies simultaneously, it's a draw.

Game Modes & Getting Cards

Battle (vs AI)

2–8 player free-for-all against AI opponents. Rewards: win +100 gold, draw +50, loss +25.

Solo runs

Four single-player campaigns. They share a shape — start with a small deck, fight a series of opponents, and grow the deck with loot between fights — but each twists it differently. In all four, conceding forfeits the run and pays nothing.

Dungeon Run

Pick a class, take its fixed 10-card starter deck, and climb an 8-level boss ladder. Your life scales with depth — 15 HP at level 1, +5 per level. After each win, choose 1 of 3 themed card buckets (all 3 cards join your deck); after every odd level, also pick 1 of 3 Treasures — permanent run passives like double your starting Health or your spells cost (1) less.

Dalaran Heist

Break into one of 5 wings of Dalaran with one of 9 guild heroes, each offering a choice of hero powers. Eight fights, ending on the wing's boss — Banker Biggs, Cyanigosa, Trade Prince Gallywix, Madam Goya or Archmage Khadgar. Life scales the same way (15 HP, +5 per fight).

• Anomalies: before the run you may take one of 3 offered run-wide rules that bend the whole heist for both players — spells cost 2 less, Battlecries trigger twice, Deathrattles trigger twice, and more. Or decline for a standard run.
• The Bar: after fights 2, 4 and 6 you visit the tavern and take one action — Good Food (+5 Health for the rest of the run), Dismiss (cut a creature), The Gang's All Here! (3 more copies of a creature), Recruit a Veteran (discover a Legendary), Tell a Story (+2/+2 permanently), Tall Tales (+4/+4 but costs 2 more), or Right Hand Man (a creature always starts in your opening hand).
• Passives after fights 1 and 5, Treasures after 3 and 7.

Tombs of Terror

Delve one of 4 tomb chapters as one of the 4 League Explorers — Reno Jackson, Elise Starseeker, Brann Bronzebeard or Sir Finley — each with four hero powers to choose from. Eight fights, ending on that chapter's Plague Lord at a hefty 60 HP: Vesh (Murlocs), Xatma (Death), K'zrath (Madness) or Icarax (Wrath). Life scales 15 HP, +5 per fight; there's no tavern step, so fights 2, 4 and 6 just press on. Passives land after fights 1 and 5, Treasures after 3 and 7 — drawn only from the tomb's own treasure pool.

Duels

Draft a deck from scratch and run it until you win big or bust out. Pick one of 11 heroes, choose a hero power, then draft 10 cards — three choices at a time, from your class's cards plus neutrals.

• The run ends at 12 wins or 3 losses.
• Loot after every game — win or lose. You're offered 3 themed buckets (Dragons, Murlocs, Big Bruisers, Lowbies, Deathrattles, Taunt Up… 17 in all); take one and all 3 of its cards join your deck.
• After games 1, 5 and 9 you also pick a Passive (1 of 3, from over 100), and after games 3, 7 and 11 a Treasure card. A full clear ends with a 52-card monster deck.
• No health scaling here — both heroes start at the usual 40 Life. Instead each opponent is generated at exactly your power level: a random rival who has drafted 10 cards and taken the same number of buckets, passives and treasures you have.

Live PvP & spectating

Challenge a friend to a real-time match, or spectate a friend's board as they play, through the test realm account system.

Packs & collection

New players start with 300 gold and a starter collection (2× every common, 1× every uncommon). Packs cost 100 gold and hold 5 cards — the first four roll common 60% / uncommon 25% / rare 10% / epic 4% / legendary 1%, and the fifth is guaranteed rare or better (rare 75% / epic 20% / legendary 5%). Browse what you own in the collection viewer and build decks in the deck builder.

Keyword Glossary

Every keyword in the game, straight from the engine's glossary. Click a keyword to see every card that uses it in the Design Wiki.

Adapt

Roll a d10 three times (reroll repeats); choose one of the three upgrades to give the creature.

Alliance

Triggers each time you play another creature.

Arrival Plane

A plane's effect that triggers when it arrives (becomes the active plane).

Avenge

Avenge N — its effect triggers after N of your creatures have died.

Battlecry

Triggers an effect when you play it from your hand.

Blink

Exile a creature, then immediately return it — resetting it and retriggering its Battlecry.

Bushido

Gains +1/+1 whenever it attacks.

Chaos Plane

A shared plane effect that fires when a planar roll comes up Chaos.

Charge

Can attack anything the turn it is played.

Chromatic

Its colour boosts roll twice and keep both results.

Cleave

Combat damage also hits the creatures beside the target.

Colossal

Colossal +N — enters play alongside its Appendage tokens.

Combo

A bonus effect if you already played a card this turn.

Connect

Triggers when this deals combat damage to a player.

Constellation

Triggers each time you play an Enchantment.

Cook

Create a Food token (Sacrifice, pay 2: restore 3 Health).

Cook

Make a Food token — sacrifice it and pay 2 to restore 3 Health to your hero.

Corrupt

While in your hand, upgrades once you play a card that costs more than it.

Counter target spell (also: Counter)

When an opponent casts a spell, you may play this in response from your hand to counter it — it goes on the stack and is stopped before it resolves.

Deathrattle

Triggers an effect when it dies.

Deathtouch

Any damage it deals to a creature destroys that creature.

Defender

May redirect attacks on your other permanents onto itself.

Departure Plane

A plane's effect that triggers when it leaves play.

Discover

Choose one of three cards to add to your hand.

Divine Shield

Ignores the first damage it would take.

Dredge

Look at the bottom 3 cards of your deck and put one on top (you don't draw it).

Echo

Leaves a temporary copy in your hand when played, so you can keep replaying it while you have mana.

Elusive (also: Hexproof)

Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers.

Emerge

Triggers from your hand the moment this card is drawn or discovered (not from your opening hand).

Enrich

Create a Treasure token (Sacrifice: gain 1 mana).

Ephemeral

Destroyed at the end of the turn.

Excavate

Dig up a treasure to your hand; each Excavate is one tier higher (Common → Legendary), then loops.

Finale

A bonus effect that happens if you spent all your remaining mana to play this card.

Firebreathing

Spend 1 mana any number of times: +1 Attack until end of turn.

First Strike (also: Swift)

Deals its combat damage first.

Freeze (also: Frozen, Freezer)

A Frozen character skips its next attack.

Frenzy

A one-time effect the first time this survives taking damage.

Gaze

Gaze N — look at the top N cards of your deck and reorder them (like Scry).

Honorable Kill

Bonus if it kills a creature with an exact-lethal blow.

Immune

Can't take damage, and “destroy” effects don't kill it — only being sacrificed does.

Impulsive

Must attack — it swings on its own before your turn ends.

Inspire

Triggers after you use your Hero Power.

Investigate

Create a Clue token (Sacrifice, pay 2: draw a card).

Investigate

Make a Clue token — sacrifice it and pay 2 to draw a card.

Joust

Reveal a random creature from your deck and from the target player's deck. You win the Joust if yours costs more (or they have no creature to reveal).

Landfall

Triggers whenever a land you control enters (you develop a land).

Lifesteal

Damage it deals also heals your hero.

Luck

Flip a coin: heads the effect happens, tails it fizzles.

Magnetic

Play it left of a friendly Mech to fuse their stats and text.

Manathirst

Manathirst N — a bonus effect that activates once your mana crystals this turn reach N (whether or not you have spent them).

Medic

Medic N — restores N Health to the creatures beside it at the end of your turn.

Mill

Mill N — put the top N cards of a deck into its graveyard.

Miracle

A bonus effect that triggers if you play this card the same turn you drew it.

Morbid

Morbid N — its effect triggers each time N creatures have died.

Outcast

A bonus if this was the left- or right-most card in your hand when you played it.

Overheal

A bonus that triggers when this is healed above its maximum Health.

Overload

Locks that much of your mana next turn.

Pacifist

Can't attack.

Paralyzed (also: Paralyze)

A Paralyzed creature's attacks fail 50% of the time (coin flip).

Piercing

Its attacks ignore Taunt.

Planeshift

Shift the arena to a random plane (the old one departs, the new one arrives). The plane is shared — nobody controls it.

Planeswalk

Roll the planar die (needs a planeswalker or Spark). First roll each turn is free, then +1 mana each. 6 = Planeshift, 5 = Chaos, 1-4 nothing.

Poisoned

At the end of its controller's turn, a Poisoned creature takes 2 damage. The condition stays until it's cleansed or dies.

Poisonous

A creature this damages becomes Poisoned: it loses 2 Health at the end of its controller's turn (until cleansed or destroyed).

Ponder

Triggers whenever you draw an extra card (past your first draw of the turn), Scry, Dredge or Gaze.

Proliferate

Give each creature you've strengthened (that has a permanent +1/+1) another +1/+1, and each of your planeswalkers 1 loyalty.

Prowess

Gains +1/+1 until end of turn each time you cast a spell.

Quest

Complete its goal for a powerful reward.

Quickdraw

Quickdraw N — draw N cards; cards drawn this way shuffle back into your deck at end of turn.

Reborn

Returns with 1 Health the first time it dies.

Regenerate

Regenerate N — restores N Health to itself at the end of your turn.

Rush

Can attack enemy creatures the turn it is played.

Sanguine

Banks a Blood Token whenever it attacks or is attacked.

Scry

Scry N — look at the top N cards of your deck; keep them on top or send them to the bottom.

Secret

Stays hidden until its trigger fires on the opponent's turn.

Spark

Unlocks Planeswalk — you may now roll the planar die on your turn.

Spell Damage

Your spells deal extra damage.

Spellburst

A one-time effect that triggers after you cast your next spell.

Static

50% chance to Paralyze any creature that survives combat with it.

Stealth

Can't be attacked or targeted until it attacks.

Swing

Triggers when this attacks.

Taunt

Enemies must attack this before your other creatures.

Tradeable

Drag it onto your deck to pay 1 and draw a card.

Trample

Excess lethal damage carries over to the hero.

Venomous

Like Deathtouch, but one-shot: the first time it damages a creature that creature is destroyed, then Venomous is used up.

Ward

Ward N — an opponent must pay N extra (mana or Life) to target this.

Windfury

Can attack twice each turn.