Deciduous

The term Deciduous, as in the context of "a deciduous keyword", refers to keywords, keyword actions or other mechanics that are not evergreen, but may show up from time to time in a set that needs it.

Description[ | ]

Deciduous mechanics are a tool in R&D's toolbox that they're allowed to use, but they're not something they expect to use in every set.^[1][2][3] Most of these are spell mechanics; as spells make up a much lower density of a set's file, needing certain old mechanics are less relevant. Additionally, only one fixing mechanic is usually needed per set, so if the set already has one developed, mechanics such as Clues, Blood, cycling or surveil are less necessary.

The term is derived from the botanical sense, in which deciduous is the antonym of evergreen.

As of 2022, R&D is considering making other mechanics deciduous, like they did with cycling.^[4] In October 2022, surveil and landfall were promoted to deciduous status.^[5] Additionally, cards from previous sets that had those mechanics written out without the keyword (i.e. Consider and Evolution Sage) had their Oracle text updated to include them.^[6][7]

Current deciduous mechanics[ | ]

Mechanic	Type	Colors	First used in	First keyworded in	Made deciduous in
Affinity[8][9]	Keyword ability		Mirrodin	Mirrodin	Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Anchor word	Rules text		Fate Reforged	N/A	Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
Basic landcycling	Keyword ability		Conflux	Conflux	The Lost Caverns of Ixalan[10]
Battle[11]	Card type		March of the Machine	N/A	March of the Machine
Blood tokens	Artifact type		Innistrad: Crimson Vow	Innistrad: Crimson Vow	Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Cantrip	Rules text		Ice Age	N/A	Ice Age
Charge counters[12]	Counter		Ice Age	N/A	Ice Age
Clue tokens	Artifact type		Shadows over Innistrad	Shadows over Innistrad	Shadows over Innistrad
Colored artifacts	Artifact type		Future Sight	N/A	Kaladesh[3]
Convoke	Keyword ability		Ravnica: City of Guilds	Ravnica: City of Guilds	Duskmourn: House of Horror[13]
Curses	Enchantment type		Innistrad	N/A	Innistrad
Cycling	Keyword ability		Urza's Saga	Urza's Saga	Streets of New Capenna
Transforming double-faced cards[14]	Keyword action		Innistrad	Innistrad	Innistrad
Double-faced tokens	Token		March of the Machine	N/A	March of the Machine[15]
Enchantment creatures[16][17]	Combined card types		Theros	N/A	Theros
Finality counters	Counter		Innistrad: Midnight Hunt	N/A	The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Flashback[9]	Keyword ability		Odyssey	Odyssey	Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Food tokens	Artifact type		Throne of Eldraine	N/A	Throne of Eldraine
Hybrid mana	Mana		Ravnica: City of Guilds	N/A	Shadowmoor
Keyword counters[18]	Counter		Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths	N/A	Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Kicker[19]	Keyword ability		Invasion	Invasion	March of the Machine
Landfall[7]	Ability word		Ravnica: City of Guilds	Zendikar	The Brothers' War
Nonartifact spells with generic mana costs[20]	Spells		Rise of the Eldrazi	N/A	Rise of the Eldrazi
Phasing (Phase out)[21]	Keyword action		Mirage	Commander 2017	Commander 2017
Protection from [...][14]	Keyword ability		Alpha	Alpha	Alpha
Prowess	Keyword ability		Khans of Tarkir	Khans of Tarkir	Magic Origins, lost status in Hour of Devastation, deciduous again as of Dominaria United
Sagas[22]	Enchantment type		Dominaria	N/A	Theros Beyond Death
Split cards[14]	Spells		Invasion	N/A	Invasion
Stun counters	Counter		Dominaria United	N/A	Dominaria United
Surveil[5]	Keyword action		Odyssey	Guilds of Ravnica	The Brothers' War
Treasure tokens	Artifact type		Ixalan	N/A	Ravnica Allegiance
Vanilla creatures[23]	Creatures		Alpha	N/A	Alpha
Vehicles	Artifact type		Kaladesh	N/A	Kaladesh

Cameo mechanics[ | ]

In 2023, R&D also started experimenting with started to do "cameos" where an old mechanic appears once in a set at a higher rarity. The rules for cameo cards require that they're relatively simple and don't have a history of balance issues.^[24][25]

It is relatively easy to do more one-of existing ability words in sets, as the card text explains everything, and thus an ability word comes at less of a mental cost.^[26]

References[ | ]