What does 2 mana buy? Magic creature power creep, measured
The power-creep argument has raged for thirty years on anecdotes. Power and toughness are printed on the card, so we measured every new-design creature Magic ever released, in its debut year. The verdict: for two decades the typical 2-drop was worse than Grizzly Bears, and then the mid-2010s repriced the whole curve. No market data, just the stats.
Pushed 2-drops by year
Bar = share of that year’s new 2-mana creatures with 5+ total stats (a 3/2 with upside, a Watchwolf, or better). Right columns: mean total stats at 2 and 3 mana.
The curve got repriced, once
The data kills two popular versions of the story. Power creep is real, but it is not a smooth 30-year drift, and it did not start with Alpha’s famous overpowered spells. Creature stats were remarkably FLAT (and modest) from 1993 through the mid-2000s: the average new 2-drop carried fewer total stats than a vanilla 2/2. The reprice happens in one visible step around mid-2010s, and the new level has held since, bigger bodies, and abilities stacked on top rather than traded for stats. It is the same era Magic’s output exploded (see the Reprint Ratio): more cards, and stronger ones.
| Era | Mean stats @2 mana | Pushed 2-drops | Mean stats @3 mana |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-2004 (the long baseline) | 2.88 | 6.7% | 3.78 |
| 2005-2014 (creeping, slowly) | 3.15 | 6% | 4.13 |
| 2015-2019 (the reprice) | 3.58 | 8.7% | 4.55 |
| 2020-2025 (the pushed era) | 3.64 | 11.4% | 4.87 |
Method & sources
- Every NEW-design creature via the open Scryfall API, counted once in its debut year (a card’s first printing is not a reprint). English paper; tokens and memorabilia excluded; creatures with non-numeric stats (*/X) skipped.
- “Total stats” = printed power + toughness. “Pushed” = 5+ at 2 mana / 6+ at 3 mana, the statline that made Watchwolf a tournament card in 2005. Stats measure BODIES only; abilities have also grown, so this measurement is conservative about the true power level.
- No market data is used. Known facts reproduce: 1994 and 2005 medians both sit at 3 total stats at 2 mana; the shift lands mid-2010s. Valued 2026-07-07; reproducible from the open API.
FAQ
Is Magic power creep real?
For creatures, measurably yes, and it arrived late. The median new 2-mana creature carried 3 total stats (power + toughness) from 1993 through the mid-2000s: literally worse than Grizzly Bears. It reached 4 in the mid-2010s and stayed there, while the share of "pushed" 2-drops (5+ total stats, Watchwolf-class) went from 6.7% of new designs to 11.4% in the 2020s.
What was the baseline for a 2-mana creature?
Grizzly Bears, a vanilla 2/2 for two mana, printed in Alpha. The surprise in the data is that for Magic's first decade the AVERAGE new 2-drop was below that bar (stats came with drawbacks or went to abilities). Watchwolf (a 3/3 for 2) was considered format-defining in 2005; in the 2020s roughly one new 2-drop in 9 matches or beats those stats, usually with abilities attached.
Did 3-mana creatures creep the same way?
Yes, on the same schedule: median total stats went 4 → 5, and 6+ total-stat 3-drops went from 10.1% to 29.6% of new designs. The creep is a body-per-mana repricing across the curve, not a single famous card.
How was this measured?
Printed power and toughness of every NEW-design Magic creature (each card counted once, in its debut year) via the open Scryfall API (printed creature stats via the open Scryfall API (new designs, debut year), valued 2026-07-07); English paper, tokens and memorabilia excluded, non-numeric stats (*/X) skipped. No market data is used. Known facts reproduce: the 1994 and 2005 medians sit at 3 total stats at 2 mana, and the modern shift lands in the mid-2010s, matching the design era players point to.
Binder full of pre-reprice creatures? See what they're worth.
Foilio values any card across Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Lorcana and more, live prices in EUR & USD, your whole collection tracked. Free, no signup.
Related research
Pokémon HP Inflation
The sibling study: Pokémon's ceiling exploded while its floor crept.
16,322The Reprint Ratio (Magic)
The same mid-2010s inflection in output: more new designs in 11 years than the first 22.
2.69×The Modern Horizons Tax
Where pushed designs get printed: MH rares out-price normal-set rares.
Cite or embed this study
Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Paste the embed on your site for the chart card + a link back, or grab the plain citation.
<a href="https://foilio.net/studies/mtg-creature-creep?utm_source=share&utm_medium=study_embed&utm_campaign=viral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">
<img src="https://foilio.net/studies/og?stat=6.7%25%E2%86%9211.4%25&label=share%20of%20new%202-mana%20creatures%20with%205%2B%20total%20stats%20(Watchwolf-class)%2C%201990s%20vs%202020s&title=What%20does%202%20mana%20buy%3F%20Magic%20creature%20power%20creep%2C%20measured" alt="What does 2 mana buy? Magic creature power creep, measured, Foilio" width="600" style="max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:12px" />
</a>
<p style="font:13px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif;color:#555;margin:6px 0 0">
Source: <a href="https://foilio.net/studies/mtg-creature-creep?utm_source=share&utm_medium=study_embed&utm_campaign=viral">What does 2 mana buy? Magic creature power creep, measured, Foilio</a> · data CC BY 4.0
</p>Foilio (2026-07-07). What does 2 mana buy? Magic creature power creep, measured. Retrieved from https://foilio.net/studies/mtg-creature-creepThe big picture, across every game we measure: The Chase Multiple · The Price Census · The Promo Premium · The Foil Premium