To be considered for this list, a keyword ability has to be just that - both a keyword and an ability. Keyword actions and ability words don't count. I chose three criteria to judge all keywords abilities:
- Innovation. When this keyword ability was first released, did it add something fundamentally new to the game of Magic? Since then, has the ability been used in new and different ways?
- Endurance. Has the keyword ability aged well? If a number of cards were printed today showcasing this ability, would players welcome those cards? Do players remember the keyword fondly?
- Playability. Perhaps the most important criterion, does the keyword ability play well? Is it fun? Does it lead to interesting and exciting games? Can it make for powerful, memorable cards?
#4 - Haste
Alright, scratch that, maybe it hasn't been here since the beginning - it depends on how you look at things. Limited Edition Alpha had two cards that, through the wonders of the Oracle Card Reference, now either possess or confer haste: Instill Energy and Nether Shadow. That haste did not exist as a keyword ability until much, much later (Classic Sixth Edition) is something of a technicality - the mechanic has existed for as long as Magic has existed, even if it wasn't named as such. That's a good thing, too: Magic needs haste. It is the game's most fundamental keyword ability, even going so far as to be a part of other keyword abilities: unearth and suspend (the previous keyword in the countdown) couldn't exist without it. If Magic didn't have haste, the game would stagnate. No other keyword ability can do what it does, and no other keyword ability carries as much weight on its shoulders as it does.
The importance of haste has little to do with its appeal: other keywords have a wider audience. Timmy may understand that haste gives him an extra turn to lay the beatdown with his Hellkite Overlord, but the draw for Timmy lies in all of other abilities that haste enables. Johnny could almost forget about haste entirely. On the other hand, Spike knows that entire deck archetypes owe their success to the keyword: Ball Lightning, Fires of Yavimaya and Goblin Warchief can all attest to this fact. Haste embodies the concept of tempo better than any other keyword ability, so much so that (mana curve considerations aside) some decks generate tempo advantage almost exclusively by using it. Saying that haste is an expert keyword is incorrect: it's a basic keyword that demonstrates expert play through its effective use. Spike couldn't ask for a superior weapon in his arsenal of cards.
In the end, though, the best justification that anybody can give haste is that it requires no justification at all - every player understands it, and every player knows that there is no other mechanic comparable to it. As a keyword, haste enlivens games and adds an element of unpredictability to combat that no other keyword can bring. On an individual card it can go unappreciated, but featured in a deck it ranks among the most dangerous and potent keyword abilities ever printed. As long as Magic exists, so will haste.
- Innovation: B
- Endurance: A+
- Playability: A
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Posted Jan 8, 2010I'll be very interested to see what people think about my Top 3. There's at least one fairly big surprise in there.
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Posted Jan 7, 2010I'd really like to see what you have to say about the remaining four keywords. I've found all of your analyses thus far to be both accurate and enlightening.