Here's a Magic riddle: how do you make a creature "unblockable" without giving it unblockable?

Technically, there are a few answers that satisfy this riddle. Casting Unquestioned Authority on the creature, for example, would grant it protection from creatures and therefore render it virtually unblockable. Targeting a creature with Dauthi Embrace to give it shadow will likely result in its being unblockable as well because not many players will include creatures with shadow in their decks with which to block.

These options take work and have some downside, however. Unquestioned Authority is a vulnerable aura that can easily be removed and creatures with shadow can only block other creatures with shadow. This could be a problem in a normal game of Commander.

Horsemanship: The Ideal Unblockable?

Back in Portal: Three Kingdoms (P3K), Wizards of the Coast printed a new keyword that arguably is as close to unblockable as it gets, with no downside. The ability is called horsemanship.

Horsemanship works a bit like flying in that a creature with horsemanship can only be blocked by other creatures with horsemanship. The ability was meant to be a parallel to flying in the unnamed P3K plane.

The rules surrounding this keyword are fairly straightforward. Horsemanship is an evasion ability. A creature with horsemanship can't be blocked by creatures without it, while a creature with horsemanship can block a creature with or without horsemanship. Lastly, multiple instances of horsemanship on the same creature are redundant.

That's it. Rule 702.31 on horsemanship in a few simple sentences.

While that worked well in P3K Block Constructed and Limited, it introduced a bit of a conundrum when the set became legal in normal tournament play. According to the Magic Fandom Wiki, "Horsemanship is considered parasitic (meaning that it only interacts with other things in the set rather than the rest of Magic)." The Wiki page goes on to explain that when the set became tournament legal, "R&D debated the ability and what impact it might have in the same environment as flying. They considered to errata it so that horsemanship creatures could be blocked by fliers. In the end they came to the conclusion that the creatures with horsemanship just weren't aggressive enough to worry about."

Because of this, creatures with horsemanship are virtually unblockable in a typical game of Magic, simply because most modern day players don't own or play with cards from Portal: Three Kingdoms (with some exceptions). Your average Commander deck is likely to have flying creatures here and there. The same is not true for creatures with horsemanship, meaning they're more likely to be unblockable by your opponents than not.

Some Recognizable Horsemanship Cards

Because this was a mechanic designed specifically for Portal: Three Kingdoms, nearly every horsemanship card was originally printed in that set. Many of the P3K cards have since been reprinted, but those that weren't are most known for their surprisingly high prices.

Consider, for example, the most valuable card that references horsemanship: Riding the Dilu Horse.

That's right. The most valuable horsemanship card is a three mana sorcery that grants a creature +2/+2 and horsemanship. Because Portal: Three Kingdoms was printed in such limited quantity (especially in English), desirable cards from the set can get awfully pricy. Tack on the fact that this card's templating is particularly odd--it's a sorcery that grants a permanent effect in a way that doesn't allow interaction--and you have an unlikely candidate for reprinting. Note this sorcery is missing a key phrase: "until the end of turn." The horsemanship and power/toughness booster never go away. They're not using counters. The creature just gets those bonuses indefinitely.

Zhang Fei, Fierce Warrior is the next most expensive card with horsemanship.

Here we have a six-mana 4/4 creature with vigilance and horsemanship. If horsemanship were treated like flying, this creature would be significantly worse than Serra Angel. Since horsemanship is effectively "unblockable" this creature is far more interesting to slam in a game of Commander.

An iconic horsemanship creature that did see a reprint (as a promo) is Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed.

This creature is one of the more popular Commander options with horsemanship. It functions a bit like a Raise Dead if you sacrifice the creature. This isn't the most powerful effect, but I suspect it can lead to some interesting combinations when played in the right deck. And again, it's a four mana 3/2 creature that basically reads "unblockable."

Before, I drew a parallel between horsemanship and flying. Wizards of the Coast took this one step further by printing a Hurricane variant for horsemanship. It's called Borrowing the East Wind, and instead of dealing X damage to each player and each creature with flying, it deals X damage to each player and each creature with horsemanship.

In a normal game of Magic, this spell basically does X damage to each player and that's it. On the other hand, you have Rolling Earthquake, which was reprinted in Double Masters. This sorcery is a spin on Earthquake, only instead of damaging creatures without flying it damages creatures without horsemanship.

This means Rolling Earthquake will deal X damage to each player and 99.99% of creatures you encounter in a typical game of Commander, making this a handy wrath spell.

The last Portal: Three Kingdoms card I want to shout out is Lu Xun, Scholar General.

This creature was reprinted in Commander 2013 and Commander Anthology, making it less valuable than many of the rarer horsemanship cards. It was reprinted because of its popularity and power in Commander. Because Lu Xun, Scholar General has horsemanship, it's virtually unblockable, making it a 1/3 creature that draws you a card every turn after attacking! That's pretty strong for four mana.

Modern Day Horsemanship

You may be wondering if, besides reprints, any newer cards have been printed with this keyword. Actually, the answer is yes! There have been three.

Herald of Hoofbeats and The Girl in the Fireplace are both new cards that leverage horsemanship. The former is a rare from March of the Machines Commander and the latter was printed in the Doctor Who set.

Herald is a more traditional card--it's a creature with horsemanship that also gives your other knights horsemanship. Again, considering horsemanship is basically unblockable, that's a pretty powerful effect!

The Girl in the Fireplace, on the other hand, is a saga that references horsemanship in its second chapter. Specifically, the chapter creatures a 2/2 White Horse creature token that grants horsemanship to all your doctors. Not the most synergistic card outside of the Doctor Who set, but a fun throwback nonetheless.

The third and final card that references horsemanship outside of Portal: Three Kingdoms is an un-card, specifically from Unfinity. It's called Merry-Go-Round, and it's a fantastic flavor win that references riding horses on a merry-go-round ride.

That's it. Other than these three cards, horsemanship has been relegated to Portal: Three Kingdoms only...for now...

Wrapping It Up

Could we see a return of horsemanship in a premier set? Back in 2020, Mark Rosewater posted on his Blogatog that horsemanship was a nine on the storm scale. This implies it would require a minor miracle to see horsemanship back in Standard.

It's hard for me to envision a world where such a parasitic mechanic would get reintroduced in Standard. Without errata, horsemanship is too niche and obscure--even if the next set contained 50 new cards with horsemanship, those 50 cards would still be oddly out of place in a typical game of Commander.

What's more, we recently had a set where riding on horses was a common theme: Outlaws of Thunder Junction. There were all sorts of characters riding on horses in that set, yet Wizards of the Coast didn't reintroduce the horsemanship mechanic. Without returning to Portal: Three Kingdoms' unnamed plane, it's hard for me to envision a world where we see horsemanship again in a major way.

At least Wizards of the Coast has shown that they're willing to print new cards with the mechanic in special sets. It shows they aren't afraid to leverage the mechanic for modern gameplay. For us fans of the near-unblockable mechanic, that will have to be good enough.