Lord
| Lord | |
|---|---|
| Creature Type | |
| (Subtype for creature/kindred cards) | |
| Introduced |
Alpha (updated) Revised Edition (printed) |
| Last used | Obsolete |
| Beeble Scale | 10[1] |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
|
395 lord ability cards  8.4%  27.1%  7.1%  8.9%  6.6%  14.4%  27.6% | |
|
25 former Lord type cards 24% 8% 12% 28% 16% 12% | |
Lord is a slang term for a creature that boosts other creatures that share a creature type. Lords are a popular and common design, represented on upwards of 1% of all cards ever printed. "Color lords", which affect creatures of the same color rather than creature type, are also popular.[2] A related slang term, anthem, describes effects that specifically increase power and toughness.
Lord is also an obsolete creature type for creatures of high rank.[3] In this sense, Noble is currently used for a similar flavor purpose, without any mechanical expectations.
Development
The first lords were printed in Limited Edition Alpha: Goblin King, Lord of Atlantis, and Zombie Master. All three cards were designed for the purpose of adding value to vanilla creatures. Additionally, lords empower typal strategies and help to match the feel of Goblins and Zombies, which have a reputation for traveling in hordes.[4]
While the original lords affected all creatures of the specified type, later designs generally affect only creatures controlled by the same player, so that they are "all-upside" and feel better to play. Modern lords also explicitly have any abilities that they grant to other creatures, so that players do not need to calculate the impact of continuous effects on the lord itself. Goblin Chieftain, Merfolk Sovereign, and Lord of the Undead were designed as fixed versions of the original lords.[4]
Lords serve as a design tool to guide deckbuilding by suggesting a strategy and being straightforward to evaluate. Most limited formats are designed such that lords are a reasonable first-round pick. Lords add emergent complexity to the game, establish consistency between sets, and are popular among players.[5]
Anthems
The term anthem is derived from Glorious Anthem (Urza's Saga), and describes effects that increase power and toughness. The sets of cards described as lords or anthems generally intersect, but precise definitions vary.
Players generally agree that a lord is a creature that gives a bonus to creatures of a specific type.[6][7][8][9] A.L. Walser defined an anthem is any permanent that increases power and toughness for all creatures controlled by the same player, and excluded lords from a list of best anthems.[7] In constrast, Chris Stomberg recognizes lords as a restricted subset of anthems.[8] Isaac Williams defined the terms without reference to each other.[9]
In Scryfall searches, the community-sourced tagging system treats "lord" and "anthem" as synonyms, and searching for either tag yields the same set of cards. Those results include cards that increase power or toughness, but do not include lords that provide other benefits to their creature type, such as Crossway Troublemakers.
Creature type
Of the three lords in Alpha, only Zombie Master was originally printed with the Lord type. The others were first printed with "Goblin King" and "Lord of Atlantis" on their type lines, and errataed to "Lord" in Revised Edition. They did not share the creature type that they affect, due to creatures in Alpha only having one creature type.[4] The Ninth Edition Goblin King and Time Spiral Lord of Atlantis are the only printings that have both the species and Lord type.
Retirement
The creature type Lord was retired with the printing of Tenth Edition. That decision was the result of lengthy debate during the set's development. One point of debate was the history of inconsistent matching between card names, flavor, and abilities that met the slang definition of a "lord". The categorization of the Lord type in the species/job model, either as a job or a status, was also a concern, as was the physical length of the type line. There was also awareness that some players viewed "Lord" as a strictly gendered term.
Following several hours of discussion, Brady Dommermuth sent the following in an email to members of R&D:[10]
Tenth Edition creature types need to be locked in today. I appreciate everyone talking through the issues around the Lord type yesterday; it's a big headache, and lots of people had lots of valid points.
I'm intending to go with the "cut the Gordian knot" option: eliminate the Lord type. Every other option just has too many pitfalls, such as Lord of the Pit getting the Lord type and Kuro, Pitlord not getting it, or having to decide arbitrarily whether the Lord type begins at the Major General or Lieutenant General level of command.
In the end, I wasn't compelled by the counterarguments to the "players will call them lords anyway" position. Eliminating the Lord type more or less counts on the fact that players will continue to use Lord when chatting about Goblin King, for example, and that when it comes to the gray areas that we can't fully resolve on cards, players' emergent consensus will compensate.
I wouldn't seriously consider eliminating the Lord type unless I truly believed Lord will live on as player slang, in the same way that "fatty" or "weenie" do. I fully endorse inclusion of "lord" in any glossaries we publish (in starter-level materials, online, wherever).
The Tenth Edition decision immediately impacted Elvish Champion, Lord of the Undead, and Goblin King in that set, printed in July 2007. Three months later, Keldon Warlord was updated with its Masters Edition digital printing, and other Lords received matching errata in the Grand Creature Type Update. A final Lord, Assquatch, did not receive errata for several years, because the Oracle references for Un-sets were not maintained until the release of Unstable in 2017.
As of 2014, Lord was considered a "dead" type, with little to no chance of being used in the future.[11] Due to the addition of the two-word Time Lord creature type for Doctor Who in 2023, the Lord type cannot be returned to the game.[12]
Cards printed with the Lord type
- Ancestor's Prophet
- Assquatch
- Benalish Commander
- Caller of the Hunt
- Catapult Master
- Chaos Lord
- Chorus of the Conclave
- Crovax, Ascendant Hero
- Darien, King of Kjeldor
- Dralnu, Lich Lord
- Elvish Champion
- Ghost Council of Orzhova
- Goblin King
- Gravespawn Sovereign
- Jedit Ojanen of Efrava
- Keldon Warlord
- Kobold Overlord
- Lord of Atlantis
- Lord of the Undead
- Lovisa Coldeyes
- Skirk Fire Marshal
- Supreme Inquisitor
- Tivadar of Thorn
- Voice of the Woods
- Zombie Master
See also
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 03, 2014). "Are there any creature types considered "dead", so to speak?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 14, 2014). "Card Duty, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 07, 2008). "But Wait, There's More". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c Mark Rosewater (March 19, 2012). "Lord of the Things". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05.
- ↑ Zac Hill (March 23, 2012). "Lordly Might". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Timothy Zaccagnino (2024-10-03). "The 50 Best Lords in Magic Ranked (en-US)". Draftsim. Archived from the original on 2026-01-23.
- ↑ a b A.L. Walser (2025-08-14). "The 59 Best Anthem Effects in Magic Ranked (en-US)". Draftsim. Archived from the original on 2026-01-23.
- ↑ a b Chris Stomberg (2022-10-16). "Magic: The Gathering - The 8 Best Anthem Spells (en)". TheGamer. Archived from the original on 2026-01-23.
- ↑ a b Isaac Williams (2023-07-15). "Your Essential Guide to MtG Slang (en)". CBR. Archived from the original on 2026-01-23.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 2008). "Ask Wizards - January 2008". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Blogatog (en). Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2026-01-22.
- ↑ Blogatog (en). Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2026-01-22.
