Card type
Artifact
A permanent, usually colorless. Equipment, rocks, and machines.
- What it does
- A lasting tool. Some make mana, some equip to creatures, some just sit and do a job.
- When you play it
- On your main phase like a sorcery, unless it has flash.
- Beginner trap
- Forgetting Equipment needs a tap-and-pay to attach, or assuming every artifact is a creature.
Artifacts stay on the battlefield. They are permanents. Most of them have no color, so any deck can play them.
Equipment is an artifact you attach to a creature. The creature can die; the Equipment stays. Vehicles are artifacts that can become creatures.
Mana rocks (Sol Ring and friends) are artifacts that tap for mana. They are why Commander games accelerate after turn three.
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More card types
Land
Not a spell. Tap for mana. One land per turn is the usual rule.
Creature
Attacks and blocks. Power / toughness is the bottom-right box.
Instant
A one-shot you can cast on either turn, as long as you have priority.
Sorcery
A one-shot that waits for your main phase. Bigger effects, slower door.
Enchantment
A lasting spell on the table — a rule that stays, or an Aura on one thing.
Planeswalker
A legendary ally with loyalty. You may activate one ability on your turn.