What does Bushido do in Magic: The Gathering?

Bushido is a triggered keyword ability. When a creature with Bushido blocks or becomes blocked, it gets +N/+N until end of turn, where N is the number listed after the keyword (e.g. Bushido 1 gives +1/+1, Bushido 2 gives +2/+2). The bonus only lasts until end of turn.

Does Bushido trigger multiple times if a creature is blocked by multiple creatures?

No. Bushido triggers once when the creature becomes blocked, regardless of how many creatures are blocking it. A creature with Bushido 1 blocked by three creatures still gets only +1/+1.

Does Bushido only appear on Samurai cards?

Almost exclusively, yes. Bushido was designed as the signature ability of Samurai creatures in the Kamigawa block. The only exception is Greater Morphling from the silver-bordered Unhinged set, which is not tournament-legal.

What is the best Bushido card in Commander?

Takeno, Samurai General is generally considered the standout Bushido card for Commander. He permanently boosts each other Samurai you control by +1/+1 for each point of Bushido it has — meaning a creature with Bushido 2 gets a constant +2/+2, on top of its own triggered bonus in combat.

Did Bushido return in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty?

Not as a keyword. The designers considered bringing Bushido back but found it caused board stalls when too many creatures had the ability. Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty instead included one card, Jukai Trainee, with a similar effect written out in full text rather than using the Bushido keyword.

Does Bushido trigger when a creature attacks, or only during blocking?

Bushido only triggers during the Declare Blockers Step — specifically when the creature blocks or becomes blocked. Simply attacking does not trigger Bushido. The creature has to be involved in a block, either as the attacker being blocked or as the blocker itself.

Bushido: The MTG Mechanic Explained

There's a certain elegance to a mechanic that makes creatures fiercer the moment the fighting starts. Bushido is exactly that: a triggered ability that rewards you for wading into combat, turning your Samurai into something more dangerous the instant swords are drawn.

What is Bushido in Magic: The Gathering?

Bushido (pronounced boo-SHEE-doh) is a triggered keyword ability that gives a creature a temporary power and toughness boost whenever it blocks or is blocked. The boost lasts until end of turn, so it only matters during combat - but in the right situations, it can completely change who wins a fight.

You'll mostly find it on Samurai creature cards from Magic's Kamigawa block, and it fits the flavour perfectly: warriors who are always a little more dangerous up close.

How Bushido works: the rules

The official rule is short and clean:

"Bushido N" means "Whenever this creature blocks or becomes blocked, it gets +N/+N until end of turn."

CR 702.45a

The N is just a number - Bushido 1, Bushido 2, and so on. When combat starts and your Bushido creature either blocks an attacker or gets blocked by a defender, it triggers and grows by that amount.

A couple of things worth knowing:

The bonus is +N/+N, not just power. The toughness increase matters too - it can turn a creature that would otherwise die in combat into a survivor.
Multiple blockers don't multiply the trigger. If your Bushido 1 creature gets blocked by three creatures at once, it still only gets +1/+1. The trigger cares about the event of being blocked, not the number of creatures doing the blocking.
Multiple instances of Bushido stack. If a creature somehow has Bushido 1 and Bushido 2 (perhaps through a copy effect), each triggers separately, giving a total of +3/+3.

Rules note: Bushido triggers during the Declare Blockers Step (CR 509). That means the boost is in place before combat damage is dealt, which is usually what you want.

A quick example

Take Inner-Chamber Guard, a 0/2 with Bushido 2. On its face it looks like it can't hurt a fly. But the moment an attacker runs into it, it becomes a 2/4 for that combat - enough to trade with a surprising number of creatures, or just survive the hit entirely.

Strategy: playing with and against Bushido

Playing with Bushido

Bushido creatures are defenders and blockers first, aggressors second - which creates an interesting tension. The ability only fires when combat happens, so you're incentivised to invite attacks or to attack into creatures that have to block you.

A few things to keep in mind when building or playing a Bushido deck:

Threat of blocking is real. Opponents who know your creatures grow in combat will often choose not to attack into them. That means Bushido can function almost like a deterrent, even if the trigger never actually resolves.
Pump the Bushido value. Takeno, Samurai General gives each other Samurai +1/+1 for each point of Bushido it has. A creature with Bushido 2 gets +2/+2 from Takeno all the time, not just in combat - that's a significant permanent buff on top of the triggered bonus.
Consider your curve. Bushido creatures tend to have lower base stats offset by the combat bonus. They often look undercosted on paper but require combat to fully deliver their value.

Playing against Bushido

The main tension when facing Bushido is that combat trades rarely go the way you'd expect. A creature you'd normally run into freely might grow large enough to kill your attacker - or survive when it shouldn't.

Non-combat removal sidesteps Bushido entirely. Exile effects, destruction spells, and bounce all bypass the ability since the creature never blocks or becomes blocked.
Evasion is your friend. Flying, intimidate, or other abilities that prevent your creatures from being blocked mean the Bushido trigger never fires.
Be careful about attacking into 0/X defenders. A 0/2 looks harmless until you realise it's a 2/4 mid-combat.

Format check: Bushido is primarily relevant in Commander when running a Samurai-tribal theme, and in Vintage or Legacy if you happen to be exploring Kamigawa block cards. It's not a current Standard or Pioneer mechanic.

Notable Bushido cards

Takeno, Samurai General - The mechanical lord of Bushido. Takeno is the only card in all of Magic that references "points" of a keyword ability, giving each other Samurai you control +1/+1 for each point of Bushido it has. In a Samurai-tribal Commander deck, this creates permanent, cumulative boosts that make your whole board significantly larger.

Toshiro Umezawa - A 2/2 Legendary Samurai for {1}{B}{B} with Bushido 1 and one of the more interesting additional abilities in the Kamigawa block: whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, you may cast an instant from your graveyard. He rewards combat-heavy play in two ways at once - growing in a fight and recycling instants as creatures die.

Isao, Enlightened Bushi - A green Legendary Samurai with Bushido 2 and a notable protection clause: this spell can't be countered. For {2}{G} you get a 2/1 that becomes a 4/3 in combat, and your opponent can't stop it from entering the battlefield with a Counterspell. He also regenerates other Samurai, giving the archetype some staying power.

Hand of Honor and Hand of Cruelty - A white/black mirror pair, each a 2/2 with Bushido 1 and protection from the opposite colour. Simple, efficient two-drops that hold their own in combat and dodge colour-specific removal. In their day, they were the kind of creatures that made aggressive creature decks tick.

Nagao, Bound by Honor - Combines Bushido 1 with a lord-style attack trigger: whenever Nagao attacks, all Samurai you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. It pushes the archetype in a more aggressive direction than pure Bushido, rewarding you for going wide and attacking as a team.

Ronin Houndmaster - A three-mana 2/1 with haste and Bushido 1. The haste lets you ambush a blocker the turn it enters, triggering Bushido immediately. Not flashy, but a solid piece of any red Samurai build.

History of Bushido

Bushido debuted with the original Kamigawa block, starting with Champions of Kamigawa (2004). It was designed specifically as the signature ability of the Samurai creature type, playing into the flavour of disciplined warrior culture - creatures that improve when they enter battle.

The mechanic appeared almost exclusively on Samurai, with one notable exception: Greater Morphling from Unhinged (2004), a silver-bordered, tournament-illegal parody set. So for competitive purposes, Bushido has always been a Samurai ability.

Some older cards share the same spirit without using the keyword - Chub Toad from Ice Age (1995) gets bigger when blocking, for instance - but those predate the formalisation of Bushido as a named ability.

Despite Kamigawa's eventual return in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (2022), Bushido itself didn't come back in its keyworded form. It was considered, but the design team found that the mechanic created board stalls in volume - when both sides have creatures that grow in combat, neither side wants to attack, and the game bogs down. The set instead included one card, Jukai Trainee, with the effect worded out in full text rather than as a keyword, keeping the flavour without the keyword baggage.

Bushido was also considered - renamed Chivalry - as a knight mechanic for Throne of Eldraine (2019), suggesting its templating was seen as broadly flavorful beyond just Samurai. That version didn't make it into the final set either.

Interestingly, Bushido was included on the sticker sheets in Unfinity (2022), giving it a small comedic afterlife in that non-traditional set.

The mechanic's legacy is niche but clear: it defined the Samurai creature type during Kamigawa's original run, and Takeno, Samurai General remains the only card in Magic history to reference "points" of a keyword ability - a small, strange piece of design trivia that Bushido fans tend to love. ✨