Skeleton
| Skeleton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creature Type | |
| (Subtype for creature/kindred cards) | |
| Introduced | Alpha |
| Last used | Foundations |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
Skeleton is a creature type used for cards that depict the magically animated bones of deceased creatures. Skeletons appear throughout the Multiverse and are largely black-aligned. Skeleton cards are often tied to regeneration or self-reanimation.
Description
Skeletons are, with a few exceptions, a mono-Black aligned "species". All multicolored Skeletons are also partially black, though Deathless Knight can be cast for all-green. Skeletons were intertwined with the mechanical ability to keep coming back, originally closely associated with the ability Regeneration until its deprecation - now R&D tends to give them some kind of limited self reanimation.[1]
Most often Skeletons are of Human origin, but that subtype is never added. This is shared with Zombie, Spirit, and Illusion as being both a race and a class. Known Skeletons include Dragons, Dinosaurs, Crocodiles, Snakes, Trolls, Wurms and Walls.
Lore
Alara
Anywhere on Grixis, you can find the animated skeletons of the dead.[2] The skeleton is the common foot soldier of the necromancer's army and personal retinue, but unbound skeletons can also be found. When necromancers die or finally lose their grip on sanity, their skeleton minions are freed from service and roam Grixis, motivated only by an intrinsic hatred for life. Most skeletons are human in origin, the puppeteered remains of ancient Vithians or their present-day descendants, but skeletons also exist that were once other species, such as rats, bats, wolves, viashino, ogres, minotaurs, and rarely, more massive creatures such as baloths, hellions, and dragons. Large, durable skeletons are prized on Grixis, as most skeletons on the plane do not self-reassemble, but rather continue to sustain damage until they are unable to move, rejoining the heaps of scrap corpses that litter the plane.
Eldraine
Undead human knights are known to patrol the outer Wilds far from the Realm.[3] Known as deathless riders, lich-knights, or fell horsemen, they ride skeletal warhorses or nightmares. They are said to serve the Shadow Queen, who rules from the castle Dynnistad.
In stark contrast to the knights of Eldraine, the deathless riders lack all virtue.[3] They are few, but when mortal knights meet them in the Wilds, the encounter rarely ends well for the living. The deathless riders fight with superhuman strength, heedless of wounds, and relentless in their assault. While they understand the languages that they spoke while alive, they are no longer able to sleep.
Theros
On Theros, deathless soldiers called phylaskia guard the borders of The Underworld.[4]
Altered Chinese art
The People's Republic of China frowns on the public display of human or humanoid skeletons and Magic cards are no exception. For this reason, the artwork of many Chinese-language cards depicting skeletons (not necessarily all of the Skeleton type) had to be altered to make it possible to sell the product.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
This practice was ignored for Shards of Alara, since Grixis contained so many skeletons that commissioning alternate art wasn't feasible. The taboo had also somewhat diminished since Magic's earliest years, especially among the younger, games-playing population.[14]
Notable Skeletons
Gallery
Trivia
- In the Sixth Edition the creature type Dead (Kjeldoran Dead) was obsoleted, and changed to Skeleton.
- Grafted Exoskeleton, Endoskeleton and Skeleton Shard are artifacts, not Skeletons.
- The manland Spawning Pool can become a 1/1 black Skeleton creature with "
: Regenerate this creature" until end of turn. - The horror Innistrad block was especially suited for the use of skeletons.[15]
- There are only five nonblack Skeletons. Two are from the world of Dungeons & Dragons, which have a different mythos behind skeletons. Of the other three; one is red (Viashino Skeleton), one is blue (Scrabbling Skullcrab) and one is green (Golgari Grave-Troll).
- Sentry of the Underworld is the only white skeleton as it is part Griffin. There are no mono-white skeletons.
- Gut, True Soul Zealot and Skeletonize create black Skeleton tokens but are mono-red cards.
- Eaten by Piranhas transforms its target into a 1/1 Skeleton.
Tokens
| Token name | Color | Type line | P/T | Text box | Source | Printings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skeleton |
|
Creature — Skeleton | 1/1 | |||
|
|
Creature — Skeleton | 1/1 | : Regenerate this creature.
|
|||
|
|
Creature — Skeleton | 2/1 | ||||
|
|
Creature — Skeleton | 4/1 | Menace | |||
| Skeleton Pirate |
|
Creature — Skeleton Pirate | 2/2 | |||
| Jumblebones |
|
Legendary Creature — Skeleton | 2/1 | This creature can’t block. When this creature leaves the battlefield, return target card named Ozox, the Clattering King from your graveyard to your hand. |
| Token name | Color | Type line | P/T | Text box | Source | Printings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skeleton |
|
Creature — Skeleton | 1/1 | When this creature dies, each opponent gains 2 life. |
| Token name | Color | Type line | P/T | Text box | Source | Printings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinosaur Skeleton | 
|
Creature — Dinosaur Skeleton | 3/1 | Trample | ||
| Reassembling Skeleton |
|
Creature — Skeleton Warrior | 1/1 | (This is a token card which doesn't cease to exist in a zone other than the battlefield and has a  mana cost.): Return Reassembling Skeleton from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
|
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 06, 2016). "Some trivia about Skeletons?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Doug Beyer & Jenna Helland (2008). A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara, Wizards of the Coast. ISBN-13 978-0786951246
- ↑ a b James Wyatt et al. (2023). "D&D Monstrous Compendium: Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures". Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Flavor text for Underworld Sentinel
- ↑ Magic Arcana (March 13, 2002). "Chinese Skeletons (Urza's Saga and Sixth Edition)". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (February 12, 2002). "Chinese art (Seventh Edition)". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12.
- ↑ Worth Wollpert (April 18, 2005). "Ask Wizards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (November 14, 2005). "Alternate Chinese Art in Ravnica, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (November 30, 2005). "Alternate Chinese Art in Ravnica, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (December 14, 2005). "Alternate Chinese Art in Ravnica, Part 3". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (February 23, 2006). "Alternate Chinese Art in Guildpact, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (March 06, 2006). "Alternate Chinese Art in Guildpact, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (April, 2005). "Ask Wizards - April, 2005". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (November 13, 2008). "Ask Wizards?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09.
- ↑ Monty Ashley (October 04, 2011). "Sketches: Manor Skeleton". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07.
