Welcome back to our Prerelease Primer Week! Today we’ll be focusing on the mechanic of the Red/White/Black Mardu clan, who revere the speed of the dragon. Fitting with this theme is their mechanic, Raid. Like lots of recent mechanics, Raid has no real rules meaning inherent to it- it’s just what we call an “ability word”. It only exists to group thematically similar abilities together! The common link between all your Raid cards? They do something cooler if you’re aggressive! The Mardu hit hard and they hit fast, so their Raid spells have a little extra bite to them if you attacked with a creature earlier that turn. For example, there’s several Mardu clan creatures that don’t do a lot on their own, but they have a nifty trigger that fires when they enter the battlefield IF you attacked that turn. There’s also some Mardu spells that get better if you’ve swung- so play Mardu, and you’ll benefit from attacking before you cast your spells! It’s pretty simple rules-wise, too. Raid doesn’t care if your attack went unblocked, or even finished- just that you attacked. If your opponent blocks, or destroys your attackers right after you swing, you’re still fine. Raid is also a binary thing; you either attacked or you didn’t. The effect doesn’t get “bigger” if you attacked with multiple creatures! You get it or you don’t, no multipliers.

So, that’s Raid- straightforward and hard-hitting, just like the Mardu. Tune in tomorrow when we’ll cover the steadfast Abzan and their Outlast mechanic!

Today’s Rules Tip written by Trevor Nunez