A keyword ability in Magic: The Gathering is a named shorthand for a longer rules ability — a single word like Flying or Trample that stands in for a paragraph of game rules so cards stay readable. The first time a keyword appears it usually carries italic reminder text restating what it does, but the keyword itself is the actual rule. For custom card designers, keywords are the most efficient way to give a card a printed feel: one word replaces a clumsy hand-written sentence.
This reference organizes Magic's keywords the way a designer needs them — by what they do and which colors get them. Distribution isn't arbitrary; it follows the color pie, the framework that assigns each color its strengths and weaknesses. Put a keyword in the right color and your card reads as authentic. Put it in the wrong one and you've quietly broken the pie.
What "evergreen" means
Magic sorts its keywords into three tiers by how often they show up, and the distinction tells you which keywords are safe defaults and which are special-occasion tools.
- Evergreen keywords appear in nearly every standard set. They're the shared vocabulary every player already knows, so they rarely need explaining. Flying, Trample, and Deathtouch are evergreen.
- Deciduous keywords aren't in every set, but they return often enough not to surprise anyone. Scry, Cycling, and Convoke are deciduous — common and beloved, but used when a set wants them rather than always.
- Set-specific (or mechanical) keywords are built for one set or block and usually don't come back. They carry the flavor of a particular world.
Only the evergreen tier is truly "always available." Deciduous and set-specific keywords are not evergreen, and treating them as though they were is a common mistake.
The evergreen keyword abilities
These are the keywords that appear in almost every set. Memorize this list — it's the foundation of clean custom-card design. Definitions below are paraphrased; check a real card for exact wording.
| Keyword | What it does | | --- | --- | | Deathtouch | Any nonzero damage this creature deals to another creature destroys it. | | Defender | This creature can't attack. | | Double strike | This creature deals both first-strike and regular combat damage. | | Enchant | Defines what an Aura can be attached to (e.g., "Enchant creature"). | | Equip | An activated cost that attaches an Equipment to a creature you control. | | First strike | This creature deals its combat damage before creatures without first strike. | | Flash | You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant. | | Flying | This creature can only be blocked by creatures with flying or reach. | | Haste | This creature can attack and use tap abilities the turn it comes under your control. | | Hexproof | This permanent can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control. | | Indestructible | This permanent can't be destroyed by damage or "destroy" effects. | | Lifelink | Damage this source deals also gains you that much life. | | Menace | This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures. | | Protection | This can't be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted/equipped by the named quality. | | Reach | This creature can block creatures with flying. | | Trample | Excess combat damage past blockers is dealt to the defending player or planeswalker. | | Vigilance | This creature doesn't tap when it attacks. | | Ward | An opponent must pay an extra cost to target this permanent. |
That's eighteen keywords that read as native on any card. A few carry their own context rather than dropping onto any creature — Equip belongs to the Equipment subtype, Enchant defines an Aura's target, and Reach is green's grounded answer to Flying.
Keyword distribution by color
The color pie decides which colors get which keywords, and how primarily. A keyword can be a color's signature, a secondary tool it gets occasionally, or off-limits entirely. Below is the practical mapping for the evergreen creature keywords.
| Keyword | Primary color(s) | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Flying | White, Blue | The classic shared evasion; black and red get it at lower rates. | | Reach | Green | Green's grounded answer to fliers; it doesn't fly itself. | | Trample | Green | The signature "I'm too big to chump-block" keyword. | | First strike | White, Red | White for disciplined soldiers, red for sheer speed. | | Double strike | White, Red | The upgraded version of the same shared space. | | Deathtouch | Black, Green | Black's venom and green's natural predators. | | Lifelink | White, Black | White heals; black drains the same effect read two ways. | | Vigilance | White, Green | Watchful defenders and ever-alert beasts. | | Menace | Black, Red | Aggressive, hard-to-block attackers. | | Haste | Red | Primary in red; green and black get it secondarily. | | Indestructible | White | Primary in white; appears rarely and at high rarity elsewhere. | | Hexproof / Ward | Blue, Green | Protective "you can't touch this" effects. |
A few patterns are worth internalizing. White is the broadest keyword color — it shares Flying, First strike, Double strike, Lifelink, and Vigilance and owns Indestructible — because protection and combat discipline are its identity. Green never gets Flying (it has Reach instead), one of the most reliable color-pie tells. Red owns Haste outright, matching its act-now philosophy. The color pie guide walks the full reasoning behind each color's keywords.
Deciduous and set-specific keywords
Beyond the evergreen eighteen are dozens of keywords that come and go. Knowing the tier helps you decide whether to use one on a custom card.
Deciduous keywords are recurring favorites that aren't in every set but show up regularly, and most players recognize them:
- Scry — look at the top card(s) of your library and keep them on top or move them to the bottom (primarily blue).
- Cycling — pay a cost and discard the card to draw a new one, so a dead card is never fully dead.
- Convoke — tap your creatures to help pay a spell's cost, one creature per generic or matching-color mana.
- Fight — two creatures each deal damage equal to their power to the other (green's signature combat trick).
Set-specific keywords are designed around one set's flavor and rarely return — Cascade, Devotion, Proliferate, Bloodthirst, and any one-set named ability. They can be exciting on a custom card, but they need full reminder text, can hide rules complexity, and lack the instant familiarity of evergreen keywords. Reserve them for designs whose theme genuinely calls for them.
Designer guidance
Keywords pack rules density into a single word, which is exactly why they need budgeting. Four principles keep custom cards honest:
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Budget keywords like mana. Every keyword adds power, and they stack multiplicatively — Flying plus Double strike plus Lifelink is a finisher, not a common. Count keywords against the card's cost and rarity. The balanced-design guide covers pricing abilities so a card isn't quietly overloaded.
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Keep keywords in color. Match every keyword to a color that owns it. A white Trample creature, a blue Haste attacker, or a green flier are immediate red flags. When you sketch a custom creature, run each keyword against its color's column above.
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Prefer evergreen keywords for clarity. With no rules judge to consult, evergreen keywords are unambiguous — everyone knows what Flying does. Deciduous keywords are fine with reminder text; set-specific ones demand it and risk confusing readers. When in doubt, reach for an evergreen keyword that achieves the same goal.
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Don't bury keywords in sentences. Keywords are capitalized and listed on their own line, comma-separated ("Flying, lifelink"), not written into prose. Templating them correctly is half of what makes a card read as printed — see writing oracle text.
Building keyworded cards in PipGlyph
PipGlyph's editor templates keyword abilities for you — type a keyword and it formats the way a printed card would, capitalized and on its own line, with reminder text in italic parentheses when you want it. Because the tool derives a card's color from the mana pips you build, you get an immediate visual check on whether a keyword fits the color you've chosen.
The built-in AI assistant goes further: describe a card in plain English — "a fast red creature that hits hard" — and it returns properly keyworded oracle text using real vocabulary (here, Haste and maybe First strike) rather than invented phrasing. Start a card on /create, or read more on the card maker page.
FAQ
What are evergreen keywords in MTG?
Evergreen keywords are the keyword abilities that appear in nearly every Magic set, so they form the game's permanent shared vocabulary. The current evergreen list includes Deathtouch, Defender, Double strike, Enchant, Equip, First strike, Flash, Flying, Haste, Hexproof, Indestructible, Lifelink, Menace, Protection, Reach, Trample, Vigilance, and Ward. Because players already know them, they rarely need reminder text and are the safest keywords to use on custom cards.
What's the difference between evergreen, deciduous, and set-specific keywords?
It's a frequency distinction. Evergreen keywords appear in almost every set (Flying, Trample). Deciduous keywords return regularly but not always, so they're familiar without being constant (Scry, Cycling, Convoke). Set-specific keywords are built for a single set's flavor and usually don't come back (Cascade, Bloodthirst). Only evergreen keywords are always present — deciduous and set-specific keywords are not evergreen, and shouldn't be described as such.
Which colors get Flying in Magic?
Flying is primary in white and blue — those two colors get it most often and at the best rates, because aerial evasion suits white's disciplined forces and blue's elusive creatures. Black and red get Flying secondarily, at lower frequency. Green famously does not get Flying at all; instead it gets Reach, which lets a grounded creature block fliers. A green creature with Flying is one of the clearest color-pie breaks in custom design.
How many keyword abilities should one card have?
Usually one or two, occasionally three at higher rarity. Keywords stack multiplicatively in power, so a creature with Flying, Lifelink, and Double strike is a bomb, not a filler card. Budget them against the card's mana cost and rarity rather than piling them on. The best custom cards do one or two things crisply, and a single well-chosen evergreen keyword often reads better than three exotic ones.