<p>Nothing special would happen, because Tarmogoyf doesn't care about the Changeling ability at all, or anything Mirror Entity does. Unless it's in a graveyard, in which case Tarmogoyf sees there's a Creature card in the graveyard, and becomes at least a 1/2 from that.</p>
<p><a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tarmogoyf">Tarmogoyf</a>'s ability reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Tarmogoyf's power is equal to the number of <strong>card types</strong> among cards in all graveyards and its toughness is equal to that number plus 1.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The card types are clarified in a ruling on Tarmogoyf you can see in Gatherer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The card types that can appear on cards in a graveyard are artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery, and tribal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>... which means Tarmogoyf's ability can make it an 8/9 at most. For {1}{G}, that's still a pretty big deal. (That clarification also shows up in the reminder text of <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=136142" rel="noreferrer">Tarmogoyf's original Future Sight printing</a>.)</p>
<p>Simply put, it doesn't care about creature types, or the <em>changeling</em> ability. Creature cards don't count as &quot;card types&quot;, they are <a href="http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Subtype" rel="noreferrer">subtypes</a> — the part after the dash in the type line — and Tarmogoyf doesn't pay any attention to those at all. Every creature card just counts for one type: <em>Creature</em>. (Unless, y'know, they're an <em>Enchantment Creature</em> or <em>Artifact Creature</em> or they're <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dryad%20Arbor">Dryad Arbor</a>, in which case they count for two types.) Also, Tarmogoyf only cares about cards in graveyards, while Mirror Entity's ability only affects creature permanents on the battlefield.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-26T10:17:55.753Z
_"Mirror Entity's ability only affects creature permanents on the battlefield"_ - except itself, Changeling works everywhere. Not that it changes anything here.
Michał Politowski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-26T02:26:59.087Z
2015-11-26T05:30:30.890Z
2015-11-26T05:30:30.890Z
doppelgreener
<p>What would happen if you had a <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirror%20Entity">Mirror Entity</a> (or any card with changeling) in your graveyard and a <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tarmogoyf">Tarmogoyf</a> in play? Would Tarmogoyf's ability only count Mirror Entity as a shapeshifter type creature or a changeling type (every type)?</p>

<magic-the-gathering>
How does Tarmogoyf interact with changelings?
mtg
# How does Tarmogoyf interact with changelings?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-11-26)

What would happen if you had a [Mirror Entity](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirror%20Entity) (or any card with changeling) in your graveyard and a [Tarmogoyf](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tarmogoyf) in play? Would Tarmogoyf's ability only count Mirror Entity as a shapeshifter type creature or a changeling type (every type)?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-11-26. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

Nothing special would happen, because Tarmogoyf doesn't care about the Changeling ability at all, or anything Mirror Entity does. Unless it's in a graveyard, in which case Tarmogoyf sees there's a Creature card in the graveyard, and becomes at least a 1/2 from that.

[Tarmogoyf](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tarmogoyf)'s ability reads:

> Tarmogoyf's power is equal to the number of **card types** among cards in all graveyards and its toughness is equal to that number plus 1.

The card types are clarified in a ruling on Tarmogoyf you can see in Gatherer:

> The card types that can appear on cards in a graveyard are artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery, and tribal.

... which means Tarmogoyf's ability can make it an 8/9 at most. For {1}{G}, that's still a pretty big deal. (That clarification also shows up in the reminder text of [Tarmogoyf's original Future Sight printing](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=136142).)

Simply put, it doesn't care about creature types, or the *changeling* ability. Creature cards don't count as "card types", they are [subtypes](http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Subtype) — the part after the dash in the type line — and Tarmogoyf doesn't pay any attention to those at all. Every creature card just counts for one type: *Creature*. (Unless, y'know, they're an *Enchantment Creature* or *Artifact Creature* or they're [Dryad Arbor](https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dryad%20Arbor), in which case they count for two types.) Also, Tarmogoyf only cares about cards in graveyards, while Mirror Entity's ability only affects creature permanents on the battlefield.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: _"Mirror Entity's ability only affects creature permanents on the battlefield"_ - except itself, Changeling works everywhere. Not that it changes anything here.  

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