Magic: the Gathering is constantly evolving with brand new mechanics being added to the game every year. While the game contains many commonly occurring “keyword” abilities, there are countless mechanics that have appeared anywhere between once or a handful of times before vanishing into obscurity.
There are numerous mechanics from yesteryear that still have a great deal of untapped potential, while there are also those mechanics that many players would prefer to forget. So today, we’re going to examine mechanics of Magic’s past and discuss five mechanics we hope to see revived, and five we hope are forgotten.
10 Forget: Haunt
The black and white Orzhov guild of Ravnica has received different mechanics during each Ravnica-related block. While the Extort and Afterlife mechanics are simple yet powerful abilities that convey the flavor of the Orzhov, the same cannot be said about Haunt.
When a creature with haunt dies, it is exiled, targeting a creature. While these Haunt effects vary a from creature to creature, these effects can be quite difficult to keep track of. Additionally, Haunt spells being required to exile themselves directly conflicts with traditionally black themes such as graveyard recursion.
9 Return: Level Up
First appearing in Rise of the Eldrazi, the Level Up mechanic allows players to spend their mana to level up specific creatures. As a creature levels up, its stats often change and it gains improved abilities from its previous forms.
Not only does this mechanic allow for a wide variety of design space to be explored as a card evolves, but a single creature could hypothetically convey a storyline in a manner akin to Saga cards. While Level Up has not appeared in a prominent position in quite some time, its cameo in Modern Horizons gives us hope.
8 Forget: Bushido
Bushido appeared as the primary ability of Samurai in the Kamigawa block, and totes the unfortunate blend of a lack of both power and flavor. Creatures with the ability possess a numerical Bushido value that provides that creature with +X/+X whenever they attack and block.
Using a creature with Bushido is often strictly worse than simply using a creature that possesses the desired stats in the first place. Hopefully Samurai will return in the future, characterized by a new and improved ability that leaves Bushido in the dust.
7 Return: Colorless Matters
Back in the Battle For Zendikar block, colorless spells were given a major overhaul, creating a distinct mana symbol for colorless mana and even introducing Wastes as a basic land capable of tapping for colorless mana.
Despite this, colorless mana has yet to be utilized in a significant manner since this change. While we don’t propose that colorless be treated more like its own color, the distinction of colorless mana has created a great deal of unused design space that has yet to be tapped into.
6 Forget: Landhome
When it comes to abysmal drawback abilities, few are as blatantly heinous as landhome. Often appearing in the form of “Islandhome,” landhome abilities prevent a creature from attacking unless an opponent controls a specific land type, making it strictly worse than landwalk.
As if that weren’t enough, if a creature with landhome doesn’t control a land of the designated type, it is immediately sacrificed.
5 Return: Affinity
Affinity is an excellent ability that reduces a spell’s cost by the amount of a designated permanent under a given player’s control. While Affinity is most often associated with powerful spells with “Affinity for Artifacts,” there are many other potential applications Affinity could take.
Perhaps more specific instances of Affinity could be used to balance the ability such as creatures with “Affinity for Multicolored” or a curse spell with “Affinity for Curses.”
4 Forget: Banding
Banding is often considered one of the weakest abilities in Magic’s history, and is often not worth the trouble. To simplify, banding is an ability that allows numerous attacking creatures to be treated as a singular entity or “band.”
As players often seek to spread as many attackers around as possible in order to ensure as much damage reaches an opponent as possible, the shortcomings of this ability should be rather obvious. Luckily, Banding has not been used prominently in quite some time, and Wizards of the Coast has shown no indications of the ability making a resurgence.
3 Return: Transform
Transform is perhaps the most flavorful mechanics in all of Magic. Primarilly appearing in sets based on the plane of Innistrad, cards with Transform are double sided. When a card with transform meets a designated requirement, it transforms, flipping to the other side.
Transform is commonly used to depict the transformation from human to werewolf and other ghastly metamorphis. While Transform has helped in giving Innistrad its identity, the ability still has a great deal of potential to showcase character development and plot progression within a single card.
2 Forget: Ante
If there’s an ability that we’ll never see again, its Ante. Created back when Magic’s identity was still forming, cards with ante would designate other cards from a player’s deck for being up for ante. Once a game had finished, the winning player would receive all cards that had been put up for ante. Permanently.
Now that Magic’s competitive nature and price point have been cemented, cards with Ante have no place in the game. Seeing that every card that mentions Ante is currently banned in all formats, Wizards of the Coast assumably feel the same way.
1 Return: Meld
Meld is a mechanic that allows two designated cards to simultaneously transform, combining into one large powerful creature. While Magic’s contemporary trading card game contains countless Fusion cards and mechanics, at the time of this article’s release, there are only three pairs of cards containing the Meld ability.
Whether a set putting a spotlight on Meld were to be released or even if Meld Commanders with Partner were to be created, the mechanic could be approached in new and interesting ways. When it comes to established mechanics with untapped potential, few mechanics come close to Meld.
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