MTG: Instants Explained

Need to know what separates an Instant from a Sorcery? We’ll walk you through this MTG card type and soon you’ll be slinging spells like a pro.

Among the most versatile cards in Magic: The Gathering, Instants have been a core part of the game from the very beginning and continue to be central to the game today.

We’ll show you exactly how instants are used in MTG and where their strengths lie.

History of Instants in Magic: The Gathering

Instants debuted in MTG’s first ever set; Alpha. Instants are one of Magic’s key card types, along with Creatures, Lands, Sorceries, Enchantments, Planeswalkers, and Battles.

When can instants be cast?

The defining feature of an instant is that it can be cast at any time, regardless of which player is currently taking their turn. Regular Creatures, Sorceries, Enchantments, and more can only be played during their owner’s turn, but Instants can be cast whenever their owner chooses.

Sometimes, abilities like Flash allow non-instant cards to be cast ‘at Instant speed’, meaning that they could be cast at any time the player would be able to cast an instant.

To get really into the nitty-gritty, Instants can be cast whenever a player has priority. We go into this more in-depth here, along with other key elements of Magic gameplay.

MTG: Using Instants in play

WOTC

Instants are often equipped with removal effects; destroying, exiling, or countering other cards. The ‘surprise’ element of an Instant is often its greatest strength; it can be harder for an opponent to plan around an effect cast directly from the hand than an effect already on the battlefield.

Instants lend themselves well to reaction-based gameplay, countering an opponent’s biggest casts and negating their attempts to build up tempo. But they can also be played in an aggressive manner, providing unexpected buffs during the combat step, dealing direct damage to creatures or players, and more.

Do Instants stay on the board?

Much like Sorceries, Instants are not permanent cards. This means that when they are cast, they go straight to the graveyard without entering the battlefield once their effect resolves.

It is important to consider a balance of permanents to non-permanents in any good deck. But there are always exceptions to the rule, such as heavily creature-focused decks that cut down on instants, or Commanders Like Codie, Vociferous Codex that prevent their player from casting permanents.

Which MTG colors use Instants

As one of the foundational elements of MTG gameplay, Instants can be found all across the color wheel. Blue and Red see arguably the strongest showing of Instants – as their gameplay revolves heavily around restricting and removing opponents’ plays, providing value, and dealing direct damage – but every color uses Instants to some degree.

Legendary Instants

When applied to creatures, the ‘Legend Rule’ means that no more than one copy of a single legendary Creature can be active on its controller’s board at once. But since Instants never enter the battlefield to begin with, legendary Instants and Sorceries work slightly differently. In order to cast a legendary Instant, you must control a legendary Creature or legendary Planeswalker at the time of casting.

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