Order of Keywords

Discuss how keywords should be ordered in the rules text box.

Including if rules-laden supertypes were turned into keywords.

• Characteristic-changing keywords:

  • Devoid, Changeling

• Mana cost payment:

  • Compleated, Sunburst

• While casting or on the stack:

  • Flash, Suspend

• Static:

  • Hexproof, indestructible, deathtouch

• Combat altering:

  • Flying, trample, first strike

• Triggers:

  • Exploit

• Activated abilities, field:

• Abilities, other zones:

  • Cycling, Dash

Keywords that alter how you attack (haste, vigilance) before keywords that alter how you block (mostly evasion keywords e. g. flying, skulk, menace) before keywords that affect how you deal combat damage (first strike, trample). I can see an argument being made for deathtouch and lifelink moving to the same place as first strike and trample since they also matter mostly for combat damage on creatures.

The category "static" is kinda meaningless since most evergreen keyword abilities are static: Flying, trample, flash etc. The category for hexproof & indestructible (& protection, but also for the triggered ability ward) could be "passive" or more specifically "defensive".

I'm basically fine with abilities, like cycling, that are alternative modes of using a card moved to the bottom (excluding effects that depend on them e. g. "When you cycle this card"-abilities), but everything else can be put in the order it matters during the default life-cycle of a card.

For that reason I'd put compleated after flash, because flash affects the timing of casting a spell, while compleated only matters after you cast the spell by altering the way you resolve it/it enters the battlefield. Kicker e. g. would thus belong between the two.

Notes: (A) No matter what the reminder text says, the way phyrexian hybrid mana is paid is independent of the keyword compleated - it only adds the loyalty counter change; (B) even if that was the case paying mana costs comes after both the time flash matters and the time you decide on additional costs, so the order is not really affected by that among the mentioned keywords IMO.

Somewhat tongue in cheek - but should we not also apply the rules of grammar to the ordering? (opinions, size, quality, shape, age, colour, origin, material, type, purpose).

Some abilities do more than one thing. For example, flying affects both attacking and blocking. Some combat affecting abilities are evasion abilities. Haste affects attacking and also and .

Deathtouch is one of a few keywords that affect damage (whether or not it is combat damage); lifelink and wither are some others.

Abilities such as shroud, hexproof, ward, protection, are abilities which protect the permanent that has it from being targeted (although ward is a bit different). Also, protection has other effects too such as also affecting combat.

Compleated does not affect payments but affects the result due to the payment; sunburst also affects the result due to the payment but not the payment itself.

I do not bother to put keyword abilities in any particular order, unless somehow it is relevant.

added triggers, activations, other zones

Triggers go wherever they work e. g. on cast, on entering, on death, from graveyard in that order; and e. g. an ability that triggers on cycling comes below cycling.

an ability that triggers on cycling is not a keyword

Yet.

More importantly it speaks to the position of cycling - usually below triggered and activated abilities, but above that one. Positioning relative to nonkeyworded abilities seems at times more important than order among keyword abilities.

Compleated seems still in the wrong spot.