Magic The Gathering: What Is Channel?
Magic The Gathering's Kamigawa may well be a super-advanced cyberpunk plane of cyborgs, robots, and mechs, but it's also a world where the mortal plane is pressed right up against the world of the gods, known as the Kami. Some mortals can even harness the power of the spirits and Kami that live on the other side.
RELATED: Magic The Gathering: What Is Cycling?
This intertwining of the mortal and Kami realms is represented in Magic's Channel mechanic, which is returning in a big way in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. As you'd expect from using the power of a god, Channel can be a frightfully powerful ability when used at the right time. Here is everything you need to know about Channel.
Channel is an ability found on cards that you can activate while they're in your hand. There are a huge range of Channel effects; they can do anything from direct damage and ramp, to counterspells and hand destruction.
Every card with Channel has its Channel cost listed on it, with the one constant between all of them being there is both a mana cost and a requirement to discard the card from your hand. For example, if you wanted to channel Mnemonic Sphere to draw a card, you would pay one blue mana and discard Mnemonic Sphere first.
Channel is virtually identical to a lot of other abilities in Magic, such as cycling (discarding the card to draw a card), transmute (discarding to tutor for a card of the same mana value), or evoke (discarding to summon a creature that is sacrificed as soon as it enters the battlefield). You'll even see a lot of overlap between them – for instance, Mnemonic Sphere is literally just cycling under a different name.
When Channel was introduced in the original Kamigawa sets, it was closely linked to the Spirit creature
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