Glossary

The card maker's glossary

Plain definitions of what's printed on a Magic card, from pip and frame to type line and mana value — and the words PipGlyph uses for the cards you make here.

marks a word PipGlyph uses for the cards you make here.

B

Bleed: Extra card printed past the cut line, so a cut that drifts shows a little more card instead of a white sliver. Print shops usually ask for 1/8 inch, and Plus and Pro downloads can add it.; How to print proxy MTG cards; See also Proxy (printing)

C

Color identity: Every color of mana symbol in a card's cost and rules text, plus any color the card is defined as. In Commander, each card in a deck must fit inside its commander's color identity.; Designing custom Commander cards; See also Commander, Color pie
Color pie: Magic's split of what each of the five colors does well and what it is meant to be bad at, which keeps them balanced. Giving a color something outside its slice is a color-pie break.; The MTG color pie explained; See also Color identity
CommanderAlso called EDH: A multiplayer format: a 100-card deck with one copy of each card except basic lands, led by a legendary creature, its commander, which waits in the command zone. The word also means that creature.; Designing custom Commander cards; See also Color identity, Legendary

D

Double-faced cardAlso called DFC: A card with a face on each side and no Magic card back. A transforming card turns over during play; on a modal one you choose which face to play.; MTG card layouts explained Try it in the creator; See also Transform, Modal double-faced card

E

Emblem: A lasting effect a planeswalker's ability leaves behind. It has no color, cost or types, nothing can remove it, and it stays for the rest of the game. In the creator, pick Token, then Emblem.; Designing custom MTG tokens Try it in the creator; See also Loyalty, Token

F

Flavor text: The italic lines at the bottom of the text box that tell a story, often as a quote. They have no effect on the game.; Anatomy of an MTG card; See also Reminder text
Frame: The border and boxes around a card's art and text, the part that makes a card look like 1997, 2015 or a modern showcase. PipGlyph's frames span three decades of card design.; MTG card frame eras explained Try it in the creator; See also Frame verification
Frame verification(a PipGlyph term): Before the creator offers a frame in a color, PipGlyph checks it against scans of printed cards, so the name, pips and text sit where they do on a real card. A color still being checked says "Soon".; Try it in the creator; See also Frame

H

Hybrid mana: A mana symbol split between two colors, paid with either one. A card with a white-blue hybrid symbol is both white and blue.; The complete guide to MTG mana symbols; See also Pip, Phyrexian mana

I

Import(a PipGlyph term): A card started from a real card, pulled in from Scryfall. Change its art or words and it becomes your version.; Scryfall import and remixing, answered Try it in the creator; See also Proxy, Remix, Oracle text

K

Keyword abilityAlso called keyword: A word that stands for a longer rule, like flying, trample or lifelink. A keyword usually sits on its own line, capitalized there, often with reminder text.; MTG keyword abilities: the complete list; See also Reminder text, Templating

L

Legendary: A supertype for unique characters, places and things: if you control two legendary permanents with the same name, you keep one and the rest go to the graveyard. Modern frames crown them.; Anatomy of an MTG card Try it in the creator; See also Commander, Type line
Loyalty: A planeswalker's life total, in the shield at its bottom right. Each ability adds or removes loyalty as its cost, and a planeswalker with no loyalty goes to the graveyard.; How to design a custom planeswalker Try it in the creator; See also Emblem, Power and toughness

M

Mana cost: The mana symbols in a card's top right corner: what you pay to cast it. Lands have none, and neither does a transforming card's back face.; The complete guide to MTG mana symbols Try it in the creator; See also Pip, Mana value
Mana valueAlso called MV, converted mana cost, CMC: The total amount of mana in a card's cost, whatever its colors: two generic and two green is a mana value of 4. X counts as zero except while the spell is being cast. It used to be called converted mana cost.; The complete guide to MTG mana symbols; See also Mana cost
Modal double-faced cardAlso called MDFC: A double-faced card where you choose which face to play, such as a spell on one side and a land on the other. It never turns over once it is on the battlefield.; MTG card layouts explained Try it in the creator; See also Double-faced card, Transform

O

Oracle text: A card's current official wording, kept up to date by Wizards of the Coast and shown on sites like Scryfall. It can differ from the words printed on an older copy.; How to write MTG oracle text; See also Templating, Import
Original(a PipGlyph term): A card made from scratch.; Try it in the creator; See also Proxy, Import, Remix

P

Phyrexian mana: A mana symbol marked with the Phyrexian glyph, paid with one mana of its color or 2 life.; The complete guide to MTG mana symbols; See also Pip, Hybrid mana
PipAlso called mana symbol: One mana symbol in a cost or in rules text, such as a colored circle, a number for generic mana or a hybrid split. PipGlyph's pip editor builds any cost and takes your own symbols too.; The complete guide to MTG mana symbols See the pip editor; See also Mana cost, Hybrid mana, Phyrexian mana
PipGlyph mark(a PipGlyph term): The small pipglyph.com mark on every card image PipGlyph shows: the gallery, share images and the saved card. A Plus or Pro member's own downloads come without it.; See also Watermark
Power and toughnessAlso called P/T: The two numbers at a creature's bottom right, written 3/3. Power is the damage it deals in combat; toughness is the damage it takes to destroy it.; How to design a custom MTG creature Try it in the creator; See also Loyalty
Proxy(a PipGlyph term): Any card made on PipGlyph. A card you start from a real Magic card is a proxy too, and any proxy can be printed for your table.; How to print proxy MTG cards Try it in the creator; See also Proxy (printing), Import, Remix, Original
Proxy (printing): A printed stand-in for a Magic card, used in casual games and playtesting when everyone at the table agrees. Proxies aren't allowed at sanctioned tournaments, and they're never for sale.; How to print proxy MTG cards; See also Proxy, Bleed

R

Rarity: How often a card turns up in packs: common, uncommon, rare or mythic rare, shown by its set symbol in black, silver, gold or orange-red.; MTG rarity explained Try it in the creator; See also Set symbol
Reminder text: Italic words in parentheses that explain a keyword or mechanic. They are there to help and change nothing about how the card plays.; How to write MTG oracle text; See also Keyword ability, Flavor text
Remix(a PipGlyph term): A new card started from another card made on PipGlyph, whether someone else's or one of yours. The card it came from keeps its credit.; Scryfall import and remixing, answered Find a card to remix; See also Proxy, Import, Original, Restyle with AI
Restyle with AI(a PipGlyph term): Gives the cards of a deck new names, flavor text and AI art in one theme, keeping their rules, as new cards of your own. It is paused while decks are rebuilt.; See also Remix

S

Saga: An enchantment that tells a story in chapters. It gets a lore counter as it enters and after each of your draw steps, each chapter happens in turn, and after the last one it is sacrificed.; MTG card layouts explained Try it in the creator
Set symbolAlso called expansion symbol: The small symbol at the right of the type line that shows which set a card is from; its color shows the rarity. In the creator, use PipGlyph's mark, pick one from a library or upload your own.; Anatomy of an MTG card Try it in the creator; See also Rarity, Type line

T

Templating: Magic's fixed patterns for wording rules text, like "When this creature enters," or "Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn." Good templating makes a custom card read like a printed one.; An MTG templating cookbook; See also Oracle text, Keyword ability
Token: A permanent made by an effect rather than cast from a deck, often shown with a token card. It stops existing if it leaves the battlefield.; Designing custom MTG tokens Try it in the creator; See also Emblem
TransformAlso called TDFC, transforming double-faced card: To turn a double-faced card to its other face during play, like a werewolf becoming a beast. The back face has no mana cost of its own.; MTG card layouts explained Try it in the creator; See also Double-faced card, Modal double-faced card
Type line: The bar under the art that names a card's types: its supertype and card type, then its subtypes after the dash, as in "Legendary Creature — Elf Druid".; Anatomy of an MTG card Try it in the creator; See also Legendary, Set symbol

W

Watermark: A faint symbol printed behind a card's rules text, such as a guild's crest. In the creator you can pick a mana symbol, one of PipGlyph's own marks, or upload your own.; Try it in the creator; See also PipGlyph mark

Put the words on a card

The creator gives each part of a card its own field, with a live preview as you type. No account needed to start.

Open the creator Read the guides