I’m sorry for the lack of posts. There hasn’t been anything to post about in the past few days. But now I have something to post about.

Vanguard cards were giant cards made to o along with Magic: the Gathering. They are not Magic cards, but they have no use outside of Magic. They are like an enchantment that only affects you, and you don’t need to actually have one to use it, as long as you know the ability. In fact, you can even make your own then play games with them, which you can’t do with normal cards. They are also old, and there aren’t going to be any new Vanguards coming out.

Here is an example of one I made in 5 minutes in MSE. As you can see, it doesn’t actually do anything.

The card’s name, flavor text, and image don’t need explaining. The box where I wrote EFFECT HERE is where the effect is written. Any damage dealt by these cards are treated as damage from a colorless source that isn’t from any source or permanent of any color. Abilities are played as normal abilities.

Those were the easy ones. There are also two circles in which I wrote “+/- #.” That probably isn’t the best way to explain it, but I only had that little space. What is supposed to be written there is either a plus or a minus, then a number. For example, “+15″ or “-2.” If you can read the card, then you’ll that the circle on the left says “Starting and Maximum Hand Size.” When you are using a card, you start the game by drawing 7 cards plus or minus that number, and when you discard down to your maximum hand size, you discard down to 7 plus or minus that number. The other circle works in the same way, but it says “starting life total” instead. This doesn’t change anything once the game starts, but you get 20 plus or minus that number instead of 20 life at the beginning of the game. (Once in the game, it’s treated as if nothing happened, except that you have that much more or less life.)

Here is an example of a real card:

If you are using this card, and your creature gets dealt enough damage to be destroyed, you can take a damage or two and keep your creature in play, any time during the game. The number on the left is a -1, so you only draw 6 cards and you discard down to 6. The number on the right is a +15, so you start with 35 life. 

Remember, to play Vanguard, all you need is to know the effect and the two numbers, and have a willling opponent. No need to go out and buy the actual cards, just write it down on paper and keep it in sight during the game.