MTG Arena Hidden Advanced deck builder options
There are some hidden options in the MTG Arena collection and deck builder beyond the Advanced search filter. In this guide, we will list and show you all the options available.
Each search term consists of a filter term, a comparison type, and a value. Case sensitivity does not matter; capital letters and lowercase letters may be used interchangeably. You can also write search queries with or without spaces between the operators, we use space in this guide to make it easier to read. First, let us demonstrate some useful use-cases of this powerful filter before we delve into how to use them:
Case: You are looking for big creatures for your deck
Command: Power > 7
Translates to: Find all cards with Power Greater than 7
Case: You are looking for big creatures for your mono-green deck
Command: Power > 7 Color:Green
Translates to: Find all cards with Power Greater than 7 that are Green
Case: You would like to know what cards in a set you are missing to complete your collection.
Command: Q < 4 SET = WAR
Translates to: Find all cards with where Quantity is Less than 4, Setname is War Of the Spark
Case: You would like to know what Mythic cards you are missing in your collection
Command: Q < 4 R = Mythic
Translates to: Find all cards with where Quantity is Less than 4, where Rarity is Mythic
The Structure of a Search Term
Search terms consist of three building blocks the Filter, Comparison, and Value.
| Filter | Comparison | Value |
| Power | = | 5 |
There are groups of filter types which work with different comparisons, going forwards we are going to list them in groups and colors so you know what values belong to each other. We will then go through more in-depth explanations and at the end give you a summary of useful examples.
Numerical Filters
| Numerical Filter Terms | Definition |
| POW, POWER | Power |
| TOU, TOUGHNESS | Toughness |
| R, RARITY | Rarity |
| CMC | Converted Mana Cost |
| Q, Owned | Quantity, number Owned |
| Numerical Comparison Type | Definition |
| > | Greater Than |
| < | Less Than |
| >= | Greater or Equal To |
| <= | Lesser or Equal To |
| != | Does Not Equal |
| : | Equal, same as = |
| = | Equal, same as : |
| Numerical & Rarity Values | Definition |
| 0-9 | Usable numerical values |
| M, MYTHIC | Mythic Rare, only used with Rarity filter |
| R, RARE | Rare, only used with Rarity filter |
| U, UNCOMMON | Uncommon, only used with Rarity filter |
| C, COMMON | Common, only used with Rarity filter |
Text Filters
| Text Filter Terms | Definition |
| TITLE, NAME | Card Name |
| E, EDITION, SET, S | Expansion Set |
| O, ORACLE, TEXT | Rules Text |
| T, TYPE | Type, Subtype, or Supertype |
| Text Comparison Type | Definition |
| : | Equal, same as = |
| = | Equal, same as : |
Text filters have a special negative filter which is a minus in front of the text filter term. ex:
color:R -name=Chandra
Finds all cards with color Red and name is not equal to Chandra
q<4 -set=M20
Finds all cards you have less than 4 off where the set is not equal to M20
Color Filters
| Color Filter Terms | Definition |
| C, COLOR | Filter by Color |
| ID, IDENTITY | Filter by Color Identity |
| Color Comparison Type | Definition |
| : | Equal/Exactly, same as = |
| = | Equal/Exactly, same as : |
| > | All cards that contain the specified color/color identity and at least one other color |
| >= | All cards that contain the specified color/color identity |
| Color Values | Definition |
| W, WHITE | White |
| U, BLUE | Blue |
| B, BLACK | Black |
| R, RED | Red |
| G, GREEN | Green |
Color vs. Color Identity
Color: A card's color is the color/s of the mana symbols in its mana cost.
Color Identity: The color identity of a card is the color or colors of any mana symbols in that card's mana cost or rules text, plus any colors defined by its characteristic-defining abilities or color indicator.
For example, searching "Color:Green" will only return cards that have green (and only green) as part of their mana cost. "Identity:Green" will return cards that are the color green, as well as cards that have green as part of their color identity (e.g. Memorial to Unity).
Combining Colors
You may combine color letters in one search. For example, "Color:RG" will return cards that have both red and green as part of their mana cost (e.g. Cindervines). "Identity:RG" will return cards that have red and green as part of their color identity (e.g. Gravel-Hide Goblin
). As noted above, hybrid mana is considered all of its component colors. To search for cards with hybrid mana as part of its mana cost, you must search for both colors (e.g. "Color:RG" will return Rubble Slinger
, but "Color:R" or "Color:G" will not). The same is true for cards with hybrid mana as part of its color identity (e.g. "Identity:RG" will return Gruul Locket
, but "Identity:G" and "Identity:R" will not.)
A Note on Comparison Operators
Comparison operators are strict!
- Color:Green - This will returns cards that have exactly green (and only green) as part of their mana cost.
- Color>Green - This will return cards that have at least green as part of their mana cost. This will not return cards that are exactly green.
- Color>=Green - This will return cards that are exactly green and will return cards that have at least green as part of their mana cost.
Multiple Search Terms
AND
Multiple search filters separated by spaces will function as an "AND" search term. For example, "Power>4 CMC=3 Type=Creature" will return creatures that have a power greater than four AND a converted mana cost of three AND are a creature. "CMC=3 Power=3 -Color=Green" will return creatures that have a converted mana cost and power equal to three, but will exclude any green cards.
OR
You may also use the word "OR" to specify that any of the criteria can be met. For example, to get any card with power greater than four, plus all green cards, you can search "Power>4 OR Color:Green".
COMBINING
You can combine multiple search terms with parenthesis. For example, "(Power>4 Color:Green) OR (Power<3 Color:Red)" will return all green cards with power four or greater as well as all red cards with power three or less.
QUOTES
If you wish to search for multiple words (a card title, a section of rules text, etc.) you must wrap the word in quotes, e.g. "can't be blocked".
Advanced Filters
Advanced search works in congruence with the existing Advanced Filters options. If you have the Advanced Filters set to show only Guilds of Ravnica cards, and then you search for creatures (T:Creature) the result will return only creatures from Guilds of Ravnica.
Useful commands - a quick reference
Below is a table of useful search filters. If you have any suggestions for more useful commands and examples post them in the comments.
| Command | Filter cards with |
| Power>7 Color=Green | Power Greater than 7 that are Green |
| Toughness>5 -Color=Green -Color=White | Toughness greater than 5, exclude Green and White color cards |
| Q<4 AND Set=WAR | Quantity is Less than 4, where Set is War Of the Spark |
| Q<4 AND Rarity=Mythic | Quantity is Less than 4, where Rarity is Mythic |
| Color>=R AND Set=WAR | Color cost contains Red, where Set is War of the Spark |
| Color=White AND (Type=Soldier OR Type=Vampire) | Color is White and Type is Soldier or Vampire |
| Type=Creature AND (ID=RedGreen OR ID=Green OR ID=Red) | Type Creature AND Colorid red/green, green or red. Useful for Brawl |
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"Nuts & Bolts Spike spends his energy looking within. He tries to understand his own internal flaws and works to improve them"
This is the search operator for hybrid mana costs:
M="WUBRG/WUBRG"
I made a google doc with every search operator as well as some examples to help you find more cards in the future; here's the link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GORw3VrFSD5zTE2-XlMcerLEov0TN5L1bgo5T0WsnkE
I tried this C:WW to find white card with 2 white mana, but it brings a generic mana too
Yes, those cards have their own set code. The starter cards from 2019 are ANA, and the cards from 2020 are ANB. There are only two cards that are in ANA that aren't in ANB, one was in M19 and the other is Shorecomber Crab.
One small problem. Trying to search for only rats. Type=Rat shows too pirates. Type="Rat" doesn't take away the pirates.
Type=Rat -Pirate works. But I don't want to write the extra line.
Example: "colorid:rg" will return Gruul color cards.
I did "token colorid:gw" for a search on green+white cards that created tokens and it returned exactly what I was looking for. Cards that were green/white combined, that produced tokens.
Love this write up and refer back to it alot! Thank you kind sire, for having these commands in an easy to reference spot!
For cards with hybrid mana cost like Footlight Fiend, I know they can be found using the Black, Red, and Multicolor filters. Is there a way to search for cards that have hybrid mana cost specifically?
Thanks!