MtG creature typing, specific or general? Any too broad?
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 4:59 am
In Kamigawa the snake people are generalized typings of "Snake + Job title"
In Tarkir the snake people are the specific typing "Naga"
In Kamigawa the fighters and sneaks are specifically "Samurai" and "Ninja"
In Tarkir the fighters and sneaks are generalized "Warrior" and "Rogue"
In Lorwyn-Moor the flamekin/cinders are sapient elementals typed "Elemental"
In Kaladesh the aetherborn are sapient elementals typed "Aetherborn"
Which do you prefer for MtG typing?
Generalized typing is good for synergy with creature types in other blocks (ex: Elves n' soldiers have great synergy across blocks), like have ninjas be rogues so they can play nice with prowl. But there's still room for specific typing if the set this specific typing came out in has really good synergy for that specific typing you don't want others to get (which really wasn't the case for ninjas and samurai in Kamigawa...)
For me the ideal is generalized typing but then have an extra typing for your block specific synergy, like how Zendikar has "Human Soldier Ally" creatures who can synergize with humans and soldiers in EDH decks but also get block specific Ally benefits.
There's also the case of some typing being so common you might as well break them up. Like "Wizard", "Soldier", and "Zombie". They've been using more alternates like Shaman, Warrior, Scout and so on but Zombie is still a really broad typing where mindless ghouls and lich wizards are the same thing.
I figure "Zombie" can be kept for the mindless and Frankenstein's monsters. Sentient undead able to hold jobs then get the typing "Mummy". So Liches and Death Barons are mummies.
"Skeleton" though has too little support to stand as its own typing and I'd be fine with the oddity of relabeling them "Zombie", the only card that buffs them, Death Baron, is a zombie that also buffs zombies too anyways.
Here's a list of creature types and frequency of use:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =drive_web
As you can see elementals are also high up there in frequency. MtG colors are already tied to elements though so instead of having ifrit, sylph and so on they can have color specific effects like "red/blue/green elementals get +1/+1". Dryads and Nymphs can then be considered elementals associated with certain colors.
Spirits are also high up there and encompass both "spirits of people" and "spirits of places/ideas". The "spirits of people" could be made into a new type, Geist, and then spirits only refer to spirits of places/ideas.
In Tarkir the snake people are the specific typing "Naga"
In Kamigawa the fighters and sneaks are specifically "Samurai" and "Ninja"
In Tarkir the fighters and sneaks are generalized "Warrior" and "Rogue"
In Lorwyn-Moor the flamekin/cinders are sapient elementals typed "Elemental"
In Kaladesh the aetherborn are sapient elementals typed "Aetherborn"
Which do you prefer for MtG typing?
Generalized typing is good for synergy with creature types in other blocks (ex: Elves n' soldiers have great synergy across blocks), like have ninjas be rogues so they can play nice with prowl. But there's still room for specific typing if the set this specific typing came out in has really good synergy for that specific typing you don't want others to get (which really wasn't the case for ninjas and samurai in Kamigawa...)
For me the ideal is generalized typing but then have an extra typing for your block specific synergy, like how Zendikar has "Human Soldier Ally" creatures who can synergize with humans and soldiers in EDH decks but also get block specific Ally benefits.
There's also the case of some typing being so common you might as well break them up. Like "Wizard", "Soldier", and "Zombie". They've been using more alternates like Shaman, Warrior, Scout and so on but Zombie is still a really broad typing where mindless ghouls and lich wizards are the same thing.
I figure "Zombie" can be kept for the mindless and Frankenstein's monsters. Sentient undead able to hold jobs then get the typing "Mummy". So Liches and Death Barons are mummies.
"Skeleton" though has too little support to stand as its own typing and I'd be fine with the oddity of relabeling them "Zombie", the only card that buffs them, Death Baron, is a zombie that also buffs zombies too anyways.
Here's a list of creature types and frequency of use:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =drive_web
As you can see elementals are also high up there in frequency. MtG colors are already tied to elements though so instead of having ifrit, sylph and so on they can have color specific effects like "red/blue/green elementals get +1/+1". Dryads and Nymphs can then be considered elementals associated with certain colors.
Spirits are also high up there and encompass both "spirits of people" and "spirits of places/ideas". The "spirits of people" could be made into a new type, Geist, and then spirits only refer to spirits of places/ideas.