Magic has 300 creature types, and there are new ones every single day. That’s not too surprising for a game that is 32 years old, and it’s certainly not a bad thing to have so many cool types of creatures. However, over the years I think there are a few exceptionally cool creature types that have fallen through the cracks, and I really hope we see more of them in the future.
In this article, I’ll give my picks for the five creature types that most desperately deserve to appear in a future Magic set. These are creature types with cool designs and intriguing mechanical identities that we haven’t seen in a very long time.
PHELDDAGRIF
Total number: 2
Last seen: Planeshift (2001)
Of all the creature types on this list, Phelddagrif is the one that we’ve seen the least as we only have two of them to choose from. This is a real shame, because the tiny look we’ve gotten at these flying hippos desperately makes me want to see more.
They’re both Bant creatures with three activated abilities that cost a single mana of each of the Bant colors. I’m already a pretty big fan of creatures with lots of abilities, as it means they are quite flexible – but that alone isn’t what makes them unique. Rather, it’s the fact that both of them give you some effect that makes Phelddagrif better while also giving something to your opponent.
Basically, Phelddagrif is the original group hug Magic card, and it’s even super popular as a Commander for that very reason. It just allows for a really unique experience any time you play with or against one of these Phelddagrifs.
If that’s enough to convince you, how about the fact that the very word “Phelddagrif” is an anagram of “Garfield, PhD.,” so they serve as an homage to the creator of Magic: the Gathering – Richard Garfield.
While they certainly aren’t a type I’d expect to see in every set or anything, would it really kill them to give us one of these guys every decade or so? It’s been 24 years since we last saw a Phelddagrif majestically take to the air.
ATOG
Total number: 12
Last seen: Mirrodin (2003)
Of all the creature types on this list, Atogs have definitely made the biggest impact on competitive Magic. Atog and Chronatog have had their moments in the sun, and Psychatog was a premium control deck win condition for several years. So, while I knew it had been a very long time since we last saw these toothy menaces, I definitely thought there were more than 12 of them.
Like Phelddagrif, the word Atog is an anagram. Instead of being the name of a notable person in Magic history though, this one is much similar – it’s an anagram of “goat.” That makes a lot of sense because Atogs have a very specific mechanical identity. Every Atog can consume something of yours to increase it’s stats.
While they’ve already done lots of interesting things with these designs – like an Atog who eats your next turn and even an Atog who eats other Atogs – the well is by no means dry.
They could give us an Atog who devours Planeswalkers. Or your draw step. Or one that eats…Food! The possibilities are endless.
In the story, they reside on Dominaria and Mirrodin, two planes we’ve revisited in the relatively recent past, but for some reason we didn’t get any other Atogs. In fact, I’m personally offended by Psychic Frog in Modern Horizons 3. Its name is a direct reference to Psychatog, and it functions much like an Atog does. But they made it a frog? I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed by an amphibian.
As with Phelddagrifs, Atogs definitely aren’t a perfect fit in every set, and are a creature type that would be best in small doses. But it’s been way too long since my last dose.
LICID
Total number: 12
Last seen: Exodus (1998)
Of all the creature types on this list, it’s been the longest since we’ve seen Licids. In the story they are parasitic beings that can latch on to living things and alter them. Mechanically, they represented this by having Licids be creatures that can turn into Auras with enchant creature.
This results in Licids having an extremely dense and confusing text box, and representing the fact that they become Auras in-game is pretty confusing. And indeed, that’s exactly the reason these creature have never made a return. Mark Rosewater even called the design of Licids the fifth biggest mistake in his career. Here’s how he explained it:
The major problem with them is that changing back and forth between two different card types (especially where one is a local effect) opens a can of ugly worms.
While it’s true these cards really don’t worry with today’s design sensibilities, they could tweak them to be more in-line with today’s designs. This is something they did with Slivers, whose effects used to be entirely symmetrical. They don’t like having creatures buff both sides of the board like that for the most part, so more recently printed Slivers aren’t symmetrical.
For instance, having Licids die and return to the battlefield as Auras could work. This is an effect we’ve seen on other cards like Bronzehide Lion. They could also make them double-faced cards that transform into Auras. There’s also Bestow of course, but I think that’s less representative of the flavor of Licids – they should probably always start as creatures that then become Auras.
With just a little bit of tweaking, we could get some new versions of these interesting little parasites.
SPELLSHAPER
Total number: 57
Last seen: Sort of in March of the Machine (2023) but actually Future Sight (2007)
Spellshaper is by far the most plentiful creature type on this list. They are creatures who debuted in Mercadian Masques that come with activated abilities that involve you paying a mana cost and discarding at least one card. In exchange, you end up getting the effect of a Magic spell. In effect, they shape cards into your hands into whatever spell they specialize in.
For example, Jaya Ballard can spellshape three iconic Red spells – Blue Elemental Blast, Incinerate, and Inferno. Meanwhile, Mageta the Lion can turn two cards in your hand into Wrath of God.
While this is the most plentiful type on this list with 57 Spellshapers out there, 39 of them were printed in the late 1990s in Masques Block, and the remainder were printed in 2006-2007 in Time Spiral Block, with one exception – Invasion of Mercadia. This is a March of the Machine battle that can transform into a spellshaper.
While making it transform into a spellshaper was a cool callback to Masques, Kyren Flamewright is a spellshaper in name only. His activated ability doesn’t actually mimic any Magic spell.
I think the whole premise of Spellshapers is pretty cool. They have nostalgia built into them since they usually give you the effect of some old Magic card, and they can also be really powerful and interesting, since having a repeatable way to discard while getting a spell-like effect every time is pretty awesome.
That said, I don’t think they should ever return as a major theme in a set like in the Masques and Time Spiral sets. It would just be cool to get a few spellshapers every now and again, especially in Modern Horizons sets and the like, which feature many references to old cards.
VOLVER
Total number: 5
Last seen: Apocalypse (2001)
Of all the types on this list, Volvers are probably the least likely to return and certainly the most obscure. We only ever got a single cycle of them, way back in Apocalypse. They are supposed to be mutant abominations that resulted from the plane of Rath being forcibly fused with Dominaria. And 12-year-old me thought they were some of the coolest cards ever.
This is definitely a pet creature type of mine that I’d like to see more of just because it’s so nostalgic for me, but I think others can see that they are pretty cool cars too.
There is Volver for each of the wedges. While each of them are mono-colored, they come with Kicker costs in the two other colors in the wedge and you can choose to pay both of them, and when you do you end up with quite the formidable creature. But the flexibility to cast them normally or only by paying one kicker costs is great.
Conceivably, volvers could show up on any plane that is being influenced by an outside force to represent what is happening to the denizens of a particular plane, with the kicker costs representing that kind of influence. However, even though we’ve seen lots of other planes affected in this way (Mirrodin, Innistrad, Alara) we’ve never seen volvers again.
We did get a similar cycle in Dominaria United, and we even got them in the same color combinations. But Urborg Lhurgoyf and Vodalian Mindsinger sadly aren’t Volvers, just cards inspired by them.
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What long-forgotten creature type would you like to see return? Let me know on X or Bluesky.
Jacob has been playing Magic for the better part of 24 years, and he especially loves playing Magic’s Limited formats. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma. In 2015, he started his YouTube channel, “Nizzahon Magic,” where he combines his interests with many videos covering Magic’s competitive history. When he’s not playing Magic or making Magic content, he can be found teaching college-level history courses or caring for a menagerie of pets with his wife.