Quick Links
There are tons of creature types inMagic: The Gathering:281 in total. Typal cards such as lords that increase the power and toughness of similarly typed creatures and other cards that synergize with certain creature types have been around for many years.
There are even some cards that buff multiple creature types, benefitting you for placing a menagerie of creatures in your deck, however, never before has there been a keyword that refers to multiple creature types. Thanks to Outlaws of Thunder Junction, that’s all changing with the introduction of outlaws.
What Are Outlaws?
The term “outlaw” refers tocreatures with at least one of the following creature types:
While this might seem like a useless distinction at first glance, multiplecards have been printed in Outlaws of Thunder Junction that function with outlaws you control.
This typal pairing term allows players to build decks that include all of the above creature types and still receive synergy from some of their other cards.
Almost all Outlaws are creatures.
For the most part, outlaws are only permanents that already exist on the battlefield. However, some cards referenceoutlaw spellswhich would beany card cast that contains one of the above creature types.
Why Do Outlaws Matter?
While this might seem like a small addition to the game,outlaws may just be the beginning of introducing similar terms to the game in the future.If the popularity ofDragon decks in Commandertells us anything, Magic players love building typal decks.
Batching terms likeoutlaws will allow players to build all kinds of new typal decks that include the best creature cards from multiple creature types.
The thematic flavor that these decks could offer will be hard for many players to resist. With any luck, outlaws will end up being a popular mechanic and we’ll see similar batching terms very soon.
