The evolution of terminology

Magic has been around a long time.  Though the game's core remains the same, the terminology used to present it has changed over the years.  And that's a good thing.  Today, we'll look at keywords, a concept important to Magic (see the rules page for more).

If you've played Magic for a while, or looked at older cards, you'll note that some keywords have come about only after their abilities were seen on cards commonly enough that a keyword was warranted.  One example is Vigilance (italicized here and below for emphasis).

By default, creatures tap to attack.  But some have Vigilance, which means "attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap."  Let's look at a very old card, Serra Angel, that's been reprinted many times over the years.  Here are four printings:

The first (upper left) was made before Vigilance was a keyword.  A newcomer had to know only what Flying meant, and that was defined in every basic rulebook.  "Attacking does not cause Serra Angel to tap" was something unusual and so it was written out. Over the years, though, a lot of creatures were given this ability.  So Wizards decided to give it a keyword, and they called it Vigilance.  In core set expansions, which are (or were) geared towards newcomers, they listed the keyword but then defined it (see upper right and lower left, from Core Sets Magic 2014 and Magic 2015, respectively).  Sometimes they even defined 'traditional' keywords like Flying (see lower left).  But note a later printing (lower right)- it lists only Flying and vigilance, with no explanation.  The reader is expected to know (or know where to find out).

Looking at where Magic started and where it is today, I believe they've done a good job retaining the core mechanics of the game while polishing the terminology used in it.  The original Serra Angel hasn't changed in function, just in presentation.  It's valuable life lesson: presentation, elegance, consistency, and clarity matter.  We should seek to improve in each area whenever we can, even if it means creating or evolving terminology to do so.