do i use a guild gate to add mana?

Asked by frosty_mouth 11 years ago

i am fairly new to magic but when me and my friend play we both have guildgates that we use. my question is pretty much asking if when i put the guildgate down do i use it as mana or do a put a token for mana down then on my next turn i put a another token of mana down.

Bestach says... #1

Guildgates work like any other land. You tap them to add mana to your mana pool, which you use to cast spells or activate abilities. The only difference is they can produce 2 different colors of mana. I don't know why you would think you'd use tokens, but thats not how lands work.

July 12, 2013 12:06 a.m.

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #2

Land and mana are two different things. Because of the way the game works and the way people usually teach it to each other, it's very common for new players to think they're the same.

The ability on Azorius Guildgate (for example) is the long way of writing out a combination of the same abilities that a Plains and an Island have. You tap the land to add one mana to your mana pool, and then you can spend that mana on spells or abilities.

The ability of "Tap : Add C to your mana pool" (where C is the appropriate color) used to be fully written out in the text box of basic lands, but at a certain point the people who design the game decided they would just look better with a big mana symbol in the text box instead. Here's an example of a basic land printed at a time when the whole ability was written out in the text box.

July 12, 2013 12:08 a.m.

Epochalyptik says... #3

To clarify how mana works: Mana is an intangible substance that exists in a player's mana pool. Whenever an ability or effect gives mana to a player, it adds that mana to the player's mana pool. That player then has the rest of the step or phase to spend that mana.

When the turn progresses to the next step or phase, all mana is drained from each player's mana pool.

You can use markers to denote the kinds and amounts of mana in a player's mana pool, but most players don't do this.

July 12, 2013 1:06 a.m.