List of obsolete terminology

Some types of cards, supertypes, subtypes or mechanics have been removed or changed either because of flavor reasons or rules modifications.

Obsolete card types

• Local enchantments
  • Enchant Artifact
  • Enchant Creature
  • Enchant Dead Creature
  • Enchant Land
  • Enchant Wall
• Enchant World
• Interrupt
• Mana source
• Summon

Obsolete artifact terms

• Mono, Poly, and Continuous are terms found on the type lines of artifact cards printed prior to Revised, also known as Third Edition. They served to identify how often and whether artifacts could be activated.

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Mono Artifact (Obsolete)

An obsolete term that appeared on the type line of artifacts with activated abilities that caused the artifact to become tapped as a cost. Cards printed with this text have received errata in the Oracle card reference to simply say “Artifact,” and those abilities now include the tap symbol in their costs.

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Poly Artifact (Obsolete)

An obsolete term that appeared on the type line of artifacts with activated abilities that didn’t cause the artifact to be tapped as a cost. Cards printed with this text have received errata in the Oracle card reference to simply say “Artifact.”

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Continuous Artifact (Obsolete)

An obsolete term that appeared on the type line of artifacts without activated abilities. Cards printed with this text have received errata in the Oracle card reference to simply say “Artifact.”

Obsolete subtypes (creature/tribal)

Especially in older sets, many cards were printed with creature types used on very few, or even zero, other cards. Beginning with Revised, many updates have provided errata to replace rare types such as Folk of An-Havva with more standardized creature types. The largest change occurred in the Grand Creature Type Update.

• Abomination
• Aboroth
• Aesthir
• Aladdin
• Albatross
• Alchemist
• Ali-Baba
• Ali-from-Cairo
• Alligator
• Ambush-Party
• Ancestor
• Anemone
• Ant
• Anteater
• Archaeologist
• Asp
• Autocrat
• Avenger
• Avizoa
• Ball-Lightning
• Bandit
• Banshee
• Barishi
• Bee
• Behemoth
• Being
• Blinking-Spirit
• Bodyguard
• Brother
• Brownie
• Bull
• Bureaucrat
• Butterfly
• Caravan
• Carnivore
• Carriage
• Caterpillar
• Cavalry
• Cave-People
• Cheetah
• Chicken
• Child
• Clamfolk
• Clone
• Cobra
• Constable
• Cow
• Crusader
• Dandân
• Dead
• Dervish
• Designer
• Devouring-Deep
• Dog
• Donkey
• Doppelganger
• Dragonfly
• Drill-Sergeant
• Eater
• Eel
• Effigy
• Egg
• El-Hajjâj
• Enchantress
• Entity
• Erne
• Essence
• Evil-Eye
• Exorcist
• Expansion-Symbol
• Falcon
• Fallen
• Farmer
• Fiend
• Flying-Man
• Folk of An-Havva
• Force
• Frostbeast
• Fungusaur
• Gaea's-Avenger
• Gaea's Liege
• Gamer
• Gatekeeper
• General
• Ghost
• Ghoul
• Gorilla
• Gorilla-Pack
• Guardian
• Gus
• Gypsy
• Harlequin
• Hell's Caretaker
• Heretic
• Hero
• Hipparion
• Hippopotamus
• Hornet
• Horseman
• Hunter
• Infernal-Denizen
• Inquisitor
• Island-Fish
• Keeper
• Kelp
• King
• Lady-of-Proper-Etiquette
• Legend
• Legionnaire
• Lemure
• Leper
• Lichenthrope
• Lion
• Lord
• Lord of Atlantis
• Lurker
• Lycanthrope
• Mage
• Maiden
• Mammoth
• Marid
• Master
• Medusa
• Lost-Soul
• Mana-Bird
• Mantis
• Martyr
• Meerkat
• Merchant
• Mime
• Mindsucker
• Minor
• Miracle-Worker
• Mist
• Mob
• Mold-Demon
• Mosquito
• Monster
• Mummy
• Murk-Dweller
• Nameless-Race
• Nature-Spirit
• Narwhal
• Necrosavant
• Nekrataal
• Niall-Silvain
• Night-Stalker
• Noble
• Paladin
• Paratrooper
• Peacekeeper
• Penguin
• People-of-the-Woods
• Phantasm
• Pig
• Pigeon
• Pikemen
• Pixie-Queen
• Poison-Snake
• Poltergeist
• Pony
• Preacher
• Priest
• Pyknite
• Python
• Rag-Man
• Raider
• Ranger
• Rider
• Robber
• Roc
• Rock-Sled
• Rooster
• Rukh
• Sage
• Scavenger
• Scavenger-Folk
• Shadow
• Shark
• Ship
• Shyft
• Sindbad
• Singing-Tree
• Sister
• Smith
• Sorcerer
• Sorceress
• Speaker
• Sprite
• Spuzzem
• Spy
• Squire
• Stangg-Twin
• Strider
• Swarm
• Tactician
• Tarpan
• Taskmaster
• Teddy
• Thief
• The-Biggest-Baddest-Nastiest-Scariest-Creature-You'll-Ever-See
• Thundermare
• Tiger
• Titan
• Toad
• Tombspawn
• Tortoise
• Townsfolk
• Tracker
• Twin
• Uncle-Istvan
• Undead
• Viper
• Villain
• Vulture
• Waiter
• Walking-Dead
• War-Rider
• Warthog
• Wasp
• Whippoorwill
• Wight
• Wiitigo
• Wildcat
• Wildebeest
• Will-O'-The-Wisp
• Witch
• Wirefly
• Wolverine-Pack
• Wolves-of-the-Hunt
• Wood
• Wretched
• Wyvern

Obsolete keywords

• Landhome is no longer a keyword, and its component rules are written out in full.
• Substance was temporally added to the Oracle text of certain older cards to preserve their functionality. Later rules updates made it unnecessary, and it was never printed.

Obsolete rules

• Planeswalker redirection rule
• Planeswalker uniqueness rule.

Obsolete concepts

• Batches, replaced by the stack.
• Bury, replaced by destroy and sacrifice.
• Damage using the stack.
• Mana burn.
• Carrying mana over to an other phase.
• Phase abilities. Some older cards used the phrase “during [phase], [action]. Replaced with abilities that trigger at the beginning of a step or phase.
• Phased-out zone, replaced with the phased-out status.
• Indestructible (as in "is indestructible"), became a keyword ability with the same name ("has indestructible").

Obsolete terminology

• "Caster", replaced by "controller".
• "Casting cost", replaced by "mana cost".
• "In-play zone", replaced by "battlefield".
  • "Comes into play", replaced by "enters the battlefield".
  • "Leaves play", replaced by "leaves the battlefield".
• "Is put into a graveyard from the battlefield", replaced by "dies".
• "Put a token onto the battlefield", replaced by "Create a token".
• "Remove(d) from the game", replaced by "exile(d)".
• "Unblockable", replaced by "can't be blocked".
• "Unaffected by summoning sickness", replaced by haste