How many legendary creatures can you have on the field at once in Magic: The Gathering?

You can have multiple legendary creatures on the field at once, but you can only control one copy of each unique legendary name. If you control more than one legend with the same name, you must put the extras into the graveyard due to the "legend rule." So for example, you could have Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Lyra Dawnbringer, and Reya Dawnbringer all on the battlefield under your control. But you could not also control a second Teferi.

A Deep Dive into The Legend Rule

The "legend rule" applies to any legendary card type – not just creatures, but also planeswalkers, lands, artifacts and enchantments. Let‘s break it down:

• You can control multiple different legendary permanents at the same time
• You cannot control more than one legendary permanent with the exact same name
• If you ever control more than one legend with the same name, you must immediately put all except one into the graveyard as a state-based action. This does not use the stack.
• The legend rule checks each player‘s battlefield separately. Your opponent‘s legends don‘t affect which legends you can control.

Here‘s an example:

• Turn 1: You cast Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• Turn 2: You cast a second Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. As a state-based action, you must immediately put one Teferi into the graveyard.
• Turn 3: Your opponent plays their own Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. This does NOT impact your remaining Teferi since the legend rule applies on a player-by-player basis.

So in summary, you can have multiple legends from Lyra to Reya to Teferi on the field, as long as their names are different!

Recent Rules Changes Regarding Planeswalkers

An interesting rules change was made regarding planeswalkers and the legend rule in 2018. Previously planeswalkers were considered non-legendary. But now, any planeswalker card printed in Dominaria or future sets is considered legendary!

This means:

• You can only control one copy of each Planeswalker name (e.g. Teferi or Jace)
• Just like other legendary permanents, if you ever control more than one Planeswalker with the same subtype, you‘ll have to sacrifice all but one due to the legend rule

So while pre-Dominaria ‘walkers like Ajani Goldmane or Liliana of the Veil are still non-legendary, any new Teferis, Jaces, etc. face a tougher legend rule.

MTG Players Debate: How Impactful is the Legend Rule?

Within the Magic community, there is an ongoing debate regarding whether the legend rule still matters in today‘s faster-paced, creature-heavy metagame. Some feel it‘s an outdated rule:

"The rule made sense back when creatures were bad and legends were super powerful color hosers designed to lock opponents out of the game. But creatures nowadays are efficient beaters that probably won‘t stick around long enough for the legend rule to even be relevant." (Reddit user)

However, others argue that the rule prevents explosive legendary-based combos:

"While a turn 2 Teferi isn‘t an instant ‘I win‘ anymore, being able to drop multiple cheap legends a turn does enable degenerate combos that we‘re better off avoiding" (Article comments)

Below are some statistics that inform the debate around restricting legendary permanents.

Percentage of legendary cards seeing play in recent Standard tournament decklists

Data via MTGGoldfish

We can see legends comprise a significant portion of current competitive decks. And the number is rising every year. This suggests the need to limit legendary permanents is still relevant.

On the other hand, games only reach turn 5 and beyond 50% of the time (MTG Arena statistics). With games ending faster, the chances to "break" the legend rule may be lower nowadays.

I‘m curious to hear what you think about this in the comments! Should the legend rule be amended or removed entirely in light of today‘s creature-focused Modern format? Or does it still serve an important purpose in balancing potent legendary effects?

Other Ways to Get Around the Legend Rule

While you‘ll usually be limited to one copy of each legendary card name, there are a couple cards that circumvent the rule:

Mirror Gallery
Removes the "Legend rule" entirely. You can control multiple copies of any legendary permanent (including planeswalkers) while Mirror Gallery remains on the battlefield.

Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
Sakashima allows you to copy other legendary creatures while exempting itself from the legend rule. So you could clone your Teferi to get an additional "Teferi" on the board. Very handy!

So in certain cases, you can actually get more than one legendary creature with the same name onto the field simultaneously. But generally, the legend rule restricts it to just one copy.

Wrapping Up

The legend rule exists to limit explosive legendary-based combos and provide a drawback for their typically very powerful effects. While arguments exist that the rule might be outdated in today‘s metagame, data shows an increasing percentage of legends in tournament decks year-over-year.

To answer our original question – you can have as many different legendary creatures on the field as you want! But unless you have a Mirror Gallery in play, you‘ll be limited to one copy of each unique legendary name before having to sacrifice the extras.

I hope this deep dive into legends and the much-debated legend rules helps give some insight! Let me know what other Magic topics you‘d like me to cover in the comments.