Kirin
Kirin is creature type with aspects of a horse, a dragon, and a deer or goat. They always have flying. Kirin are omens of good fortune and long life. A kirin is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a wise sage or an illustrious ruler. With the exception of the Kamigawa cycle, all Kirins are aligned with white mana and act as "replacement iconics" where angels or archons are not available.
History
Kamigawa
On Kamigawa, Kirin are kami. Saviors of Kamigawa featured them in a cycle of five: each of these rare legendary Spirit creatures has flying and a spiritcraft ability related to the casting cost of a cast spell.
- Celestial Kirin (
) - Cloudhoof Kirin (
) - Infernal Kirin (
) - Skyfire Kirin (
) - Bounteous Kirin (
)
These Kirin all play a role in the vignette The Meeting, where they discuss their stance on the Kami War and humanity as a whole.
Tarkir
Kirin have resurfaced in the Khans of Tarkir block. In the original timeline an Alabaster Kirin appeared on the awake of the arrival of Sarkhan Vol. In the alternate time line, a Misthoof Kirin heralded Sarkhan's return to Tarkir's present.
In contrast to their Kamigawa cousins, Tarkir Kirin don't have the spirit subtype.
Plane of Mountains and Seas
The creature type was used again in Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling, which is a Chinese-inspired set. They are said to have been birthed by the Ancestor Dragon.
These also lack the spirit subtype.
