Magic: The Gathering Rules - Areas of Play

Areas of Play

At any given time, every card is located in one of the following "zones":

Library: A player's deck. These cards are kept face down and should be randomly ordered (shuffled) to begin the game.

Hand: A player's hand of cards that can be played. They are kept hidden from other players. If a player has more than seven cards in hand at the end of his or her turn, any extras must be discarded.

Battlefield: Most cards need to enter the battlefield to have an effect in the game. Unlike other zones, the battlefield is shared by all players.

Graveyard: A player's discard pile. When a card on the battlefield is destroyed, a card is discarded from hand, or after a single-use card is used, it is put in its owner's graveyard. These cards are face up, and can be examined by any player at any time.

The stack: This is the place for cards that have been cast, but have not yet resolved. While on the stack, they are called "spells." This zone is also shared by all players. See the stack.

Exile: Cards that have been exiled by a certain effect wind up here. Unless a card says otherwise, cards in this zone are face-up. Comparatively few cards and abilities can affect cards in the exile zone.

Command: Used mainly in some variant formats of play, cards that have a special status or abilities within the game are kept here. Examples are the "scheme" cards used in Archenemy or "plane" cards used for a Planechase game. Cards in the Command Zone can be affected by virtually nothing that affects cards in the other zones.