Elder

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Elder
Nicol Bolas
Creature Type
(Subtype for creature/kindred cards)
Introduced	Legend
Last used	Final Fantasy Commander
Beeble Scale	5
Scryfall Statistics
cards
token creation cards

Elder is a creature type, first used for the Elder Dragons and later used on huge primordial entities and venerable creatures to denote their importance. Since it never stands without a species it is effectively a job.

History

Originally, the creature type was only used on the Elder Dragons of Legends, and like most old creature types, it was meant to be read as a unified creature type (much like Ali-from-Cairo or Lord of Atlantis) and described a specific species: they were not "Elder" and "Dragon", they were "Elder Dragon Legends".

The creature type was then unsupported for a long time, meaning that while it wasn't removed from the existing cards, it wasn't added to new ones. The subtype was retained because of how iconic the cycle of dragons from Legends was.

Starting with Dragons of Tarkir, the type Elder was finally brought back, this time used to describe the venerable age of a cycle of Dragon Lords whose importance creative wanted to emphasize. Interestingly, they decided to un-retire the type Elder instead of the type Lord because the connection with the original Elder Dragons was meant as a homage; but it, unfortunately, created some confusion as to whether or not these new dragons were members of the same species as the old ones.

Following the un-retirement of the subtype, it started being used more regularly with Rivals of Ixalan featuring six Elder Dinosaurs, the first Elders that weren't Dragons, followed by an Elder Demon in Dominaria, as well as two Elder Giants in Theros Beyond Death.

Lore

The Founder Dragons of Arcavios

At the birth of the plane, as the mana of two planes overlapped in conflicting ways, many forms of life adapted to the new structure, and many new forms of life were spawned. Five particularly powerful vortices of overlapping mana became luminous spheres, from which were hatched five dragons. These dragons have become emblems of the magic of the plane, living symbols of the clashing forces of the five dichotomies.

The Founder Dragons were the first to master the magic of the five opposing combinations. When the humanoid species arose, the dragons were at first angered that mortals would try to harness the wild forces of magic, but they came to realize that only through disciplined study would magic be in safe hands. So, centuries ago, the dragons founded an institution devoted to the study of the five mana dichotomies, and that institution is now known as Strixhaven. The five colleges were based around the magic mastered by each of those dragons.

To this day, the Founder Dragons roam the world, the five deadly sages of the skies. They no longer associate directly with Strixhaven, preferring to let the deans of the colleges, or their human mouthpiece Director Taiva, speak in their stead. The dragons' wisdom is vast, but their tempers can be short. Mages seek them out only to learn the most elusive of secrets.

Five Elder Dragons founded Strixhaven, the most elite school of mages in the multiverse. Each college takes its name directly from the elder dragon that created them.

• Shadrix Silverquill ()
• Galazeth Prismari ()
• Beledros Witherbloom ()
• Velomachus Lorehold ()
• Tanazir Quandrix ()

The Elder Demon of Dominaria

The mightiest of the four demons that had struck a bargain with Liliana Vess.

• Belzenlok ()

The Elder Dragons of Dominaria

The vast power of the ancient Elder Dragons of Dominaria was said to rival that of planeswalkers. At least two of them, Nicol Bolas and Ugin, became planeswalkers themselves. They participated in the Elder Dragon War, a conflict that shook the plane of Dominaria and killed most of their kind. Early storyline sources referred to them with the title of Dominia, but with the release of the story for Core 2019, it seems that the Elder Dragon War took place only on the plane of Dominaria.

• Arcades Sabboth ()
• Chromium Rhuell ()
• Nicol Bolas ()
• Palladia-Mors ()
• Vaevictis Asmadi ()
• Ugin ()
• Lividus
• Merrevia Sal
• Piru ()
• Ravus
• Rubra

The Elder Demon of Duskmourn

The powerful demon that expanded and covered the entire plane of Duskmourn.

• Valgavoth (/ )

The Elder Demon of Innistrad

The powerful demon lord who indirectly created the vampires of Innistrad.

• Shilgengar ()

The Elder Dinosaurs of Ixalan

The tale of the Elder Dinosaurs had taken Huatli the longest to memorize, an agonizing two years to lock in her mind in its entirety. They were ancient and wild, utterly untamable, the greatest of the dinosaurs.

• Zetalpa ()
• Nezahal ()
• Tetzimoc ()
• Etali (/ when compleated)
• Ghalta ()
• Zacama ()

The Elder Fungus of Ixalan

An ancient and powerful fungus that controls a web of fungi spanning a plane.

• The Mycotyrant ()

The Elder Dragons of Tarkir

The creature type returned after 21 years in Dragons of Tarkir to emphasize the importance of these dragonlords. While not members of the Elder Dragon species, the creature type was used to represent their great age and the respect they command (tying in with the theme of time travel of the block) and to pay direct homage to Legends's cycle of dragons. It was later revealed that they are the direct descendants of Ugin.

• Dromoka ()
• Ojutai ()
• Silumgar ()
• Kolaghan ()
• Atarka ()

The Titans of Theros

The Titans of Theros are Elder Giants.

• Kroxa ()
• Uro ()
• Phlage, Titan of Burning Wind and Fire's Fury, an all-consuming whirlwind of fire. ()
• Skotha, Titan of Eternal Dark, the utter darkness of the starless night.

Universes Beyond

This section discusses story elements that are not considered canon.

External franchise This section discusses story elements that are not considered canon. The story discussed here is based on other franchises. There are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamt of.

Elder has been used a few times on non-canonical cards, including cards from Universes Beyond products. In Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, it was used on a cycle of non-legendary metallic dragons.

In Final Fantasy, it was used on several cards depicting members of the "ancients," a species of progenitor humanoids from a lost age. Uniquely, on these cards, it is the only type indicating their species. It was also used on Hraesvelgr to represent it being a primordial dragon or great wyrm:

• Ardyn (card)
• Emet-Selch (cards)
• Fandaniel (card)
• Hermes (card)
• Hraesvelgr (card)
• Venat (card)

Notes

• Ugin was revealed to be spawned from The Ur-Dragon alongside his twin, Nicol Bolas, in a later Magic story, confirming he was born an Elder Dragon.
• Although many cards have "elder" in their name (for example Argothian Elder, Elder Land Wurm, Leaf-Crowned Elder, Elder Brain or Revered Elder), none of them have the subtype Elder.
• Although Niv-Mizzet is over 16,000 years old, he is not considered an Elder Dragon. His character was introduced in 2006 with Guildpact, more than a decade after the Elder Dragons of Legends and during a period when the creature type was unsupported. Elder reappeared in 2015 with Dragons of Tarkir and was used in subsequent sets associated with ancient dragons that are at most a fraction of Niv’s age, leading players to question why Niv-Mizzet has not been considered an elder dragon. However, Mark Rosewater has indicated that "[i]t's possible he should be an Elder."

Tokens

Test cards

Token name	Color	Type line	P/T	Text box	Source	Printings
Arcades Sabboth		Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon	7/7	Flying At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Arcades Sabboth unless you pay . Each untapped creature you control gets +0/+2 as long as it’s not attacking. : Arcades Sabboth gets +0/+1 until end of turn.	Fate Reforged
Chromium		Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon	7/7	Flying Rampage 2 (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn for each creature blocking it beyond the first.) At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Chromium unless you pay .	Fate Reforged
Nicol Bolas		Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon	7/7	Flying At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Nicol Bolas unless you pay . Whenever Nicol Bolas deals damage to an opponent, that player discards their hand.	Fate Reforged
Palladia-Mors		Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon	7/7	Flying, trample At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Palladia-Mors unless you pay .	Fate Reforged
Vaevictis Asmadi		Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon	7/7	Flying At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Vaevictis Asmadi unless you pay . : Vaevictis Asmadi gets +1/+0 until end of turn. : Vaevictis Asmadi gets +1/+0 until end of turn. : Vaevictis Asmadi gets +1/+0 until end of turn.	Fate Reforged

See also

• Dragons
• Elder Land Wurms