Mechanics

A spell that destroys, exiles, or otherwise removes most or all creatures (and sometimes other permanents) in play, resetting the board state. Common in slower control decks and a key tool against wide, aggressive boards.

Shorthand for 'enters the battlefield,' the trigger condition on abilities that fire the moment a permanent comes into play, such as a creature that draws a card or deals damage when it enters.

A keyword ability that lets a card be cast at instant speed, i.e. any time a player could cast an instant, including during an opponent's turn. Flash creatures and spells are prized for ambushing opponents and holding up interaction without losing tempo.

The distribution of a deck's cards by mana cost, usually visualized as a bar chart from 1 mana up to 6+. A smooth curve weighted toward cheap spells lets a deck reliably do something on every turn instead of flooding out on expensive cards.

The process of shuffling an opening hand back into the library and drawing a new one. Under the London Mulligan rule, a player draws a fresh 7 each time but puts one additional card on the bottom of the library per mulligan taken.

Effects that generate extra mana or put additional lands into play, letting a player cast bigger spells ahead of schedule. Central to green strategies and most Commander decks, which need enough mana to cast expensive singleton bombs.

Any spell or ability that destroys, exiles, bounces, or otherwise neutralizes an opposing permanent, most often a creature. Efficient removal (low mana cost relative to what it answers) is one of the most valuable resources in constructed formats.

The advantage gained by proactively developing board presence and pressure while forcing an opponent to react, as opposed to trading resources evenly. A tempo play might not be the most 'efficient' card individually, but it costs the opponent a turn to answer.

The last-in-first-out zone where spells and abilities wait to resolve. Because the stack resolves top-down, the most recently cast spell or activated ability always resolves first, which is why responses can 'fizzle' or change the outcome of something already on the stack.