Glossary Of Terms
Aggro: A deck created specifically to do as much damage as possible to your opponent
Archetype: A deck that has common theming and the ability to be combined
Beatdown: A deck that continuously attacks your opponent with the aim of doing as much damage as it possibly can
Bomb: A card that changes the landscape of the game, and sometimes completely changes the outcome of the game
Bouncing: Bouncing usually refers to the act of returning a card already on the playing field to the hand of the owner
Brick: A useless card that you would rather have in your deck for resources than in your hand
Card Advantage: Card Advantage refers to a player having more available resources than another player, such as more cards in hand or more cards on the field of play.
Chain: A chain is a series of effects that have to resolve.
CCG: Collectible Card Game
Cheat: To cheat out a card refers to getting a card out without the usual means.
Combo: A combo refers to a number of cards that work well together, sometimes referred to as ‘Synergy’.
Constructed: A format in which you make your own deck
Control Deck: A control deck is a deck that uses floodgates, and that aims to prevent your opponent from doing anything that you don’t want them to do.
Draft: A format in which you open packs and build a deck only out of the cards that you get out of those packs
Engine: A reusable effect that usually helps to facilitate a combo or a synergy.
Floodgate: A card that prevents your opponent from playing cards. The effectiveness and nature of a floodgate can vary by the game.
In Response: A card that reacts to the activation of another card and usually results in a chain.
LGS: Local Game Store
Limited: Limited formats are formats such as Draft and Sealed.
Main Deck: The deck that you’ve put together to play with. The exact opposite to a side deck.
Meta Game: The construction of the current competitive scene. This means that you know what the most powerful cards are in the current scene.
Mill: The act of sending a card from your deck to your graveyard or discard pile.
Mulligan: Discarding and redrawing cards.
Netdeck: To find a deck online and copy it
Nuke: To wipe the entire field
Phase: The current state of play. Some games have multiple phases, some don’t, but it’s usually used to denote what exactly you can do.
Play-Set: A set of the same card, usually the maximum amount allowed in the card game.
Resources: Whatever you use to play your cards. In games like Yu-Gi-Oh, this would be anything on the field or in your hand.
Rogue Deck: A deck that isn’t particularly meta-defining, but that is able to counter a specific strategy.
Side Deck: Siding is the act of swapping out cards in your deck between matches.
Slow Play: Taking too long to play out your turn.
Staples: Cards that you’ll see in almost any deck due to their power level.
Tier 1: The decks that dominate the competitive scene of a card game.
Top Deck: Drawing a card that can get you out of a difficult situation
Utility: Cards that have value in multiple different situations.
Vanilla: A card with no rules or effects.
OCG: Official Card Game
TCG: Trading Card Game
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