Magic: The Gathering is one of the most complex games ever created, containing thousands of distinct and unique cards. While many of these cards possess abilities and utility unlike any other cards in the game, many cards are streamlined via the use of keywords.
Keyword abilities are common and standardized abilities that are found across every set in Magic's history and are some of the easiest mechanics for new players to learn. While most keywords are beneficial to a given card, some of these abilities greatly outclass others. So today, we're going to examine the most worthwhile and useful keywords in Magic: The Gathering.
Updated on August 4, 2022 by Paul DiSalvo: Keywords come in a wide variety of forms, with many of these abilities being commonly found in the game's different colors. In addition to being straightforward and easy to convey to new players, they help provide each color with immediately understandable identies, whilst remaining incredibly relevant at high levels of play when present on notably efficient creatures. We've added some more of the best keywords for your consideration.
14 Reach
Most often found within green, Reach is a keyword that notably only offers a defensive benefit rather than an offensive one. Creatures with reach are capable of blocking creatures with flying, which is by and large the most common form of evasion in all of Magic — allowing creatures to repeatedly deal combat damage to opponents if unanswered. While green itself isn't particularly well-known for its flying creatures, reach provides you with the ability to stop an opponent from making the most of their fliers.
13 First Strike
First strike is a keyword that is most often found within white and red cards, providing creatures with an element of combat superiority, making them difficult for an opponent's creatures to handle in the midst of the combat phase. As the name would imply, first strike allows a creature with the ability to strike first, dealing its combat damage prior to that of a creature without this ability.
Normally, if two equally matched 2/2 creatures were to engage in combat, they would each be destroyed as a result. However if one of these creatures had first strike, as it deals its damage first, it would defeat the opposing ctreature whilst remaining completely unscathed. This simultaneously makes creatures with this ability powerful attackers and blockers, as it is often just as disadvantageous to block such a creature as it is to attack into it.
12 Vigilance
Commonly associated with white and green creatures, vigilance is an ability that allows a creature to simultaneously function as both an attacker and a blocker within the same turn rotation.
While normally creatures are required to tap when they attack, meaning they won't be able to block during your opponent's subsequent turn, creatures with vigilance ignore this rule and can attack without needing to be tapped. This means that when attacking with creatures with vigilance, there's significantly less risk involved, as opponents have a notably reduced opportunity to strike with a devastating counterattack.
11 Menace
Formally introduced as a keyword in Magic Origins in 2015, menace is the most recently introduced keyword in Magic. It's most often associated with red and black creatures, making them much more difficult for opponents to block, especially in large numbers. This is because a creature with menace can only be blocked by two or more creatures, meaning that a much larger density of creatures is required in order to deal with several creatures with menace.
Due to its hard-to-block nature, menace is a keyword well suited towards offensively driven aggressive decks.
10 Lifelink
Most commonly found on white and black creatures, lifelink is an ability that causes a given creature's controller to gain life equal to the amount of damage dealt by that creature.
While life gain does not directly help a player win a game, stalling an opponent's victory rather than contributing to that of a given player, lifelink is an excellent ability for decks that seek to pay life to activate abilities, or decks that seek to stall games in order to cast mana-intensive powerhouses. For those looking to make sure they can bring a game into its later stages in order to cast massive, powerful spells, creatures with lifelink may be a strong choice.
9 Deathtouch
Appearing primarily on black and green creatures, deathtouch is an ability that causes any creature dealt damage by a creature with the ability to die, regardless of the amount of damage dealt.
This ability is quite useful both offensively and defensively. Opponents are less likely to attack a player with an untapped creature with deathtouch, while opponents are less likely to block a creature with deathtouch as well.
8 Trample
While trample is most often associated with green, it has appeared on creatures of every color across the game's history. A strictly aggressive ability, Trample is often found on offensively oriented creatures with high power.
Normally, when a creature in Magic becomes blocked, all damage is allocated to the blocker. However, trample allows any remaining damage to overflow into the defending player.
7 Flying
Perhaps the most common keyword in Magic, flying is as straightforward as it is useful. Creatures with flying often set the bar when it comes to evasiveness, as they can only be blocked by other creatures with flying or creatures with reach.
The use of fliers is often to allow large sums of damage into an opponent, uncontested. Some players even employ the use of fliers simply to block flying creatures of one's opponents.
6 Haste
An ability most often associated with the color red, haste is an ability that as the name suggests, speeds up a creature.
While normally creatures suffer from summoning sickness upon entering the battlefield, prohibiting them from attacking or activating tap-based abilities during their first turn in play, haste circumvents summoning sickness entirely. Haste is an excellent ability that can allow aggressive decks to quickly overwhelm opponents with blistering speed before they can react.
5 Double Strike
When it comes to offensive keyword abilities in Magic, few compare to double strike. A strictly better variation of the first strike ability that allows a creature to deal combat damage before creatures without the ability, double strike allows a given creature to deal both first strike and normal combat damage, attacking twice.
Double strike is a quite coveted ability, as it can double the offensive value of a creature. It is especially worthwhile when paired with spells that bolster a creature's strength such as Giant Growth which provides +3/+3 to a creature until end of turn, as this buff's value is doubled.
4 Flash
While flash does not provide any benefit to creatures in combat, it provides a benefit that any creature would be ecstatic to receive. While normally, instants are the only spells in the game that can be cast during other player's turns and in response to other spell's being cast, a creature with flash can be cast in the same manner as an instant.
This allows a player to safely play around an opponent's choices on their own turn, play surprise blockers, and subvert and opponent's expectations.
3 Protection
Protection is an ability that comes in various forms, often directly associated with specific colors. Most notably appearing as forms such as "protection from blue," protection can even provide a creature with specific targeted protection such as protection from creatures.
Protection is quite phenomenal from both offensive and defensive perspectives, as a creature can't be targeted by a source of its specified protection, nor can it be blocked by such permanents. For example, a creature with protection from red can't be targeted by red burn spells, nor can it be blocked by red creatures, making creatures with the ability devastating in the right circumstance.
2 Hexproof
When it comes to defensive abilities, it's pretty difficult to top hexproof. While the ability "shroud" prevents a creature from being targeted from any spells or abilities, the strictly better hexproof only prevents a creature from being targeted by sources controlled by one's opponents.
This ability gets around the vast majority of removal options in the game whilst allowing the creature with the ability to be buffed by its controller!
1 Indestructible
One of the most uncommon keywords to find on a creature, indestructible is by and large the most useful keyword a creature can contain. While Hexproof prevents a creature from being targeted, Indestructible prevents the creature from being destroyed, whether the source is a spell or damage.
This makes a creature with the ability incredibly difficult to deal with, making an opponent's only reliable options exile and -1/-1 effects. When paired with Hexproof, a creature becomes practically impossible to deal with.