Favorite Keyword Ability.

[starfreakclone]

My personal favorite ability is Double Strike.
Why, there is nothing more satisfing in Magic than doubling up, two cards from Shadow Mage Infiltrator sac 3/4 of your permanents from Rakdos The Defiler, if only there where more ways to do it the only effective ways I know of are Psychotic Fury and Fireshrieker.

[sean1i0]

Well, unless I'm completely forgotten something, then I'll say that my favorite is Flashback.  It's just so broken!  I just love getting two uses out of one card, especially when the second use is cheaper than the first.

[freakish777]

Buyback, hands down.

[Necrologia]

Storm. Best win condition ever concieved for Vintage.

[Jacob Orlove]

Flying is probably the best keyword in the game, from a design point of view.

[Illissius]

Indestructible, I think, though Buyback, Flashback, and Kicker are also nice. There's so many I'd need a list to be sure I'm not forgetting something. Antifavorites are Storm, Madness, Affinity for artifacts, and Creature -- Goblin.

[Bram]

I've always been prone to ph34r, myself. If only they'd spelled it correctly on the cards...

[zeus-online]

Hmmm not sure...I think my favorit is haste, although i must admit that i rarely use cards with haste (or actually, creatures in general)

Haste is always usefull regardless of your opponent. (flying, shadow, flanking, bushido, tramble and all that requires your opponent to be playing creatures to be usefull)

/Zeus

[Matt]

"Indestructable" isn't a keyworded ability.

I'll go with Kicker.

[Machinus]

Madness

[andrewpate]

"Indestructable" isn't a keyworded ability.

I'm willing to count it for the purposes of this thread.  It's a specific word with in-game rules not directly implied by its English-meaning.  I would also be fine with something like Sweep or Hellbent, even though nobody has suggested any of the "ability words" yet.  Note that Threshold was once a keyword but has been changed to an ability word.  To me, any word that gives cards abilities by meaning something different that what it means outside the Magic glossary should be fair game.

My personal favorite is probably Cycling, most particularly supercycling.  I really like cantrips, but I see the problem rising from the fact that they generally need to be very weak in order to be balanced.  Cycling and especially Cycling triggers allow cards to do two different things, either or both of which can be underpowered, while keeping the card both balanced and playable.  This is because the ability to cantrip is so strong.  To me, Choking Tethers, Slice and Dice, and Complicate are some of the most interesting cards of their respective types ever printed.  Also, the ability to interact with the graveyard is also present, making great cards like Eternal Dragon and Undead Gladiator possible.  All this, and they haven't even entered into the realm of alternate or off-color Cycling costs.  I really look forward to the next revisitation of this mechanic.

[wethepeople]

Islandhome is defintely mine. I love it when my Kukemssa Serpent can't attack.

On a more serious note, I really like Ninjutsu, if that counts. It may have something to do with the fact that I love shouting "NINJUTSU" whenever I bring in my Ninja of the Deep, though.

[Matt]

"Indestructable" isn't a keyworded ability.

I'm willing to count it for the purposes of this thread.  It's a specific word with in-game rules not directly implied by its English-meaning.  I would also be fine with something like Sweep or Hellbent, even though nobody has suggested any of the "ability words" yet.  Note that Threshold was once a keyword but has been changed to an ability word.  To me, any word that gives cards abilities by meaning something different that what it means outside the Magic glossary should be fair game.

Actually, you've still got it wrong. Indestructable is not an ability word either (like you, I would count ability words for these purposes). But "indestructable" IS used in magic exactly as its literal English meaning: "Cannot be destroyed."

You might say that "destroy" in this case has an in-game meaning, but I would counter in the way I know best: with a Kobold. The sentence "CARDNAME can't be destroyed" is parsed exactly the same as a kobold's "CARDNAME is red." In both cases, "destroy" and "red" have in-game definitions, but their originating sentences do not.

More here.

[Komatteru]

In that case, my favorite keyword is red.

[andrewpate]

I wasn't attempting to argue that indestructible was an ability word.  RTFP.  I said that I would be fine with indestructible AND that I would ALSO be fine with ability words.  I stated this clearly.

Furthermore, "indestructible" is listed in the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules.  "Red" is not.  The fact that two sentences with identical syntax both exist has nothing to do with whether or not a given word has rules baggage.  Sakashima the Imposter can "gain" the ability "2UU:  Return Sakashima the Imposter to its owner's hand at end of turn," with syntax identical to Crashing Centaur's ability to "gain" trample.  Since trample is undeniably a keyword, then by your logic, "2UU:  Return Sakashima the Imposter to its owner's hand at end of turn" is also one.  In which case, that's my favorite keyword, and I withdraw my entire argument about indestructible.

[Smmenen]

I love Storm, but gosh darnit if Dredge isn't the coolest.   

Storm, followed closely by Dredge. 

[Harlequin]

I think Cumulative Upkeep has got to be my favorite.  There are so many cool cards with CU, and they are always so interesting.

I would say that Madness was my favorite because it ~was~ the ONLY keyword that could be targeted by both Counterspell and Stifle when activated........ but then they made Susspend.  Now its just lost its coolness.

[Illissius]

Ooh, Ninjutsu. That's one I forgot. My other favorite next to indestructible -- both of them capture the flavor of what they represent perfectly.

[Norm4eva]

Yeah, if we're playing Limited, Suspend is the shit.  Turn 1 plays that resolve on turn 5 = hotness.
And for all my irrational love of all things White Weenie, I have to say that my favorite beatstick is still probably Arrogant Wurm.  In Constructed, Madness doesn't just pwn Suspend; it rents it, tries it for 30 days and then returns it to the store in five pieces.  Madness RENTS Suspend.

[Limbo]

For me it's buyback, with kicker and flashback following closely. Anything that allows for both early and late game plays and decisions is always cool in my book.

[Robert the Swordsman]

Islandwalk.

[andrewpate]

Islandwalk.

Ugh, it's so lame to just pick based on power.  That's like a "favorite card" thread and you put Black Lotus.  I thought we were looking for a little more interesting responses?

[Jacob Orlove]

In that case, my favorite keyword ability is "bands with other Wolves-of-the-Hunt."

[Norm4eva]

I'm glad that in the face of Storm and Madness and whatnot the ability that gets shit for being busted is Islandwalk.  Part Water FTWWWWWWWWWWWWW

[Illissius]

I think that might've been sarcasm, but only because of the complete absence of sense it produces when taken at face value.

[asi]

I love them all (that said, skip Radiance. And Amplify, because of the lack of "Amplifiy for RELEVANT CREATURE TYPE" cards. )

[andrewpate]

Thread sarcasm detectors..... slightly miscalibrated.

[Norm4eva]

Oh, probably.  Sarcasm is the activated ability of the Interweb.  That's my new favorite keyword then.

[nietzsche]

In that case, my favorite keyword is red.

[CCClark]

Banding, I like making people cringe.   Did I mention I enjoy playing Sharazad also, with banding creatures!