Keyword practice, part 2: Hunt, Level, Ganking, Disarm, Shield and Unique

These six keywords live on the board and in the deck, and they fall into three pairs. Hunt and Level are two halves of one idea: Hunt makes XP and Level spends the fact that you have it. Ganking and Disarm change what a unit can do when it moves and when it attacks. Shield and Unique are easy to confuse with other rules because each has a look-alike.

Hunt X is short for "When I conquer or hold, my controller gains X XP" (rule 823.1.c.1). It is both a Conquer effect and a Hold effect, X is 1 if left out, and Hunt values from several sources are added together (rule 823.1.b, rule 823.1.c.2 and rule 823.2). It is a triggered ability, so the XP arrives when the trigger resolves from the chain, not at the moment of the conquer (rule 383.3). Level N is a dependent keyword, short for "While you have N or more XP, this card gains the text" (rule 824.1.b.1). The text is active as long as its controller has N XP, it is inactive again as soon as they have fewer, and it follows whoever controls the card at the moment (rule 824.1.c, rule 824.1.d and rule 824.1.c.1).

Ganking is "I may move to a battlefield from another battlefield with a standard move" (rule 810.1.b). A Standard Move normally goes from a base to a battlefield or from a battlefield back to the base (rule 144.4.a and rule 144.4.b). Ganking adds battlefield to battlefield (rule 144.4.c.1). It is permission only. It removes no options, has no cost of its own, and gives no extra movement, so the unit is still exhausted by the move and the move still cannot happen during a Closed State, a showdown or combat (rule 810.1.c.1, rule 810.1.c.2, rule 810.1.c.3, rule 144.1 and rule 144.2).

Disarm X (new in the October 2026 rules) is an attack trigger: "When I attack, give an enemy unit here -X Might this turn" (rule 831.1.b and rule 831.1.d). X is 1 if left out. A unit with several Disarms still triggers once, using the total value (rule 831.1.c.3, rule 831.1.d.1 and rule 831.2). Shield X is the defender's version of Assault: "While I am a defender, I have +X Might," and it does nothing while the unit attacks (rule 814.1.c).

Unique is not a rule about play at all. It is a deck construction permission, and it only says a deck can contain one card of that name, where the usual limit is three (rule 825.1, rule 825.3.a and rule 103.3.b). A Unique card that is also a Signature card still counts toward the three Signature cards a deck may hold, and each Unique name can be there only once (rule 825.3.b). Once the game starts, Unique does nothing (rule 825.4).

Here is a worked example. Gustwalker has Hunt 2 and "Level 3: I have +1 Might and Ganking." Its controller has 2 XP. It conquers a battlefield, and the Hunt trigger goes on the chain. While it waits there the controller still has 2 XP, so the Level text is inactive. When the trigger resolves they have 4 XP, and Gustwalker gains +1 Might and Ganking until they fall below 3 again.