Card Gamer Style Guide and Submission Guidelines

Last updated December 2, 2024

The following style guide is a resource for writers and prospective writers of cardgamer.com and to help answer questions that may arise during the writing process. If anything is not addressed below, use your best judgment or check in with our editors. If you would like a 1:1 instruction on how to use various aspects of this guide or WordPress in general, please reach out to an editor (contact info at bottom of page).

A Note on Using this Guide

The goal of every article should be to convey something of value to the reader: entertainment, humor, information, advice, encouragement, the opportunity to comment on a hot-button issue, etc. 

Please note: the fact that your articles will be edited doesn’t mean you can be sloppy. Editing time should be spent polishing your paper to professional quality, not correcting simple errors.

We recommend composing your piece within WordPress itself. Copy-pasting from other programs can mess with formatting. If you do copy-paste from another program into WordPress, be sure to use the clipboard icon to paste it as plain text.

AI Usage Policy

Effective July 29, 2024

Space Cow Media and its affiliate websites do not under any circumstances approve of or publish known AI-generated content. This includes but is not limited to ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other Large Language Models (LLMs) and content generation tools, platforms, and program applications.

Please be aware that this rule is retroactive, meaning that if authors are found to have published/be publishing AI-generated content on our websites, this will be communicated and their writer position will be terminated. Space Cow Media reserves the right to determine what constitutes AI-generated content per the company’s discretion.

Submission Deadlines

Articles should be submitted at least five days in advance. This not only helps with our editor’s schedule, but also gives us time to rearrange in case someone misses a day, to make sure we still have content to publish every day.

On a related note, if you are going to miss a day, let our editor know as soon as you can.

Posting on Reddit

Reddit is a bit of a necessary evil, I’m afraid. We submit our own articles to Reddit using our own accounts on the days the articles are published. If you don’t have an account, go to their website and make one for free. Once you have an account, subscribe to the subreddit that most fits your content. It may help to reach out to the moderators to let them know you’re a writer. When you’re ready to submit an article, submit it as a text post, put a description in the body of it and link the article. If you want a good example, check out how this was done. When you submit, you will need to put “flair” on the post or the automoderator will delete it. If you need help, read this wiki stub on how to flair posts. Finally, begin the title of the post with [Article] so that readers are aware the link they are about to click will take them to an article.  Once posted, copy the link of your post and put it in the Discord channel content-feed to encourage others to upvote and comment on the article. The more you like and share each other’s content, the better for everyone. 

Conduct

We expect the following behavior from all our writers on the Discord server and in all communication with the editorial team and other writers.

• Card Gamer is an inclusive platform. We expect all writers to be respectful of others’ identities in the Discord channel and within your articles.
• We will not tolerate discrimination or bigotry within articles or in any communication with the editorial team or other writers.
• Writers are welcome to express concerns and ask questions about updates and changes to Card Gamer, but this must always be done in a respectful and considerate way.
• If you do not abide by the above, we may no longer be able to work with you. This is irrespective of the quality of your content.

Quick Basics

Preview – Check Your Work

Our #1 piece of advice: use the Preview button on the top right. It’s the best button in the world. This will show you how your article looks, and helps you catch errors and formatting issues. We can tell when you don’t use it! It makes your job so much easier if you routinely use Preview to check your work.

Title and Headings – Think SEO Always

Be sure to use headings and images to break up the sections of your article. A big wall of text does not look inviting to read. We reserve the right to break things up and add our own headers & card images if you don’t!

Your article title should be 50 – 60 characters in length, and never longer. 

When you’re creating your title and headings, ask yourself, “If someone typed this into a Google search, would they find my article?” If the answer is no, then try something else. Remember that the goal is always to get more eyes on your article. A title of “How Does Combat Work?” might fit with your article, but “How Does Combat Work in Pokémon?” is far more likely to get a hit on a search engine.

If your articles have a series name, include it in your opening paragraph in italics, but not in the article title.

Article headings should generally use the Heading 2 style, please don’t add Bold to it. If your article has sub-sections, you can break them up using Heading 3.

Featured Image

Your article should have a featured image, generally sized 1920 x 1080. If you’re able to create your own image, feel free. Otherwise let your editor know if you have any ideas for the image, and they’ll try to accommodate. If you add an image yourself, make sure to add Alt Text which includes the subject of your article.

Other Images

If your article doesn’t include WP tag card images (Magic and Flesh and Blood, see below), you should do your best to break things up with uploaded images. Image sizes should be sensible, not too small to see, and not so big that they take up the entire window.

To upload media (images) to your article, put your cursor where you want the image, then click the Add Media button on the top left area of WordPress. This will bring up a window showing previous media in the Media Library. You’ll want to click on the Upload Files tab on the upper left, and from there you can either click the select files button to find the file path to the file you want to use, or simply drag the image into the window to upload it.

Card Tags and Images (Magic)

When you reference card names, please tag them. To add tags to a card, highlight the card name, then select the correct code button from the “Magic” dropdown:

This will automatically put the tag codes around the card name.

The code for text, which shows the card image when the cursor hovers over it, is: [e l]Card Name[/e l], but without spaces between e and l.

Make sure the card’s name is spelled properly and has the correct punctuation, capitalization, and spacing. Ex: [e l]Stoneforge Mystic[/e l] instead of [e l]stone forge mystic[/e l].

Split cards: To tag split cards, use the format [e l]Name // Name[/e l]. WordPress doesn’t let us tag an individual half of a card.

• Correct: [e l]Fire // Ice[/e l]
• Incorrect: [e l]Fire//Ice[/e l]
• Incorrect: [e l]Fire[/e l]

Images: The tag to show a card’s image rather than the name text is [e c]Card Name[/e c], but without spaces between e and c. 

You can put up to three images next to each other. This would be done as follows:

[e c]
Llanowar Elves
Elvish Mystic
Fyndhorn Elves
[/e c]

Which looks like this in the article:

• You can do this for 1-3 cards, but no more than 3.
• Don’t put the “ec” links around each individual card, or they’ll appear in a column rather than a row.
• Don’t center-justify the text, it will space them out on its own.
• If you see a Chaos Orb instead of the card you want, take a close look at the spelling of the card.

Non-card images: You’re free to add in your own images! For example, some authors will use memes to punctuate a point, or separate sections with different art images. You can also add in your own card images, if there’s a specific version of a card you wish to feature. Scryfall is usually a good source for card images. Use the Add Media button to include a card image, then center and resize it appropriately.

Double-faced cards: These are fickle! Unfortunately, WordPress only likes to see the first name of the card. Tag double-faced cards as just their front half, not as both halves, and not as the back half.

• Correct: [e l]Bala Ged Recovery[/e l]
• Incorrect: [e l]Bala Ged Recovery // Bala Ged Sanctuary[/e l]
• Incorrect: [e l]Bala Ged Sanctuary[/e l]
• If this changes, we’ll let you know! This is just how WordPress works with these cards right now.

There are several additional tags you can use when dealing with double-faced cards, depending on what you want to show. They are (without spaces):

[e lr] (text): show back of double-sided card on hover with front hidden

[e lo] (text): show only back of double-sided card on hover

[e ls] (text): show front and back of double-sided card on hover

[e lf] (text): show only front of double-sided card on hover

[e cr] (image): show back image of double-sided card, and show the front on hover

[e co] (image): show only the back image of double-sided card

[e cs] (image): show front and back image of double-sided card side by side

In all of the above tags, make sure the text within the tag is the name of the card on the front.

Specific Printings/Specific Art: Sometimes you’ll want to refer to a specific printing of a card. To pull a particular card, use the format card name|set code|collector number.

• Specific card pull [e l]Giant Growth|ME4|156[/e l] 

NOTE: Card images are automatically pulled & updated from Scryfall. If a set has recently-spoiled cards, they may or may not be updated in the database the same day.

What’s been easiest for me is to search up the card name in Scryfall, then click on the edition you want under Prints on the right. If it’s not there, you’ll have to click on View all prints. Click on the card, then look at the URL. In the above example, the URL is
https://scryfall.com/card/me4/156/giant-growth

So based on the URL you know if you want that edition to show in the article you need me4|156 in your card tag.

Alternate Names: If you want to tag a card image without directly saying that card’s name, you can! For example, you can say just Sram instead of the full Sram, Senior Edificer.

• The code for this is [e l value=”Sram”]Sram, Senior Edificer[/e l], again, without spaces between e and l.

Decklist Formatting (Magic)

Please note, all decklists and decklist links must be submitted using Archidekt and not any other deckbuilding platform that we are in direct competition with.

All decklists submitted should be divided into sections:

1. Creatures
2. Instants
3. Sorceries
4. Artifacts
5. Enchantments
6. Planeswalkers
7. Lands
8. Sideboard, if necessary

• Important: Organize the sections logically, with the most important category first (usually, this means the creatures). Lands should always be the last section.
• Important: Use the Preview button to make sure your decklist isn’t super lopsided. Rearrange the sections within the decklist if necessary, so that the two columns are relatively even with each other.
• You are also at liberty to separate decklists by card function (e.g. “Draw Spells” / “Finishers” / “Ramp” / “Combo Enablers” and so on). If you choose this method, however, make sure the sections are specific and distinct, and keep it to less than 10 sections; too many labels can be distracting and confusing.

Pro tip: Don’t include apostrophes in your deck titles. It doesn’t work, for some reason. “Radha’s Journey” will show up as “Radha’s Journey” and that’s no fun for anyone.

Pro tip: The rules for split cards and double-faced cards also apply to decklists! Split cards need both names, double-faced cards only need the name on the front half.

The easiest way to add a decklist is to export it directly from Archidekt. In your deck screen, click on the radial buttons on the left of the screen (shown below), then click Export deck. In the Export Type dropdown, select EDHREC article. Then click the Copy button. Go to WordPress and paste it where you want it.

Important: Because our site has multiple games, you’ll need to add something at the beginning of your deck list to WordPress knows it’s a Magic deck. You’ll change “[d eck title=xyz]” to “[magic_d eck title=xyz]” and change “[/d eck]” to “[/magic_d eck]”

It will look like this (without spaces between d and eck):

[magic_d eck title=Beary Good]

[Commander]

*1 Shameless Charlatan

*1 Wilson, Refined Grizzly

[/Commander]

[Lands]

*1 Alchemist’s Refuge

*1 Barkchannel Pathway

*1 Breeding Pool

*1 Castle Vantress

*1 Command Tower

*1 Crystal Grotto

*1 Dreamroot Cascade

*1 Fabled Passage

*1 Flooded Grove

*8 Forest

*1 Hinterland Harbor

*10 Island

*1 Rejuvenating Springs

*1 Reliquary Tower

*1 Rogue’s Passage

*1 Simic Growth Chamber

*1 Tangled Islet

*1 Temple of Mystery

*1 Thespian’s Stage

*1 Vineglimmer Snarl

*1 Yavimaya Coast

[/Lands]

[Creatures]

*1 Adrix and Nev, Twincasters

*1 Biovisionary

*1 Circle of Dreams Druid

*1 Clever Impersonator

*1 Consecrated Sphinx

*1 Copycrook

*1 Curiosity Crafter

*1 Esix, Fractal Bloom

*1 Eternal Witness

*1 Glasspool Mimic

*1 Guardian Augmenter

*1 Phyrexian Metamorph

*1 Progenitor Mimic

*1 Reclamation Sage

*1 Sakashima of a Thousand Faces

*1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

*1 Spark Double

*1 Tireless Provisioner

*1 Vizier of Many Faces

[/Creatures]

[Instants]

*1 Aetherize

*1 Commander’s Insight

*1 Double Major

*1 Elminster’s Simulacrum

*1 Fleeting Reflection

*1 Frantic Search

*1 Heroic Intervention

*1 Krosan Grip

*1 Negate

*1 Planar Genesis

*1 Pongify

*1 Rapid Hybridization

*1 Reenact the Crime

*1 Repudiate // Replicate

*1 Return of the Wildspeaker

*1 Second Harvest

*1 Sublime Epiphany

*1 Theoretical Duplication

[/Instants]

[Sorceries]

*1 Cultivate

*1 Doppelgang

*1 Ezuri’s Predation

*1 Harmonize

*1 Irenicus’s Vile Duplication

*1 Kodama’s Reach

*1 Nature’s Lore

*1 Rampant Growth

*1 Regrowth

*1 Replication Technique

*1 Rite of Replication

*1 Shamanic Revelation

*1 Three Visits

[/Sorceries]

[Artifacts]

*1 Arcane Signet

*1 Chromatic Lantern

*1 Idol of Oblivion

*1 Lifecrafter’s Bestiary

*1 Manascape Refractor

*1 Mirror Box

*1 Sol Ring

*1 Swiftfoot Boots

[/Artifacts]

[Enchantments]

*1 Extravagant Replication

*1 Mirrormade

*1 Sylvan Library

[/Enchantments]

[/magic_d eck]

[edhrec_d eck]

[Commander]

*1 Shameless Charlatan

*1 Wilson, Refined Grizzly

[/Commander]

[Lands]

*1 Alchemist’s Refuge

*1 Barkchannel Pathway

*1 Breeding Pool

*1 Castle Vantress

*1 Command Tower

*1 Crystal Grotto

*1 Dreamroot Cascade

*1 Fabled Passage

*1 Flooded Grove

*8 Forest

*1 Hinterland Harbor

*10 Island

*1 Rejuvenating Springs

*1 Reliquary Tower

*1 Rogue’s Passage

*1 Simic Growth Chamber

*1 Tangled Islet

*1 Temple of Mystery

*1 Thespian’s Stage

*1 Vineglimmer Snarl

*1 Yavimaya Coast

[/Lands]

[Creatures]

*1 Adrix and Nev, Twincasters

*1 Biovisionary

*1 Circle of Dreams Druid

*1 Clever Impersonator

*1 Consecrated Sphinx

*1 Copycrook

*1 Curiosity Crafter

*1 Esix, Fractal Bloom

*1 Eternal Witness

*1 Glasspool Mimic

*1 Guardian Augmenter

*1 Phyrexian Metamorph

*1 Progenitor Mimic

*1 Reclamation Sage

*1 Sakashima of a Thousand Faces

*1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

*1 Spark Double

*1 Tireless Provisioner

*1 Vizier of Many Faces

[/Creatures]

[Instants]

*1 Aetherize

*1 Commander’s Insight

*1 Double Major

*1 Elminster’s Simulacrum

*1 Fleeting Reflection

*1 Frantic Search

*1 Heroic Intervention

*1 Krosan Grip

*1 Negate

*1 Planar Genesis

*1 Pongify

*1 Rapid Hybridization

*1 Reenact the Crime

*1 Repudiate // Replicate

*1 Return of the Wildspeaker

*1 Second Harvest

*1 Sublime Epiphany

*1 Theoretical Duplication

[/Instants]

[Sorceries]

*1 Cultivate

*1 Doppelgang

*1 Ezuri’s Predation

*1 Harmonize

*1 Irenicus’s Vile Duplication

*1 Kodama’s Reach

*1 Nature’s Lore

*1 Rampant Growth

*1 Regrowth

*1 Replication Technique

*1 Rite of Replication

*1 Shamanic Revelation

*1 Three Visits

[/Sorceries]

[Artifacts]

*1 Arcane Signet

*1 Chromatic Lantern

*1 Idol of Oblivion

*1 Lifecrafter’s Bestiary

*1 Manascape Refractor

*1 Mirror Box

*1 Sol Ring

*1 Swiftfoot Boots

[/Artifacts]

[Enchantments]

*1 Extravagant Replication

*1 Mirrormade

*1 Sylvan Library

[/Enchantments]

[/edhrec_d eck]

[archidekt_l ink]https://archidekt.com/decks/3260729/beary_good[/archidekt_l ink]

You’ll notice that the list repeats once. To move the lands to the end of the decklist, you only need to adjust the list of the first half. Simply highlight and cut the lands section, then go to right before [/d eck] and paste them back in here. 

Formatted correctly, the decklist will look like this:

View this decklist on Archidekt

Text Formatting (Magic): Capitalization, Italics, & More

When in doubt, look at a card. Our guidelines tend to follow a lot of the same rules as the text that appears on cards.

Here is a quick example of what to expect: “I like to play Limited and Commander. My commander is a legendary Elf Knight from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms that uses artifacts and enchantments, especially Auras and Equipment, for a Voltron strategy. I like playing blue-black, but in this case, I went with Bant.”

Capitalization

The following items should be capitalized:

1. All words in card names, except for articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions of less than five letters (as, by, for, from, in, etc.).

• Card subtypes are capitalized; Auras, Equipment, Sagas, Zombies, Birds, Dragons.

1. Game formats

• e.g., Standard, Legacy, Limited, Constructed
• Important: We play Commander, but Atraxa is your commander.

1. All proper nouns, including but not limited to:

• Magic: the Gathering and any shorthand reference to the game of Magic (not “magic” or “mtg”).
• Names of characters, people, places, etc.
• Guilds/factions, e.g., Simic, Esper, Akroan, etc.
• Names of businesses and websites (e.g. Twitter, Star City Games, etc.)
• Colloquial non-mechanic words for deck types, such as Voltron.

The following items should not be capitalized:

1. Card types

• e.g., instant, sorcery, planeswalker, creature, land
• Important: Subtypes are different than card types. Auras, Equipment, Sagas, Curses, those are all capitalized. Creature types are also capitalized.
• e.g., “My Spider typal deck doesn’t run a lot of enchantments or artifacts, but I do have some Equipment.”

1. Colors

• e.g., red mana, blue card, green mage

1. Commander vs commander

• Commander (capital C) is the format. The cards that helm your deck are commanders (lower-case c). “My commander is Atraxa.” “Do you want to play Commander?” “Which of these commanders would you build?” “Bastion Protector gives commander creatures indestructible.”

Italics

1. We play Magic, also known as Magic: the Gathering, also known as MtG.
2. Set names.
   • “This card is from Saviors of Kamigawa. I really like the plane of Kamigawa.”
3. The title of an article series.
   • “Hello and welcome to Underdog’s Corner.”
4. Keywords and mechanics do not need to be italicized if they are not italicized on the card. However, all ability words must be italicized. These are flavor abilities which are printed in italics on Magic cards.

“Edgar Markov is a legendary creature with first strike, haste and Eminence.”

Card Tags and Images (Pokémon) – coming soon

Decklist Formatting (Pokémon) – coming soon

Text Formatting (Pokémon) Capitalization, Italics, & More

One of the most important rules to remember is to always use the e-acute (é), rather than a normal e, in the word Pokémon. As we aim for our articles to be used by a wide range of players, from novices to experts, I also think it’s helpful if, in the first mention of the game’s full name in an article, i.e. Pokémon Trading Card Game, we also have (or TCG) added too. Then, further references to the game’s full name can simply state Pokémon TCG.

A golden rule to avoid any confusion is to follow the card when it comes to capitalization or italics. This is the same for any game we cover; our guidelines will almost always use the card text as a guide, following the same formatting rules.

However, here’s some further guidance to ensure that all aspects are clarified.

Capitalization

The following items should be capitalized:

1. All words in card names, except for articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions of less than five letters (as, by, for, from, in, etc.).
2. Card evolution types are capitalized: Basic, Stage 1, Stage 2, and so on.
3. All Energy types are capitalized, including the word Energy. Basic Energy, for example, but also Lightning Energy, Basic Lightning Energy and so on. This applies to Special Energy types too. As a further note, always use the word for an Energy type, not its symbol – Colorless is an Energy type, and should be capitalized.
4. Card types including Trainer, Supporter, Pokémon Tool, Stadium and all others; this includes the word Pokémon, when referring to the card type, not the game.
5. Any Special Conditions: Burned, Paralyzed, Asleep, Confused and Poisoned, as well as the phrase ‘Special Condition’ itself.
6. Also, the names of businesses and websites when referenced in the article (social media platforms such as Instagram or X, or businesses such as Cardmarket or TCG Player etc.7. Pokémon ex and Pokémon EX are two different types of card; the distinction will depend on how the ‘ex’ is styled on the card’s name itself. Follow the card’s format, as to whether the lower case ex (which is current) or upper case EX (a historic type that may or may not return to the game) should be used.
7. On a similar note, Pokémon V, VMAX, VSTAR and V-UNION should always be completely capitalized and written as they are on the card.
8. Benched and Active
9. All proper nouns, and the following Pokémon specific wording:

• Pokémon Trading Card Game and any shorthand reference to the game of Pokémon (including TCG).
• Names of characters, people, places, etc. Alola or Hoenn are two examples of places, and Alolan Exeggutor is an example of a Pokémon from a specific region.
• Ability and attack names, for example Surf or Water Gun.

The following items should not be capitalized:

1. The words ability, abilities, and attack, even when referring to a specific Pokémon attack or ability; the ability itself, however, is capitalized as in the rule above.
2. Colors – Energy types should be referred to at all times in any case, rather than their color.
3. The words weakness, resistance, and retreat are always lower case.

Italics

1. The name of the game itself should be italicized, whether it’s referred to as Pokémon, Pokémon Trading Card Game or Pokémon TCG. But we don’t italicize Pokémon when referring to the card type.
2. Set names.
   • “This card is from Surging Sparks.
     
3. The title of an article series.
   • “In the latest of our Reshuffle features….”
     
4. Keywords and mechanics do not need to be italicized if they are not italicized on the card.

If in Doubt, Ask!

Finally, we would also say that if there’s any particular word you’re not sure about, or something that doesn’t come up in the guide, please feel free to reach out and discuss. 

Card Tags and Images (Flesh and Blood)

When you reference card names, please tag them. To add tags to a card, highlight the card name, then select the correct code button from the “FAB” dropdown:

The code for text that shows the card image on hover is: [f l]Card Name[/f l], but without the spaces between f and l. Make sure the card’s name is spelled properly and has the correct punctuation, capitalization, and spacing.

• e.g., Torrent of Tempo, not torrent of tempo, etc.

For cards with pitch value:

Include the color after the name.

• e.g., Sink Below red.

This (currently) has to be done even with cards that don’t have multiple pitch values/colors.

For readability purposes, we want to avoid having the card color shown in the text unless it’s important for clarity. To make the color word not show, the code is [f l value=”Sink Below”]Sink Below red[/f l], without the spaces between f and l. This code will make it so that all the reader sees is “Sink Below,” but when they hover over the text they’ll see the red version of Sink Below.

Images: Card images are also easy. The code for this is [f c]Card Name[/fc], but without spaces between f and c. 

You can put up to three images next to each other. This would be done as follows:

[f c]

Premeditate red

Art of War yellow

Nullrune Gloves

[/f c]

Which will look like this:

• You can do this for 1-3 cards, but not more than 3
• Don’t put the “ec” links around each card individually, or they’ll appear in a column rather than a row
• Don’t center-justify the text, it will space them out on its own.
• If you see a Chaos Orb or just a red box instead of the card you want, take a close look at the spelling of the card.

Decklist Formatting (Flesh and Blood)

All decklists submitted should be divided into four sections:

1. Hero
2. Weapons
3. Equipment
4. Main Deck

You can also have an optional Sideboard category.

Use the following outline when including a decklist in your article (again, all spaces in the middle of words should be removed for tags to work):

[fab_d eck title= Deck Name Here]

[Hero]

[/Hero]

[Weapons]

[/Weapons]

[Equipment]

[/Equipment]

[Main]

[/Main]

[Sideboard]

[/Sideboard]

[/fab_d eck]

Put the cards in between the two labels for each section, and don’t put anything after [/fab_d eck]. List the number and name of each card together on one line, starting with an asterisk (*), the numeral, and the card name. List only one card name per line. Don’t pluralize the card name, even if more than one copy is in the deck. For single cards, you’ll still need to put the *1 in front. And note that all cards in the main section should have a color at the end, even if only one color of the card is in print.

Here’s an example decklist:

[fab_d eck title=Battle Hardened: Singapore 5th]

[Hero]

*1 Katsu, the Wanderer

[/Hero]

[Weapons]

*2 Harmonized Kodachi

[/Weapons]

[Equipment]

*1 Breaking Scales

*1 Fyendal’s Spring Tunic

*1 Mask of Momentum

*1 Nullrune Gloves

*1 Nullrune Robe

*1 Snapdragon Scalers

*1 Tide Flippers

[/Equipment]

[Main]

*3 Ancestral Empowerment red

*3 Command and Conquer red

*1 Double Strike red

*3 Enlightened Strike red

*3 Erase Face red

*3 Even Bigger Than That red

*3 Flic Flak red

*3 Leg Tap red

*3 Razor Reflex red

*3 Rising Knee Thrust red

*3 Scar for a Scar red

*3 Sink Below red

*3 Snatch red

*3 Surging Strike red

*3 Take the Tempo red

*3 Whelming Gustwave red

*1 Hurricane Technique yellow

*3 Mugenshi RELEASE yellow

*3 Surging Strike yellow

*1 Crane Dance blue

*3 Find Center blue

*2 Fluster Fist blue

*3 Lord of Wind blue

*3 Rising Knee Thrust blue

*3 Whelming Gustwave blue

*3 Winds of Eternity blue

[/Main]

[/fab_d eck]

Which will look like this when formatted correctly:

Text Formatting (Flesh and Blood): Capitalization, Italics, & More

When in doubt, look at a card. Our guidelines tend to follow a lot of the same rules as the text that appears on cards.

Capitalization

The following items should be capitalized:

1. All words in card names, except for articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions of less than five letters (as, by, for, from, in, etc.).

• Exception: articles, conjunctions, and prepositions should be capitalized when used as the first word in a card name.
• e.g., Revenge of the Hunted, A Display of My Dark Power, Howl from Beyond
• Tip: when in doubt, refer to the card itself.
• When you’re referring to a card after its first full reference, capitalize the shortened version too (e.g., [card]Delver of Secrets[/card] dominates Standard. If you’re not playing a Delver deck, you’re doing it wrong.)

2. Flesh and Blood formats

• e.g., Blitz, Sealed, Classic Constructed
• Exception: The act of drafting is not a proper noun. (e.g., “I drafted a sweet deck…Do you want to draft tonight?” as opposed to, “My favorite Draft format is Uprising…The event’s format is Draft.”)

3. All proper nouns, including but not limited to:

• Flesh and Blood and any shorthand reference to the game, like FAB.
• Set codes, like OUT, DYN, etc.
• Names of characters, people, places, etc.
• Class and types, e.g., Ninja, Assassin, Elemental, etc.
• Names of specific events (e.g., Pro Tour: Baltimore). Exception: not generic events (e.g., The pro tour was awesome this weekend…I went to the calling last month).
• Names of businesses and websites (e.g. Twitter, Star City Games, etc.)

 The following items should not be capitalized:

1. Card types

• e.g., hero, weapon, action, reaction, etc.

2. Colors

• e.g., red, blue, yellow

3. Generic terms, even if they are referencing a proper noun

• e.g., Pro Tour: Baltimore vs. the pro tour; Editor-in-Chief XYZ vs. I am editor-in-chief of this website.

Bolding and Italics

Use bolding for readability, and italics for emphasis. If you want to show emphasis, use italics rather than bolded or capitalized text. Bolding can be useful for readability, especially in lists.

1. Flesh and Blood

• Always italicize Flesh and Blood.

2. Set names

• Always italicize set names like Outsiders or Dynasty.

3. Card effects

• Never italicize card effects.

Text Formatting (Other Games): Capitalization, Italics, & More

Coming soon

Other Rules

Language Use

• Use hyphens appropriately: 
• Use hyphens when talking about colors – non-black, non-green. If you’re using the word “monocolored” this is written as all one word. 
• Do not use hyphens for describing a card type when this is used on a card – for example, noncreature spells, or nonland permanents.
• When describing a deck type using the “matters” framework, use hyphens – “Artifacts-matter deck,” “Creature-type-matters deck.”
• When referencing “one versus one” formats, write this as 1v1. 
• Write “type line” as two separate words, not “typeline.” This references the line on the Magic card directly below the illustration, such as “Legendary creature – Elf.”
• When referring to set names, use the full name first. For example, write “The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle-earth.” You can then choose to shorten this when referencing the set again later in your article, such as “The Lord of the Rings set.” If you’d like to use the set code throughout your article, put this in parentheses first next to the full name of the set: “Throne of Eldraine (ELD).”
• Be conscious of using the correct grammar for referring to a plural of a particular creature type. For example, “Samurai” not “Samurais.” 

International Spellings and Idioms

Please use American English spellings in your articles. Most of our readership is American, and while it will be in ignorance, most will see foreign spellings as wrong. Furthermore, our editor does not have the training to edit in anything other than American English.

However, please feel free to use terms and idioms unique to your location! Play up the international aspect of the game—it’s one of the coolest things about it.

Typal vs Kindred (Magic)

Typal is collective Magic slang for a block, set or deck with a theme centered around one or more creature types. Ixalan could be referred to as a typal set as it heavily features and supports Pirates, Dinosaurs, Merfolk, and Vampires.

Kindred is the new name for the card type first introduced as Tribal, found in sets Future Sight and Lorwyn. Creatures and Kindreds share the same sets of subtypes, like with Bitterblossom, which we can assume in its next printing will be a Kindred Enchantment – Faerie.

So, ultimately when using the term typal, we are referring to something mechanically caring about creature types, such as, “Coat of Arms is a great card for typal decks”. When using the term kindred, we are referring to a specific type of magic card that shares its subtype with a creature. E.g. “This deck contains Bitterblossom, which is a kindred enchantment.”

If you are only talking about a specific creature type in your article, just use the name of the creature type to make your article as simple as possible. For example, you can write “Elf deck” as opposed to “Elf typal deck”.

Numbers and Numerals

As a general rule, numbers under 10 should be spelled out (one, two, three, four, etc.), and numbers 10 and over should use numerals (10, 25, 117, 1000).

Exceptions:

• Sentences should not start with numerals. Either spell out the number or rephrase the sentence. (Incorrect: 20 people showed up for the IQ. Correct: Twenty people showed up for the IQ or The IQ had 20 people show up.)

• Numbers of cards in decklists should always use numerals, e.g., 3 Squire.
• When citing monetary prices, using numerals is okay (e.g., $27, $113.56, etc.). Also use the dollar sign.
• When you’re citing a tournament record, numerals are okay. (e.g., I’m 6-0 so far.)
• When using multiple numbers in different contexts, sometimes it can be more clear to use a mix of numerals and written-out numbers. As always, be consistent! (e.g., My opponent had three cards in hand and was at 4 life, I had six and was at 9.)
• “She attacked me with three 4/4s,” not “three 4/4’s.”

Financial Data

We understand card prices might fluctuate between you writing your article and your article going live. We also want to bear in mind someone might be reading your article months from now. When referencing any financial data, please add the following disclaimer to the bottom of your article:

Please note: card prices listed in this article are accurate at the time of writing, but prices can vary over time and between locations.

Polls

Unfortunately, you can’t generate a poll without administrative access. State clearly in your article that you would like the editor to add a poll and what you would like the answer options to be. We’ll get it added prior to publication.

Profanity

Keep it PG-13.

Pronouns

Don’t just default to ‘he’ when referring to hypothetical players. Use a healthy mix. A lot of different types of people play this game.

Pronouns for Psychographics: Don’t forget, it’s not just Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. Use Timmy and/or Tammy, Johnny and/or Jenny. Spike is already neutral.

Pronouns to use when referring to cards: Cards should be referred to as “it” in most instances (e.g., “My opponent cast Snapcaster Mage, but I bolted it before blocks”).

• Exception: Legendary creatures and planeswalkers (e.g., “Venser, Shaper Savant is really good, I like him a lot).
• Know your character genders. For example, Mizzix and Vial Smasher are female. Aetherborn (like Gonti and Yahenni) are “they.”

Punctuation

Apostrophes:

Proper nouns ending in “s” should be followed by an apostrophe and another “s.” This is consistent with templating on cards (and, you know, proper punctuation in general).

• e.g., Mons’s Goblin Raiders, Rakdos’s Revenge, Luis’s winning decklist

Simple nouns ending in “s” should be followed by just an apostrophe.

• e.g., The players’ decks were all too expensive; the students’ scores were bad.

Its vs. it’s: “It’s,” with the apostrophe, is a contraction of “it is” and only a contraction of “it is.” The possessive form of it has no apostrophe: “its.” Watch out for this! It is (or it’s, if you prefer) a common error.

• Use apostrophes for plurals only where “s” alone would be confusing (e.g., dot your i’s and cross your t’s).

Commas:

Seriously, use the Oxford comma. 

• e.g., Over PT weekend I picked up lots of copies of Arcanite Skullcap, Bloodsheath Skeleta, and Arknight Ascendancy (note the comma before “and”).

Dashes:

If you’re using dashes to break up sentences—like this—know how to use them. Em dashes are preferred (make them by using Alt + 0151). The regular keyboard dash looks odd, so use the Em, please. 

Hyphens:

Hyphens should be used with compound adjectives. This means that if you are describing a noun with multiple words, those words should be connected with hyphens.

• e.g., 19-year-old player; semi-competitive event; 60-card deck; long-anticipated wait; far-too-long-and-complicated explanation, etc.
• The exception is when the first word ends in a Y (Correct: highly anticipated event).

Percent Sign:

Use the % symbol, rather than spell out “percent.”

Ellipsis:

When using ellipsis … do it like this to show something has been omitted. And like this… for effect. Rarely use ellipses for effect, however, and never in an interview where they are otherwise being used to omit words. A period or an em dash often works better.

Quotation Marks:

Periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks, even if it’s not part of the original quote. (e.g., He said Nightveil Specter was a “bad spec.”)

Question marks and exclamation marks can go either in- or outside the quotation marks, depending on how they were used in the original quote. (e.g., Did you hear him say to me, “You’re fat”?; He asked me, “Do you know where the LGS is?”; I can’t believe she would say, “I’m not interested”!; He screamed, “I am angry!”)

Don’t use single quotation marks, use double quotation marks. (e.g., “Get out of here!”  not: ‘Get out of here!’)

• Exception: When embedding quotation marks within another set of quotation marks, only then should you use single quotations. (e.g., He said to me, “Sally told me ‘Go win the tournament!'”)

Spacing

Do not put two spaces after the end of sentences. This is an outdated practice from the typewriter days, and no matter what your elementary school teacher told you, it’s no longer necessary or correct.

Word Count

Try to keep your articles between 800 and 1,500 words.

• Cutting unnecessary language will tighten up your writing and almost always make your points clearer. It’s easier to write more than less, but writing for the sake of writing doesn’t make it better—it just makes it longer.
• Long epics are sometimes fun, but can lose most readers. Remember that we’re competing for the time they have set aside for reading articles.
• That said, if you have a long article that can’t or shouldn’t be broken into parts, don’t be afraid to go long. As long as you have a justifiable reason for doing so and you believe it’s worth it to the reader, you’re fine.

Things to Avoid

Help keep your editor sane and try to cut out some of these common phrases – they just aren’t necessary.

–         Don’t restate the rules text on a card unless you’re doing so for effect or adding context. Otherwise, name the card in full on first reference and readers can look at the graphic if applicable or just mouse over the card.

–         “A card/deck like [X]” when what they mean is “[X]”

–         “we” instead of “you” (exceptions: team deck building)

–         “The card [X]” instead of “[X]”

–         “and also”

–         “[X] is a card that…” instead of “[X] does…”

–         “I think/believe”

–         “It’s worth noting that”

Write Concisely

Don’t use two words where one will do. Don’t clog your prose with meaningless qualifiers such as ‘rather’, ‘very’, ‘really’, ‘essentially’. Essentially they’re rather pointless.

Links to External Content (Magic)

Reference other articles whenever you can! This is very helpful for the website and helps our older articles continue to get views.

Where you can, please also reference our associated sites, such as:

• Commander’s Herald – our primary editorial site for general Magic content, news, deck techs and more.
• Archidekt – Our deckbuilding website. Please note that as we are a direct competitor to Moxfield, we do not allow Moxfield links in any of our articles.
• Cardsphere – Marketplace to buy, sell, trade Magic singles along with internal data points about traded cards.
• Commander Spellbook – This is a great resource for finding hidden combos in your decklist or giving people the opportunity to read more about combos with the cards you’re referencing.
• MTGStocks – This is helpful to link to if you’re focusing on budget or the cost of cards in your article.

For an up-to-date list of sites associated with Space Cow Media, please visit the primary site here.

Links to Other Articles and Space Cow Media Content

We want to support each other’s content, as well as provide readers an easy reading experience, so add links in your articles when you reference other works! Use the hyperlink button in WordPress. Never assume a reader knows the other material you’re referencing, such as a past article, a YouTube video, or even another content creator. 

For example, if you mention another author, make their name a hyperlink to their author page, which has their collected work. If you mention another article, including and especially one of your own past articles, make a link for it. It makes things easy for readers to follow along.

Read More

At the very bottom of your article, please add a “Read more” section. This doesn’t have to be very long at all, it’s just a way for you to let readers know what you think they’d enjoy next. This can also be very helpful for more views on older content, and is great for SEO. You can select an article(s) from earlier in your series. It would also be great for you to pick someone else’s article on a similar theme, or talking about the same color pairing or game, for example. This should look like the following:

Read more:

• Title of another article[hyperlinked]
• Title of another article[hyperlinked]

Or, if you wish, you can put the links in sentence form: If you want to make sure your Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are the real deal, check out our guide to spotting fake Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Also, did you know that thieves stole a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card that was worth an astonishing $33,000? Check out this article for more details!

Accessibility 

It’s important to make sure that your article is easy to read. 

• Use simpler language wherever possible. If a word you want to use has a shorter, more casually used synonym, choose that word instead. 
• Use short sentences. A helpful practice might be to check your sentences where you’ve used one or more commas. You can also check sentences where you’ve used words such as “and,” “however,” or “although.” Would the sentence mean the same thing if you made two sentences instead? If so, split the long sentence in half.
• If you aren’t sure how to make your article easier to read, use the Hemingway app. This is a free website where you can paste text into the app. The website will then tell you whether your sentences are hard to read. If you’re using the app, aim to have no sentences highlighted in red, which means very hard to read.
• Define links you are using. Do not say “click here.” This can make it difficult for someone using a screenreader to know where the link will take them. For example, say “EDHREC is helpful for deckbuilding” rather than “click here to learn more about deckbuilding.” 
• Make sure your links are not too long. Do not make an entire link a sentence. 

Alt Text on Images

Most images used within articles should have alt text. Alt text (alternative text) is there to describe what an image is for someone using a screenreader. It is read aloud to users by screen reader software, and it is indexed by search engines. Alt text only needs to be a sentence. Alt text should describe the appearance and/or the function of the image in the article. Alt text doesn’t always need to be used on purely decorative images, but it can be helpful to do this to ensure your article is as accessible as possible.

When adding cards using the [e l]card[/ e]] function or the [e c]card[ /ec], you do not need to add alt text.

When adding a picture of a graph, add alt text to let the reader know what the graph displays, such as “A pie chart showing the most popular Equipment commanders, showing Ser Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale as the most popular.”

As an example, alt text for the below image may read as: “Rowan, a planeswalker, is standing in a forest wearing a red cloak and silver armor. She is casting fire in one hand and holds a sword in the other.”

You can add alt text quickly and easily when adding your image. This is one of the options when you are uploading an image:

Making Content Accessible for New Readers

It’s also important to keep in mind that some of your readers might be new to the game that you’re writing about. Making your article more accessible is also helpful for casual players who don’t have extensive knowledge of the game.

• When using guilds to describe colors, such as Golgari or Boros, explain the color pairing when you first use the word. For example, you could say “Izzet (blue and red) decks are often great at drawing cards.” You can then just use the guild name for the rest of the article. 
• Where appropriate, briefly define mechanics you’re discussing if it’s the first time you’re referencing that mechanic. This might be particularly important when describing non-evergreen mechanics. This only needs to be a sentence. This is with the exception of when you’re discussing cards which explain the mechanic within the text on the card.
• When using slang terms from the game’s community, consider whether your statement would still make sense if someone didn’t know what that term meant. This includes words like pubstomping, fatties, chaff, and bomb. For example, everyone would likely understand what “digging for an answer” meant in context, even if they haven’t heard that phrase before. However, a phrase like ‘fatties’ might not make sense without a bit of extra context. 

If you have any questions about these guidelines and their usage or have a suggestion, contact either the Content Operations Manager or your primary site Editor on our Discord or via email:

Content Operations:

morgan@spacecowmedia.com

Card Gamer Editor:

zupke@spacecowmedia.com

Card Gamer Creative Director:

jbrown@spacecowmedia.com