Wingmantle Chaplain | Illustration by Miranda Meeks Defender cards in Magic: The Gathering are creatures that have the defender keyword ability , which prevents them from attacking
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria are monstrously powerful planeswalkers, though M&B is a few steps ahead of Teferi
(2013) SpyNet (2016) Mindbug (2021) Creature Feature (2022) Collectible card games: Magic: The Gathering (1993) Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (1994) Netrunner (1996) BattleTech (1996) Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1998) Xena: Warrior Princess (1998) C-23 (1998) Star Wars Trading Card Game (2002) MetaZoo (2025 relaunch) Board games: RoboRally (1994) Filthy Rich (1998) Pecking Order (2006) Rocketville (2006) Stonehenge (2007) King of Tokyo (2011) and spinoffs: King of New York (2014) King of Monster Island (2022) King of Tokyo Duel (2024) Treasure Hunter (2015) Bunny Kingdom (2017) The Hunger (2021) Founders of Reyvick (2024) Magical Athlete (2025) Other games: Spectromancer (2008), online card game Schizoid (2008), console action game Kard Combat (2011), iOS Game SolForge (2012), online digital card game Artifact (2018), digital trading card game KeyForge (2018), unique deck game Half Truth (2019), trivia board game co-created with Ken Jennings Carnival of Monsters [22] (2019), Kickstarted (failed) and eventually released through AMIGO Games Roguebook (2021), roguelike deck-building game Dungeons, Dice & Danger (2022), roll-and-write game Chaos Agents (2024), an auto-battler royale released through Garfields game lab, Popularium Vanguard Exiles (2025), a two-player, competitive auto-battler game released on Steam References [edit] "Magic: The Gathering Fact Sheet" (PDF)
Outside of being able to build decks better, draft better, and figure out the good cards before they go up in price, there is another big one that is often overlooked The player who understands better how to evaluate cards in the abstract will find themselves evaluating cards and decisions in-game substantially better.
Personally, I don't mind that but this is something that I've seen multiple collectors note
Going for three colours or more has the advantage of getting enough decent cards with cycling
