Is this the end of vanilla creatures?
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on July 13, 2024, 8:05 p.m. by legendofa
Apologies for the clickbaity title, but this is a milestone in creature complexity. Right now, there's exactly one vanilla creature in Standard, and it's the very unorthodox Yargle and Multani. When March of the Machines rotates out next year, unless something unusual happens, that will be the first ever Standard season with no vanilla creatures.
Nobody really gets excited for another 2/2 for 2 mana or 3/6 for 4 or whatever, and French vanilla creatures still have lots of room for flavor text. Ankle Biter, Bolrac-Clan Basher, and Timberland Ancient show this pretty well.
https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/679207540942356480/there-havent-been-any-vanilla-creatures-printed#notes
But vanilla creatures apparently aren't a fully essential part of the game, and complexity creep is absolutely a real thing. Bloomburrow doesn't appear to have any, and I'm skeptical for Duskmourn having any. If nothing else, this is going to drive Jasmine Boreal of the Seven and Ruxa, Patient Professor into near stasis. They won't be getting any new tools besides maybe token generators, and there are better support options for token strategies.
Is it worth keeping vanilla creatures around? Do they serve any role in the game anymore, or should French vanilla be the baseline going forward?
TypicalTimmy says... #3
Believe it or not, Draft is considered one of the largest MTG formats of all time. Because of this, there will always be reason to print a 2/2 for 2, or a 3/4 for 4 or a 6/6 for 6.
They fill the ranks of common and uncommon spells quite well, are easily accessible to all colors if they cost something like for a 3/4, can be solid set pieces for tribal themes, are decent curve toppers and serve as a solid stepping stone for those who are literally brand new to Magic.
Imagine someone is playing for the very first time in their life and you give them Fervent Champion.
July 14, 2024 2:36 a.m.
TypicalTimmy I don't disagree, but looking at a selection of Standard common 2/2 2-drops, Alabaster Host Sanctifier, Goblin Picker, Snooping Newsie, Phyrexian Vivisector, Sporeback Wolf all have simple, easily tracked effects (once you learn the vocabulary) without being pure vanilla.
So right now, P/T average has to be above mana value for vanillas to compete. Green takes over the upper end of the creature mana curve at common, and 5-mana 4/4s appear to be the upper end of full color access without drawbacks. So, given that green and red are going to have bigger creatures than white and blue, what's the best P/T-mana ratio for a vanilla creature to compete with other common creatures? Should there be a vanilla 5/5 for at uncommon? Or more likely for the color, a 6/3, fully obsoleting Raging Poltergeist and Scoria Elemental?
July 14, 2024 3:14 a.m.
Even in Limited, the baseline for what's considered "playable" has gone up. On one hand, there are a lot more playables in current sets than there were in formats like Dragon's Maze or Urza's Saga. On the other, the days of Savannah Lions, Jackal Pup, and Watchwolf are gone. And in Constructed formats, even a "vanilla" 3/4 for is venturing into unplayable territory.
I wouldn't be surprised if the next Watchwolf-tier card is a vanilla 3/3 (or better) for .
July 14, 2024 6:24 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #6
Standard Seasons Dominaria United, The Brothers War and All Will Be One were already Standard seaons without any vanilla creatures, outside of Yargle and Multani the last actual vanilla creatures were Ageless Guardian and Spined Karok in Strixhaven, which rotated out when Dominaria United hit. So it won't be the first standard season without vanilla creatures.
July 14, 2024 7:15 a.m.
plakjekaas You're right. I thought there was a vanilla in BRO, but I guess not. I'm going to try to salvage this by saying 2026 could be the first rotation from no-vanilla Standard into another no-vanilla Standard.
July 14, 2024 2:26 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #8
Or you could say Legendary doesn't count as vanilla... since there's legendary matters cards, and that will be with Bloomburrow '^^
I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude trying to prove you wrong twice in the same thread :P
I do think it's silly how wordy cards have to be to be playable these days, must be a conspiracy to make kids read again or something.
July 14, 2024 5:50 p.m.
plakjekaas I'm going to hold my ground on this one. A legendary creature can still be vanilla--"legendary matters" doesn't make Y+M non-vanilla by itself any more than Elvish Champion makes Norwood Ranger non-vanilla by itself. A big chunk of the legendary creatures from Legends were vanilla.
Still, you're not being rude. I got something wrong, and I'd rather have it get corrected (politely) than keep spread bad information. So thank you for that.
It's not a creature, but I really want to see/own an Ardent Plea with no reminder text. Just two words of rules text on an enchantment.
July 14, 2024 6:45 p.m.
DeinoStinkus says... #10
Honestly, while I understand the game design ideas behind it, I'm still sad to see vanillas go, and still make them regularly in my custom cards. I guess you don't know what you're missing until it's gone.
July 14, 2024 10:57 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #11
At least you got the Aetherdrift legend cycle :)
February 2, 2025 5:21 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #12
Vanilla creatures won't go away, because we must consider the reason cards are printed in the first place.
Despite Commander being the most "popular" format in MTG, it by far is not the "largest".
That actually belongs to Draft and Prerelease.
Cards must be printed in rotating sets to appease not only a variety of different archetypes but also a variety of different formats.
Standard, Modern, Draft, Prerelease, Commander, THG, Archenemy, etc
A vanilla creatures is perfect for Draft and Prerelease as it's usually a decent curve topper when you've got nothing else going on. A 4/4 for 6 is terrible but a 6/6 for 4 with no other abilities is really solid in those limited formats and interactions.
We may see a reduction in them, but never an extinction.
February 2, 2025 5:51 p.m.
DeinoStinkus says... #13
Quakestrider Ceratops is perfect to support your point TypicalTimmy, though I don't know how good it is in draft I can't imagine it's terrible lol
February 4, 2025 11:49 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #14
Cards like that serve 3 distinct purposes,
- 1.) They are decent curve toppers when you've got nothing else going on. Maybe combat has been locked for 3 turns and it's not worth attacking from either side because it just opens up crackbacks and suddenly it's a war of attrition. Sort of, "If I swing out I'll lose this guy and deal X combat damage. But now I'm open and will take X myself. Then he's open and I deal X. But the turn after, I'll lose. Therefore, it's pointless to attack."
Congratulations, you've either lost the game (LOL!) or you've hit a stalemate. Either way, it isn't a win.
-
2.) It baits out removal. Maybe you pulled a mythic Planeswalker but you just know it'll get hit for removal. So you drop this mfer the turn before, bait their removal and drop your real bomb. Sometimes you gotta get down and dirty like that.
-
3.) You drop this big ass dino, find it doesn't get slapped by removal, so now you load some spells onto it and swing for the win.
Vanilla creatures come with an absurdly high utility when you are in a limited format like Draft and Prerelease because your interactions are based on that one set, and that one set alone.
A 12/8 for 6 is too slow in competitive Standard but might be alright at the table. It's definitely too slow even for casual Modern.
And while this might be an alright card for budget commander decks, once you put any meaningful money into one (upgrading lands), for 6 mana you can do far better.
So these cards are realistically designed for Draft and Prerelease, and really nothing more.
Since these are the introduction formats to both new sets and new players, they are vital for teaching the game and giving you something useful.
And that's pretty cool.
February 4, 2025 12:32 p.m.
wallisface says... #15
I think the fact we’ve seen several recent sets without vanilla creatures shows that the game doesn’t need them from any format-perspective, draft and pre-release included.
People can try and justify their inclusion all they want - but we’ve seen evidence that the game functions just-fine without them, and that wotc has been increasingly making sets without them.
Personally I don’t see any reason for wotc to print more vanilla creatures unless specifically trying to do a nod towards some level of nostalgia (as they did with the cycle in aetherdrift). And from all the recent sets printed, it would be reasonable to assume wotc holds a similar philosophy.
FormOverFunction says... #2
I love them, as they pad my theme decks, but as power creep continues it seems like the general playerbase just doesn’t want to have them around. Also, as there’s more and more of a market for singles I think vanillas are seen as almost worse than just another land or token. It’s weird, though, because you’d think that (with the general money focus WotC has shown) adding easy to produce, with zero testing required, creatures would let them drag out their production lines. I don’t know. There has to be a lot of disdain for vanilla creatures to overcome that.
July 13, 2024 9:45 p.m.