Creature Types and Tribes

Creatures are a key part of Magic, as they alone can attack or block.  In most decks, they are the workhorse that will win (or lose) you the game. This article looks specifically at the creature types and tribes.

Creature Types

A creature card in Magic first shows its main type (creature) followed by a long dash and subtype(s), or "creature type(s)":

 In the above examples, Air Elemental is an elemental.  Centaur Courser is two creature types: centaur and warrior.

There are a lot of creature types in Magic; the comprehensive rules lists them all (list current as of March 2020):

Advisor, Aetherborn, Ally, Angel, Antelope, Ape, Archer, Archon, Army, Artificer, Assassin, Assembly-Worker, Atog, Aurochs, Avatar, Azra, Badger, Barbarian, Basilisk, Bat, Bear, Beast, Beeble, Berserker, Bird, Blinkmoth, Boar, Bringer, Brushwagg, Camarid, Camel, Caribou, Carrier, Cat, Centaur, Cephalid, Chimera, Citizen, Cleric, Cockatrice, Construct, Coward, Crab, Crocodile, Cyclops, Dauthi, Demigod, Demon, Deserter, Devil, Dinosaur, Djinn, Dragon, Drake, Dreadnought, Drone, Druid, Dryad, Dwarf, Efreet, Egg, Elder, Eldrazi, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Elk, Eye, Faerie, Ferret, Fish, Flagbearer, Fox, Frog, Fungus, Gargoyle, Germ, Giant, Gnome, Goat, Goblin, God, Golem, Gorgon, Graveborn, Gremlin, Griffin, Hag, Harpy, Hellion, Hippo, Hippogriff, Homarid, Homunculus, Horror, Horse, Hound, Human, Hydra, Hyena, Illusion, Imp, Incarnation, Insect, Jackal, Jellyfish, Juggernaut, Kavu, Kirin, Kithkin, Knight, Kobold, Kor, Kraken, Lamia, Lammasu, Leech, Leviathan, Lhurgoyf, Licid, Lizard, Manticore, Masticore, Mercenary, Merfolk, Metathran, Minion, Minotaur, Mole, Monger, Mongoose, Monk, Monkey, Moonfolk, Mouse, Mutant, Myr, Mystic, Naga, Nautilus, Nephilim, Nightmare, Nightstalker, Ninja, Noble, Noggle, Nomad, Nymph, Octopus, Ogre, Ooze, Orb, Orc, Orgg, Ouphe, Ox, Oyster, Pangolin, Peasant, Pegasus, Pentavite, Pest, Phelddagrif, Phoenix, Pilot, Pincher, Pirate, Plant, Praetor, Prism, Processor, Rabbit, Rat, Rebel, Reflection, Rhino, Rigger, Rogue, Sable, Salamander, Samurai, Sand, Saproling, Satyr, Scarecrow, Scion, Scorpion, Scout, Sculpture, Serf, Serpent, Servo, Shade, Shaman, Shapeshifter, Sheep, Siren, Skeleton, Slith, Sliver, Slug, Snake, Soldier, Soltari, Spawn, Specter, Spellshaper, Sphinx, Spider, Spike, Spirit, Splinter, Sponge, Squid, Squirrel, Starfish, Surrakar, Survivor, Tentacle, Tetravite, Thalakos, Thopter, Thrull, Treefolk, Trilobite, Triskelavite, Troll, Turtle, Unicorn, Vampire, Vedalken, Viashino, Volver, Wall, Warlock, Warrior, Weird, Werewolf, Whale, Wizard, Wolf, Wolverine, Wombat, Worm, Wraith, Wurm, Yeti, Zombie, and Zubera.

Whew! Note: some of these types occur rather frequently; others are extremely unusual, or featured in only one expansion or block. And creature types can change- some can be added (or removed) as Wizards dictates (see this post for an example- the "Hound" creature type is now called "Dog").

Creature types matter because some cards mention them specifically.  Here's a sample from the most recent core set:

Bishop of Wings says "whenever an Angel enters the battlefield under your control, you gain 4 life."  The terminology may be intuitive, but spelling it out, this is really saying "whenever a creature with a creature type Angel enters the battlefield . . ."
Creeping Trailblazer says "Other Elementals you control get +1/+0."  This means "Other creatures you control with the creature type Elemental get +1/+0."  You get the idea.

Tribes

Decks that focus on creature types are informally called 'tribal' decks, as players view creatures that share a creature type as a tribe.  Tribal decks work by including:

• many creature cards of the same creature type 
• abilities or spells that affect, are based on, or are enhanced by those types of creatures

Most tribes center on one or two colors. Let's look at the Vampire tribe as an example.

The Ixalan expansions featured several tribes, including Vampires, Merfolk, Dinosaurs, and Pirates.  Vampires were white and/or black.  Look at the below cards:

Do you see the tribal theme?  The creatures are more than just Vampires: they have some ability that helps other vampires, or damages your opponent based on the number of vampires you control, or helps you get more vampires onto the battlefield, or makes your vampires stronger, etc.

Tribal decks are a lot of fun- they're one of my favorite deck types.