Mystical Tutor: The Anatomy of a Turn | LEarn Magic The Gathering

If you’re trying to learn Magic: The Gathering, you might’ve noticed that turns seem to flow with the elegance of a jazz performance—until someone says, “Hold on, I respond", and suddenly the game screeches to a halt like an 80's movie record-scratch. “Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here.”

Let’s break it all down like we’re teaching someone how to do taxes—with patience, mild existential dread, and an overwhelming amount of phases.

Let's LEarn Magic | The Anatomy of a Turn:

1. Untap Step

What it says on the tin.

• You untap all your tapped cards: lands, creatures, that one enchantment you forgot even had a tap ability.

• Nothing else happens here. It’s like the game hitting the snooze button before getting out of bed.

  
  

You can’t do anything here except untap. Not even cast an Instant, which makes blue players sad.

“Behold! I untap my army of squirrels!” 

— You, hopefully.

2. Upkeep Step

A place where bad things happen and trigger-happy cards come alive.

• Some cards say “At the beginning of your upkeep...” which means THIS is their time to shine (or stab).

• Players can respond to triggers here with instants or abilities.

  
  

Expect your opponent to tap mana and say something like, “In response to that trigger...”, which is Magic-speak for “How about no?”

3. Draw Step

Draw a card. Rejoice or weep.

• You draw one card (unless your opponent is playing Narset, in which case you cry softly instead).

• This is your first chance to draw gold, find lands, or topdeck like a god.

  
  

Fun fact: Nothing feels more powerful than topdecking a Lightning Bolt. Nothing feels worse than drawing your 9th land.

4. Main Phase 1

Now you may...DO THINGS.

• Play a land (once per turn, unless you’re ramping, then by all means).

• Cast spells of all types.

• Activate abilities, summon creatures, and enter your villain era.

  
  

This is where the game begins to feel real.

5. Combat Phase

Let’s break this bad boy down:

a. Beginning of Combat

• Players can respond here. Tap their creatures before they can attack, maybe?

  
  

b. Declare Attackers

• You, the attacker, declare who’s getting punched.

• Tapped creatures can't attack, creatures with summoning sickness (new to the board this turn) can’t either, unless they’re haste-y bois.

  
  

c. Declare Blockers

• Your opponent chooses which creatures will valiantly leap into the wood chipper.

  
  

d. Combat Damage

• Damage is dealt. First strike creatures go first. Regular ones punch at the same time. Double strike? Oh, buddy, they go twice.

  
  

e. End of Combat

• Clean up the blood. Any "end of combat" triggers happen here.

  
  

6. Main Phase 2 (a.k.a. The Other Main Phase)

Just like Main Phase 1, but with a little post-combat spice.

• Maybe now you want to cast a creature, since you didn’t want it to die in combat.

• Maybe you have a trap card (wait—wrong game).

• You can play a land here if you haven’t already.

  
  

7. End Step

The turn winds down.

• "At the beginning of your end step..." triggers go on the stack here.

• This is your last chance to cast spells before you discard down to 7 cards.

• You may also aggressively eat a snack while pretending to consider an end-of-turn play.

  
  

8. Cleanup Step

The turn equivalent of washing your dishes.

• Discard down to 7 cards if you have more.

• Damage marked on creatures is removed.

• All “until end of turn” effects end.

• Nobody can cast spells or activate abilities here unless something triggers, which would take you back to the end step.

  
  

And then...boom! Your turn ends. You pass the turn, only for your opponent to say:

Ending the Turn

Turns in MTG might seem overwhelming at first, but once you learn the flow, they become second nature. Like breathing. Or blaming the shuffle for your land screw.

So next time you're in a game and someone says, "Hold priority," just nod sagely, tap two lands, and smile like a wizard who knows the secrets of the stack.