Search syntax guide
You don't need any of this: the filters on the search page build searches for you. But if you'd rather type, or want something the filters don't cover, add a Custom query filter and write it in the syntax below. Every example is a link that runs it.
The basics
Words on their own search card names, so goblin finds every card with "goblin" in its name. Everything else is a keyword, a colon and a value, like t:goblin. Put several terms in one search and a card has to match all of them. Put quotes around a value with spaces or punctuation: o:"draw a card".
goblin- Cards with "goblin" in the name
t:goblin c:r mv<=2- Red Goblins with mana value 2 or less
!"lightning bolt"- Exactly the card Lightning Bolt (! means the exact name)
Colors and color identity
c: (or color:) checks a card's colors; id: (or identity:) checks its color identity, which is what Commander deck building goes by. Use the letters w u b r g, color names, or a group's name: guilds like azorius, shards like bant, wedges like abzan. c means colorless and m multicolored. Compare with >,<, >=, <=, = and !=, or give a number of colors.
c:rg- Cards that are red and green
c=rg- Exactly red and green, no other colors
c>=uw -c:r- At least white and blue, but not red
id<=esper t:instant- Instants you can play in an Esper (white-blue-black) Commander deck
id:c t:land- Lands with a colorless identity
c=3- Cards with exactly three colors
c:m t:legendary t:creature- Multicolored legendary creatures
Card types
t: (or type:) matches any part of the type line: supertypes like legendary and snow, card types like creature and instant, and subtypes like elf, equipment or saga. Part of a word is enough.
t:legendary t:elf- Legendary Elves
t:goblin -t:creature- Goblin cards that aren't creatures
t:equipment- Equipment
t:saga- Sagas
Rules text and keywords
o: (or oracle:) searches a card's current rules text, so it finds the modern wording ("dies" rather than "is put into a graveyard"). Write ~ for the card's own name. fo: searches the full text including reminder text. kw: (or keyword:) finds a keyword ability like flying or cascade.
o:"draw a card" t:creature- Creatures that draw a card
o:"~ enters tapped"- Cards that enter tapped
kw:flying -t:creature- Noncreature cards with flying
kw:cascade- Cards with cascade
fo:"can't be countered"- Mentions "can't be countered", reminder text included
Mana costs and mana value
m: (or mana:) looks for symbols in the mana cost. Single symbols can be written plainly (2WW); hybrid and Phyrexian symbols need braces, like {R/P}. mv (or cmc) compares mana value as a number, and mv:even / mv:odd work too. is:hybrid and is:phyrexian find those symbols, devotion: counts devotion and produces: finds what mana a card makes.
m:2WW- Costs with two generic and two white mana
m:{R/P}- Costs with a Phyrexian red symbol
c:u mv=5- Blue cards with mana value 5
mv>=7 t:creature- Creatures with mana value 7 or more
produces=wu- Cards that make white and blue mana
devotion:{u/b}{u/b}{u/b}- Permanents adding 3 to devotion to blue and black
Power, toughness and loyalty
Compare pow (power), tou (toughness), pt (power plus toughness) and loy (starting loyalty) with a number or with each other.
pow>=8- Power 8 or more
pow>tou c:w t:creature- White creatures with more power than toughness
t:planeswalker loy=3- Planeswalkers that start with 3 loyalty
is:bear- 2-mana 2/2 creatures
Kinds of card
is: picks out kinds of card. A few useful ones: is:permanent, is:spell, is:vanilla (no rules text), is:commander (can be your commander), is:companion, is:partner, is:reserved (on the Reserved List), is:gamechanger, and double-faced cards with is:dfc, is:mdfc, is:transform, is:split, is:flip and is:meld. Land cycles have names too: is:fetchland, is:shockland, is:dual, is:triome and more. not: is the opposite of is:.
is:commander id:g- Mono-green commanders
is:mdfc t:land- Modal double-faced cards with a land side
is:fetchland- Fetch lands
is:reserved- The Reserved List
is:vanilla- Creatures with no rules text
Rarity
r: (or rarity:) takes common, uncommon, rare, mythic, special or bonus, and can be compared. in:rare finds cards that have ever been printed at rare.
r:common t:creature f:pauper- Common creatures legal in Pauper
r>=r- Rares and mythics
in:rare -r:rare- Printings below rare of cards that were once rare
Sets, blocks and collector numbers
e: or s: (or set:) takes a set code, like e:mh3; every set's code is on the list of sets. cn: is the collector number, b: a block, and st: the kind of product: core, expansion, masters, commander, draft_innovation, funny and so on. in: finds cards that have ever been printed in a set, and is:booster cards found in boosters.
e:mh3- Modern Horizons 3
e:mh3 cn<=50- Its first 50 collector numbers
in:lea in:m15- Cards printed in both Alpha and Magic 2015
st:commander is:commander- Commanders from Commander products
t:legendary -in:booster- Legendary cards never printed in a booster
Format legality
f: (or format:) finds cards legal in a format; banned: and restricted: find the opposite. Formats include standard, pioneer, modern, legacy, vintage, pauper, commander, oathbreaker, brawl, historic, timeless, alchemy, penny, duel, oldschool, premodern and predh. edhrec compares a card's EDHREC popularity rank, where 1 is the most played.
c:g t:creature f:pauper- Green creatures legal in Pauper
banned:modern- Cards banned in Modern
restricted:vintage- The Vintage restricted list
edhrec<=100- The 100 most played Commander cards
Prices
usd, eur and tix (Magic Online tickets) compare a printing's price. cheapest:usd keeps each card's cheapest printing.
usd<1 f:commander o:"draw a card"- Commander card draw under $1
usd>=50 t:land- Lands worth $50 or more
tix>15- Cards over 15 tickets on Magic Online
Artist, flavor text and watermark
a: (or artist:) finds an artist, ft: (or flavor:) searches flavor text and wm: (or watermark:) a watermark. new:art finds printings with new illustrations.
a:"john avon" t:land- Lands painted by John Avon
ft:mishra- Flavor text that mentions Mishra
wm:orzhov- Cards with the Orzhov watermark
Frames, finishes and printings
border: (black, white, silver, borderless), frame: (1993, 1997, 2003, 2015, future, and effects like showcase or extendedart), is:full for full art, and is:foil, is:nonfoil and is:etched for finishes. is:reprint, not:reprint and is:unique look at a card's printing history; prints and sets count printings. game: is paper, mtgo or arena, and is:digital finds digital-only printings.
border:borderless t:planeswalker- Borderless planeswalkers
frame:showcase e:woe- Showcase frames in Wilds of Eldraine
e:ktk is:unique- Khans of Tarkir cards never printed anywhere else
sets>=20- Cards printed in 20 or more sets
-in:mtgo f:legacy- Legacy-legal cards not on Magic Online
Release dates
year and date compare release dates. A date is written yyyy-mm-dd, and a set code stands for that set's release date.
year<=1994- Cards from 1994 and before
date>=2023-01-01 t:dragon- Dragons released since the start of 2023
date>ori- Printings from sets released after Magic Origins
Or, not and brackets
Write or between terms to match either one, and put brackets round a group: t:legendary (t:goblin or t:elf). A - in front of any term leaves out the cards that match it, including plain name words.
t:fish or t:bird- Fish or Birds
t:legendary (t:goblin or t:elf)- Legendary Goblins or Elves
-fire c:r t:instant- Red instants without "fire" in the name
not:reprint e:mh3- New cards in Modern Horizons 3
Regular expressions
Wrap a value in slashes to use a regular expression with name:, t:, o: and ft:. Things like .*, (a|b), [ab], \d, \b, ^ and $ all work; write a slash inside one as \/.
t:creature o:/^{T}:/- Creatures with a plain tap ability
name:/\bizzet\b/- "Izzet" as a whole word in the name
o:/deals \d damage to any target/- Burn that hits any target