Shade

Shade
Creature Type
(Subtype for creature/kindred cards)
Statistics	32 cards 3.1% 93.8% 3.1% as of Dominaria United
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type:"Shade"

Shade is a mainly black creature type used for cards that depict powerful spirits, beings of darkness, typically employed by evil wizards who wield large amounts of black mana.

Description

Shades are shadowy ghosts of dead people which linger on earth. The cards usually have "pump" effect (: ~ gets +1/+1 until end of turn). The first card to bear the type was Frozen Shade in Alpha.

Storyline

Dominaria

Certain regions of Dominaria are inhabited by Frozen Shades, which are often enslaved by powerful sorcerers. Some were used as protectors of Caliphear the Nightmare’s lands in the Great Salt Marshes of Western Golthonor. These Shades were defeated by goblins and Shanodin Dryads after the swamps became barren due to the wizard Coldraith’s magic. Another Frozen Shade was summoned by Aldon using the Dark Amulet, along with a vampire and bog wraith. The shade needed to feed on flesh or would dissipate so joined with Dreygar in convincing Aldon to attack Dreygar's Castle. When Dreygar was killed, the bog wraith remained as an advisor to Aldon.

Rimewind Necromancers were known to create Chilling Shades from the souls of those trapped in mystical blizzards. Furthermore, the Nantuko often become shades after their death.

Dread shades, known as remnants, served Belzenlok's Cabal. They could change their sizes; not only were they capable of becoming extremely large, but they were also able to shrink down small enough to crawl inside a corpse and animate it. They were gray figures, naked to the waist, their bodies like a muscular, desiccated corpse. Their chests have been ripped open collar to their waists, revealing an empty cavity that glows with spectral light below a pointed face with a wide fanged jaw.

Innistrad

Innistradi shades are known to live among humanity (Evernight Shade).

Ixalan

Some Condemners of the Legion of Dusk are Shade-Binders. They capture and magically bind Shades using blessed braziers that exude inky black smoke. These Revenants are used to guard ships and are sometimes bound in weapons.

Ravnica

Both the House Dimir and the Cult of Rakdos employ shades as servants, spies, and protectors. More feral shades are known to prowl the Undercity.

Ulgrotha

Ihsan's Shade is an infamous Shade on Ulgrotha, created by Baron Sengir.

Zendikar

Shades on Zendikar are often drawn to places of great power, where they establish their hunting grounds. Some vampires are shown to return after their death as shades (Nirkana Revenant).

Notable Shades

Ulgrotha

• Ihsan's Shade

Trivia

• Cinder Shade has red in its casting cost and is the only multicolored shade.
• Shade of Trokair from Planar Chaos is the only white Shade and has the white mana version of this ability.
• Chilling Shade uses snow mana rather than mana. Gateway Shade allows usage of gates rather than only black mana. Misery's Shadow is the least specific, allowing any mana at a 1:1 ratio.
• Ihsan's Shade, Skyclave Shade, and Author of Shadows are the only shades without a pumping ability. Oddly, two of them were designed long after shades had cemented their mechanical identity.
• Shade's Breath is an instant that turns creatures into Shades.
• Shade's Form is an enchantment that gives creatures Shade-abilities. The art shows a person in the process of changing into a shade.