Specter

Specter is a black creature type used for cards that depict vicious undead creatures whose touch numbs the minds of their victims, robbing them of memories (represented in-game by discard effects).

Description
Most specters are seen riding atop undead flying monsters such as dragons, giant skulls with bat-wings, and other beasts, and often wield polearms. They seem to be mirror-images of the white Archons, hooded beings that also ride flying mounts, though unlike them they don't appear to be mana manifestations (in the same manner as angels and demons), nor is it clear if, like with some archons, both "rider" and "steed" are the same being. Instead, most specters seen thus far are truly undead beings, usually the result of mind magic that went wrong.

The first card to bear the type was Hypnotic Specter in Alpha, affectionately known as "Hippy", which formed a favorite turn-one play with Dark Ritual.

Specter ability
The "Specter ability" (When this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, that player discards a card.) is primary in black.

Arcavios
Specters of Arcavios hunt down those who try to back out of a deal with a daemogoth.

Dominaria
Little is known of Dominaria's specters in spite of featuring in several blocks, but it is known that at least one, Urgoros, is the result of dementia magic gone wrong.

Eldraine
The specters of Eldraine only appear to people who are already doomed.

Ravnica
Specters on Ravnica are magical creations of House Dimir. They are formed when the mind magic of House Dimir erases a person's identity, leaving a mind so broken it can no longer live. As a result, they hunger for memories and are easily used by the Dimir as agents. Their work can include driving off people who accidentally wander too close to a secret rooftop meeting, killing those who knowingly infiltrate Dimir property, and tracking those who have stolen guild secrets, then wiping those secrets from their victims' minds to ensure that they are never shared.

They ride mounts called gloamwings. Specters create these gloamwings as a part of their magical nature. Should the mount be killed, the specter can reform it over the course of a month.

Notable Specters

 * Dominaria
 * Urgoros

Trivia

 * The archetypal depiction of Specters was first introduced with Abyssal Specter in Ice Age. This current image of the specter in Magic, that of a hooded rider with a drake or bat-like flying steed, is an homage to Tolkien's Nazgûl.
 * Blazing Specter added red to the casting cost.
 * Thief of Sanity, Blizzard Specter and Doomsday Specter added blue to their casting costs. Nightveil Specter is also blue, but with triple hybrid mana it can also be played in monoblack.
 * Sedraxis Specter</c> is the only tri-colored Specter.
 * Specter's Shroud</c> is an equipment giving a card Specter-abilities.
 * Specter's Shriek</c> and Specter's Wail</c> are sorceries with discard-effects.
 * Liliana Vess brings her own: Liliana's Specter</c>.
 * Most Specters cause discard effects through combat. There are some exceptions:
 * Tainted Specter</c>, Reaper of Night</c>, Fell Specter</c>, and Liliana's Specter</c> cause discard through other abilities.
 * Nightveil Specter</c> and its successor Thief of Sanity</c> represent mental damage through stealing from the library.
 * The strangest one is Dread Specter</c>, which has a proto-deathtouch ability instead. Being the third specter ever printed it had likely not consolidated the mechanical theme. That said, Specter of the Fens</c> does not either. Instead, it has a draining ability and was released in 2021.