Renton, WA --- Wizards of the Coast will be issuing three new keyword abilities for Scourge, the final expansion of Onslaught block.

"We are delighted with the success of the new keyword abilities in Legions and are moving further in that direction. We decided it was high time we stopped describing what creatures can do on the creature cards themselves," said Randy Buehler in an exclusive interview on the new abilities. "And this is just the beginning. Players should expect the number of keyword abilities to expand exponentially with the release of future expansions."

"We've gone mad with power," he added.

Here is a rundown of the new abilities that will appear in Scourge.

Eternal
This new keyword replaces the phrase, "Attacking does not cause CARDNAME to tap." This ability was so common that it felt as though it deserved its own keyword, much like Fear.

"One of the reasons it took so long to keyword this ability was because of the heated debate over what keyword should be used," Randy Buehler explained, "It was going to be keyworded as 'Tireless' in Odyssey, but this led to a few arguments since attacking does cause Tireless Tribe to attack; some members of R&D thought the ability should be called 'Cantivore' instead. This led to an all night screaming match, followed by two very regrettable fistic amputations."

The keyword Eternal was chosen in homage to the popular Legends card, Eternal Warrior. Eternal Warrior's new oracle text will be "Enchanted creature gets Eternal."

Sacrifice
Sacrifice, in addition to it's other use as a game defined word, will be a creature ability in Scourge. A creature with Sacrifice has the ability, "Sacrifice CARDNAME: Add an amount of black mana to your mana pool equal to CARDNAME's casting cost."

"There were just so many creatures with this ability that we realized we could really save on printing costs by making it just one word," said Buehler. When asked precisely how many creatures would have this ability, Buehler emphatically answered, "A shit load!"

While having a keyword ability, a card and a game defined term all called the same thing is likely to lead to a little confusion among those of smaller intellect, it is unlikely that complaints will be taken seriously, or even noticed. "They will be as tear drops in the ocean," Buehler explained.

The Brute
A creature with The Brute has both "+1/+0" and "RRR: Regenerate CARDNAME". While this ability appears on only two cards in the new set, R&D has "big plans" for this ability in the future.

The keywording of The Brute has many speculation that the much talked about reprint of a favorite homelands card in Scourge will be non-other than Eron the Relentless, who would now be a 4/2 creature with Haste and The Brute. Eron's much anticipated return to extended play could be an interesting shake-up to the stagnant format.

Finally, when asked to comment on what kinds of new abilities will be keyworded in the future, Buehler would only say, "The sky's the limit!" He did, however, give fans a taste of what might be coming down the pipe in the form of a playtest card from 2004's standalone expansion, nicknamed "Keywords".

Confusing Verbate
3UU
Creature - Cephalid Druid Spuzzem
Forgotten Lore, Ice Cauldron, Kudzu
3/3

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Renton, WA --- Wizards of the Coast will be issuing three new keyword abilities for Scourge, the final expansion of Onslaught block.

"We are delighted with the success of the new keyword abilities in Legions and are moving further in that direction. We decided it was high time we stopped describing what creatures can do on the creature cards themselves," said Randy Buehler in an exclusive interview on the new abilities. "And this is just the beginning. Players should expect the number of keyword abilities to expand exponentially with the release of future expansions."

"We've gone mad with power," he added.

Here is a rundown of the new abilities that will appear in Scourge.

Eternal
This new keyword replaces the phrase, "Attacking does not cause CARDNAME to tap." This ability was so common that it felt as though it deserved its own keyword, much like Fear.

"One of the reasons it took so long to keyword this ability was because of the heated debate over what keyword should be used," Randy Buehler explained, "It was going to be keyworded as 'Tireless' in Odyssey, but this led to a few arguments since attacking does cause Tireless Tribe to attack; some members of R&D thought the ability should be called 'Cantivore' instead. This led to an all night screaming match, followed by two very regrettable fistic amputations."

The keyword Eternal was chosen in homage to the popular Legends card, Eternal Warrior. Eternal Warrior's new oracle text will be "Enchanted creature gets Eternal."

Sacrifice
Sacrifice, in addition to it's other use as a game defined word, will be a creature ability in Scourge. A creature with Sacrifice has the ability, "Sacrifice CARDNAME: Add an amount of black mana to your mana pool equal to CARDNAME's casting cost."

"There were just so many creatures with this ability that we realized we could really save on printing costs by making it just one word," said Buehler. When asked precisely how many creatures would have this ability, Buehler emphatically answered, "A shit load!"

While having a keyword ability, a card and a game defined term all called the same thing is likely to lead to a little confusion among those of smaller intellect, it is unlikely that complaints will be taken seriously, or even noticed. "They will be as tear drops in the ocean," Buehler explained.

The Brute
A creature with The Brute has both "+1/+0" and "RRR: Regenerate CARDNAME". While this ability appears on only two cards in the new set, R&D has "big plans" for this ability in the future.

The keywording of The Brute has many speculation that the much talked about reprint of a favorite homelands card in Scourge will be non-other than Eron the Relentless, who would now be a 4/2 creature with Haste and The Brute. Eron's much anticipated return to extended play could be an interesting shake-up to the stagnant format.

Finally, when asked to comment on what kinds of new abilities will be keyworded in the future, Buehler would only say, "The sky's the limit!" He did, however, give fans a taste of what might be coming down the pipe in the form of a playtest card from 2004's standalone expansion, nicknamed "Keywords".

Confusing Verbate
3UU
Creature - Cephalid Druid Spuzzem
Forgotten Lore, Ice Cauldron, Kudzu
3/3

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!