Some mechanics are unlikely to be printed in the future. For a variety of reasons, these mechanics were found to create undesirable gameplay. Many have been superseded by broadly similar mechanics.
Deprecated keywords
- Banding, replaced by simarily flavored mechanics like Soulbond and Exalted [1][2]
- Fading, replaced by Vanishing
- Fear, and later Intimidate, replaced by Menace as black/red evergreen evasion ability.
- Landwalk.
- Phasing, replaced by flickering.[3]
- Shroud, replaced by Hexproof.
- Regenerate, replaced by Indestructible (until end of turn).[4]
Other deprecated mechanics
- Ante is hugely unpopular, illegal in some jurisdictions, and strictly banned by the Tournament Rules.
- Flip cards, replaced by double-faced cards.[5][6]
Deprecated counters
Many counter types are used on only a small handful of cards, and some cards have Oracle text that describes a different type of counter than that originally printed on the card. However, those counters generally vary in name for the sake of flavor, and there is no evidence that any such counter is deprecated.
Power/Toughness counters other than +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters were discontinued for the sake of ease of calculating a creature's current values.
- +0/+1 counter
- +0/+2 counter
- +1/+0 counter
- +1/+2 counter
- +2/+0 counter
- +2/+2 counter
- -0/-1 counter
- -0/-2 counter
- -1/-0 counter
- -2/-1 counter
- -2/-2 counter
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (Dec 1, 2003). "The Baby and the Bathwater". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 12, 2017). "Do you ever think about fixing banding, as in designing a new mechanic that shows small creatures working together?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (2018-11-26). "How well-liked do you think the Mirage block's mechanics and aesthetics are?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (2016-09-16). "Rush of Vitality?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 03, 2015). "Odds about a double faced card of which one or both sides is also a flip card?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 15, 2017). "Do you think we'll ever see flip cards like Kamigawa's again?". Blogatog. Tumblr.