Key takeaways
- MTG's legendary supertype poses text space problems with new cards like Valgavoth, Terror Eater.
- Mark Rosewater, MTG's lead designer, said that options for Legendary have been considered. He also wants to remove the legend rule.
- Possible solutions could be shortening or visually changing the legendary supertype on cards for better clarity and more text space.
Magic: The Gathering It's an ever-evolving game, with each set bringing new cards and usually a mechanic or two to boot, making for thematic releases and keeping the TCG fresh. An example is how MTGwho Bloomburrow The set introduced the gift mechanic, which included a gift in the text box of some cards that players could promise to their opponents, usually increasing the card's effects in doing so. A major change in the game's history was back in 1994 when the Legends set introduced a Legend type for both lands and creatures, the latter having “summon legend” as part of their text to reflect the old summoning terminology.
Then, with the October 2004 Champions of Kamigawa, MTG Introduced a “Legendary” supertype for various card types, expanding on Legendary Sorcery and Legendary Instant. This was changing Magic: The Gathering Forever, this new supertype of cards was finally used to create MTGof Commander format, but it can also be relevant in regular play due to the so-called “Legends rule”. What this does is remove players from one of two (or more) permanent matches in this supertype that share the same name. As legendary as legendary, MTG Its rebranding looks set to move away from it as the 20th anniversary dawns.
Why Magic: Gathering can change or remove a legendary supertype
What is Magic: The Gathering Story Rules?
There are two problems with the Legendary Supertype Magic: The Gathering – One is tied to the legend rules, the other is how much text space the “legendary” takes up on the cards. In the case of mythological rules, MTG The Commander format encourages players outside of the deck to use multiple copies of the same cards to create synergies within the deck, but balancing the copies can be difficult due to the Legend rule with legendary permanents.
Why MTG's legendary supertype is problematic for text spaces
In the case of legendary supertypes, this takes up a lot of text space on the cards, to the point that some creatures struggle to represent each of their types on their respective cards. The latest example of this is Valgavoth, the Terror Eater from the new horror season-themed Duskmourn: House of Horrors Set. This creature is the big bad of the expansion, and is classified as an Elder Demon, but this logic is also very insect-like, raising the question of whether it should be classified as an “Elder Demon Insect” instead. Enter Mark Rosewater, MTGwho spoke about the issue on his Tumblr blog.
Mark Rosewater has long been opposed to the Legend rule, which he has tried to remove, and recent comments about Vulgavoth make a good case for “Legendary” as a supertype to either be shortened or added to cards through other creative solutions. He agrees that Valgavoth should have been a worm with the Elder Demon, but this was not possible due to text space on the card and possible translation issues. What follows has been important for the development of mythology MTGformats and new cards, it may be time to shorten or make it so that it is visually clear when keeping an eye on legendary cards.
Other solutions might be to call the supertype legend again, perhaps changing the word to make more space, like “myth” or “famous”. While Rosewater said options have been considered, nothing has been decided yet, and for now, players will still see Legendary. MTG cards. whether Magic: The GatheringWhether the legend rules and the legendary supertype change or completely ax remains to be seen, but now seems like a good time for a change as more and more problematic examples arrive.

A magical assembly
Magic the Gathering is a tabletop and digital collectible card game created by Richard Garfield and released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Players take on the role of a planeswalker and use various cards to battle other players by casting spells, summoning creatures, or using artifacts. It has two main rule categories, Constructed or Limited, and can be played by two or more players at a time.
- Franchise
- Magic: The Gathering
- Original release date
- 1993-00-00
- Age recommendation
- 13+