Legendary
| Legendary | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Supertype | |
| Rules | A player may not control two or more legendary permanents with the same name. A player may not cast a legendary instant or sorcery unless they control a legendary creature or planeswalker. |
| Statistics |
2889 cards  0.7%  9.6%  8.7%  9.4%  8.8%  8.5%  4.4%  3.6%  3.6%  3.8%  3.8%  3.3%  2.9%  2.8%  3.3%  3.3%  12.3%  4.4%  2.8% |
| Scryfall Search | |
| type:"Legendary" | |
Legendary is a supertype that can appear on any card, imposing a flavorful drawback that represents the subject's uniqueness and notability. The "legend rule" governing legendary permanents has undergone several iterations;[1][2][3][4] by current rules, a single player can't control more than one copy of the same legendary permanent.[3][4]
Legendary creature cards, representing named characters, were first introduced in the 1994 expansion Legends under the now-obsolete creature type Legend. Legendary creatures quickly became a Magic staple and have since appeared in almost every premier set.[1] The Commander format centers legendary creatures in deck construction.
Description
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (April 4, 2025—Tarkir: Dragonstorm)
- Legendary
- A supertype that’s normally relevant on permanents. See rule 205.4, “Supertypes.” See also Legend Rule.
Legendary is a supertype that can appear on any card regardless of card type, granting one of two flavorful drawbacks. Legendary permanents, such as creatures and planeswalkers, are bound by the "legend rule", which prevents multiple copies of the card with the same name from existing on the battlefield under the same player's control. Legendary instants and sorceries instead have an extra casting restriction: they can be cast only if the caster controls a legendary creature or a legendary planeswalker.
Flavor-wise, the legendary supertype signifies uniqueness and notability. Legendary creatures and planeswalkers represent named characters, such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Jace Beleren. Legendary artifacts are one-of-a-kind objects, like Legacy Weapon or The One Ring. Mark Rosewater has speculated that the powerful resonance of legendary cards is what keeps the supertype popular, despite the normal unpopularity of drawback mechanics.[5]
Most legendary cards have a rarity of rare or mythic rare. Common legendaries are very unusual, as they contradict the supertype's flavor.
Card frame
Starting with Duel Decks: Elves vs. Inventors and Dominaria, all legendary cards, except planeswalkers, have crown-like flourishes above the title bar of the card frame.[6]
Legend rule
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (April 4, 2025—Tarkir: Dragonstorm)
- Legend Rule
- A state-based action that causes a player who controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name to put all but one into their owners’ graveyards. See rule 704.5j.
From the Comprehensive Rules (April 4, 2025—Tarkir: Dragonstorm)
- 205.4d Any permanent with the supertype “legendary” is subject to the state-based action for legendary permanents, also called the “legend rule” (see rule 704.5j).
From the Comprehensive Rules (April 4, 2025—Tarkir: Dragonstorm)
- 704.5j If two or more legendary permanents with the same name are controlled by the same player, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”
If a player controls two or more legendary permanents of the same name when state-based effects are checked, that player chooses one of those permanents and immediately puts the others into their owners' graveyards, without any player having an opportunity to respond. This does not destroy the other permanents, does not cause them to be sacrificed, and cannot be prevented by being indestructible or having regeneration.
This version of the rule has been in effect since the release of Magic 2014.[3][4]
Currently, only a handful of cards circumvent the "legend rule":
- Mirror Gallery, Mirror Box and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces cancel the rule entirely.
- Cadric, Soul Kindler and The Master, Multiplied cancel the rule for tokens you control. Sliver Gravemother cancels the rule for Slivers you control.
- Brothers Yamazaki ignores the rule for itself as long as exactly two copies of the card are on the battlefield. The third will "kill" the two others.
- Aeve, Progenitor Ooze, Jace, Cunning Castaway, Jace, Mirror Mage, Ob Nixilis, the Adversary, and Osgood, Operation Double copy themselves and the resulting permanent isn't legendary, while thirteen cards can create copies of permanents with the same clause. Ratadrabik of Urborg makes nonlegendary copies of Legendaries that die, which is relevant if they return otherwise.
- Sakashima the Impostor, Olag, Ludevic's Hubris, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, Lazav, the Multifarious, and Sarkhan, Soul Aflame can copy another legendary creature but keep their names, thus a player can have two legendary creatures with the same functionality.
Mark Rosewater's objection
Mark Rosewater has stated multiple times that he considers legendary to be a mechanical downside that he would rather get rid of.[7] If he was starting over he would make legendary a supertype with no rules baggage. He would create a keyword, called something like "unique", for things that needed for gameplay reasons to be restricted to having only one in play.[8][9] The rest of R&D doesn't concur with Rosewater's idea, or feels it is too late for the change.[10]
Legendary instants and sorceries
From the Comprehensive Rules (April 4, 2025—Tarkir: Dragonstorm)
- 205.4e Any instant or sorcery spell with the supertype “legendary” is subject to a casting restriction. A player can’t cast a legendary instant or sorcery spell unless that player controls a legendary creature or a legendary planeswalker.
Legendary instant and sorcery cards follow a different rule than permanents. They cannot be cast unless the player casting them controls a legendary creature or a legendary planeswalker. Once the casting of the spell is underway, losing control of legendary creatures and planeswalkers doesn't affect the spell. Other than this casting restriction, the legendary supertype on an instant or sorcery carries no additional rules.[11][12][13]
In flavor, these cards represent spells too powerful to be unleashed without the assistance of a legendary creature or planeswalker.[11][12] The legendary sorceries in Dominaria also depict extraordinary moments from specific Magic characters' pasts.[11]
Only a handful of legendary instants and sorceries exist.[14] Unlike other legendary cards, they are relatively unpopular, with a current Storm Scale rating of 8.[15]
History
Legends–Fifth Dawn
The set Legends (1994) introduced the creature subtype Legend to represent unique, named characters. These first Legends were also the game's first multicolored cards, an attempt to capture their complex flavor.[1] Legends also included six legendary lands, which likewise depict specific, named locations.
At the time of release, all Legends were restricted, meaning that each could appear no more than once in a player's deck.[16] The game also introduced its first "legend rule":
| “ | Legends are considered creatures except that there may be only one legend of the same name in play at a time. If a second legend of the same name is brought into play, it is buried. If more than one legend of the same name is brought into play at the same time, all of them are buried. Legendary lands are treated in the same manner, except that they are considered lands instead of creatures.[17] | ” |
Legend creatures returned in Ice Age (1995),[1] after which they were unrestricted[18] and became a staple of Magic sets.[1] New noncreature legendary cards were printed less frequently, returning in Mirage (1996) with Teferi's Isle; the first legendary artifact, Sword of the Chosen, was printed in Stronghold (1998).
The legend rule remained unchanged for ten years. If a Legend or legendary permanent was on the battlefield, any new copies of that card—regardless of controller—would immediately be put from the battlefield into the graveyard, effectively stranding them in players' hands. This issue came to a head during the Masques block because Rebel decks centered around Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero were dominant at the time. The card was so key to the deck that when two Rebel decks played one another, the first person to get Lin Sivvi out had an unfair advantage.[1] Tom LaPille laid out the various disagreements about the rules change in his article.[19]
Champions of Kamigawa–Dragon's Maze
R&D used the legendary theme of Champions of Kamigawa (2004) as an opportunity to change the legend rule. If two or more copies of the same legendary permanent were in play, now all of them would go to the graveyard, instead of just the newest copies.[1][2] This change was proposed by Zvi Mowshowitz[2] and remained in effect for nine years.
| “ | 420.5e If two or more permanents with the same name have the supertype legendary, all are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the "legend rule." If only one of those permanents is legendary, this rule doesn't apply.[20] | ” |
Additionally, the Legend subtype was made obsolete and replaced with the legendary supertype, as part of a larger effort to remove rules baggage from creature subtypes.[1][21]
Champions' own legendary theme involved making every rare creature legendary, as well as several uncommon ones. The set also introduced the first Legendary enchantments in cards such as Honden of Cleansing Fire and Night of Souls' Betrayal.[22] R&D views the theme as a failure since the as-fan of legendaries wasn't high enough players to notice it,[1] while at the same time the overabundance of legendary creatures made them feel less special.[1][22]
Magic 2014–Rivals of Ixalan
Magic 2014 (released 2013) changed the legend rule to its current incarnation, in which a single player may not control more than two copies of the same legendary permanent. The "planeswalker uniqueness rule" was changed at the same time.
With the release of Ixalan (2017), the planeswalker uniqueness rule was made obsolete and replaced with the legend rule,[23] and all existing planeswalkers received errata to be made legendary.
Dominaria–present
Dominaria (2018) brought a strong legendary matters theme to Standard for the first time since the Kamigawa block. To get around Kamigawa's as-fan problem, legendaries were batched with artifacts and Sagas in the new historic keyword.
Dominaria also introduced legendary sorceries.[11][12] The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (2023) introduced the first legendary instant, Isildur's Fateful Strike.[13][24]
Since Dominaria, the average number of legendary creatures in premier sets has grown, and uncommon legendary creatures have become more frequent.
In 2023, R&D started to discuss lowering the average of legendary creatures in Magic IP sets. Universes Beyond, due to its nature, will still want a lot of legendary creatures as the named characters of an IP are a big draw.[25][26]
Commander
Legendary creatures are of particular interest in the Commander format, which requires that a legendary creature be selected as one's commander.
Several noncreature cards, mostly planeswalkers, have rules text that allows them to be commanders; Backgrounds can also be commanders through the Choose a Background mechanic. Such cards are typically legendary.[27]
Legendary matters
White is the color that cares the most about legendary permanents; it can tutor for them and return them from the graveyard, among other positive interactions.[28] However, such "legendary matters" effects may appear in any color.[29] Examples include:
- Arvad the Cursed ()
- Captain Sisay ()
- Sisay, Weatherlight Captain ()
- The Circle of Loyalty ()
- Kethis, the Hidden Hand ()
- Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God ()
- Reki, the History of Kamigawa ()
- Tiana, Angelic Mechanic ()
Nonlegendary cards with similar flavor
Some creature cards printed before Legends depict named characters, such as Aladdin (Arabian Nights). These are unlikely to be made retroactively legendary due to R&D's desire to avoid functional errata.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]
Specific locations sometimes appear on nonlegendary lands, such as Emeria, the Sky Ruin. This is because legendary lands have gone out of favor with R&D due to poor gameplay. To justify the flavor of these cards, Mark Rosewater has suggested that lands on the battlefield represent not the location itself, but the leylines connected to its mana.[38][39][40]
Non-eternal mechanics
Megalegendary
Megalegendary is a keyword appearing on the test card Vazal, the Compleat (Mystery Booster) with the reminder text "Your deck can have only one copy of this card". In a Limited event, having two copies of Vazal requires putting one in your sideboard.[41]
Legendary costs
A legendary mana cost, represented by 
, appears on the test card Keeper of the Crown (Mystery Booster 2). The cost can be paid by one mana of any type produced by a legendary source, which can include any legendary permanent, legendary spell, or legendary card in any zone.[42] This is a requirement of the cost itself. The mana produced by a legendary source has no special properties, effects, or restrictions derived from the legendary supertype and that mana is indistinguishable from any other mana of the same type.
Notes
- ↑ Scryfall results do not always match the numbers on this table; this table excludes rebalanced cards and includes only the front faces of meld cards.
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Mark Rosewater (May 09, 2011). "The Issue Is Legen—Wait for It—Dary". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-12-14.
- ↑ a b c Aaron Forsythe (September 10, 2004). "Legendary Rules Changes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-02-17.
- ↑ a b c Matt Tabak (May 23, 2013). "Magic 2014 Core Set Rules Preview". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11.
- ↑ a b c Sam Stoddard (May 23, 2013). "Legendary Rule Change". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 22, 2015). "#228 - Legendary". Drive to Work.
- ↑ Aaron Forsythe (March 21, 2018). "Dominaria Frame, Template and Rules Changes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 14, 2016). "Can't you just drop the mechanical baggage and just use it as a "story marker"?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 02, 2017). "Why do you want the Legendary rule gone?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 29, 2017). "So basically you wish Legendary didn't exist.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 29, 2017). "Now that planeswalkers use the legendary rule". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ a b c d Dominaria Release Notes
- ↑ a b c Matt Tabak (March 21, 2018). "Dominaria Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b Eric Levine (June 9, 2023). "The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ 7 cards where the card types include "legendary" and the cards don’t become permanents. Scryfall. Scryfall, LLC. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 02, 2020). "On the heels of the historic question where are...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 02, 2017). "At any point in Magic's history, was it ever considered to make Legendary a deckbuilding restriction instead of a gameplay one?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Legends rules insert (1994). Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (July 26, 2002). "Restricted Legends". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11.
- ↑ Tom LaPille (May 13, 2011). "A Legendary Disagreement". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (October 1, 2004). Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules—Champions of Kamigawa. Retrieved from Academy Ruins March 17, 2025.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 04, 2004). "Change For the Better". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b Aaron Forsythe (November 24, 2006). "Preserving the Coolness of Legends". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25.
- ↑ Matt Tabak (August 28, 2017). "Ixalan Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ MTGxLOTR Exclusive Preview! - Isildur's Fateful Strike (Video). Playing With Power MTG. YouTube (June 5, 2023).
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 31, 2023). "How likely or even possible is a set with very few (like, fewer than 10) legendary creatures?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 24, 2024). "Why are you guys making effort to lower the amount of legendary creatures?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ 52 cards where the cards can be your commander and the card types exclude "creature". Scryfall. Scryfall, LLC. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 18, 2021). "Mechanical Color Pie 2021 Changes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-10-18.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 06, 2020). "Do all colors have access to "legendary matters" effects?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 21, 2024). "Why wasn’t Aladdin (or any named important creature from Arabian nights) changed to a legendary creature?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 08, 2020). "Hey there Mark, since you guys seemed to have changed your stance of late on creature errata…". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 17, 2020). "The card Aladdin was made in Arabian Nights before legendary was a thing, but why hasn't it been errata'd since then to be legendary?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 22, 2018). "P3K's existence predated the usage of "when" for Zodiac Dragon, and you say that it's not functional errata in spirit, because the literal text doesn't match how the card worked then.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 21, 2018). "I’ve been playing Magic for 25 years.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 20, 2016). "Why weren't the "legends" in arabian nights, i.e. Sinbad, Aladdin, retroactively errata-ed as legendary creatures?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 22, 2015). "Whats the chance of Arabian Nights creatures like Aladdin and Ali Baba getting their oracle text updated as legendary?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 01, 2013). "What is stopping early cards like King Suleiman or Sindbad from being changed from Creatures into Legendary Creatures?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 29, 2019). "Hey Mark, what was the reason behind the zendikar rare land cycle (valakut, emeria the sky ruin) not being legendary?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 29, 2013). "Why aren't Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Emeria, the Sky Ruin legendary?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 23, 2012). "Is there some bias against printing Legendary Lands?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Eli Shiffrin (November 11, 2019). "Mystery Booster Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Eric Levine (September 20, 2024). "Mystery Booster 2 Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
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