ABILITY INDEX · ENGINE TERMS

Static Abilities

These are the current keyword names and reminder meanings used by the card rules engine. A card’s complete text supplies the exact amount, target, duration, or exception.

Haste

Flying

Reach

Charge

Deathtouch

Siphon

Defender

Aggro

Combat and movement

Ability	Reminder
Haste	Does not enter with summoning sickness; it can attack or move the turn it is played.
Charge	Must attack the turn it enters play if able, even while it has summoning sickness.
Flying / Reach	Flying can be blocked only by Flying or Reach. Reach can block Flying and the traversal routes.
Initiative / Fury	Initiative damage happens before normal damage. Fury deals both Initiative and regular combat damage.
Overpower / Relentless	Overpower carries excess after lethal blockers to the defending Hero. Relentless assigns damage as though the Unit had not been blocked.
Defender / Aggro	Defender cannot attack. Aggro has priority when blocking in a group and takes damage before the other blockers.

Protection and avoidance

Invisibility prevents targeting by Spells or abilities. ProtectionFromSpells, ProtectionFromUnits, ProtectionFromArtifacts, ProtectionFromSecrets, and the elemental protections prevent targeting, effects, and damage from their named sources. Invincible ignores damage and effects that would destroy the permanent; Eternal cannot be sent to the Void. Anchored cannot return to its owner’s Hand, and Loyal cannot change controllers.

Damage and statuses

Deathtouch destroys Units dealt combat damage. Siphon restores the controller’s Hero Life equal to combat damage dealt. Burn, Poison, and Wound apply their configured damage-over-time effects. Absorb prevents the configured amount from each source, while Consume converts prevented damage into +1/+1 counters.

Traversal and special timing

Swim, Dig, Skywalk, Flicker, Shadowstep, and Shimmer are the Water, Earth, Air, Fire, Dark, and Light traversal routes respectively; each can be blocked by its matching route or Reach. Blink (also displayed as Flash in older content) lets a Unit be played whenever its controller could cast an Interrupt Spell. Phasing, Expire, Adapt, and Predict use the configured data on their card.

Important: old guide labels such as “Shroud,” “Deflect,” and “Gust” are not the current engine keyword names. Use Invisibility, Absorb, and Skywalk when checking card rules.