Counting and Addition with Mana

💭 Think About...

1. What games have you played that use counting or adding?
2. Why do you think many games use numbers and math?
3. How do you think adding mana costs in Magic is like adding money to buy something?
4. When you attack or block with creature cards, how is that like adding and subtracting?
5. Can you think of real-life situations where you need to keep track of numbers going up and down?

🔨 Your Project

  1. Take 2 creature cards and find the numbers on the bottom right corner. Try adding those 2 numbers together. What do you get?
  2. Count out 10 mana chips and place them on your Mana Counting Mat. Now spend 4 mana by moving those chips to your discard pile. How many mana are left?
  3. Look at your Life Point Tracker. Cross off 2 life points. How many life points do you have now?
  4. Take 3 more mana chips and add them to your mana pool. How many total mana do you have now?
  5. Find a creature card with a mana cost equal to the number of mana chips you have. Place that card on the battlefield part of your mat.
  6. Tap your creature card to show it is attacking. How much damage will your creature deal?
  7. Trade mats with a partner. Let them attack you with their creature. Look at your creature's power - will it be enough to block and stop all the damage?
  8. Subtract your blocker's power from the attacker's power. Then subtract the result from your life points. How much damage did you take?
  9. Keep practicing casting creatures, attacking, blocking, and tracking life points! Try to get your opponent to 0 life.
  10. Having trouble? Ask a partner or teacher for help!