Robot
| Robot | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creature Type | |
| (Subtype for creature/kindred cards) | |
| Introduced | Unfinity |
| Last used | Final Fantasy |
| Beeble Scale | 7 (3 for Universes Beyond products)[1] |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
Robot is an artifact creature subtype introduced in the Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks and Unfinity, which released on the same day.[2] In Magic: The Gathering, robots are defined as artificial beings made of non-biological materials, often metal, and are all conceptually Constructs.[3][4] However, robots are far more modern and advanced, with programming, circuits and a computer brain, and hail from explicitly modern settings.[5] They are more technologically created than magically, as Golems are the type for magical automata.[6]
History
Robots are machines more or less resembling human beings and can replicate certain human movements and functions automatically.[7] 'Robot' was first applied as a term for artificial automata in a 1920 play by the Czech writer, Karel Čapek.
By and large, most artifact creatures in Magic: The Gathering can be considered to be robots of some sort. They are mostly fashioned out of metal, glass, or stone by other creatures or planeswalkers. As such, decks heavy on artifact creatures are often called "Robot" decks. However, in 2021 it was stated that R&D had no plans to use Robot on fantasy-centric worlds featured in a premier set, preferring the terms Golem and Construct.[7] Notably, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty "bots" like Runaway Trash-Bot are constructs, and not robots. Neon Dynasty also introduced the concept of Mechs in the Magic Multiverse (e.g. Surgehacker Mech). These are giant robots or machines controlled by people. In Magic they have the Vehicle type.
As the product range of Magic widened, the creature type Robot showed up in Universes Beyond, the Un-iverse and eventually also in the Magic Multiverse. The first in-universe typed Robots were featured in Aetherdrift. After that, they were heavily featured in Edge of Eternities.
Storyline
Guidelight Voyagers
The Guidelight Voyagers of Aetherdrift are robots that are generally spherical and appear to communicate with an untoned speaker, which they compensate by precluding their statement with adjectives.[8]
The Edge
The Mechans of the Edge can be split, roughly, into two categories: drones, which are unconscious machines, and androids, which are conscious machines. Nearly every spacefaring civilization creates drones and uses them across civilian and military applications. Some spacefaring civilizations have prohibitions against the creation of androids.[9]
Drones
Drones are not afforded the rights of personhood. Regardless of the complexity of the tasks they perform, they are "simple" machines in that they have no sentience or sapience. Drones operate on programmable code and cannot think of themselves as individual persons; they are regarded as tools, vehicles, computers, and so on. Drones can be controlled by a remote operator or computer or directed by an advanced on-board computer.[9]
Androids
Androids, in sharp contrast to drones, are whole persons; they are sapient, sentient beings who conceive of themselves with a unique subjectivity. For the most part, in civilizations that have developed androids, androids are afforded the same rights as organic beings.[9]
The process of becoming an android varies and is generally subject to some form of state-specific law. It is possible for an organic person to make themselves into an android, either through surgical implantation and augmentation or through digital consciousness transfer. It is perfectly possible for androids to be created and propagate without an organic origin: some civilizations can create digital consciousnesses from scratch. From there, it is as simple as uploading that consciousness to a storage unit. Most artificial intelligences are referred to colloquially as "viys" and are capable of solving exponentially complex problems.[10]
Un-iverse
In Unfinity all Clowns are Robots, but not all the Robots are Clowns. This helped to avoid the creepy clown trope.[2] The Robots of Unfinity tend to have one function, which varies from Robot to Robot, that they commit to strongly.
Universes Beyond
|
External franchise
The story discussed here is based on other franchises. It has no bearing on Magic continuity.
There are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamt of.
|
In the Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks, Robots are created by artificers of the Forces of the Imperium deck. Technically, the Necron race are technically robots as well.
In Transformers, Robot represents the Autobots and Decepticons, both a species of robotic organisms originating from the planet Cybertron. Before its introduction, Autobot was used as a type on some early HASCON and Heroes of the Realm cards.
Robots were also featured in Doctor Who, Fallout, and Final Fantasy.
Notable Robots
- The Edge
- Unknown
Tokens
Tokens marked with 
are created by Acorn cards.
| Token name | Color | Type line | P/T | Text box | Source | Printings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robot | 
|
Artifact Creature — Robot | 1/1 | Flying | ||
|
|
Artifact Creature — Robot | 2/2 | ||||
|
|
Artifact Creature — Robot | 3/3 | ||||
|
|
Artifact Creature — Robot | 4/4 | This creature can't block. | |||
| Robot Warrior | 
|
Artifact Creature — Robot Warrior | 3/3 | |||
| Laserbeak |
|
Legendary Artifact Creature — Robot | 2/2 | Flying, hexproof | ||
| Ravage | 
|
Legendary Artifact Creature — Robot | 3/3 | Menace, deathtouch | ||
| Clown Robot | 
|
Artifact Creature — Clown Robot | 1/1 | |||
| Securitron Squadron |
|
Artifact Creature — Robot | 2/2 | Vigilance Whenever a creature token enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on it. |
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 6, 2024). "Where would you put Scientist and Robot on the Beeble scale?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (November 29, 2021). "To Unfinity and Beyond". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 20, 2025). "I saw that there is a robot turtle, meaning that Aetherdrift is the first in-multiverse set to feature robots.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 23, 2025). "MTG wise what is the difference between construct, golem and robot?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 2, 2023). "What’s the distinction between a Construct creature and a Robot creature?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 21, 2025). "What's the difference between Assembly-Workers, Robots and Constructs/Karnstructs?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (November 30, 2021). "Flavor wise, what differentiates Robots, Golems and Constructs from each other?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ December 10, 2024 (Miguel Lopez). "Planeswalker's Guide to Aetherdrift, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c Miguel Lopez, Jay Annelli, Laurel Pratt, and Amanda LaFranco (June 20, 2025). "Planeswalkers Guide to Edge of Eternities". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Seth Dickinson (June 24, 2025). "Edge of Eternities Episode 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
