Akroma, Vision of IxidorAkroma, Vision of Ixidor | Art by Chris Rahn

In Magic, not all keywords are created equal. Some we’ve had since day one and are staples of every set since, like flying, first strike, and vigilance (even if the latter wasn’t given official keyword status until later). Some drop in every now and then like relatives come the holidays — convoke, flashback, and even ninjutsu when we visit Kamigawa.

Others still have their moment, then disappear, either to be remembered fondly (come back, madness) or relegated to the rightful dustbin of history (rest in pieces, banding).

Today, I want to focus on the first category: the “evergreen” keyword abilities that you can expect to see in most, if not all, expansions. Each of these has its place in the combat landscape of Magic on its own, but when combined, two keywords can be greater than the sum of their parts. I’ll be assessing the combination of these keywords in the context of Commander, but in most cases, my explanations still hold for traditional 1-v-1 formats.

And since there has yet to be a concept that couldn’t be shoehorned into a listicle, here is, in my subjective personal amateur expert validated-by-being-published-on-EDHREC opinion, all of the 45 combinations of the evergreen keywords from worst to best.

Some ground rules: 

• The “evergreen” combat keywords we’re considering are: flying, haste, vigilance, lifelink, deathtouch, menace, first strike, double strike, reach, and trample.
• I’m skipping over indestructible in these assessments, because it is by far the most boring keyword in that it’s generically very good and there’s not a lot of noteworthy to say about it. It’s also a lot less common than the ones on our list.
• Same goes for hexproof. Generically good and not much to say about a trampler with hexproof than a flyer with it.
• While these keywords often don't exist in a vacuum, we're going to assess them outside of the context of any other abilities these creatures may come with.
• We’re only doing two keywords at a time, mostly because we all know that when you got a keyword stew goingwhen you got a keyword stew going, it’s going to get carried away fast. And also because this would be a long article if we assessed every three-keyword combination, and it would take an AI model to cover all the four-keyword combos (though knowing AI it would start making up keywords like “flarf,” “janky,” and “french” — remember, don’t trust The Plagiarism Machine That Lies, kids).

Tier 4 - What Are We Even Doing Here?

Because we have to list them all. These combinations usually do nothing on a single creature.

45. First Strike and Double Strike

This, sadly, does not add up to triple strike. Double strike makes first strike mechanically redundant.

44. Flying and Reach

Reach is basically half-flying, so when you have whole flying, it’s not necessary.

Tier 3 - Yep, Those Are Two Keywords You Got There

Creatures with these keywords don’t get much extra benefit from doubling up; in some cases, the keywords don’t even interact.

43. - 41. Reach and Menace, Reach and Trample, Reach and Haste

Reach is a wholly defensive ability, and menace, trample, and haste are purely offensive abilities. The only reason these three aren't included in the above category is that you get a bit extra on either side of combat, just not in any special way.

40. Haste and Deathtouch

A creature granted both these abilities is probably connecting with the opponent, but a chump blocker can render both of these useless. In general, combat keywords should be about increasing damage and/or limiting opponent choice; this combo doesn’t do much for either.

39. Trample and Menace

Useless on a gummed-up board. Plus, menace wants to make a creature go without being blocked, but blockers are the reason you'd want trample. Chances are, if there is more than one blocker, most if not all of that trample damage is getting soaked up.

38. Trample and Lifelink

Both are nice, doing a bit both offensively and defensively, but you’re not gaining any more life from your creature having trample than not. Would rather pair vigilance with trample than lifelink (more on that below).

37. Reach and First Strike

Can pick off birds and other small flyers pretty cleanly; everyone except your local birdwatching group likes this just fine.

36. Reach and Double Strike

Can pick off slightly larger flyers now! We’re still low on our overall list, but remember: every one of these keywords is beneficial, so you’d rather have them than not. There are better combinations to be had (35 of them, by my count).

35. Lifelink and Haste

This can represent a nice swing in life points on both sides, but the gain is often offset by leaving yourself more open than usual, when you'd have the usual of summoning-sick blocker.

34. Reach and Lifelink

This creature plays defense pretty well. Even when it has to sacrifice itself to an incoming flying chonker (read: Dragon), the life cushion is nice.

33. Vigilance and Trample

Trample does nothing on the blocking end, of course, but it’s nice to be able to take advantage of a creature's offensive potential without going down a blocker.

32. First Strike and Haste

Presumably, the point of a haste creature is to catch an opponent unawares, so first strike seems superfluous. But it does kind of work out that first strike is more relevant after that first attack (when haste no longer matters) as it requires more planning on your opponent's side for besting your beastie in combat.

Tier 2 - Twice as Nice

Combinations in this category get a synergy boost; here’s where we see the plan start to come together.

31. Haste and Flying

Effective for a sneak attack, but not a lot of synergy beyond that, as is the case with pretty much all haste combinations.

30. Vigilance and Haste

That said, this one ranks a bit higher since it removes the one downside of the usual haste creature: presumably, you'll be tapping it, and thus you aren’t getting any more protection for the mana investment.

This was my same argument for lifelink and haste, but I'd take vigilance here since not getting attacked is better than gaining life and hoping it's enough to cover future combat losses.

29. Trample and First Strike

Trample doesn't make your first strike creature any more likely to survive, as it's either hitting a brick wall big enough to absorb it or it's running over a little thing — but a few more guaranteed points of damage in the latter scenario moves the needle a bit. Not bad, but nothing crazy.

28. First Strike and Flying

Many flyers are on the punier side (with some scaly exceptions, of course), so first strike goes a long way toward being able to control the flow of combat in the sky.

27. Trample and Flying

This will make chumpblockers like BitterblossomBitterblossom Faeries look pretty silly, but there’s a limit to the value here. The point of flying is that there's not going to be much blocking, and trample shows up to combat like a professional theatre actor for rehearsals: it always expects there to be blocking. (If you get that joke, I'm sorry you had a rough go of it in high school, but at least we have Sam Shepard, so it balances out, right?)

26. Deathtouch and Vigilance

The floor on deathtouch is pretty high, hence why it’s only appeared once thus far. There might be times when your creature is cut off from viable attacks (though generally always trading thanks to deathtouch is a decent floor), but it feels good to be able to get in for some damage and still have a blocker that says “go ahead, throw your attacker away.”

25. First Strike and Lifelink 

You can rack up a good amount of life with lifelinkers that can keep on swinging, and first strike goes a fair way toward that goal…

24. Menace and Lifelink

..but menace goes even further in my estimation. I prefer evasion to first strike advantage when I’m attacking, since I have to worry less about combat tricks.

23. Double Strike and Lifelink

Of course, if you want to gain a ton of life, this is the way to go! We’re getting into “the best defense is a good offense” territory, because with a big creature this combination can give you enough of a life buffer not to have to worry about small- or medium-sized creatures coming back your way.

22. Lifelink and Flying

A whole lot of lifelink in a row here, but I think about them very similarly: The more freely you can attack with a lifelinker, the better it is. Flyers usually can attack unimpeded, especially in Commander games where there’s nearly always at least one player without a blocker in the air.

21. Reach and Vigilance

One of the better defensive combinations, if a little unassuming. Covers your bases a little more than most setups: Block anything, even if you attack.

20. Deathtouch and Lifelink

Pros: It does make opponents have to choose between you gaining life repeatedly or sending a creature in to take one for the team and knock out your lifetoucher.

Cons: Giving your opponent the choice is rarely where you want to be.

19. First Strike and Vigilance

Hardly a sure thing, but this creature is surviving an attack often, and first strikers on defense can be a thorn in the side of opponents.

18. Trample and Haste

When someone absolutely, positively, has to take damage this turn, vessel for that damage be danged. So help me, Ball LightningBall Lightning is a perfect Magic card.

17. Menace and Vigilance

It might be that I have a little bias toward vigilance, but allow me to share my reasoning. Given that your combats are, on average, 25% of the combats taken in a given Commander game, attacking generally comes with a steep price: That creature doesn’t participate in 75% of the total combats.

Vigilance lets creatures be relevant every combat, and when the second keyword gives it evasion, it makes the attacks safer as well. The ceiling may be lower on vigilance than others like deathtouch, but the floor is higher, too; there aren't many creatures that wouldn't mind a little vigilance.

Tier 1 - Peanut Butter and Chocolate

They’re good on their own, but the mix of these effects elevates them to a new category entirely.

16. Vigilance and Flying

If your creature is just a little bit bigger than your opponents’ biggest flyer, the whole upper tier of combat is yours. You’ll be able to push through damage every turn and hold down the fort for the next three players’ turns.

15. Double Strike and Flying

With there generally being at least one opponent that can’t fend off a flyer, clean double strike hits are in your future with this pair.

14. Double Strike and Haste

As with most combinations, swapping double strike in for first strike is essentially just asking "what if we did the same thing but harder"? This is the most potent combination for burst damage out of nowhere, and can upend a game quickly.

13. Menace and Haste

Ever notice how many players leave up a single blocker on their turn, just in case? This is for them.

12. First Strike and Menace

Hard to block effectively, but not impossible. You’ll probably end up trading your creature for one of theirs, but at least you should get to pick which one. This is also a combination that lends itself well to combat trick blowouts.

11. Double Strike and Menace

This one’s even harder to block effectively, and turns the likely trade into a 2-for-1.

10. Lifelink and Vigilance 

Maybe it's just me, but I think gaining life more than once in a turn cycle is pretty nice (and threatening to do so is nearly as good).

9. Double Strike and Vigilance

Much more likely to survive combat than its first strike counterpart, which makes the defensive 75% even more potent.

8. Deathtouch and Menace

I'm petitioning for this to be a new single keyword called "double deathtouch." The cool thing about deathtouch is that every point of damage represents another blocker you can kill, so making your opponents stack up blockers on this creature is a great way to get some board advantage. Or more often, just assure the creature gets through.

7. Menace and Flying

Voted "Least likely to be blocked" in high school.

6. Deathtouch and Reach

Despite reach appearing mainly much lower on this list, this makes for an excellent blocker. I mean, if you're going to play defensively (as reach is a solely defensive ability), it's hard to do better than "anything I block dies," opposing first strike shenanigans notwithstanding.

5. Deathtouch and Flying

It's like reach and deathtouch, just turned up half a degree. Can kill anything as a blocker, and makes the defending player's choices a little narrower when it's coming in for an attack.

Tier 0 - Breaking The Game, Just A Little Bit

These are the best of the best things you can pair up on a creature. 

4. Trample and Double Strike

This is when your opponent starts piling up blockers, counting up their toughness, and then cursing when they realize they have to cover double that number. A very high ceiling for player damage.

I've always loved EmbercleaveEmbercleave thanks to its flash ability, which means I can sit back and watch my opponents carefully line up their blocks, knowing full well I'm about to make those choices wrong.

3. Deathtouch and First Strike

An auto-kill for anything that can’t first strike back. How much power does your creature have? That’s how many blockers you can kill with impunity! Hard to want more. And yet…

2. Deathtouch and Double Strike

Ah, I said “more,” so naturally that means we’re turning it up to double strike. Very rarely is this any different than first strike and deathtouch, except if there are somehow creatures left when you get to regular combat damage, you can kill them too. Neat!

1. Trample and Deathtouch

The kind of thing that feels unfair when it’s on an opposing creature, and when it’s on your creature…well, it still feels unfair, but you’re okay with it.

For those unaware of the finer details of combat damage, you can only move on to combat damage to the second blocker after the first one is assigned “lethal” damage. For a deathtouch creature, lethal damage is just 1. Add trample, and every defending creature only soaks up one damage no matter how much toughness they have.

Don't just take my word for it on how good this combination is: far as I can tell, no creatures in Magic have both of these abilities naturally. You have to work for this effect!

That’s a Lot of Words on Keywords

That's all the keywords that are fit to print for today. Tell me in the comments or on other parts of Al Gore's internet why this list was wrong in every conceivable way what you agree with and disagree with on this list! I've been Brandon Amico, here to let you know you've got the heart of a flying creature, the soul of a trampler, and the dance moves of one with menace.

Till next time.

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