Mana
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During play, mana powers up Cards to allow them to be played.
Mana of any of the five colors can be used to pay the casting cost of cards of any color. Other specialised types of mana exist. In paper Magic the Gathering, the system of Colored mana being required for colored cards replaces the MtGPQ requirement that colored cards can only be played by Planeswalkers of matching affinity.
Each Match of 3 or more Gems on the Gem board provides an amount of mana according to the number of gems matched, and the mana bonuses of the Planeswalker.
Mana may be gained in several ways.
When gained, mana is automatically assigned to the cards in your hand, from the top down, filling the casting cost of each card fully before charging up the next card
The Colors of Magic event has a permanent support that reduces cards' casting cost by 11, which can reduce the cost to to zero, as can some cards. When this happens, the card is displayed as though it had full mana.
Gaining Mana
Matching Gems on the Gem board is the most common way of gaining mana. Each gem match provides an amount of mana which is the sum of the following:
- The number of gems of the same color which were matched
- The Planeswalker's mana bonus of the color of the gems which were matched
Very large amounts of mana may sometimes be gained in a single turn via cascades on the gem board, where one match leads to another.
In events which are Supercharged, each color match provides an additional 3 mana.
Mana can also be gained from certain cards which provide mana when played, or while in play.
Some Planeswalkers have Loyalty abilities which provide mana. Others have abilities which benefit their mana bonuses.
Mana in hand
Mana accumulates on the first card in the player's hand; the Mana required to cast it appearing as a number. Creatures and supports will always be cast when full after a gem match, unless they are disabled by tapping the circular Type icon. Spells: it depends. Targeted spells will always prompt the player with a decision to cast and a targeting popup, unless there is a second valid part of the spell that is u targeted. A good example of the latter is Cruel Revival, which always returns a Zombie from the graveyard if there is one there and Cruel Revival is not disabled, even though the first part of the spell destroys a Target non-Zombie creature. Another is Sleep with the Fishes, which must be disabled or it will summon a Fish token even after the player chooses not to target an enemy creature.
The mana required to play a card corresponds to the card's casting cost, which may range from 1 to 30.
Where in MtG the focus must be what can be accomplished each turn, and high cost cards may be effectively impossible to cast, the accumulation of Mana means that, eg, larger creatures are feasible. Because of this, and the disabling of cards, a hand of cards can represent an investment in not just just cards but Mana too.
Color
Like its parent game Magic: the Gathering, Color in Magic: the Gathering Puzzle Quest is a core mechanic whose thematic flavor influences all aspects of the game, albeit not the mechanic of colored mana being required for colored cards. This is instead roughly analogous to the requirement that cards can only be played by the same color Planeswalkers.
Each of the five colors — White (W) 
, Blue (U) 
, Black (B) 
, Red (R) 
, and Green (G) 
— is associated with distinct magic and cultural principles, and different mechanics and abilities. They, and second and third colors combined with them, are usually listed in that order.
Mana Color
Mana of any of the five colors can be used to pay the casting cost of cards of any color. Mana from specific color matches may be required for certain abilities such as Converge 
.
| Color | Principles | Associated land |
|---|---|---|
 White
|
Peace, law, structure | Plains |
 Blue
|
Knowledge, intellect, deceit | Island |
 Black
|
Power, selfishness, death | Swamp |
 Red
|
Impulsiveness, freedom, destruction | Mountain |
 Green
|
Nature, growth, interdependence | Forest |
Other specialised types of mana exist.
Void
 |
Gained by matching void gems. Pays only for cards with the Devoid  ability.
Void gems are created by cards with the Ingest ability. |
|---|---|
Loyalty 
|
Loyalty is not mana, but behaves similarly. Loyalty pays for Planeswalker abilites rather than cards in hand.
Loyalty is gained by matching loyalty gems. Also, each colored gem match generates 1 loyalty in addition to mana. |
In Planeswalkers
Most Planeswalkers have an affinity to one, two, or even three colors, and Mana bonuses which strongly tend to favor those affinities. A Planeswalker's deck may only include cards which have at least one color matching an affinity of the Planeswalker. Colorless cards can be used by any Planeswalker.
In Events, some nodes have color restrictions. Such nodes may only be played by a Planeswalker sharing a color with the node, or a colorless Planeswalker.
Like card abilities, Planeswalker abilities tend to be thematically linked to certain colors. For example, giving creatures Vigilance and First Strike tends to be a White Planeswalker ability. Drawing cards and draining the mana out of opponents' cards tend to be Blue PW abilities; Black PWs may draw cards, but they often have to pay Life or some other cost. Black PWs Reanimate creatures out of the graveyard straight into play and make opponents lose life. Red typically does Damage directly to the opponent or their creatures, and destroys gems of the opponent's colors. Green Converts gems to their own colors. Green PW's identity beyond that is less clear; they often tend to be a showcase of the abilities featured in their set, or in the case of dual color walkers, have abilities of the second color. Almost 40% of Planeswalkers Summon some sort of token creature; along with the broad category of Buffing creatures it is an ability that all the colors share.
Always-Standard Origins lands are only in the "Opposed" colors, and so can be optimally used only by Planeswalkers of opposed pairs of colors. They also favor the Tarkir Clan Planeswalkers over the Alara Shard Planeswalkers. For example, WUR "Jeskai" Narset of the Ancient Way receives direct benefits from both Battlefield Forge and Shivan Reef, where the UBR "Grixis" Nicol Bolas trio only directly benefit from Shivan Reef. WBR "Mardu" Dihada, Binder of Wills benefits from Battlefield Forge and Caves of Koilos, where WUB "Esper" Dakkon, Shadow Slayer only directly benefits from Caves. The reverse tends to be true of the Puzzle Masters 2 lands.
Colorless planeswalkers
Some Planeswalkers are colorless. Cards may only be included in the deck of a colorless Planeswalker which share a color with the Event node on which the Planeswalker is playing. If a node is locked to a specific color, they cannot be used. If a node is not associated with a color, they can use any color cards.
Mana bonuses
Origins Planeswalkers' mana bonuses add up to five. Between Origins and Hour of Devastation, mana bonus totals wavered but gradually increased. Planeswalkers released from Ixilan onwards follow simple rules for their mana bonuses:
- Three-color Planeswalkers' mana bonuses add up to seven.
- Two-color Planeswalkers' mana bonuses add up to eight.
- Mono-color Planeswalkers' mana bonuses add up to nine.
There are clear benefits to playing Planeswalkers with high spike bonuses with mana conversion, and when playing without mana conversion, to use Planeswalkers with a balanced spread of bonuses.
5 colors in 2 games
All rewards in a single Story mode battle can be earned in two games. Use a three color planeswalker (such as Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh) in a first game, and another two or three color planeswalker (such as Huatli, Radiant Champion or Tamiyo, Field Researcher) in a second game to meet all five color objectives. The two optional objectives may be completed simultaneously.
An incomplete list of the two-planeswalker combinations which cover all 5 colors:
In Cards
Each card is either colorless, or has one, two, or occasionally more colors.
Moreso even than Planeswalker abilities, card abilities tend to be thematically linked to certain colors.
Ability separation by color is weaker in Magic: the Gathering Puzzle Quest than Magic: the Gathering for two reasons:
- The gem board and mana system force changes in card design, which in turn makes color principles less strictly applicable.
- Dual color cards can be used by any Planeswalker sharing any one of those colors, so any color-specific mechanics on such cards are more easily accessed.
In Story
Other Magic the Gathering sets have featured the single colors in their story, but in Puzzle Quest, only Throne of Eldraine.
Eldraine's Kingdoms: White: Ardenvale. Blue: Vantress. Black: Locthwain. Red: Embereth. Green: Garenbrig.
Ravnica Guilds (2 color), the Clans of Tarkir (3 color), and the Shards of Alara (3 color), have given their names to the combinations of colors.
The Planes of Ikoria and Capenna are distinguished by flows of the same three color mana combinations as Tarkir and Alara, respectively.
There may be stories of the four color combinations, but if so, they are not yet widely known:
Glint: No White. Dune: No Blue. Ink: No Black. Witch: No Red. Yore: No Green.
Dual color: Ravnica Guilds
The Ravnica cycle of Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Allegiance, and War of the Spark introduced the current names for two-color combinations. There are multiple Planeswalkers for each.
Complementary
Azorius: White/Blue
Selesnya: Green/White
Dimir: Blue/Black
Rakdos: Black/Red- Gruul: Red/Green
Opposed
- Orzhov: White/Black
- Boros: White/Red
- Izzet: Blue/Red
- Simic: Blue/Green
- Golgari: Black/Green
Strixhaven
Strixhaven Schools of magic represented Opposed colors by new names.
Silverquill
Lorehold
Prismari
Quandrix- Witherbloom
Tri color: Clans of Tarkir
Wedge. Two consecutive colors at the "blunt" end opposing one color at the "sharp" end. Narset of the Ancient Way is Jeskai. Sarkhan Unbroken, originally Mardu, joined Temur. Dihada, Binder of Wills uses the same colors of magic as, but is otherwise unrelated to, Mardu.
- Jeskai: White/Blue/Red
- Mardu: White/Black/Red
- Abzan: White/Black/Green
- Sultai: Blue/Black/Green
- Temur: Red/Green/Blue
Ikoria triomes
The triomes of Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths are wedges of mana as Tarkir.
Tri color: Shards of Alara
Arc. Adjoining colors, an arc of the color wheel. Dakkon, Shadow Slayer uses the same colors of magic as, but is otherwise unrelated to, Esper. Nicol Bolas is Grixis. Tamiyo, Field Researcher is Bant.
- Esper: White/Blue/Black
- Bant: White/Blue/Green
- Naya: Red/Green/White
- Grixis: Blue/Black/Red
- Jund: Black/Red/Green
Streets of New Capenna
The crime families of New Capenna channel the same three color Arc, or Shard, mana combinations as in Alara.
Game concepts | |
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| MtGPQ | |
| Cards | |
| Planeswalkers | |
| Events | |
