Card advantage

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Card advantage is an assessment of how efficiently a player is using his answers in relation to an opponent's threats. For example, if a player uses two or more cards to respond to a single threat, then he lost card advantage. Conversely, if a player uses one card to respond to two or more of an opponent's threats, then he gained card advantage. Many games, especially between control decks, depend on card advantage to earn victory. Cards that both have an effect on the game and let their players draw cards also increases advantage. Permanents give more card advantage because they usually affect the game continously.

Virtual Card Advantage is a form of card advantage that is acquired passively and can be accounted for during deck construction. By not using cards of a specific type, certain cards in the opponent's deck become useless. A creatureless deck for example in the Legacy format has a lot of card advantage against removal packing decks because those removal cards are useless. If they do not cantrip, it is almost the same as not being there at all.

Tempo and mana acceleration is generally opposed to card advantage.