A spell is a card that's on the stack.
Cards in your hands aren't spells, and permanents on the battlefield don't count either. When you cast a card, it becomes a spell until it resolves. Even though most abilities use the stack, they don't count as spells.
All types of cards (except lands) are spells while you're casting them. For example, Angler Turtle is a creature card. While you're casting it, it's a creature spell.
To cast a spell is to take a card from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.
Anything that isn't a land (or planeswalker emblem, technically), is a spell. Land's are 'played', everything else is 'cast'. Anything you cast, is a spell. Also, activated or triggered abilities aren't spells so a trigger from something like Wasteland cannot be countered by Counterspell.
A card is only a spell when it is on the stack; in most other zones it is simply a card, or a permanent when on the battlefield. All card types other than lands are types of spells; even permanent cards are normally cast as spells before becoming permanents.
a verbal formula believed to have magical force. synonyms: charm, magical spell, spell. types: conjuration, incantation. a ritual recitation of words or sounds believed to have a magical effect.
This relationship between playing and casting is one-sided: "playing a card" includes casting a spell, but "casting" never includes playing a land.
A planeswalker is a spell while it is on the stack. Any spell you counter will go to the graveyard unless the counterspell says otherwise, such as with Remand. Thus, a planeswalker will be put into the graveyard.
730.1. If a player takes an illegal action or starts to take an action but can't legally complete it, the entire action is reversed and any payments already made are canceled.
Activated and triggered abilities on the stack aren't spells, and therefore can't be countered by anything that counters only spells. Activated and triggered abilities on the stack can be countered by effects that specifically counter abilities. Static abilities don't use the stack and thus can't be countered at all.
Fascinated or influenced by someone, as in I think he has our daughter under his spell . This idiom derives from the literal meaning of spell , “a word or formula that has magical power.” [
If an effect refers to casting a commander, it refers to a spell that is a commander. If an effect refers to a commander in a specific zone, it refers to a card in that zone that is a commander.
The Killing Curse ('Avada Kedavra')
Obviously there's no coming back from this spell, and according to the Ministry of Magic's classifications (and, again, fake-Moody) this is the worst Unforgivable Curse.
The Coin is a special uncollectible spell card granted at the start of each game to whichever player is selected to go second.
A 1st level Wizard knows 6 1st level spells and 3 cantrips. Every time they level up they learn an additional 2 spells of their choice that they have spell slots for, plus new cantrips as per the Wizard level table. Some sub-class features will cause the Wizard to learn additional spells.
Every card type that is not land is a spell. 112.1: A spell is a card on the stack. As the first step of being cast (see rule 601, "Casting Spells"), the card becomes a spell and is moved to the top of the stack from the zone it was in, which is usually its owner's hand.
Whenever a creature you control with deathtouch deals damage to a planeswalker, destroy that planeswalker.
Playing a land is a special action; it doesn't use the stack (see rule 116). Rather, the player simply puts the land onto the battlefield. Since the land doesn't go on the stack, it is never a spell, and players can't respond to it with instants or activated abilities. 305.2.
A player draws a card by putting the top card of their library into their hand. Card drawing may also be done as part of a cost or effect of a spell or ability. If an effect moves cards from a player's library to that player's hand without using the word “draw”, the player has not drawn those cards.
Lands are not spells. Activated abilities are not spells. If you cast an Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact, or Planeswalker (that is not also a creature, in the case of Enchantments and Artifacts), that is a noncreature spell.
Perhaps most importantly, copies of spells are not typically cast. They won't trigger things like cascade or enchantments like Swarm Intelligence. They also won't get the "bonus" effects on spells like Apex of Power or Approach of the Second Sun. Similarly, since a copy isn't cast, no mana was spent to cast it.
"Abracadabra". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (9th ed.).
"Now... those three curses — Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus — are known as the Unforgivable Curses.
spell, words uttered in a set formula with magical intent. The correct recitation, often with accompanying gestures, is considered to unleash supernatural power. Some societies believe that incorrect recitation can not only nullify the magic but cause the death of the practitioner.