Index	Table of Contents	Terms
	Terms - T

Tap
To turn a card sideways. When a permanent is tapped, it usually means it's been used for the turn. Once a card becomes tapped, you can't tap it again until it's been untapped.
   Creatures tap to attack. You tap lands to get mana from them. Many permanents have activated abilities with  in their costs. ( means "tap this permanent.")
   Sometimes an effect will tap a permanent. If this happens, you don't get the effect you'd get if you chose to tap your permanent yourself. For example, Twiddle reads, "Tap or untap target artifact, creature, or land." Prodigal Sorcerer's ability reads, ": Prodigal Sorcerer deals 1 damage to target creature or player." If you play Twiddle to tap the Sorcerer, it won't cause the Sorcerer to deal 1 damage.
   You can change how tapped permanents are shown on your Display Settings screen.
   See also Activated Ability.

Target
When you see the word "target" on a spell or ability, you have to choose one or more things for the spell or ability to affect. Most of the time, you'll only be able to choose certain kinds of things, such as "target red permanent" or "target creature or player."
   You choose the targets for a spell or ability when you play it. You can't change your mind later. When the spell or ability resolves, it checks the targets to make sure they're still legal. If none of the targets are legal, the spell or ability is countered.
   The Magic Online interface shows you which targets are legal when you play a targeted spell or ability. Anything that appears dimmed is not a legal target.
   There are several ways in the Magic Online game to keep track of a spell or ability's targets.

	An image of the spell or ability appears under any permanents it targets.
	If you point to the spell on the stack, arrows appear showing each of the spell's targets.

The text in the chat area also tells you the targets of a spell or ability when it's played. For example, "Rei plays Dark Banishing targeting Llanowar Elves."
   See also Legal target, Resolve.

Text box
The square on the bottom half of the card. The text box contains abilities, flavor text, and reminder text. Remember that any words in italics (italic text looks like this) don't affect the way the card works.
   Your Magic Online settings affect the text you see on your cards. For example, if you don't want to see the flavor text, you go to your Display Settings and clear the Show flavor text check box.
   See Display Settings for more information.

Theme deck
A ready-to-play deck that features cards from a specific set. You can play theme decks against other players right out of the box.
   When you're just starting to play Magic, modifying theme decks is a good way to start designing your own decks.
 
 

Threshold An Odyssey block mechanic. The phrase "Threshold — [text]" means "As long as you have seven or more cards in your graveyard, this card has [text]." The text can be a static ability, activated ability, triggered ability, characteristic-setting text, spell text, or any combination of the five. If the spell or permanent's controller doesn't have seven or more cards in his or her graveyard, the card works as if the text after "Threshold —" weren't there.    Spells with threshold check to see if seven or more cards are in your graveyard when they resolve, not when they're played.    Activated and triggered abilities that permanents gain at threshold only check the number of cards in your graveyard when they're played or triggered. Having fewer than seven cards in your graveyard when the abilities resolve doesn't stop them from resolving.    Static threshold abilities are simply "on" when you have seven or more cards in your graveyard and "off" when you don't.

Token
See Creature token.

Toughness
The number to the right of the slash in the lower right corner of creature cards. Toughness represents how much damage a creature can take in one turn before it's destroyed. Only creatures and artifact creatures have toughness.
   Any time counters or effects modify a creature's toughness in the Magic Online game, the creature's modified toughness is shown on the creature in play. For example, Honor Guard is a 1/1 creature with the ability, ": Honor Guard gets +0/+1 until end of turn." If you activate the Guard's ability once, the Guard is shown as a 1/2 creature.
   See also Power.

Trample
A creature ability that lets the creature's extra damage spill over to the defending player when it's blocked.
   When a creature with trample is blocked, you have to deal at least enough of its combat damage to the creatures blocking it to destroy all those creatures. Then you can assign any of its damage that's left over to the defending player.
   See also Combat damage.

Trigger event
The first part of a triggered ability. The trigger event tells you when the ability triggers and goes on the stack. For example, a trigger event might read, "Whenever a creature comes into play, . . . " or "At the beginning of combat, . . . ."
   See also Triggered ability.

Triggered ability
A type of ability that automatically goes on the stack when some specific thing happens. You don't play a triggered ability. When the trigger event occurs, the ability goes on the stack.

For example, Venerable Monk reads, "When Venerable Monk comes into play, you gain 2 life." The trigger event is the Monk coming into play. When that happens, the Monk's ability goes on the stack. When it resolves, you'll gain 2 life.

   Triggered abilities always contain "when," "whenever," or "at" (as in "at the beginning of combat"). You can't decide to ignore or delay a triggered ability. Once it goes on the stack, it will resolve.
   See also Trigger event, Comes into play.

Turn
Each turn is divided into phases, and most phases have steps. Below are the phases and their steps in order. You can click the name of a phase or step for more information about it.

Beginning phase
   Untap step
   Upkeep step
   Draw step
Main phase (precombat)
Combat phase
   Beginning of combat step
   Declare attackers step
   Declare blockers step
   Combat damage step
   End of combat step
Main phase (postcombat)
End phase
   End of turn step
   Cleanup step

Type
Most things in Magic come in types. There are six types of cards, four types of permanents, three types of abilities, five types of basic lands, and lots of different enchantment types and creature types.
   See also Card type, Creature type, Permanent type.