What Is Typal in MTG? And Why Is WotC Using it Instead of Tribal?

Last updated on June 28, 2024

Bitterblossom | Illustration by Olena Richards

The world changes, and so does the language we use to describe the world around us. That’s the case in all walks of life, in everything from your day-to-day routine to something as simple as a trading card game. As inclusivity becomes more and more of a priority in different modern social spheres, various groups take action to change their language to accommodate more people within their circles.

That’s what happened with Magic’s shift from the term “tribal” to “typal.” You might not think a one-for-one language swap would cause so much controversy, but if that’s the case, you might not have spent much time talking to Magic players.

Let’s explore this topic, what caused the language shift, and how that actually affects the game.

What Is Typal in MTG?

Tergrid, God of Fright | Illustration by Yongjae Choi

Typal is a MTG slang term used to describe a strategy or deck type that revolves around a single creature type, or in some cases around a very specific subset of cards. For the longest time, players referred to these as “tribal” decks (and many still do); an elfball deck was colloquially known as “elf tribal,” and if you wanted to be really cute with your naming conventions, you could call your Tergrid, God of Fright deck a “discard tribal” strategy.

Various reasons led WotC to re-evaluate some of their cards and terminology, and for cultural sensitivity reasons, they made the internal move to stop using the term “tribal”, both as a slang term and as a card type. According to Head Designer Mark Rosewater, WotC employees had already been using the term “typal” internally among one another, and he stated that they’d be using that language moving forward.

However, that only solved the use of the slang term, but they still needed a replacement for the tribal card type. “Kindred” was the replacement, making a card like Bitterblossom a kindred enchantment instead of a tribal enchantment.

To clarify, because people seem to get very confused between the two terms:

• Typal is a slang term only, not a game term. It was meant to replace the slang use of the word tribal.
• Kindred is an actual game term. It’s a card type that completely replaced tribal as a card type.

When Did Magic Start Using Typal?

Head Designer Mark Rosewater took to Twitter in January of 2023 to expand on Wizards’s decision to let go of the term “tribal”. There he explained that typal was already used internally by employees, so the language was probably being used some time well before the tail end of 2022. Note that Mark Rosewater never explicitly stated what the exact reasons for the change were.

Since typal’s not an official game term, rather just a slang description word, there’s no exact time at which Magic incorporated the word into its lexicon. However, Wizards released an article on November 3, 2023, outlining the use of the word “kindred”, among other changes in future sets (did you know “totem armor” is being changed to “umbra armor”??). Notably, the word typal wasn’t mentioned in this brief article.

What Led to Magic Using Typal over Tribal?

I want to preface this section by recognizing the fact that there are multiple heated opinions on this matter, and I simply want to present the facts. No judgments, I just want the reader to understand what the conversation’s about.

That said, it’s important to note that “tribal”/”tribalism” is real-world terminology that often applies to minority groups, and the terms, to some, can seem derogatory or demeaning when used out of context. A handful of players with tribal or indigenous backgrounds or cultures called out this language and urged Magic designers and developers to address the use of this language in their card game. These claims never really put “tribal” in the lens of being overtly offensive, but rather wanted to divorce their cultural identities from slang terminology used for gaming purposes.

The rebuttal to this call for action was twofold: One, that the term tribal, originating from Lorwyn, was actually used in-context, given the division of factions in that setting. Second, the tribal card type was ingrained in Magic rules and therefore could be difficult to remove/supplant, even though the card type hadn’t been used for quite some time.

Whichever way you look at it, Wizards decided to change their internal language, as well as change the actual rules of the game to accommodate player requests. The motivations were very similar to those that caused them to change the Rakshasa creatures from Khans of Tarkir into demons instead of cat demons. No one was really ever offended that Rakshasas were depicted as cats, it was just an inaccurate representation of the beings from Hindu mythology. Magic players reacted as you’d expect Magic players to react.

Community Reaction to Typal

If you know anything about Magic players, you probably already know how this goes. Magic players don’t like change. The term typal was almost unanimously panned by the player base. Some players thought the change was entirely unnecessary to begin with, while others who agreed that tribal shouldn’t be used anymore still sided against the use of the term “typal.” Regardless of their reasons, players seemed to all agree that typal just sounded forced or weird, despite being a real word.

WotC’s handling of the new terminology was also a bit messy. They released articles stating how typal was used internally to refer to type-specific cards, then very soon after released separate articles talking about the change to kindred. Players got confused between the terminology and have been arguing about it since.

From my own personal experience, I can say that many players aren’t even aware that this debate happened in the first place. Those who aren’t actively on Twitter/X or engage with Magic articles have likely never heard any of this before, and the slang term “tribal” is still widely used by many Magic players. A small amount of that is in direct defiance of this change in language, but a lot of it just comes from people not really knowing there’s a debate about the word tribal to begin with.

Note that this article is being written right before the release of Modern Horizons 3, the first set to actually use the word kindred on cards. I suspect more people will be clued into the conversation once that set releases, and people start asking where the term kindred came from, and why it’s being used instead of tribal.

Do New Cards Still Say Tribal?

Negative. Tribal as a card type has been completely replaced by kindred as of Modern Horizons 3. Any card with the tribal type that already existed will have that card type errata’d to kindred, and any further reprints of those cards will reflect that change. Tribal has been entirely eradicated from the rules.

Wrap Up

Elvish Archdruid | Illustration by Raymond Swanland

That’s that on the typal debacle. Hopefully I’ve given an accurate representation of both sides of this “debate,” if you even want to call it that. At the end of the day, there are two universal truths on this matter. One, language changes as time goes on, and people can adapt to those changes. Two, regardless of whether you think tribal needed to change or not, we can all agree that “typal” is a silly-sounding word. I will say, kindred looks pretty nice on cards though.

Of course, I’m interested in everyone’s opinions on this matter, with one caveat: Be open-minded. This was and will continue to be a contentious topic, and the best way to approach it is by voicing opinions in a productive manner. Trust me, plenty of incendiary comments have already been made over this topic, which is wholly unnecessary. If you really want to debate changes in Magic language, let’s chat about the shift from “enters the battlefield” to just “enters” in Bloomburrow!If you want to [constructively] add to the conversation, sound off in the Draftsim Discord or on Draftsim's Twitter/X!

As always, be kind to one another and thanks for making Draftsim your #1 stop for all things Magic!