Sorcery for Magic Players

Ten rules apiece, arranged in five groups for Magic players learning Sorcery: Contested Realm

Every rule below comes from the official December 2025 rulebook, which was revised for the Gothic release. When information comes from another source, that source appears with the entry.

These comparisons assume that you know Magic already. Some Magic rules provide useful reference points when learning Sorcery. Other familiar terms work differently enough that they deserve special attention.

Group 1. The Board and the Two Decks 1–10

The board changes how nearly every card operates.

  1. There is a five by four board. The realm contains twenty squares, which begin as empty void. You and your opponent fill those squares during play. Magic: permanents occupy the battlefield without fixed geographic positions. In Sorcery, a card's location affects movement, range, targeting, and sometimes whether a spell can legally be cast. Rulebook, Areas of the Realm, page 12
  2. You bring two separate decks. The Atlas contains your sites. The Spellbook contains your other cards. Magic: sites and spells would normally share the same library. Sorcery separates them into two decks that you draw from independently. Rulebook, Building Your Own Decks, page 26
  3. Every turn you choose which deck supplies your draw. Step four of the start phase says to “draw a card from either your spellbook or atlas.” You choose the deck each time. Magic: your next draw might be mana or action regardless of what you currently need. Sorcery lets you choose the Atlas when you need another site and the Spellbook when you need another spell. Rulebook, Turn Summary, Start Phase, page 16
  4. Your Avatar exists physically on the board. Your Avatar has a name, maximum life, and an attack rating. Its starting life also establishes its maximum life. Magic: the player normally exists outside the battlefield as a life total. Your Sorcery Avatar occupies a location and can participate directly in combat. Rulebook, Avatars, page 5
  5. Sites occupy specific squares. Playing a site replaces a void square. Sites connect into bodies of water and areas of terrain. Magic: the physical position of a Forest usually has no rules significance. In Sorcery, the square occupied by a site affects movement, range, and legal targets. Rulebook, Sites, page 12
  6. Minions enter at one of your sites. When you cast a minion, you choose one of your sites for its location. Magic: creatures usually enter a shared battlefield without choosing a geographic position. Sorcery requires that placement decision when the minion enters. Rulebook, Casting Minions, page 19
  7. Several minions can occupy one site. The rules permit any number of minions at the same site. The rulebook also warns that concentrating your forces is rarely advisable. Magic: creatures do not share individual battlefield squares. In Sorcery, several minions gathered at one location can all become exposed to effects that hit that location. Rulebook, Casting Minions, page 19
  8. Entering the void normally banishes a minion. A minion that ends up in the void is removed from the game unless it has Voidwalk. Magic: exile normally results from a spell, ability, or rule. Sorcery also makes the empty portion of the board inherently dangerous. Rulebook, The Void, page 12
  9. Every site has surface and subsurface regions. The subsurface beneath terrain is underground. The subsurface beneath water is underwater. Magic: the battlefield normally has no vertical regions. Sorcery tracks surface, underground, underwater, and void locations separately. Rulebook, Surface and Subsurface, page 13
  10. Rarity determines your maximum number of copies. Ordinary cards allow four copies, Exceptional cards allow three, Elite cards allow two, and Unique cards allow one. Magic: most nonbasic cards share the same four-copy limit. Sorcery ties that limit directly to card rarity. Rulebook, Rarity, page 26

Group 2. Mana and Threshold 11–20

Sorcery treats mana and elemental threshold as separate requirements.

  1. Your sites provide mana automatically each turn. At the beginning of your turn, every site you control provides one mana. Magic: you normally tap individual mana sources when paying costs. Sorcery puts the mana into your pool automatically at the start of your turn. Rulebook, Gaining Mana, page 17
  2. Unspent mana disappears at the end of your turn. You gain mana during your own turn and lose whatever remains unused. Magic: mana also empties rather than remaining indefinitely. Sorcery normally gives you no mana from your sites during the opponent's turn, so you cannot reserve that site mana for later interaction. Rulebook, Mana, page 17
  3. A newly played site immediately provides mana. The rulebook says that when one of your sites enters the realm, it immediately provides one mana. Magic: a tapped land cannot normally provide mana that turn. A Sorcery site gives its mana immediately when you play it. Rulebook, Gaining Mana, page 17
  4. Threshold is a requirement that you do not spend. Elemental threshold checks whether you have enough affinity for the card. Meeting that requirement does not consume your affinity. Magic: devotion provides a useful comparison because it also counts symbols or permanents without spending them. Sorcery applies threshold requirements throughout much of its card pool. Rulebook, Elemental Threshold, page 18
  5. Only sites you control provide your threshold. The rulebook specifically states that an opponent's Aqueduct does not grant you affinity. Magic has little reason to ask this particular question. Sorcery uses a shared map, although only your own sites count toward your elemental threshold. Rulebook, Elemental Threshold, page 18
  6. A two-element card belongs to both elements. Sir Pelleas requires one Air and two Water threshold. He also counts as both an Air spell and a Water spell. Magic: multicolor cards provide the closest familiar comparison. Rulebook, Multiple Element Threshold, page 18
  7. Artifacts usually require no elemental threshold. The rulebook states that all artifacts and most abilities have no threshold. Magic: colorless artifacts provide a useful reference point because they generally avoid colored requirements. Rulebook, Elemental Threshold, page 18
  8. Destroying a site does not remove mana it provided earlier. Once a site has provided mana for the turn, that mana remains in its controller's pool. Magic permits plays involving land destruction before a mana source gets used. Sorcery sites provide their regular mana automatically before that interaction can remove it. Rulebook, Gaining Mana, page 17
  9. Taking control of a site does not give immediate mana. A site you gain during your own turn provides no mana until your following turn. Magic: gaining control of an untapped mana source can make it usable immediately. Sorcery waits until your next turn before that site contributes its regular mana. Rulebook, Gaining Mana, page 17
  10. Your Collection can matter during the game. The rules define your Collection as cards you own that did not begin the game in either deck. Certain cards allow you to cast cards directly from that Collection. Magic: sideboard cards normally remain outside ordinary game play unless another effect specifically accesses them. Sorcery formally defines this outside collection as something cards can reference. Rulebook, Glossary, page 33. Seen in play in the Game Brain Podcast transcript, 0voIN8W3CrU

Group 3. Turns and the Storyline 21–30

The turn structure and event resolution require special attention from Magic players.

  1. Sorcery has a Storyline instead of Magic's stack. The word “stack” appears zero times in the official December 2025 rulebook. The word “instant” also appears zero times. Magic resolves spells and abilities through its stack. Sorcery uses its Storyline rules for event resolution. Verified by text search of the December 2025 rulebook, 12,646 words
  2. Earlier Storyline events resolve first. Events are “resolved in order, one at a time.” The event placed first therefore resolves first. Magic uses last in, first out resolution for its stack. Sorcery resolves these Storyline events in their placement order. Rulebook, The Storyline, page 31. Confirmed against the Sorcery Companion rendering of the same rulebook
  3. The nonactive player places competing events first. When both players have events for the same point, the nonactive player places an event before the active player places theirs. Magic uses APNAP ordering for simultaneous triggers. The current Sorcery procedure produces its ordering through Storyline placement instead. Rulebook, Triggered Abilities, page 31
  4. Some older videos describe a different system. The 2024 Wizards' Den episode “Timeline, Stack and Resolution” calls the system a Timeline and says the last event added resolves first. The speaker also notes that this procedure was not written in the main rulebook. Magic: The December 2025 rulebook consistently uses Storyline and does not use Timeline. Its current resolution instructions therefore take precedence when learning the present rules. Transcript zZtFJtj--tY compared with the December 2025 rulebook
  5. Triggered abilities interrupt the current point in the Storyline. A triggered ability inserts a new event at the current moment, temporarily interrupting the remaining events. Magic normally places triggered abilities onto the stack. Sorcery resolves the triggered event at that point before continuing with the remaining Storyline events. Rulebook, Triggered Abilities, page 31
  6. Defend and Intercept provide important interaction during the opponent's turn. Defend lets a unit tap and move into a fight. Intercept lets a unit force combat against an enemy that moved without attacking. Magic often handles opposing-turn interaction through spells and activated abilities. Sorcery gives board position and unit placement a major role in that interaction. Rulebook, Defend page 24, Intercept page 25
  7. A turn contains three phases. Those phases are Start, Main, and End. Combat does not receive a separate phase. Magic divides its turn into more phases and steps. Sorcery handles attacks during the Main phase. Rulebook, Turn Summary, page 16
  8. Attacks can happen during your Main phase. Units may act as many times as your resources permit and in whatever order you choose. You can move a minion, cast something, and then use another unit. Magic places combat inside a dedicated phase. Sorcery allows movement, attacks, and spells to occur among other Main phase actions. Rulebook, Main Phase, page 16
  9. Minion damage clears during the End phase. Step two of the End phase removes damage from minions. Avatars do not recover their lost life this way. Magic also removes ordinary creature damage near the end of the turn. This part should feel familiar to an experienced Magic player. Rulebook, End Phase, page 16
  10. Summoning sickness specifically restricts tapping. A newly summoned minion cannot tap, or be tapped, to pay costs associated with an ability. Magic summoning sickness also prevents newly controlled creatures from attacking unless they have haste. Sorcery defines its restriction around tapping instead. Rulebook, Summoning Sickness, page 19

Group 4. Combat and Killing 31–40

Combat uses one power value, while defeating an Avatar requires a final death blow.

  1. Power determines both damage and survival. A minion's power rating determines how much damage it deals and how much damage it can withstand. Magic uses separate power and toughness values. A Sorcery minion with power three effectively fills both roles with that single value. Rulebook, Minions, page 7
  2. Lance creates a single-use artifact token. A minion with Lance enters carrying a lance artifact token. The token grants additional damage and striking first during a fight, then breaks. Magic: Lance tokens count as artifacts and may be picked up, dropped, or stolen. Some minions also have separate sword and shield ratings, which provide a closer equivalent to separate Magic power and toughness values. Rulebook, Glossary, pages 33 and 36
  3. Fighting damage normally happens simultaneously. When units fight, they strike one another at the same time and deal damage according to their power. Magic combat damage also normally occurs simultaneously. Rulebook, Attacking the Enemy, page 22
  4. An attacker normally needs to share the target's location. The rules allow you to attack enemy units or the surface of enemy sites at your location. Magic creatures ordinarily attack players or planeswalkers without geographic movement. Sorcery usually requires you to reach the relevant square before the attack can occur. Rulebook, Attacking the Enemy, page 22
  5. Move and Attack forms one ordered action. The unit taps once. Its movement resolves before you declare and resolve its attack. Magic declares attackers together during a combat step. Sorcery resolves movement before the attack inside this action. Rulebook, Move and Attack, page 21
  6. Charge performs the main job of haste. A unit with Charge may tap, or be tapped, to pay ability costs during the turn it was summoned. Magic players can treat haste as the closest familiar rule. Rulebook, Common Keyword Abilities, page 37
  7. Lethal performs the main job of deathtouch. Any positive amount of damage from a Lethal card kills a minion. Magic players can compare this directly with deathtouch. The Sorcery wording specifically refers to minions, so it does not automatically finish an Avatar. Rulebook, Common Keyword Abilities, page 38
  8. Striking First works much like first strike. A unit with Striking First deals its blow before the opposing unit gets its normal strike. Magic first strike provides the closest equivalent. Multiple instances can also matter under Sorcery's combat rules. Rulebook, Striking First, page 23
  9. Damage to an undefended site can reduce Avatar life. That damage reduces the controlling Avatar's life total. Site damage does not count as direct damage and cannot provide the final death blow. Magic permits ordinary combat damage to reduce a player directly to a losing life total. Sorcery requires another qualifying hit to finish an Avatar. Rulebook, Attacking the Enemy, page 22
  10. Reaching zero life puts an Avatar at death's door. The game continues after the Avatar reaches zero life. Another qualifying blow must finish that Avatar. Magic ends the game when a player reaches the applicable losing life total. Sorcery therefore requires one more successful attack after death's door. Rulebook, How to Win, page 3

Group 5. Deckbuilding, Keywords and Culture 41–50

These rules cover deck construction and several terms that behave differently from their Magic equivalents.

  1. Constructed decks use at least sixty spells and thirty sites. Your Spellbook contains at least sixty cards. Your Atlas contains at least thirty sites, and you also choose exactly one Avatar. Magic commonly starts with sixty total cards in constructed formats. A Sorcery constructed setup therefore uses at least ninety cards across its two decks. Rulebook, Building Your Own Decks, page 26
  2. Your Avatar does not count toward either deck. The Avatar remains separate from your Spellbook and Atlas totals. Magic Commander provides a useful comparison because its commander also exists outside the main deck count. Rulebook, Rarity, page 26
  3. The Golden Rule appears explicitly in the rulebook. The rule reads, “Some text is intentionally informal or necessarily compact. Use common sense and be cool.” Magic relies on a much larger comprehensive rules system for detailed interactions. Sorcery explicitly expects the players to resolve some wording through ordinary interpretation. Rulebook, The Golden Rule, page 5
  4. Movement keywords determine where units can travel. Airborne, Burrowing, Submerge, and Voidwalk each permit access to particular regions. Airborne also permits diagonal movement and changes which units can attack or intercept that unit. Magic flying mostly concerns combat interaction. Sorcery's corresponding movement abilities also determine how pieces travel across the realm. Rulebook, Common Keyword Abilities, pages 37 and 38
  5. Sorcery Ward works differently from Magic Ward. When a warded site or unit would be damaged, destroyed, or targeted by an opponent's spell or special ability, its Ward breaks instead. A unit cannot have two Wards, and Evil minions cannot receive Ward. Magic Ward normally imposes an additional cost on an opposing spell or ability. Sorcery Ward prevents one qualifying opposing interaction and then disappears. Rulebook, Glossary, page 36. Added as a glossary entry in the December 2025 update
  6. Stealth prevents several kinds of interaction. A Stealth minion cannot be targeted, intercepted, defended against, or hit by projectiles. Its Stealth ends when it interacts with the realm. Magic hexproof mainly prevents opposing targeting. Sorcery Stealth covers more interactions while it remains active. Rulebook, Stealth, page 37
  7. Genesis and Deathrite correspond closely to familiar Magic triggers. Genesis occurs when a card enters the realm. Deathrite occurs when a unit dies while going to the cemetery. Magic players can compare these with enter-the-battlefield and dies triggers. Sorcery calls its discard destination the cemetery. Rulebook, Common Keyword Abilities, pages 37 and 38
  8. Disable removes most of a minion's ability to act. A disabled minion loses all abilities, including Move and Attack. It also does not strike during fights and cannot cast. Magic tapping by itself has a more limited effect. Disable resembles an effect that prevents combat participation while also removing abilities. Rulebook, Disable, page 37
  9. The four-deck preconstructed box provides an easy starting set. Cardboard Guide reports prices around forty to sixty dollars for the box. It contains one deck for each element and requires no deckbuilding before play. Magic preconstructed Commander products generally provide one player's deck per package. The Sorcery product contains four playable decks. Transcript corpus, Cardboard Guide, sVhKOGEoTBc and _N4L72gkAeM
  10. Gothic booster boxes currently cost more than two hundred dollars. A retailer check on September 10, 2026 found in-stock Gothic boxes at $209.97 and $219.99. Listings below $180 were sold out during that check. Magic Play Booster boxes currently provide a cheaper point of comparison. The four-deck Sorcery preconstructed product gives you a less expensive way to learn the game before buying a booster box. ToyWiz and Game Nerdz, checked September 10, 2026

Sources

Where each kind of claim on this page comes from.

  1. The rulebook Rules are quoted or paraphrased from the official Sorcery: Contested Realm rulebook released in December 2025. The rulebook text used for this page contains 12,646 extracted words.
  2. Prices Price and availability information was checked against retailer pages on September 10, 2026.
  3. Community information Community information identifies the transcript used as its source.