Millstone | Illustration by Yeong Hao Han

Picture a game of Magic: The Gathering that you just won. Your deck did exactly what it was supposed to do, and you came out on top. In that scenario, you probably imagined an opponent with 0 life, and you with some attacking creatures. After all, that’s how you win in Magic – right?

You might already know that there’s another way (outside of alternate win condition cards) to win a game of Magic: when your opponent must draw a card with an empty library. Most of the time, this is an afterthought. For some, it’s the dream.

If you’re a blue mage who thinks the combat phase is overrated, mill might be the strategy for you.

What Is Mill in MTG?

Psychic Corrosion | Illustration by Bastien L. Deharme

Mill cards in MTG are spells or abilities that remove cards from your opponents’ deck with the goal of eventually forcing them to lose the game by drawing from an empty library. The actual definition of what it means to “mill a card” is to put the top card of your library into your graveyard. A mill deck uses a strategy that depends on emptying its opponent’s library, rather than reducing their life total.

This ranking focuses on cards that mill your opponents, rather than milling yourself. Self-mill, in most cases, is actually more powerful than milling your opponents. Either way, those decks are very different from the traditional mill archetype, so I won’t be talking about those cards.

#43. Fleet Swallower + Terisian Mindbreaker

Terisian Mindbreaker

Most of the cards that mill half of an opponent’s library are primarily useful alongside Bruvac the Grandiloquent who turns these triggered abilities into what’s effectively “destroy target player”. That’s the main place that Fleet Swallower and Terisian Mindbreaker will find use. Otherwise, they’re very underwhelming expensive creatures.

#42. Sphinx’s Tutelage

Sphinx's Tutelage is pretty low-impact in Commander. But there’s always a chance that it puts in more work than you’d expect, especially against mono-colored decks with a low curve, or if you encounter it alongside Painter's Servant.

#41. Teferi’s Tutelage

Similar to Sphinx's Tutelage except it has the loot effect on entering rather than for 6 mana. Still overall a weaker Psychic Corrosion for multiplayer formats, which isn’t especially powerful itself, so unless you’re all-in on drawing cards, I’d rather look elsewhere.

#40. Hedron Crab

A classic staple of Modern mill strategies, Hedron Crab turns every land drop into some milled cards. You want to hit your land drops anyway, so a cheap blocker that generates effectively free value is very welcome in a strategy that needs to churn through 60 cards rather than 20 life points. Unfortunately, it only mills one opponent at a time, making this an inefficient choice for Commander mill decks. But it’s a classic that has some solid synergies regardless, so I wouldn’t blame you for including it anyway.

#39. Jidoor, Aristocratic Capital

Another Traumatize variant, but this time on a land card. Jidoor, Aristocratic Capital has an ability that mills half a player’s library tacked to an adventure, and if you have some ways to return lands from the battlefield to your hand, you can make a pretty good combo (Fear of Isolation, Kor Skyfisher). Plus, it’s not hard to add a land to your deck, so Jidoor will see plenty of play in mill decks.

#38. Grasping Tentacles

Glimpse the Unthinkable mills 10 cards for two, so Grasping Tentacles is slightly worse in that regard. But you can’t reanimate an opponent’s artifact with Glimpse, can you? The games when you mill someone and steal a good equipment, a mana rock, or even a bigger creature will be heavily in your favor.

#37. Traumatize

Traumatize definitely mills a lot of cards when you cast it, but you’ll want to save this blue sorcery for when you can pair it with Bruvac the Grandiloquent to completely eliminate a player or bring them within a card of devastation.

#36. Cut Your Losses

Much like Traumatize, this is a sorcery you’ll want to save until you’re able to resolve it with Bruvac the Grandiloquent. The casualty ability is nice, but ultimately cards like this are too expensive for how little they accomplish when not used as a combo piece.

#35. Singularity Rupture

Singularity Rupture combines Damnation and Traumatize into a single card. It’s nice that we can affect the board and the graveyard at the same time, and it’s a wrath that Commander mill players should definitely include if they’re not mono-blue. It’s a little steep at 6 mana for 1v1 formats, but some control players manage it if they combine it with Riverchurn Monument.

#34. Deepmuck Desperado

If your mill deck is especially interactive, which many tend to be, Deepmuck Desperado makes a solid inclusion. Committing a crime means targeting an opponent, a permanent/spell they control, or a card in their graveyard. So that means triggering your Hedron Crab also triggers this homarid mercenary, as would targeting them with something like Glimpse the Unthinkable. This can lead to plenty of extra mill over the course of a long game, especially in Commander, where this adds each-opponent mill to any instances of single-target mill.

#33. Persistent Petitioners

If there’s one thing that Persistent Petitioners excels at, it’s consistency. The use case is still (say it with me now!) Bruvac the Grandiloquent, but Lo and Li, Royal Advisors created a Petitioner commander with an aggressive angle.

#32. Space-Time Anomaly

How many cards can you effectively mill by paying 4 mana with a single card? Space-Time Anomaly is another payoff for gaining life and very synergistic with Hope Estheim. You can only target a single player, and it’s a bad card if you’re in danger, but most pure mill cards are made that way. The upside is interesting here, and in many EDH games, you should be able to mill 25+ cards with Space-Time Anomaly alone.

#31. Ashiok, Dream Render

Three mana seems to be the sweet spot for a powerful planeswalker. Ashiok, Dream Render doesn’t hit the board and turn the tide of battle necessarily, but there’s plenty of space in a mill deck for a role player like this. Not only does it shut off fetch lands and tutors from your opponents, it also exiles their graveyards every time you activate it. One of mill's weaknesses is that you might enable your opponents' powerful graveyard strategies, so Ashiok, Dream Render alleviates that concern.

#30. Glimpse the Unthinkable

Glimpse the Unthinkable is one of the most iconic mill cards in Magic’s history. Two mana, 10 milled cards – simple, clean, effective. Sure, it might be past its time in the spotlight, but it’s still a Dimir card () that can get some dirty work done for a mill deck.

#29. Riverchurn Monument

Many cards mill half your opponent’s library, but you can’t win that way because they’ll always have the other half. Enter Riverchurn Monument, the missing piece in that puzzle that allows you to win instantly by comboing with a Traumatize effect. You can even cast the Monument and exhaust it on the same turn before your opponent removes it.

#28. Psychic Corrosion

Psychic Corrosion mills plenty of cards over the course of a game. Unfortunately, this blue enchantment costs 3 mana, generates no value, and puts in similar amounts of work to 1-mana and 2-mana mill permanents. That isn’t to say this is a bad effect for mill decks – it’d find its best home in mono-blue ones that make drawing cards a priority.

#27. Lo and Li, Royal Advisors

Lo and Li, Royal Advisors are mill on demand, very similar to Oona, Queen of the Fae. The fact that you don’t need to tap the creature is excellent, and you can use this card to self-mill as well. You can also buff advisors this way, so it’s a strong combo with Persistent Petitioners.

#26. Memory Erosion

Playing a similar role to Psychic Corrosion, Memory Erosion instead only requires your opponents to cast spells. That’s not exactly a rare occurrence. This enchantment probably won’t be the deciding factor, especially with a 3-mana price tag, but it’ll do a lot of work in those long and grindy games.

#25. Glacierwood Siege

I suspect many players will play Glacierwood Siege to get more Crucible of Worlds action going on, but this card can be a strong mill option as well. Just casting some cantrips or removal spells slowly adds the numbers. It's hardly a wincon on its own, but to get small advantages, be it from your graveyard or your opponent’s.

#24. Phenax, God of Deception

Phenax, God of Deception rewards high-toughness creatures with a powerful mill ability. This goes best with creatures like Cruel Somnophage, Wight of Precinct Six, and Mortivore. These creatures get bigger as you use them to mill, which means they’ll mill more. If you want your mill strategy to result in powerful creatures, this legendary god might be the card to try building around.

#23. Fraying Sanity

There’s definitely a lot of 3-mana enchantments that play a support role in the mill strategy. That said, Fraying Sanity effectively doubles all your mill against one player at the table. If there’s a particular deck at the table that you expect to give you trouble, attach this curse to that opponent and accelerate their demise.

#22. Ruin Crab

A Zendikar Rising callback to original Zendikar’s classic mill crab, Ruin Crab makes a couple of key changes that bring up the power level. The first is an extra point of toughness – that's a big difference on a 1-drop, since Ruin Crab can effectively block creatures with 2 power. The other change is that it mills each opponent, so this blue creature’s a powerhouse in Commander mill strategies.

#21. The Water Crystal

With The Water Crystal, each card that says mill one card actually mills five. For small amounts of milling, it’s more efficient than Bruvac the Grandiloquent, and it’s excellent with some Persistent Petitioners. This card is the complete package that makes your blue mill spells cost less, and you can use it to mill each of your opponents.

#20. Court of Cunning

In Commander, Court of Cunning has the potential to mill 30 total cards each turn if you can maintain the monarchy. In a deck that can keep some evasive creatures around alongside its mill plan, this has the potential to get a ton of work done.

#19. Drown in Dreams

Other than having an incredible name for a Magic card, Drown in Dreams is a very solid mill-flavored take on Sphinx's Revelation. Refill your hand and get some bonus mill if your Commander's on the table – I’d call that a solid enough deal.

#18. Zellix, Sanity Flayer

This legendary horror turns your opponents’ mill into value on your board. Pair Zellix, Sanity Flayer with strong mill engines, and you’ll accumulate more and more horror tokens. Its strongest synergy is with Altar of the Brood. Cast Zellix, the Altar triggers, and then if any opponent mills a creature card, Zellix makes a horror token and Altar triggers again. If any of your opponents mill a creature again, Zellix makes another horror, and so on. 

#17. Hope Estheim

Hope Estheim is one of the coolest mill commanders, combining lifegain and mill. Lifegain for lifegain’s sake is usually bad, and cards that provide pure lifegain usually aren't playable. But with this card, you gain life and mill each player. Hope itself has lifegain too, so you can Voltron it and try to win via a mix of damage and mill while gaining some life so you aren’t defeated too easily.

#16. Captain N’ghathrod

Captain N'ghathrod was designed to helm a horror typal Commander deck. This legendary horror pirate wants you to mill your opponents during your turn, especially by hitting them with horror creatures, and reanimate a powerful threat that your opponents happened to mill. It’s 5 mana and requires you to get in with attacks, but once you start getting the big swings in, you’ll be cheating mana costs on your opponents’ most powerful artifacts and creatures.

#15. Anowon, the Ruin Thief

Anowon, the Ruin Thief is all about rogue typal. You’ll want to spread the damage around the table to draw more cards. This creature enables you to build your board state of evasive rogues, draw cards, and keep the mill flowing.

#14. Jace, the Perfected Mind

Jace, the Perfected Mind is one of my favorite mill planeswalkers. This blue planeswalker can come down for 4 mana and immediately mill 15 cards – not bad on its own. Spend some time building its loyalty (or pair it with a combo piece like Doomsday Excruciator) and it’ll be a powerful mill finisher in 60-card MTG formats.

#13. Fractured Sanity

This is just a plain blue sorcery for mill strategies. In Commander, 3 mana for 42 milled cards makes Fractured Sanity nothing to scoff at. At just 2 mana to cycle alongside 12 milled cards, this is a solid deal no matter how you end up using it.

#12. Kitsune’s Technique

Kitsune's Technique allows you to mill half your opponent’s library on turn 2, if we follow an evasive 1-drop. That’s only going to happen in some games, but it’s game-changing nevertheless. It also opens the doors for quick Riverchurn Monument combos.

#11. Maddening Cacophony

Another card that seems designed to allow mill to keep up in the 4-player, 100-card world of Commander, Maddening Cacophony can get the majority of your opponents’ cards into the graveyard all by itself. Much like the other cards that make opponents mill half of their deck, Maddening Cacophony’s best application is with Bruvac the Grandiloquent, who turns this into a game-winning combo.

#10. Tasha’s Hideous Laughter

Are your Commander tables occupied by decks with low curves made up of cheap spells? Tasha's Hideous Laughter combats that style of deckbuilding by removing cards based on total mana value. In formats like Modern with smaller deck sizes and tons of cheap spells, this can exile tons of cards. It’s less effective in Commander but can still certainly shrink some libraries.

#9. Archive Trap

Another card that’s only really effective in smaller-deck formats like Modern or Draft, Archive Trap can make an opponent mill 13 cards for free if the opponent has searched their library. Modern’s abundance of fetch lands make this a remarkably common occurrence, making this spell free-to-cast at some point in the vast majority of Modern games.

#8. The Mindskinner

This legendary nightmare from Duskmourn: House of Horror is an interesting twist on a mill card. When The Mindskinner connects, it’ll mill 30 total cards from a Commander table. Play more evasive creatures and deal more damage, mill more cards. This blue commander turns mill into a combat-based strategy. Even outside the command zone, it’ll mill more than enough cards to be worth including even if it’s the only creature on your side of the battlefield.

#7. Altar of the Brood

One card at a time makes Altar of the Brood read a little underwhelming if you’ve never experienced it. The decks that play this colorless card are equipped to exploit it, and that turns this into a powerful win condition. They might be stealing the cards put into graveyards with Captain N'ghathrod or taking advantage of the way it interacts with Zellix, Sanity Flayer, for example.

#6. Grinding Station

Grinding Station reminds me of Brain Freeze in that it can both enable powerful self-mill to find combo pieces and mill your opponents to get the job done. Those qualities make cards like these incredibly powerful engine elements for combo decks.

#5. Doomsday Excruciator

Six black pips of mana makes Doomsday Excruciator pretty difficult to cast sometimes. On the bright side, this black creature exiles all but six of each player’s cards – a perfect position for a mill finish. In Standard, players are casting this demon and then attack with Restless Reef to finish the job.

#4. Mindcrank

In a format like Commander, where players are always gaining life and losing life for various reasons, Mindcrank sits on the board like a parasite, insidiously turning the regular moments of Commander gameplay into bonus mill. I think that the most powerful mill pieces are the ones that require minimal extra work from the mill player, and Mindcrank is a prime example. 

#3. Brain Freeze

This might be the most powerful mill finisher card of all time – it serves as both a self-mill enabler and an opponent-milling finisher in storm combo decks. When paired with Underworld Breach and Lion's Eye Diamond, it pays for its own escape cost as you repeatedly escape it and the Diamond, building the storm count until you have enough Brain Freeze copies on the stack to mill your opponents.

#2. Grindstone

It’s not the most Commander friendly mill artifact, but Grindstone is one part of a game-winning combo with Painter's Servant in Legacy. Make your opponent’s whole deck into a certain color, and then Grindstone mills them out. You can even find this artifact with Urza's Saga, if you weren’t terrified enough.

It’s an improved version of Millstone, the card that lent its name to “mill” as a keyword. Grindstone costs 1 less mana to play, 1 more to activate, but it has the potential to reactivate itself.

#1. Mesmeric Orb

Most of the powerful mill cards in Magic reward the mill player for enacting their game plan. Think Ruin Crab or Altar of the Brood: They’re powerful, but require the mill player to put some work in to make it happen. 

Now read Mesmeric Orb. Rather than rewarding you as the mill player, it punishes your opponents for taking their game actions. Playing lands, casting and tapping their creatures and artifacts… these are the bread and butter of Magic. If there’s a Mesmeric Orb on the table, your gameplan is accelerating as they take game actions, but it’s also scaling based on the players that are trying to win with their own gameplan. Even if you just turtle up and protect yourself, if this is on the table, your opponents will be milling more and more every single turn.

Best Mill Payoffs

You’ve made it this far, which means that you’re probably aware of the strongest mill payoff: Bruvac the Grandiloquent. It’s one thing that it brings a bit more substance to small and repeated mill effects like Ruin Crab. But the real reason Bruvac is so powerful is that there’s an entire class of card, all of the variants of Traumatize, that makes an entire player's deck go poof when resolved with Bruvac in play.

Another way for mill to pay off is to pair it with reanimation. Cast Rise of the Dark Realms while your opponents have most of their decks in the graveyard and you’ll likely win the game soon after. There’s also some big-mana effects like Virtue of Persistence and Portal to Phyrexia which steal creatures from graveyards every single turn.

Undead Alchemist converts milled creatures into your own creatures, which themselves can attack for more mill. Lazav, Dimir Mastermind is difficult to interact with and can become a copy of the most dangerous card that your opponents mill. The Master, Transcendent can also let you steal freshly-milled creatures.

Shadow Kin accomplishes some milling itself and avoids interaction with flash while also becoming a copy of a threat. It only lets you choose from among the cards milled with this creature in your upkeep, though.

Cruel Somnophage is a nice adventure creature that makes for a real threat by the end of the game. Duskmantle Guildmage can convert mill to life loss to end games quicker, and even produces an infinite combo with Mindcrank. Drown in the Loch is a removal/counterspell hybrid that only gets more powerful as your opponents' graveyards fill.

The Wise Mothman

Avatar of Woe becomes an incredibly cheap and effective threat after some milling gets done. The Wise Mothman becomes a potent threat very quickly if you can keep the mill coming, too.

Into the Story

Lullmage's Domination

Sheoldred

Many cards in MTG get stronger when your opponent reaches a certain graveyard threshold. If they have eight or more cards in their graveyards, your Soaring Thought-Thief, Into the Story, or Lullmage's Domination go from good to great. You can also transform Sheoldred into a mighty bomb saga.

Is Mill Good in Commander?

If built and piloted well, mill can be a potent strategy in Commander. With a powerful mill commander like Bruvac the Grandiloquent at the helm and a high redundancy among some of the more potent mill threats, a Commander mill deck can undoubtedly hold its own.

Thassa's Oracle

Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

There are, of course, weaknesses to a mill strategy – some players include cards that prevent themselves from losing to an empty library, like Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre. Higher-power decks can also include Thassa's Oracle or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries for their own win conditions, which incidentally means that milling an opponent out could mean that they win the game!

Graveyard-focused strategies are also popular in Commander, so milling those opponents can often simply enable them to take over the game. There are ways around this, though; graveyard hate like Tormod's Crypt gives you an out to the graveyard shenanigans you'd otherwise enable.

Rule Zero

It’s worth noting that some Magic players aren’t fans of playing against mill decks. They don’t like to see all their favorite cards sent away never to be used, and they find the play patterns of mill decks unfun for their Commander tables. You don’t have to choose never to play mill for those players, but do be courteous during your Rule 0 conversation and let the table know that you’re playing a mill strategy before the game begins in case there are any concerns.

Is Mill the Same as Discard?

No, mill isn’t the same as discard. To mill a card, put the top card of your library into the graveyard. To discard a card, you choose a card in your hand and put it into your graveyard.

Can You Mill an Empty Library?

No, you can’t mill an empty library. Milling a card means putting the top card of your library into your graveyard – if there’s no card to put into the graveyard, no cards were milled.

Do You Lose if You Can’t Mill?

No, you don’t lose the game if you can’t mill. If your library is empty and an effect tells you to mill cards, you simply don’t mill. You’ll only lose the game if you attempt to draw from an empty library.

Can You Lose to Mill?

No, you can’t lose the game to mill. You only lose the game when you attempt to draw a card while your library is empty. If your opponent mills your entire deck, you usually have until your next draw step to solve that problem somehow, whether that means winning the game yourself or finding a way to put cards back into your library. 

When Did Mill Become a Keyword?

Mill became a keyword action in 2020 with the release of Core Set 2021. Before that, “mill” was a term that the community used for the effect, based on Millstone. Since M21, mill has become a keyword that appears all over Magic, especially on blue cards.

Wrap Up

Fraying Sanity | Illustration by Ryan Alexander Lee

Now you’re familiar with the most powerful mill cards in Magic, and most of the terrifying ways that Bruvac the Grandiloquent can ruin a player's life. Mill is a difficult strategy to pull off, as the odds are stacked against you from the beginning, so these cards and strategies will hopefully get you flipping your opponent’s decks upside down in no time.

Do you play mill in Commander? If so, do you like to explosively end the game with a Maddening Cacophony or chip the opponents down with Mindcrank and Mesmeric Orb? Maybe you prefer the Modern incarnations of mill and hold your Hedron Crabs and fetch lands very dearly?

Let us know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord. Thanks for reading, and until next time, stay grandiloquent!

The post The 43 Best Mill Cards in Magic Ranked appeared first on Draftsim.

Slinza, the Spiked Stampede | Illustration by Kenta Ishikawa

When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies was the terrible Beastmaster from 1982. It has awesome little ferrets, Rip Torn, and these winged devourer things that digested you between their arms. He can, like, commune with the beasts and stuff. It’s a very ‘80s movie rule: Only bad guys wear clothes with sleeves!

I really, really want to like things with beasts in them, but Magic makes it tough. They’re mana intensive to cast, and that’s sort of their identity. You really need special cards to help make MTG beasts playable. And often that’s going to be a commander.

If you have a bunch of beasts in storage looking to ravage FNM, this list of the best beast commanders is for you!

What Are Beast Commanders in MTG?

Rhonas the Indomitable | Illustration by Chase Stone

There are three types of cards that I include in this ranking: commanders that are beasts themselves, typal commanders who specifically support the beast creature type, and commanders that are effective given what beasts tend to be like. You know, big and dumb.

And that’s the trouble with beasts in Commander overall, and it will inform these rankings. Beasts tend to be big, but you can’t win with a deck filled with Gruul () 4-drops. So these decks need to ramp and then hit some kind of combo finish, whether that’s tutoring up old faithful Craterhoof Behemoth or doing some more obscure things enabled by the best beast commanders.

Ready for beast wars?

#30. Nyla, Shirshu Sleuth

Nyla, Shirshu Sleuth is a slow gravedigger at it's core, but where this beast excels is in giving you lots of clues at once. Maybe you have to go get June, Bounty Hunter from the graveyard, that's two artifacts that represent a lot more than just one new card. Give a sniff to the uses for your clues with Persuasive Interrogators, Mirkwood Bats, or Technodrome.

#29. Kaheera, the Orphanguard

Kaheera, the Orphanguard is never going to be your Selesnya commander (), but it can be a nice companion if you’re running all beasts and can play in white. That means a lack of utility creatures, like elven mana dorks, so that’s a lot harder in beasts than in some of the other creature types Kaheera supports, like cats.

#28. Morophon, the Boundless

You can technically do this to run 5-color beasts, but Morophon, the Boundless is usually doing bigger, broken, top-tier commander, shapeshifter-y things. This 5-color commander makes you a huge target at the table while you wait to get enough mana for your Godsire.

#27. Rhonas the Indomitable

Oh, man, I felt so cool when I pulled this mono-green commander and built my first mono-green fight deck. That kind of thing is really good in 1v1 Commander! But as you can imagine, it’s awful in multiplayer games! Rhonas the Indomitable parties with some green beasts if you need to wake it up eventually, because I guess that’s part of how you win here? When I, well, got good, I took this apart and slotted Rhony into some deck’s 99. And when it pops off the top of the library, I think: “Ah, good times.”

#26. Migloz, Maze Crusher

Is oil counters plus Phyrexians a good enough deck? No. But Migloz, Maze Crusher is your Gruul commander if you want to give it a try. And the good Phyrexians in Gruul are often beasts, like Evolved Spinoderm and Bloated Contaminator. And when I say “good” I’m talking not quite good enough for its Limited environment in Phyrexia: All Will Be One, so take that with a grain of salt, or maybe a drop of oil?

#25. Red XIII, Proud Warrior

One of the secretly great things about Red XIII, Proud Warrior is that it truly supports the other cards in your deck so it is less likely to get removed right away. That retrieval of an aura or equipment is key so players may bank up removal for when you cast the returned modifier, but in the mean time, you enjoy vigilance and trample, and if you've not been socialized with +1/+1 counters this proud puppy is a cool way to pull this off.

#24. Vincent Valentine / Galian Beast

Vincent ValentineGalian Beast

It floors me how fast Vincent Valentine grows into a viciously strong assassin. Any opponent foolish enough to use expendable creature tokens or cards like Ball Lightning super charges Vincent. Fire off one of black's signature removal spells and it becomes a pump spell. Galian Beast earns you back chunks of life and has that all-important trample to use every bit of power that is put on the table. Do your best black impression of protection spells and the Galian Beast can use all your support to win.

#23. Nikya of the Old Ways

The tradeoff here is always fun to explore. My preferred build of this deck is to tutor for Gruul Ragebeast or another card that gives your creatures fight abilities, but that’s a really stupid way to build the deck, given how useless those topdecks are when you cast Nikya of the Old Ways. I find that once you start dropping huge battlecruisers ahead of schedule, the table reluctantly removes Nikya, and you can tutor yourself back into business. This a super “’90s Magic Boomer” card in so many ways, so I like it! But I shouldn’t.

#22. Gahiji, Honored One

Goad matters is a fun deck… to pilot. It’s really gross for everyone else. Goad is a sweet EDH mechanic, but a whole deck around it is just oppressive. People don’t like never having a choice. If you want to be the person who runs a bunch of beast plus stuff like Taunt from the Rampart and Disrupt Decorum, Gahiji, Honored One is maybe a slower reveal than Marisi, Breaker of the Coil as your Naya commander ().

#21. Surrak Dragonclaw

I see this commanding some beast decks, but I don’t quite get it. Surrak Dragonclaw feels like decade ago tech against that dude who always brings Talrand, Sky Summoner and a grip of countermagic. As TSwizzle sang back in 2014: “Shake It Off.”

#20. Anzrag, the Quake-Mole

The mole god here does love running a few beasts, but I’m not exactly a believer in the Anzrag, the Quake-Mole life.

#19. Questing Beast

I’m not sure this is where you want to be in mono-green, but Questing Beast has the neat trick of being able to use Fog effects as combat tricks. That works once as a surprise, but then you have to find some explosive ramp to be able to make opponents have to block and take the trick. Sure.

#18. Mayael the Anima

An old fashioned commander that gets better the more Tooth and Nail variants like Smuggler's Surprise are printed, Mayael the Anima does better in local metas where people don’t play a lot of removal spells. Just pack the Heroic Intervention, Teferi's Protection, and similar protection spells to keep your board alive.

#17. Yannik, Scavenging Sentinel + Nikara, Lair Scavenger

Yannik, Scavenging SentinelNikara, Lair Scavenger

There are a few better options as Abzan commanders () for +1/+1 counters synergies, including the best option, Ghave, Guru of Spores, but Nikara, Lair Scavenger can go off with card draw, which is cool. Yannik, Scavenging Sentinel, your beast, is cool if you’re playing a blink package, and then these two start to pop off. The blink helps keep these partners alive, as well. When the deck is firing on all cylinders, it’s really fun to play.

#16. Xenagos, God of Revels + Samut, Voice of Dissent

Xenagos, God of RevelsSamut, Voice of Dissent

There are some edge cases where these Gruul staples helm beast decks, but Xenagos, God of Revels and Samut, Voice of Dissent are mostly here to enable extra combat steps nonsense, so I’d be wary of using these as face commanders for anything else.

#15. Otrimi, the Ever-Playful + Brokkos, Apex of Forever

Otrimi, the Ever-PlayfulBrokkos, Apex of Forever

Which Sultai commander () you use as your mutate commander isn’t super relevant to the recursive mutate deck under the hood. If all goes well, each will be on the battlefield for you eventually, looping things out of the graveyard. Brokkos, Apex of Forever feels better if your EDH meta is removal heavy. Otrimi, the Ever-Playful lurks in the command zone to get that combat damage trigger at the right time to start the chain. The deck falls apart to graveyard hate, but there’s only so many counterspells you want in a deck like this. Not my favorite thing.

#14. Animar, Soul of Elements

Animar, Soul of Elements is a top-tier Temur commander () who has better things to do than sleeve up a flock of beasts, but it happens. I’d avoid powerhouse commanders with underpowered archetypes, and there are more beast-typal things you can do in Temur.

#13. The Howling Abomination

The Howling AbominationBlanka, Ferocious Friend

Usually an include in a beast typal deck, The Howling Abomination is a fun spellslinger commander or Voltron commander with a number of infinite combos that can be safely tucked into its 99. Which means I wouldn’t want the target on my back sleeving this or the Universes Beyond version of Blanka, Ferocious Friend up as my commander with a vanilla deck of beasts.

#12. Marath, Will of the Wild

There seems to be something alluring about avoiding taxes (if you ask a bunch of folks in federal prison), and Marath, Will of the Wild gives you that feeling in MTG form. Marath doesn’t exactly avoid commander tax, but, like my buddy Verazol, the Split Current, it uses the tax to its advantage, converting it to +1/+1 counters. With enough ramp you can purposefully deplete it to death repeatedly to utilize its toolbox abilities. The deck uses a few beasts that like the counters space, but it’s filled with those synergies across creature types.

#11. Loot, the Pathfinder

Loot, the Pathfinder is a cool Temur commander that begs for a bounce back to your hand or flicker after activating it three times. I'll use Boomerang Basics, follow it up with Essence Flux, airbending, or upgrade it to Deadeye Navigator. Either way, I earn the stamina to get around exhaust, keep activating Loot and it lines up with fun and flexibility.

#10. Radagast, Wizard of Wilds

Ramp and cast high mana value beasts. Okay, that was going happen anyway in BeastLand. What we get for all that in a Simic () limited color scheme, is ward 1 and a fellow token on every creature we cast. I feel like Radagast, Wizard of Wilds has been too into the shrooms to be of much payoff for us.

#9. Nethroi, Apex of Death

A second tier mutate commander, Nethroi, Apex of Death gives access to white, which allows in fellow beast Necropanther and a host of Abzan cards providing removal and drain and gain strategies. The deck is hard to focus but can get all the right pieces humming. Sometimes.

#8. Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma

You’ve drafted Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma before, at least in Cube. It plays out the same as a commander. Ramp, ramp, ramp, and then start dropping fatties at a discount. Turn things sideways. There are over 200 beasts in mono-green, including cards like Affectionate Indrik that start to look really good if you can cast them on sale for 2 less mana. Just pack enough Ranger's Guile effects to keep Goreclaw swinging.

#7. Kona, Rescue Beastie

There are some high value beasts in the Beastie deck, but a Kona, Rescue Beastie deck wants stuff with totally wild mana costs to cheat in, like Worldspine Wurm, Apex Altisaur, Sandwurm Convergence, and Virtue of Strength. Simple convoke spells like Gather Courage get good in a deck like this that doesn’t want to wait to untap Kona. Pack all the Tamiyo's Safekeeping effects you can!

#6. Tawnos, the Toymaker

Doubling ETBs while triggering off cheap birds and beasts makes Tawnos, the Toymaker the preferred beasts and birds commander to Radagast. When I try to build this deck I almost always choose more birds than beasts, but that just reveals that (skip ahead if you’re a beast typal fan who is easily triggered) birds are just better than beasts. You can get onboard cheaper and the flying is inherently good.

#5. Loot, the Key to Everything

Loot, the Key to Everything is a nice, powerful, flexible good-stuff commander in Temur that just happens to also be a beast. There won’t be a lot of beasts in the deck, which often plays out a lot like The Thirteenth Doctor plus Yasmin Khan, leaning in to impulse draw payoffs like Nalfeshnee. Will the new tryhard branding icon or a Universes Beyond situation be more triggering to your playgroup?

#4. Loot, Exuberant Explorer

Because we needed to power creep Azusa, Lost but Seeking, we have Loot, Exuberant Explorer, looking dramatically off to the left at what I’m imagining is a PowerPoint of designs for further Loot branding synergies. Loot wants you to ramp to expensive plays and try to win from there. Some of those are beasts. And there’s always Craterhoof Behemoth, beast mode beast.

#3. Uril, the Miststalker

An obnoxious aura commander that has no real love for fellow beasts besides Aura Gnarlid, Uril, the Miststalker packs a punch with auras. Since you don’t need cards like Alpha Authority for the Uber Bogle, you can stock the deck with more impactful auras for Voltron commander damage, while peppering in enchantress card draw as needed.

#2. Tayam, Luminous Enigma

An engine on its own for a reanimator and Insidious Roots Abzan recursion deck, Tayam, Luminous Enigma also happens to be a beast. You’re deep in the sauce if you’re stooping to Icatian Moneychanger in this deck, but respect.

#1. Slinza, the Spiked Stampede

The best Gruul commander, Foundations‘ Slinza, the Spiked Stampede is engineered for this role, giving a huge mana discount to beast cards, a nice fight trigger to help manage the difficult task of balancing creatures and removal, and just enough of a red pip to allow you to sleeve up old favorites like Spellbreaker Behemoth.

Best Beast Payoffs

Beasts are their own payoff! Just because you wander around all shirtless doing sword tricks doesn’t mean you get to mentally control me with your brain powers, Marc Singer!

Sorry. Back in the ‘80s again. But seriously, if you get the mana going and get a board of beasts down, you’ll win a lot of combats, fight some stuff, and generally do big dumb creature stuff to victory. There are a few specialized payoffs beyond getting your board totally swole, though.

Beasts tend to be big, and although there are plenty of 2/2s and 3/3s at common, at higher rarities beasts can easily get to 4 power and greater. There are cards that synergize with this, like Rhonas the Indomitable, and there are plenty of Magic cards with ferocious. They aren’t super deep, but cards like Shamanic Revelation and Woodland Liege can be gas in decks like these.

Baloth Prime

Craterhoof Behemoth

Ride the Shoopuf is a late game beast when you need an extra biggen, and Baloth Prime is a huge creature that can pump out 4/4 beasts almost as well as Rampaging Baloths. Then the classic green finisher is also a beast, so it just feels right to direct a beast deck to Craterhoof Behemoth. That’s easiest in an elfball environment with cheaper creatures, but when you can start to synergize and get these beasts down on the field more quickly, it’s time to call forth the Hoof.

Commanding Conclusion

Tayam, Luminous Enigma | Illustration by Sam Burley

There are some interesting buildaround commanders here, yes? You might not have thought that given how beasts tend to play out in other MTG formats. But there’s room for creativity here, and you can make these decks work in interesting ways, even if you do wear sleeves.

But overall beasts are underpowered, I’d say. You have to work for it, but sometimes I like that kind of challenge in Commander. Still, I’d like to see beasts get a bit more oomph in the game, especially given how mysterious and resonant they can be. What exactly are these things? How do they look on different planes? My thought is to specify like WotC did turning amass into amass orcs and manifest into manifest dread. Let’s have flavors of ferocious, with the first being “ferocious beast” and add some typal synergies in there! That way beasts can get better without busting Standard.

What do you think of that idea? Let us know in the comments or on Discord.

And happy brewing!

The post The 30 Best Beast Commanders in Magic Ranked appeared first on Draftsim.

Ajani, Nacatl Avenger | Illustration by Chris Rallis

MTG Arena’s Festival in a Box event from 2023 created lots of buzz from players excited to compete over real, physical prizes. The following summer was the first Arena Direct with Modern Horizons 3. It added a juicy level of stakes to the online events with a tangible reward.

These allow you to play online for physical prizes. How is it different from the Arena Limited Championship? Is it worth it? I’m here to answer all those questions!

What is MTG Arena Direct?

Source

Format(s)

The only Arena Direct formats so far are Sealed and MTGA Draft Best-of-One.

Entry Costs and Rewards

Players will play until they reach seven wins or two losses, whichever happens first. The rewards for the play booster boxes or collector booster boxes are while supplies last. If Wizards runs out of booster boxes, winners will receive a cash payout that matches the MSRP of the physical prize.

When is the Next Arena Direct Event?

The next Arena Direct is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and starts on March 27, 2026. You can win up to two physical boxes of the set's play boosters. The window to enter closes after a couple of days, and three hours before the event ends. The next Arena Direct is usually shortly after the release of a full set, and sometimes between releases.

Is the Arena Direct Event Worth It?

These limited time events are high stakes because this one Sealed event is worth the entry fee to four regular Sealed events.

The Arena Direct is worth entering if you can earn at least 4 wins. The reward of 5,400 gems plus 16 digital packs is well more than the entry fee of 6,000 gems. Even for Universes Beyond Arena Directs with the entry fee of 8,000 gems, you'd still come ahead by more than 2,000 gems of value after 4 wins.

Let’s consider the numbers. First up, that entry fee. You can’t just buy bundles of 6,000 or 8,000 gems from the Arena store. You can buy 3,400 gems twice at $20 a go for $40 total or 9,200 gems at $50. That would be one entry plus enough left over for at least an Arena Quick Draft or MTGA booster packs.

With the prices of play booster boxes and collector booster boxes a player can earn a box or two valued at a range of $125-$250+ with this event for about $25 worth of gems.

However, we need to factor in the format. Sealed has pretty high variance, especially in sets that reward synergistic decks over decks with raw power. Making the most of less than streamlined decks makes Sealed more skill-intensive, as well. This is to say nothing about the variance of Best-of-One Magic. Winning the die roll and being on the play has always been beneficial, but that’s become more and more relevant as Magic grows more streamlined through power creep. You can take a well-built deck into a Bo1 event and fumble through two losses because you lost the die roll to another well-built deck.

Draft adds a different layer of skill in crafting your deck card by card.

Is the event worth it? I recommend this event to players with plenty of Limited experience. It’s more expensive than the base Sealed events and you have a smaller margin for error since you play to two losses.

But if you want to play for the experience because you love high-stakes Magic or want to challenge yourself with a tough format where everybody puts their best foot forward because of the promised prizes, you should give it a spin. This event is best for players who routinely hit Mythic rank, and those with tons of gems.

How Long Does Arena Direct Take to Ship?

Arena Direct ships the physical prizes so that players receive their reward about 3-4 weeks after the event. WotC bulked up its customer support team to address support tickets so be understanding if you need to submit an issue to Magic Arena.

Do I Have to Pay for Shipping?

The shipping costs should be free for most countries, but additional fees may apply. Wizards says they cover the US taxes for international players, and seek a sustainable long-term plan. They didn’t specify which countries might see additional fees.

How Old Do I Have to Be to Win a Box From Arena Direct?

You must be 18 years or older.

Can I Win the Arena Direct Multiple Times?

Yes, you can win an Arena Direct multiple times. You can enter the event as many times as you can afford during the event window.

What Countries Can Participate in Arena Direct?

The list of eligible countries mentioned in the terms and conditions of Arena Direct include:

Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canada, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Colombia, Czechia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Guatemala, Estonia, Honduras, Finland, France, Japan, Germany, Macao, Greece, Mexico, Hungary, New Zealand, Iceland, Panama, Ireland, Paraguay, Italy, Peru, Latvia, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, United States, Malta, Uruguay, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

What If I Still Have Questions About My Arena Direct Winnings?

If you still have questions, WotC offers frequently asked questions and answers about Arena Directs including the email they notify winners with and a link to create support tickets.

Arena Direct vs. Arena Limited Championship

Saheeli's Directive | Illustration by Craig J Spearing

Arena Direct events and the Arena Limited Championship are both ways to win physical prizes by playing Magic Arena. Since the Limited Championship replaces the Arena Open let's do some comparisons.

The entry is less for the Limited Championship Qualifier at 5,000 gems instead of 6,000 or 8,000. The rewards are a bit more complex because they involve a second draft.

The gem rewards go way up if you get 7 wins in Draft 1 and can win at least once in Draft 2. You need to go 7-1 and 5-1 in consecutive drafts to earn the first money award of $1,000. WotC estimates that 120 players will earn tokens to go from the Qualifier to the Arena Limited Championship, which is pretty much one step before a World Championship that invites dozens of players. Back to that cash amount, the $1,000 is at about twice the value that WotC puts on Universes Beyond collector boosters, and $2,000 is the top cash award for a Limited format.

Circle back to the earliest physical reward from an Arena Direct at six wins to get one box of play boosters. A typical recently-released play booster box is worth about $150, and at best you earn two of those boxes or a collector booster box.

I'll try to summarize it as the Limited Championship Qualifier can lead to a higher competition, prestige and cash award for less entry fee, while the Arena Direct sees a better chance of you earning physical cards for a more expensive entry. Both represent high-levels of competition and are best suited for players that consistently reach mythic ranks on Arena's ladder.

How to Increase Your Chance of Winning the Arena Direct

Practice makes perfect, or at least as perfect as you can get in Limited. Download and use Arena Tutor to give yourself an edge!

Arena Tutor analyzes your Sealed and Draft pools to help refine your deck into the best it can possibly be.

And if you're not a fan of deck-building apps, or you happen to want to build a paper deck online, you can upload your decklist to the Draftsim website and use our Sealed deck builder.

Wrap Up

Direct Current | Illustration by Dan Scott

Arena Direct events offer an exciting way to play Magic on Arena. While the first event focused on play booster boxes as the prize, the stakes go up with Universes Beyond. Either way, the excitement of turning your digital game into real-world prizes is tantalizing.

Perhaps a future event lets us win Commander precons for bunch of Brawl wins? What do you think of Arena Direct events? Will you participate in the next one? Let me know in the comments and on the Draftsim Discord!

Communicate directly, stay safe, and thank you for reading!

Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, you’ll help Draftsim continue to provide awesome free articles and apps.

The post Everything You Need to Know About MTG Arena Direct, Plus: Is It Worth It? appeared first on Draftsim.

Pack Attack | Illustration by Andrea Radeck

Do you like cracking packs? I know I do. There’s just something exciting about pulling a card you really want out of a pack that you lose when you buy singles. There are drawbacks to buying booster packs, of course, especially if you’re a newer player.

You might not have a place to keep the new cards you just opened, which forces you to cram them into random boxes with your existing Magic decks or makes you buy boxes for your decks. There’s organizing to think about and keeping track of which cards are where. And if you’re buying packs to build a deck you won’t have enough lands to make one without an existing collection.

If these problems are holding you back from buying booster packs you’ll be happy to know that Magic actually makes a great product that addresses them all. They’re called bundles, and they’re very helpful when it comes to building your card collection.

Let's jump right in and find out everything you need to know about these bad boys!

What's a Bundle? What’s the Purpose?

Unity of Purpose | Illustration by Jason Felix

Bundles are a packaged Magic product that come with a number of booster packs, a box to store your cards in, a pack full of basic lands, a life counter, and sometimes a few extras depending on the set. The number of booster packs also varies from set to set, ranging from 8 to 10. Notably, bundles are essentially a rebranding of the older “Fat Packs.”

Bundles serve several purposes that you should consider when deciding to buy them. One really nice thing is that they allow you to purchase a bulk number of booster packs that are factory-sealed without having to buy an entire booster box. Booster boxes can be prohibitively expensive or just difficult to find if you don’t have access to a local game store and they’ve sold out online.

You can usually find bundles at big box retail stores like Target or Walmart, so you aren’t out of luck if you don’t have a local shop. And they’re much more affordable than a booster box since you’re only getting 8 to 10 packs, allowing you to buy multiple boosters with a lower initial investment.

Another great reason to grab a bundle is all the extras that come with it. These can help you store your cards and organize them by set since the storage boxes have set-specific artwork on them.

Bundles were good for doing at-home Sealed or Draft events with a group of friends since they include a pack of basic lands. But now that Wizards reduced the amount of lands, the number of packs per box, and moved to Play boosters, it’s clear that this product is intended more for growing and storing your collection than playing with the bundle directly.

How Much Is a Bundle?

While it varies from set to set, a bundle is reliably about the same cost as buying the individual boosters inside. This makes them a great option if you plan on buying the same number of boosters since you get all the extras as well. But if you’re looking to save money on packs, this isn’t the way to do it.

Of course, that’s if you’re buying bundles right when they come out. Bundles see similar increases or decreases in price relative to the boosters inside and depending on the cards that come with it for older sets.

But if you’re lucky enough to stumble on an old set at a big box retailer they usually still sell them for the original price. I still remember finding a wall full of Battle for Zendikar products at a Walmart in 2019 priced the same as Standard sets.

What Comes in a Bundle?

A new bundle comes with between 8-10 Set/Play boosters, usually around 40 basic lands, one promo card, and more goodies. When the first bundles were released as part of Kaladesh, they included 10 draft booster packs and 80 basic lands.

The other contents of bundles have changed a bit over the years too. Starting with Core Set 2020, each bundle included a foil alternate art promo of a card from the set. While most bundles include a spindown counter, Forgotten Realms bundles include a randomized 20-sided die instead.

How Many Cards Are in a Bundle?

While the number varies with older bundles, the most recent bundles include nine Play boosters (13 playable cards each), 30 basic lands, and a foil promo, bringing the total to 148 cards, or 118 plus basics. However, there's no one answer to how many cards come in each bundle since their contents continue to change over time.

Bundles from Core Set 2020 through Forgotten Realms came with slightly more cards since they had 10 15-card Draft boosters instead of Set boosters. The total number of cards in these bundles was 191.

From Kaladesh to War of the Spark, the bundles included 80 lands instead of 40 and no promo card. Amonkhet is an exception due to including 25 tokens, making it the bundle with the most cards coming in at 255 total.

The Best Bundles Ranked

#15. Ravnica Allegiance

Anytime we visit Ravnica I get excited about the Draft environment. With such clearly defined color pairings, these sets are a great way to get newer players into Limited formats, and bundles are a great way to do this.

Grabbing a Ravnica Allegiance bundle allows you and two other players to do a booster Draft with a pack left over if you feel like having a prize pack. Since the bundle includes lands, you should have everything you need right in the box!

Apart from a fun way to draft with friends, you might also be lucky enough to pull some shock lands from this set. With Ravnica Allegiance still being a relatively affordable set despite being out of print, it might be a good time to get your hands on some.

Magic: The Gathering Ravnica Allegiance Bundle | 10 Booster Packs + Land Cards (230 Cards) | Accessories

• STAND WITH YOUR GUILD. Ravnica is one of Magic’s most beloved settings, where guilds jockey for power and control and multicolored cards show up in force. New takes on Ravnica classics like Guildmages and split cards await
• GET MORE THAN CARDS. Every Magic player needs land cards, and dice can make keeping score more fun. Each Bundle comes with a 20-sided spin-down life counter, 75 basic land cards and 5 foil basic land cards, a storage box, and a Player’s guide, which contains a visual encyclopedia of Ravnica Allegiance
• BUILD DECKS. Your Bundle contains 10 booster packs, 75 basic land cards, and 5 foil basic land cards from Ravnica Allegiance, the follow-up to the hit expansions Guilds of Ravnica. Each booster pack contains 15 Magic cards (230 Magic cards total, including lands). Pick your favorites, put them in your deck, and battle!
• PLAY THE ORIGINAL. Magic: The Gathering is the first modern collectible card game. Magic has inspired more than 20 million fans over 25 years, from the first dragons and angels to today’s planeswalkers and Commander decks
• JOIN THE FAMILY. Wizards of the Coast has been making the world’s best strategy games for almost 30 years: Magic: The Gathering (MTG), Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), many board games under the Avalon Hill umbrella, and more. Explore them all, discover new favorites, and make new friends along the way

$84.50

Buy on Amazon

#14. Innistrad: Midnight Hunt

It can sometimes be easy to forget great sets that came out not too long ago with the constant hype around each new set overshadowing the previous. Midnight Hunt is definitely a victim of this constant hype train, and you might have forgotten just how many great cards you can get from this set.

The Meathook Massacre is an obvious standout, but Vanquish the Horde and Fateful Absence are also great additions from this set. I also think Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset is a bit overlooked, but I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to read all that text.

The Midnight Hunt bundle also has some unique goodies, including a Harvesttide Mask and a poster of Innistrad’s moon.

Magic: The Gathering Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Bundle | 8 Set Boosters + Accessories

• 8 Innistrad: Midnight Hunt MTG Set Boosters
• 1 foil alt-art promo card—Triskaidekaphile
• 40 basic land cards (20 foil plus 20 nonfoil)
• Glow-in-the-dark Spindown life counter plus card storage box
• Become what you fear in a gothic horror set overrun with werewolves, warlocks, and spooky mechanics

Buy on Amazon

#13. Guilds of Ravnica

I put the Guilds of Ravnica bundle on this list for mostly the same reasons I did Ravnica Allegiance: fun Draft format, shock lands, etc. The reason it falls higher is the cards in the set itself.

Assassin's Trophy is a fantastic removal spell, and Divine Visitation belongs in most token decks running white. Mausoleum Secrets is also a great budget version of a Demonic Tutor for mono-black reanimator decks.

Magic: The Gathering Guilds of Ravnica Bundle | 10 Booster Packs + Land Cards (230 Cards) | Accessories

• STAND WITH YOUR GUILD. Ravnica is one of Magic’s most beloved settings, where guilds jockey for power and control and multicolored cards show up in force. New takes on Ravnica classics like Guildmages and split cards await.
• GET MORE THAN CARDS. Every Magic player needs land cards, and dice can make keeping score more fun. Each Bundle comes with a 20-sided spin-down life counter, 75 basic land cards and 5 foil basic lands, a storage box, and a Player’s guide, which contains a visual encyclopedia of Guilds of Ravnica.
• BUILD DECKS. Your Bundle contains 10 booster packs, 75 basic land cards, and 5 foil basic land cards from Guilds of Ravnica, the follow-up to the hit expansions Core Set 2019 and Dominaria. Each booster pack contains 15 Magic cards (230 Magic cards total, including lands). Pick your favorites, put them in your deck, and battle!
• FILL YOUR BINDER. Guilds of Ravnica includes planeswalkers like Vraska, Golgari Queen, game-changing spells like Assassin’s Trophy, and the return of “shock lands” like Sacred Foundry and Steam Vents.
• PLAY THE ORIGINAL. Magic: The Gathering is the first modern collectible card game. Magic has inspired more than 20 million fans over 25 years, from the first dragons and angels to today’s planeswalkers and Commander decks.

$84.97

Buy on Amazon

#12. Aetherdrift Finish Line Bundle

Aetherdrift Finish Line Bundle is one of the few bundles that mix play boosters and collector boosters, yes that is plural collector boosters. Many other gift bundles tack on just once collector booster, but here we get two such premium packs with a trio of Finish Line fancy artwork.

Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Finish Line Bundle

• STEP INTO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE—Turbo-charge your collection and claim the gold with this high-velocity bundle full of boosters, special cards, and exclusive accessories
• COLLECT THE COOLEST AETHERDRIFT CARDS—Get 2 Collector Boosters for a shortcut to the coolest cards in the set; each pack is full of Rare and/or Mythic cards, shiny foil cards, and special alt-art, alt-frame cards
• 6 BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Perfect for building decks, playing Limited games, and tons of fun to open, this Finish Line Bundle includes 6 Play Boosters, with a possibility of multiple Rares and at least 1 shining foil card in every pack
• 3 EXTENDED-ART CARDS—Soup up your decks with 3 Extended-Art cards featuring alternate art exclusive to the Finish Line Bundle
• 2 FOIL BOX TOPPER CARDS—A tantalizing prize for a high-stakes match, in every Finish Line Bundle you’ll score a Box Topper containing 2 cards gleaming with a brand new foil treatment

$79.45

Buy on Amazon

#11. March of the Machine

March of the Machine is a totally ludicrous set, but in the best possible way. Not to be confused with product from the shoddy Aftermath set, March of the Machine Bundles tend to be worth your buck. Due to the collation of cards, with each pack having a guaranteed battle and Multiversal Legends card, you can open up to three rares per pack, and this is pre-Play boosters! The set is full of goodies like the transforming Praetors, the team-up legendaries, and Commander all-stars like Breach the Multiverse and Etali, Primal Conqueror.

Magic: The Gathering March of The Machine Bundle | 8 Set Boosters + Accessories

• 8 March of the Machine Set Boosters—the best MTG boosters to open just for fun
• 1 traditional foil alt-art promo card—Ghalta and Mavren
• At least 1 Multiverse Legend card in every Set Booster
• 40 basic land cards (20 foil + 20 nonfoil), 1 Spindown life counter + card storage box
• Battle the Machine Legion as Phyrexians invade planes across the Multiverse

Buy on Amazon

#10. Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate

If you like the cards in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate, I have great news for you: This set is dirt cheap. Tons of stores are selling the Battle for Baldur's Gate bundle cheaper than some Standard sets.

Aside front the stellar ancient dragon cycle from this set, there are plenty of fun commanders like Neera, Wild Mage and Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm. And this set actually has a ton to offer you as well if you have a dragon Commander deck, like Renari, Merchant of Marvels.

Magic: The Gathering Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate Bundle | 8 Set Boosters + Accessories

• 8 Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate MTG Set Boosters
• 1 foil alt-art promo card—Wand of Wonder
• 40 basic land cards (20 foil + 20 nonfoil)
• Spindown life counter + card storage box
• Open a box full of epic MTG Commander cards and accessories from the world of D&D

Buy on Amazon

#9. Avatar: The Last Airbender Commander’s Bundle

The most notable cards from a Avatar: The Last Airbender Commander’s Bundle are the two special treatment money cards on top of Commander staples Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, and Swiftfoot Boots. At the base of this are the 9 play boosters and one collector booster of a solid and unique set.

The money is in the Commander free spells and 1-mana, instant tutors: Enlightened, Mystical, or Worldly — the ones for enchantment/artifact, instant/sorcery, or a creature, that are among the 2 of 10 special reprints.

Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender Commander’s Bundle | Includes 1 Collector Booster, 9 Play Boosters, 5 Borderless Cards, 30 Lands + Exclusive Accessories

• WATER. EARTH. FIRE. AIR… MAGIC—Wield the power of the elements as Avatar: The Last Airbender teams up with Magic: The Gathering! Climb atop a sky bison and travel from the walls of Ba Sing Se to the heart of the Fire Nation and restore balance to the world—or conquer it
• START BUILDING YOUR AVATAR COLLECTION AND COMMANDER DECKS HERE—Gather your own Team Avatar and build powerful Commander decks with the coolest Avatar: The Last Airbender-themed cards, an exclusive Avatar-themed Click Wheel life counter, and a sturdy box to store it all in
• 1 COLLECTOR BOOSTER FULL OF THE QUENCHIEST CARDS—Celebrate the show’s iconic visuals with a Collector Booster packed with shiny foils, Rare cards, and special alt-border cards; you may even find Collector Booster-exclusive foil treatments or an ultra-rare headliner card
• 3 BORDERLESS COMMANDER STAPLES—Build decks with 3 cards popular in the Commander format—Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and Swiftfoot Boots—each featuring Borderless Avatar: The Last Airbender art
• 2 BOOSTER FUN CARDS—Get 2 of 10 Borderless versions of classic spells perfect for any commander’s arsenal

$153.73

Buy on Amazon

#8. Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

When Ikoria first came out I was pretty lukewarm about the set. But I've since been surprised by the staying power of its cards. The Ikoria bundle offers a lot of sleeper hits outside of the flashy mutate mechanic that the set introduced. Regardless of what you play, there’s probably something in this set for you.

Shark Typhoon is a great tool for any control deck, allowing you to create threats as you counter spells. Companions like Lurrus of the Dream-Den add a fun new angle to the game as well. And if you play Commander you've probably come to love or fear Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy, and have found Triomes very helpful for mana fixing multicolored decks.

Magic: The Gathering Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Bundle | 10 Booster Packs (150 Cards) | Foil Lands | Accessories

• The Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO) Bundle comes factory sealed with 10 booster packs and accessories—a great gift for any Magic player.
• You’ll be ready to play with 20 basic lands, 20 foil basic lands, 1 alternate-art promo card, a reusable storage box, keyword counter punchouts, and one oversized life counter on top of your booster packs.
• Befriend your perfect monster companion—if you meet their conditions, they’ll come to your aid from outside the battle! The Companion mechanic will feel familiar to Commander fans and add a fresh twist to two-player formats.
• Battle your way through the plane of Ikoria with monster-themed mechanics like Mutate—stack your creature cards for a mutated monster with the type of one and the abilities of another.
• It’s you and your monsters against the world! Team up with your powerful companions, help them grow, and crush the behemoths of Ikoria!

$134.65

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#7. Modern Horizons 3

Modern Horizons 3 has quite a few cards that are hot across different formats right now, including energy cards, new-age Eldrazi titans, and some New-to-Modern bonus sheet cards and Special Guests. An MH3 Bundle comes with nine Play boosters, and has a small premium on the price due to being a Masters set, though the relative price of the set dropped overall after Wizards gave out tons of MH3 Booster boxes to Arena Direct winners.

Magic: The Gathering Modern Horizons 3 Bundle - 9 Play Boosters, 30 Land Cards + Exclusive Accessories

• YOUR NEW FOREVER FAVORITES—Introducing a heaping helping of exciting cards for Modern, one of Magic’s most celebrated formats, plus the return of competitive favorites, there’s something for everyone to love in Modern Horizons 3
• NOW WITH PLAY BOOSTERS—Get the best of Draft and Set Boosters, combined into one. Play Boosters are great for Limited play and fun to open, with a possibility of multiple Rares and at least 1 shining foil card in every pack
• FULL-ART LANDS and SPECIAL ALTERNATE-ART CARD—Every Bundle also comes with 1 Traditional Foil promo card featuring Bundle-exclusive alternate art, and 10 of the 30 included Land cards feature stunning Full-Art (5 foil, 5 nonfoil)
• EXCLUSIVE ACCESSORIES—In addition to cards from the set, each MH3 Bundle comes with exclusive accessories, including a special die to track your life total and a sturdy box to store everything in
• POWERFUL CARDS FOR MODERN CONSTRUCTED, LIMITED and COMMANDER PLAY—Spice up your deck with powerful New-to-Modern cards, host a supercharged Booster Draft with friends, or discover Legendary Creatures with striking special treatments to inspire your next Commander Deck

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#6. Streets of New Capenna

There's a lot to love in the New Capenna bundle. Ledger Shredder continues to make appearances in older formats, and the family lands complete the Triome cycle started in Ikoria a few years back.

Since this bundle includes Set boosters you also have a chance to get some cards from The List. Streets of New Capenna’s List includes fewer cards than usual and while this might seem like a downside, it actually increases your chances of getting any individual card you want off The List. This was done to increase the number of Stranger Things cards you can hope to get, which appeared in The List for the first time.

Magic The Gathering Streets of New Capenna Bundle | 8 Set Boosters + Accessories

• 8 Streets of New Capenna MTG Set Boosters
• 1 foil alt-art promo card—Mysterious Limousine
• 40 basic land cards (20 foil + 20 nonfoil)
• Spindown life counter + card storage box
• Traditional or Gilded Foil card in every Set Booster

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#5. Modern Horizons 2

Modern Horizons 2 is unique since it was the first premium set to have bundles printed for it. This set had a lot of merits: powerful cards for Modern, reprinted fetch lands, and a very fun Draft environment.

The MH2 bundle also includes an alternate art promo version of one of the best coin flip cards in Magic, Yusri, Fortune's Flame, and one of the better-looking spindown counters.

Magic: The Gathering Modern Horizons 2 Bundle | 10 Draft Boosters (150 Magic Cards) + Accessories

• 10 Modern Horizons 2 (MH2) Magic: The Gathering Draft Boosters
• Exclusive foil alt-art promo card—Yusri, Fortune's Flame
• 40 basic land cards (20 foil & 20 nonfoil)
• Spindown life counter and MTG card storage box
• Introduces powerful cards and beloved reprints to the Modern format

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#4. Kaladesh

Sealed products for Kaladesh can be hard to come by. This is thanks in part to the Inventions lottery cards that were featured in the set. As we tend to do in this community, Magic players have opened box after box in search of these rare cards, making the number of available booster boxes dwindle over time. Notable, the 2024 announcement about the plane of Kaladesh being renamed “Avishkar” sparked controversy, leading some players to believe Kaladesh would become a “taboo” set, causing price spikes for all Kaladesh products.

So if you’re looking for a more affordable way to get sealed packs, whether to draft or chase your own lottery cards, Kaladesh bundles might be a more reasonable way to do so. This is still the best way to get Kaladesh packs that are factory-sealed for many of us who can’t afford a full box, even if these bundles are still very expensive.

Magic: the Gathering - Kaladesh Sealed Fat Pack PRE-ORDER Ships On September 30th

• This item will be ship on September 30th
• 10 booster fat pack
• This is of sealed Fat pack from the Kaladesh set.

$198.88

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#3. Final Fantasy Chocobo Bundle

Final Fantasy Chocobo Bundle rocks with full art lands, a Commander staple of a promo, and 1 of 24 scene cards which have a varying, but high value. With the unique cards from a strong set, the overall price on the play boosters alone is enough to increase the value on this bundle. So while it's expensive, and there's no collector booster with a golden chocobo, the Chocobo bundle is worth it if you find it around $200.

Sale

Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy Chocobo Bundle Japanese Version MTG Trekka Wizards of The Coast FIN D38561400

• Magic the Gathering - FINAL FANTASY Play Booster 10 Pack
• Chocobo Booster Pack (12 Pack)
• 1 foil promo card with separate art
• Magic: the Gathering - FINAL FANTASY Scene Card (1 of 24 types)
• FINAL FANTASY Famous Lands, Full Art Edition, 32 Basic Lands (16 Foil, 16 Regular Pieces), Special Click Life Counter, Special Chocobo Edition Card Box

$171.95

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#2. Hour of Devastation

What makes Hour of Devastation’s bundle one of the best is what it has to offer outside of just the packs included in the bundle. Not only are 20 of the 80 lands given the full-art treatment, but the bundle includes one copy of each token printed for this set. This ensures that whatever direction you go with your cards, you have the tokens for it.

Just like Kaladesh, this set also has lottery cards to be on the lookout for, this time the Invocations. It’s hard to trust individual packs you buy of old sets online but getting a factory-sealed pack guarantees nobody messed with your odds of grabbing one of the sought-after Invocation cards.

Magic Hour Of Devastation Sealed MTG Bundle Box 10 Boosters

• Welcome to Magic The Gathering's Hour Of Devastation: Nicol Bolas has finally returned to Amonkhet and nothing will every be the same again!
• With all new new cards, mechanics, powers and abilities, the cards from the Hour Of Devastation set can help you buff your existing Magic deck or create a new one from scratch.
• Each Hour of Devastation Bundle includes: 10 booster packs, 1 card box, 1 player’s guide, 1 80-card land pack
• 1 learn-to-play insert, 1 Spindown life counter, & 1 Menu booklet
• Release Date: July 14, 2017

$169.00

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#1. Amonkhet

Just like Hour of Devastation, Amonkhet also has 20 lands with the full-art treatment. The Amonkhet bundle also came with 25 double-sided tokens from the set, making it the bundle with the most cards included.

This set also has lottery cards, including the highly sought-after Force of Will Invocation version. Not only does this bundle have the most cards, but it also has a chance of being very valuable.

Magic: The Gathering - Amonkhet Bundle Box with 10 Booster Packs

• 10 Amonkeht Booster Packs per Box.

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What’s the Difference Between a Bundle and a Fat Pack?

Fat packs were the precursor to bundles and were similar in many ways. They also included a number of booster packs, ranging from 3-9 depending on the set. They sometimes had a means of storing your cards, and some also included lands. But there are two big differences between fat packs and bundles.

The first is inconsistency. While bundles have changed slightly over time, they’ve stayed pretty consistent for several sets in a row before changing their contents. Fat packs changed contents in subsequent sets, sometimes going from three boosters to six and back to three in the span of three sets.

The other major difference was the inclusion of Magic fiction. Some fat packs had excerpts from Magic’s story and others came with entire novels. As Magic’s published fiction moved to mainly digital, it isn’t too much of a surprise that these have disappeared from newer bundles.

How Many Packs Are in a Bundle?

The current number of packs in a bundle is nine Play boosters. This is an overall decrease from the original 10 Draft boosters that bundles came with until Midnight Hunt. You can expect to get more rares out of your newer boosters on average.

How Many Lands Are in a Bundle?

Bundles usually include between 30-40 lands, half of which are foil. Bundles originally included 80 basic lands with the occasional foil or full-art treatment. This makes bundles attractive to newer players that could use some more basic lands for deck construction.

How Many Cards Fit in a Bundle Box?

While there’s no official number given in the product description for the number of cards these boxes can hold, anywhere from 400-600 unsleeved cards can fit in a bundle box. The number of sleeved cards is about 300, so it should be enough room for three sleeved Commander decks.

Are Bundles Worth It in General?

Deal Broker | Illustration by Cliff Childs

Most of the time a bundle is worth it in comparison to the same number of individual booster packs. You’re getting the same number of boosters for basically the same price as individual packs, and then you have the rest of the bundle’s contents basically for free.

That said, a booster box is probably the way to go if you’re looking to buy a larger number of boosters because you’re generally able to get a box of boosters a bit cheaper than you could buy the same number of individual boosters. And it might be a little more responsible just to buy the packs and not throw out the bundle packaging if you don’t want all the clutter and already have a storage system for cards.

How Many Rares Are in a Bundle?

For bundles with 9 play boosters you should expect to open about 10 rares or mythics, not including the promo. Bundles that include eight set boosters have a minimum of eight rare cards. But each set or play booster has the possibility of cracking 1-4 rares. Bundles that include 10 Draft boosters include at least 10 rares, one in each pack. There was a slight possibility for more since there was a chance that each pack had a foil rare.

The maximum number of rares you could possibly get in an 8-pack bundle is 32, but that's highly unlikely. But don’t be fooled into thinking that’s a guarantee; there's still a chance you’ll only be pulling eight.

Are Bundles Limited Release?

Bundles for a given set are generally a limited release, usually only seeing one initial print run. This is because you may as well go for a booster box or two if you have enough money to spend on multiple bundles. For that reason, few players ever buy more than one bundle.

What’s the Difference Between a Gift Bundle and a Regular Bundle?

Gift Edition bundles are a relatively newer version of bundles that originated with Throne of Eldraine and took the place of gift packs. These packs include everything that a traditional bundle of the same set comes with, plus a few added bonuses.

Apart from the boosters that come in the normal bundle, Gift Edition bundles also include one Collector booster from the set. Some also include extra set-specific goodies, like Forgotten Realms did with oversized versions of the dungeon cards.

Bundling It Up

Werewolf Pack Leader | Illustration by Miranda Meeks

Bundles aren’t necessarily the most fun product, but they are one of the more practical ones if you want to build up your collection. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad idea to grab a bundle from any set if you’re planning to buy the same number of packs anyway. I’ve seen tons of players show up to game stores with their decks packed into a bundle box, and it’s a great way to show your love for a specific set’s theme or artwork.

I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on bundles. Do you like the built-in storage? Would you prefer them if they still included Draft boosters? What type of extras entice you to buy a bundle instead of packs? Would you gift a bundle to a friend? Let me know in the comments below or over on Draftsim’s Twitter.

I hope all your pulls give you a bundle of joy, and I'll see you next time!

Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, you’ll help Draftsim continue to provide awesome free articles and apps.

The post The 15 Best Magic Bundles You Can Buy appeared first on Draftsim.

Omniscience | Illustration by Jason Chan

Going infinite might not guarantee a win, and it has quite the opportunity to make an incredible story, or turn you into a villain. You can use as few as two cards to make your opponent suffer in an infinite loop and laugh as they realize they can do nothing to stop their inevitable loss. There are a lot of infinite combos you can pull off in MTG. I want to give a nibble to your greedy side in several formats and have samples from Standard, Modern, EDH, and Pauper.

Some of these infinite combos are available on Magic Arena, but today I pull from more than 30,000 Magic cards to focus on ones you might not have tried on paper.

What Are Infinite Combos?

Enter the Infinite | Illustration by Jake Murray

An infinite combo is a set of card interactions, abilities or effects that can be repeated over and over until you say “when.” The combo could produce infinite damage, infinite mana, and some give one of your creatures infinite power.

It's important to note, these combos all allow the player with priority to stop it. If you have a combo that never ends, then the game never progresses and is a draw.

I'll make it as concise and clear as possible on how to make the combo repeatable, though you should know that using any infinite combo might be grounds for a rule 0 discussion before your game.

To help determine your Commander bracket, check if your deck does a 2-card infinite combo or not. If so, you should consider it bracket 4 or 5. Otherwise, keep to the combo to 3 or more cards and you'll fit into brackets 3 and below.

One more thing, for both of our sanity, these are in alphabetical order by one of the key cards in the combo. The numbers help us keep track, and I still call out my #1 at the end, but any of these can win you the game.

#40. Argothian Elder + Maze of Ith

Argothian ElderMaze of Ith

For this oldie but a goodie you need to be able to attack with Argothian Elder, an untapped Maze of Ith, plus another land that can produce mana. Begin by attacking with the Elder, activate the Maze to untap the Elder. Float your mana from the other land and activate the Elder to untap that land plus the Maze. Stay in the combat phase and the Elder is still an attacking creature, begin again with the Maze and continue until you have as much mana as you need. Slip in a 5-color land for access to infinite colored mana and use that combat phase wisely.

#39. Banishing Knack + Mirran Spy + Ornithopter

Mirran Spy

Ornithopter

Love the low costs on this one, begin with Mirran Spy and Ornithopter in play, cast Banishing Knack and target Mirran Spy. Activate the spy's ability and return Ornithopter to your hand. Cast Ornithopter, trigger the spy and you bounce the thopter up and down better than Forrest Gump with a ping pong ball. This infinite loop only lasts the turn so make it count with storm or artifactfall.

#38. Bloodthirsty Conqueror + Starscape Cleric

Bloodthirsty ConquerorStarscape Cleric

There are dozens of combinations that might suit you beyond the infamous Exquisite Blood, and Sanguine Bond. This one with Bloodthirsty Conqueror and Starscape Cleric is available in Standard. The options expand with other formats. Common deviations of the Sanguine Bond combo that end when your opponent drops to 0 dip into white for Vizkopa Guildmage or green for Dina, Soul Steeper.

Here is one of the fastest ways, and you just need a way to gain a life, or make your opponent lose a life to set it in motion. Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord activates its -3 ability to play your Bloodthirsty Conqueror from your hand on turn 3 after you dropped Starscape Cleric on turn 2. Now you've got a flier that can do the trick, or Radiant Fountain or Obscura Storefront or a crazy turn 1 foreshadow of Leechridden Swamp…

#37. Boromir, Warden of the Tower + Luminous Broodmoth + Solemnity

Luminous Broodmoth

Solemnity

Start with Boromir, Warden of the Tower, Luminous Broodmoth, and Solemnity all on the battlefield. Activate Boromir's ability to sacrifice itself. The Broodmoth brings Boromir back, but Solemnity stops the flying counter, and lets you activate Boromir again. This grants you more than enough Ring tempts, death triggers, and as many enters or leaves the battlefield triggers as you want. If you need to win but want to stay in mono-white, Lena, Selfless Champion can take Boromir's place and give you infinite creature tokens to win with.

#36. Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake

Deadeye NavigatorPeregrine Drake

Deadeye Navigator is another flexible card that is widely used for combos. It pairs with another creature thanks to its soulbond ability and gives both of them the activated ability which allows you to exile that creature and bring it back to the battlefield for two mana. Peregrine Drake untaps five lands when it enters the battlefield, so each time you exile and bring it back, you get three additional mana. You can also swap Peregrine Drake with Palinchron or Great Whale if they suit you better.

More info

#35. Dramatic Snipe

Elite Arcanist

Hedron Archive

Guttersnipe

You need four cards to make this combo work. First is Dramatic Reversal, which untaps all non-land permanents you control. Then you’ll need Elite Arcanist, allowing you to exile an instant card from your hand and copy it by paying its converted mana cost. You also need a creature or artifact that you can tap for two or more mana, like Hedron Archive. Finally, you need to have Guttersnipe on the battlefield to trigger its ability.

Here’s how it works: Hedron Archive and Guttersnipe are on the battlefield. Before you play Elite Arcanist, tap Hedron Archive to get two mana. Dramatic Reversal is then exiled and copied, untapping all permanents, which allows you to repeat the process infinitely. Since Dramatic Reversal will trigger Guttersnipe each time, you can deal infinite damage to your opponent.

More info

#34. Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank

Duskmantle GuildmageMindcrank

MTG is such a marvelously broken game that you can defeat your opponent with these two cards and seven mana (). Duskmantle Guildmage has two abilities: the first one makes your opponent lose one life each time a card is put in their graveyard, and the second puts the top two cards of their library into their graveyard. Meanwhile, Mindcrank makes it so your opponent has to put a number of cards in their graveyard equal to the damage they receive. This triggers an infinite loop of damage and mill, so congratulations! You just made someone hate you.

More info

#33. Enduring Scalelord + Altered Ego

Enduring ScalelordAltered Ego

When talking about infinite combos, most people think about life or mana, but infinite counters are also a thing. Perhaps the easiest card to make this kind of combo work is Enduring Scalelord. It has a simple ability: whenever a creature gains a +1/+1 counter, Enduring Scalelord also gains one.

Unless you’re playing a singleton format, you can play two of them to start an infinite loop of counters. And if you are playing singleton, all you need is to replicate it like with Altered Ego, Clone, etc. The loop is infinite, and thanks to the word “may” on this card you can just say they each have 11 million +1/+1 counters to end the madness.

More info

#32. Enter the Infinite + Omniscience

Enter the InfiniteOmniscience

An infinite draw and cast combo that can only be prevented by a solid counterspell, or death is inevitable. With Omniscience, you’re able to cast spells from your hand without paying their mana costs. Enter the Infinite allows you to draw your entire library, which means that you can just throw your library at your opponent and say, “I win.”

#31. Famished Paladin + Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord + Sorcerer's Wand

Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord

Sorcerer’s Wand

It might take a while to put this combo in place, but if your opponent doesn’t stop it in time, you get both infinite life and damage. Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord provides your creatures with lifelink during your turn and Famished Paladin untaps whenever you gain life. All you need is to equip the vampire knight with a simple Sorcerer's Wand and it can deal damage and untap for infinite damage (and life, as if it matters at this point).

#30. Grand Architect + Pili-Pala

Grand ArchitectPili-Pala

Grand Architect and Pili-Pala is used by a lot of players in various formats and is perhaps the most commonly known infinite mana combo. When you activate Grand Architect’s first activated ability, Pili-Pala becomes a blue creature and, with the Architect’s second activated ability, you can tap Pili-Pala for two colorless mana. You can then use Pili-Pala’s untap ability with these two colorless mana to gain one mana of any color and repeat the loop as many times as you want.

More info

#29. Hushwing Gryff + Wormfang Manta + Conjurer's Closet

Wormfang Manta

Conjurer's Closet

Taking infinite turns is always welcome, so here’s another one. Hushwing Gryff prevents creatures from triggering their abilities when they enter the battlefield, so you won’t have to skip a turn when Wormfang Manta comes into play. But, when you exile it with Conjurer's Closet and have it come back, you get to take an extra turn. Rinse and repeat until you can play your entire library of spells.

More info

#28. Ill-Tempered Loner + Angelfire Ignition

Ill-Tempered LonerAngelfire Ignition

Thankfully both the day and nightbound sides of Ill-Tempered LonerHowlpack Avenger function the same for this combo. Cast Angelfire Ignition and target your werewolf, then give it nonlethal damage (probably 1 or 2) and continue to target it for infinite life due to lifelink. Not bad for a turn of being indestructible.

#27. Intruder Alarm + Krenko, Mob Boss / Thraben Doomsayer

Krenko, Mob Boss

Thraben Doomsayer

This is another card that has the potential to enable multiple infinite combos. Intruder Alarm was reprinted in the Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales and combines with as few as one other card to provide infinite creatures. Krenko, Mob Boss is a famous one and Thraben Doomsayer can provide an infinite army of goblins or humans with the Alarm in place.

#26. Irencrag Feat + Prismite + Nivix Guildmage

Prismite

Nivix Guildmage

Here's another infinite-mana, instant-win combo that’s relatively easy to pull off. Irencrag Feat provides you with seven red mana, but also restricts you to casting one more spell that turn. But, this doesn’t prevent it from getting copied. So, use Prismite to pay and get a blue mana, and copy Irencrag Feat with Nivix Guildmage. Then you can copy it again, again, and again to get an infinite amount of mana, which Prismite turns into infinite colored mana. You can use that mana to activate Nivix Guildmage’s looting ability and get a spell like Banefire to kill off your opponent.

#25. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Seeker of Skybreak / Deceiver Exarch

Deceiver Exarch

Seeker of Skybreak

A simple, yet effective combo that lets you create an infinite number of creatures to finish your opponent. First, get Deceiver Exarch on the battlefield and then play Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker targeting Exarch to create a copy of it. The new Exarch comes to the battlefield and untaps Kiki-Jiki. Repeat the process as many times as needed to finish your opponent since Exarch’s tokens will have haste.

If you shift from blue to green or use a Gruul commander you can use Seeker of Skybreak instead of the Deceiver for essentially the same process. Start with both on the battlefield, then activate Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to make a copy of Seeker of Skybreak. Activate Seeker of Skybreak to untap Kiki-Jiki and repeat for infinite tapped creature tokens.

#24. Lion's Eye Diamond + Auriok Salvagers

Auriok Salvagers

Origin Spellbomb

Lion's Eye Diamond is a well-known artifact for infinite combos and there are multiple ways to use it, but I’ll stick to just one. This one works with Auriok Salvagers, which allows you to return Lion's Eye Diamond from your graveyard to your hand. Each time you sacrifice Lion's Eye Diamond, you get three mana of any color and you spend two to bring it back, essentially giving you infinite mana.

But you still need to find a way to draw some cards to actually damage your opponent or have a mana sink to use to convert your infinite mana into something useful, like Origin Spellbomb or Sunbeam Spellbomb, which you can use with Auriok Salvagers to bring back and sacrifice infinitely since you have infinite mana.

More info

#23. Midnight Guard + Presence of Gond

Midnight GuardPresence of Gond

Ah the simplicity of Pauper, keep your opponent up 'til 12 a.m. with the Midnight Guard creating elf warriors. Make sure you can the Guard the same turn you enchant it with the Presence of Gond, since any removal of your Midnight Guard or the aura is enough to disrupt this. Now if only there were a way to grant your team haste in or …

#22. Monk Gyatso + Lightning Greaves + Frogmite

Lightning Greaves

Frogmite

Monk Gyatso needs an affinity card like Frogmite, a total of at least two artifacts, plus a way to freely target the affinity card like Lightning Greaves. When you pop out the card, you only need to pay to replay it from airbent exile.

#21. Morselhoarder + Sinking Feeling + Power of Fire

Sinking Feeling

Power of Fire

There are various ways to make this combo work, but I’ll go over just one since the concept is pretty simple. Morselhoarder comes into play with two -1/-1 counters and can add one mana by removing one of these counters. If you enchant it with Sinking Feeling, you can pay one mana to put another -1/-1 counter on and untap it. Finally, Power of Fire deals one damage whenever you tap Morselhoarder, and repeat the process forever.

More info

#20. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind + Curiosity

Niv-Mizzet, the FiremindCuriosity

Sometimes, dealing infinite damage is just too easy to be called fair. Niv-Mizzet has a couple of ways to make it work, but the concept is very simple. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind deals one damage to your opponent whenever you draw a card. If you enchant t with Curiosity, you draw another card and create an infinite loop. This also works with Tandem Lookout or Ophidian Eye.

More info

#19. Primal Prayers + Guide of Souls + Shrieking Drake

Guide of Souls

Shrieking Drake

For this Modern-playable one, you start with Primal Prayers and Guide of Souls on the battlefield. Use either an energy or to cast Shrieking Drake. Then resolve the Guide of Souls trigger first, and have the Shrieking Drake bounce itself to your hand. You've gained a life, cast a creature, had a creature enter and leave, and have another energy ready to go again.

It took three colors, and two 1-drops and can result in infinite life and infinite storm count. Not bad for the powerful and deep set that is Modern Horizons 3.

#18. Quillspike + Devoted Druid

QuillspikeDevoted Druid

You can also use Quillspike instead of the Vizier, which removes -1/-1 counters to get +3/+3, basically giving it an infinite amount of power with Devoted Druid. If you have any way to give it haste or it already got over its summoning sickness, the game is over. However, all it takes is a simple removal so your opponent can prevent their demise. Still, it’s a fun way to make your opponent sigh and give up the game.

More info

#17. Ral, Storm Conduit + Expansion//Explosion

Expansion

Expansion

Most of the combos here aren’t legal in Standard, but this one was for a while. You’ll need Ral, Storm Conduit, two copies of Expansion, four mana to cast them in succession, and enough mana to get the combo going.

First, Ral needs to be on the battlefield. Then, cast any cheap spell (like Opt) to start the combo. Cast Expansion targeting Opt, then cast another Expansion to copy that, creating an infinite loop. Ral will deal one damage each time an instant or sorcery is cast and with infinite loops comes infinite damage.

#16. Ratadrabik of Urborg + Atsushi, the Blazing Sky + Blade of Shared Souls

Atsushi, the Blazing Sky

Blade of Shared Souls

There are lots of goods from this transaction. Start with the legendaries in play, and turn the rebel into a copy of Atsushi, the Blazing Sky. Let the legend rule kill the token, choose to create treasure, then with Ratadrabik of Urborg, make the token zombie a copy of Atsushi. Then use two of the treasures to equip the Blade to the token Atsushi and repeat.

You can pat yourself on the back for clever use of the legend rule to be your sacrifice outlet, and yes you come out with a measly one treasure per transaction, a lot of other triggers happened along the way, when a creature dies, when an artifact comes into play or is sacrificed, those payoffs can win you the game.

#15. Riku of Two Reflections + Palinchron

Riku of Two ReflectionsPalinchron

This one is both an infinite mana and an infinite token combo. You need at least seven lands with access to nine in blue and at least one green . Ensure you have Riku of Two Reflections on the field, when you play Palinchron, choose to copy the Illusion. Since Palinchron untaps up to seven of your lands, you can then use four of that mana to return it to your hand with its activated ability and play it again to make an infinite number of tokens and infinite mana.

More info

#14. Samut, the Driving Force + Sprout Swarm

Samut, the Driving ForceSprout Swarm

Samut, the Driving Force requires you to reach max speed before it can make the buyback and convoke allow Sprout Swarm‘s resulting creature token to pay for itself. Thus, the Naya commander is one of two cards that can result in infinite saproling tokens and infinite instants cast.

#13. Selvala, Heart of the Wilds + Freed from the Real

Freed from the Real

Giant Octopus

Infinite mana is always welcome, and this one is really easy. All you need is Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, Freed from the Real, and a creature with at least three power. Selvala can tap for one to add mana equal to the greatest power among creatures you control and then you untap it for one mana thanks to Freed from the Real. If you have a creature with at least three power, you’ll always gain more than you’re spending.

More info

#12. Spike Feeder + Archangel of Thune

Spike FeederArchangel of Thune

This combo saw some play in Modern, but it takes a while to start and is relatively easy to prevent. Spike Feeder comes into play with two +1/+1 counters on it, and you can remove one of them to gain two life. Archangel of Thune puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control whenever you gain life, which means infinite life and infinite counters on creatures you have on the battlefield. Other than Spike Feeder, of course which breaks even.

More info

#11. Splinter Twin + Pestermite / Zealous Conscripts

Pestermite

Zealous Conscripts

This is also known as the Splinter Twin combo because the namesake enchantment works the same way as Kiki. You can also use Pestermite or Zealous Conscripts for your untapping.

More info

#10. Temur Sabertooth + Time Warp + Archaeomancer

Time Warp

Archaeomancer

The Temur Sabertooth has the potential to enable multiple infinite combos. Its ability looks pretty insignificant at first but combined with certain cards, it can help you produce infinite mana, buff your creatures with a gazillion counters and draw at the same time, or even have infinite turns.

For infinite turns, you need Sabertooth in play, enough mana () and two other cards: Time Warp and Archaeomancer in hand.

First, play Time Warp, target yourself, and return it to your hand with Archaeomancer. Next, use Temur Sabertooth’s ability to bounce Archaeomancer back into your hand. This is a certain win if your opponent doesn’t have a way to remove one of your creatures since you’ll be the only player that is, you know, playing.

Archaeomancer and Time Warp can be replaced with other sorceries that give you another turn before heading to the graveyard rather than exile, like Time Stretch or Time Walk plus a creature that enters to bring that spell back from the graveyard like Ardent Elementalist and Mnemonic Wall.

One more combo involves access to mana from lands, and Zacama, Primal Calamity. This is where the infinite combo comes into play: as your lands are untapped again, you can repeat the process until you choose to stop. You now have infinite colorless mana, infinite enters and leaves the battlefield triggers. You can even play some enchantments that double your mana to gain faster access to this combo, like Mirari's Wake.

More info

#9. The Gitrog Monster + Underrealm Lich

The Gitrog MonsterUnderrealm Lich

You need to build around the combo of The Gitrog Monster and Underrealm Lich for it to work. Your deck ideally has just one or two other nonland cards in order to craft the win from. The rest should be lands.

With both The Gitrog Monster and Underrealm Lich in play, survive until you draw a card, or put a land into your graveyard. Let's start with Gitrog, which sees the land go to the graveyard and causes you to draw a card. Now the Lich triggers and sees three lands, unless it is one of the two cards you need, and puts at least one land into the graveyard, triggering Gitrog again. Do this until you run out of your library and are left with a perfectly sculpted hand. If you need to stop the combo you must get rid of one of your Golgari cards.

This plays out similar to many Hermit Druid combos that go through your whole library. I personally pick Dina, Soul Steeper as an excellent off-ramp and can win with Exquisite Blood and a land like Festering Gulch, but I'm sure you can get more creative with near-infinite draw and a near-infinite graveyard.

#8. Time Sieve + Thopter Assembly

Time SieveThopter Assembly

You need a solid mana base to make this one work since you have to cast Thopter Assembly each turn. Time Sieve needs to be on the battlefield first, and when you begin your upkeep with Thopter Assembly as the only thopter on the battlefield, it will create five 1/1 tokens, which you will use as sacrifices to your Time Sieve. Thopter Assembly returns to your hand, you cast it again, and continue as long as you want. You only need a couple of non-Thopter creatures or pretty much any way of ending your opponent, but it shouldn’t be that difficult at this point.

More info

#7. Time Vault + Voltaic Key

Time VaultVoltaic Key

Anyone who plays Vintage frequently has probably come across this combo at least once. Although it’s banned in EDH and Legacy and restricted in Vintage, it would be a shame to not mention it when talking about infinite combos. The fame comes from its simplicity and effectiveness: Time Vault taps to take an extra turn and you need to skip a turn to untap it. However, you can solve this problem with Voltaic Key since it allows you to untap Time Vault, take an extra turn, repeat it infinitely, and basically win the game since your opponent will have no chance to play.

#6. Toph, the First Metalbender + Blossoming Tortoise + Basalt Monolith

Blossoming Tortoise

Basalt Monolith

Toph, the First Metalbender lets the cost reduction on Blossoming Tortoise count with Basalt Monolith for an easy repeatable source of .

#5. Vizier of Remedies + Devoted Druid

Vizier of RemediesDevoted Druid

This is a relatively cheap combo that produces infinite mana. Devoted Druid adds one green mana when tapped and can be untapped for a -1/-1 counter. Vizier of Remedies prevents it from getting this counter so you can continuously tap and untap Devoted Druid for infinite green mana.

More info

#4. Wan Shi Tong, All-Knowing + Phyrexian Altar + Mirror-Mad Phantasm

Phyrexian Altar

Mirror-Mad Phantasm

Put Wan Shi Tong, All-Knowing, Phyrexian Altar, and Mirror-Mad Phantasm into play. Then activate the Phantasm with to put it in your library, pop it back out and create two spirits. Spend the spirits with the Altar to produce a new two mana and repeat.

This risky one mills out your deck but gives you all the ETBs and deaths you want.

#3. Ygra, Eater of All + Experimental Confectioner + Bartolomé del Presidio

Experimental Confectioner

Bartolomé del Presidio

OK, play Abzan in Standard and you can feast on this all-you-can-eat combo. Start your order with the three creatures, plus a fourth creature, maybe a rabbit token from a Carrot Cake. Activate Bartolomé del Presidio to sacrifice that fourth creature, thanks to Ygra, Eater of All, Experimental Confectioner triggers, and creates a fresh Rat token that you can again sacrifice with the vampire knight.

The abilities resolve and you end up with infinite +1/+1 counters on two creatures, plus the ETB and death triggers. Be sure to drink plenty of water and do your dishes!

#2. Yore-Tiller Nephilim + Medomai the Ageless + Viscera Seer

Medomai the Ageless

Viscera Seer

This is one of those combos that give you infinite turns, but it’s kinda tricky. The combo is built around the non-green nephilim, Yore-Tiller Nephilim, Medomai the Ageless, and Viscera Seer (or any creature with a sacrifice a creature ability). Medomai has an incredible ability that allows you to take an extra turn if it deals combat damage to a player, but it can’t be declared attacker during the extra turn.

So, you sacrifice Medomai with Viscera Seer’s ability during your extra turn and attack with Yore-Tiller Nephilim, which brings Medomai back to the battlefield, tapped and attacking. Since Medomai will once again hit your opponent, you get another turn. You can repeat this as long as you want. You should keep in mind that Medomai has to hit your opponent for you to get that extra turn. You can use something like Sleep to tap your opponent’s creatures or Deepchannel Mentor so it can’t be blocked.

#1. Personal Favorite: Mindslaver + Academy Ruins

MindslaverAcademy Ruins

As far as infinite combos go, this one is devilishly fun for me, and you’ll soon learn why. It requires at least 12 mana to work but is literally unstoppable unless you decide to stop it. Sacrificing Mindslaver allows you to take your opponent’s next turn. This alone makes it a powerful card, but if you activate the second ability on Academy Ruins, on your upkeep to put Mindslaver back on the top of your library, then you draw it on your turn, repeat the process, and play the game alone. It might reduce the number of friends you have, but you can’t deny it’s a great combo.

More info

Infinite Combo Payoffs

So what? You may have drawn as many cards as you like, have infinite colorless mana or infinite enters and leaves the battlefield triggers, those alone do not equal “you win the game” like some cards. You might not have a spell you can play with all that mana or a way to beat a chump block with your infinitely strong creature. Thus, payoffs like these can be the difference between victory and a foolish loss.

Impact Tremors

Psychosis Crawler

The power of staffs is incredible and Staff of Domination is a prime example for winning with infinite colorless mana (there are more combos with Staff of Domination too). I love being able to throw in a common like Impact Tremors which can take your infinite ETBs and only need as many triggers as your opponent has life. For the infinite card draws, Psychosis Crawler does the trick as long as you have more cards to draw than your opponent has life.

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER

Ninja Teen

If your combo involves infinite deaths, Bastion of Remembrance, Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER//Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel, or Ninja Teen are enough to finish the game.

How Do People Feel About Infinite Combos?

Competitive players need to know if an infinite combo is coming and the best way to defeat it, but as for infinite combos in casual formats, most players accept that an infinite combo can end the game. People generally feel, if they had a chance to compete in the game, or to at least break up the combo, it's OK. Tutoring for combo pieces is often a good measuring stick of whether someone likes combos or not and worth asking about in pre and post-game discussions.

At the end of the day, many agree that if a game goes on too long, an infinite combo is a welcome way to end it and release players to shuffle up and play again.

Want More Combos?

If this list isn't enough for you, head over to Commander Spellbook to really get your juices flowing. The site is a veritable treasure trove of new combo ideas. You can search by specific card, for example, if we want to look for things to do with Mindslaver…

… or if you're really devilish, you can search by combo type, such as “Gain control of all of target player's turns.”

Highly recommended! Before you go there's one more important question to answer.

How Do I Stop an Infinite Combo?

Abrade

Rootgrapple

Instant speed interaction is often the answer to disrupting an infinite combo. Virtually all the infinite combos rely on at least one or two permanents. This cements why removal like Path to Exile, Abrade, and even the due-for a kindred reprint, Rootgrapple are so important over an otherwise flexible card in Bramblecrush.

The Combo's Over

Dramatic Finale | Illustration by Steve Argyle

Like I said earlier, there are just too many infinite combos in MTG to mention all of them. It’s a complex game with complex mechanics and an outstanding number of cards to choose from, so it’s highly possible that there are undiscovered combos wading in your card pool.

If you think there is a combo missing that I should have mentioned, let us know in the comments below or find us on Twitter!

The post Infinite Combos in MTG: 40 Awesome Combos to Try appeared first on Draftsim.

Nekusar, the Mindrazer | Illustration by Mark Winters

I’ve almost been a Magic player longer than I haven’t, and that’s largely because of Commander. It’s a great format. It can be casual or competitive, or anywhere in between. That and its multiplayer capabilities have kept me around all this time and allowed me to connect with so many people. Many of my fondest memories with some of my friends has been over a game of Commander, and that's really awesome.

I’ve had the pleasure of playing dozens of different decks. Different strategies, colors, themes… You name it and I’ve probably piloted it a few times. That’s why I’m bringing you my top 15 decks I’ve played to go over what makes them fun and why you should pick them up!

What Makes a Strong Commander Deck?

Solemn Simulacrum | Illustration by Dan Scott

A strong Commander deck can look very different depending on your Bracket and local meta. In lower-power Brackets, Game Changers and infinite combos are nonexistent while in higher-power Brackets, they’re often part of how games end. Even with those differences, one thing stays true in every Bracket: A strong deck is cohesive.

Every card helps your plan. It isn’t about jamming expensive staples and hoping raw card quality carries you. You can play a pile of powerful cards, but if they don’t work together, the deck feels clunky and inconsistent. If your list has no clear win condition, weak payoffs, or too many cards that don’t support your strategy, the deck struggles no matter how much money you spend on it. Your ramp, draw, interaction, and threats should all point in the same direction.

At higher Brackets, deck strength also depends on efficiency and commander choice. You need to ask what your commander does better than other options in the same colors. Does it generate value immediately, enable a combo line, or give you strong inevitability? The better your answer to that question, the stronger your deck usually is. Power matters, but synergy and consistency matter more. A focused deck with a clear game plan usually outperforms a random pile of strong cards.

Building your deck can be challenging, but there's no reason you have to do it painfully, card by card. EDH.Build uses deckbuilding data to help you build the best deck with any commander and nearly any theme you'd want. Simply pick a commander, select your theme, and get building. It even generates your entire manabase for your deck and budget.

#15. Giada, Font of Hope Angels

Giada, Font of Hope | Illustration by Eric Deschamps

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for angels. They're one of the few creature types in Magic, including merfolk and elves, with just too much synergy. There are dozens more angels than you need, so you can pick from the cream of the crop of commanders and creatures.

Giada, Font of Hope is one of the best angel commanders, and I’ve been rocking with it since its release in Streets of New Capenna. It’s powerful, cheap, and brings far more value than it should. Angel decks also have some of the best individual creatures out there, like Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Archangel of Thune.

If you’re looking to pick up a new deck, particularly a creature-based one, I can’t stress enough how fun and powerful Giada is!

#14. Nekusar, the Mindrazer

Nekusar, the Mindrazer | Illustration by Mark Riddick

One of my first 3-color decks ever was Nekusar, the Mindrazer. It’s a powerful wheels-based deck that seeks to resolve its commander and other anti-card draw permanents like Underworld Dreams and Spiteful Visions, and to turn ordinary wheel cards into direct damage powerhouses.

It’s an obvious strategy that’s revealed the moment an opponent reads your commander, but it still operates consistently and effectively. There isn’t much an opponent can do to stop you when piloting this deck. Killing your commander will slow you down, but with good timing, there’s only so much removal for your opponents to use. Especially for your enchantments.

Chaining wheels into more wheels and dealing 21 damage to each opponent on turn 7 or 8 is one of the most fun and powerful things you can do in Commander. Don’t hesitate to give this commander and strategy a shot!

#13. Sythis, Harvest’s Hand

Sythis, Harvest's Hand | Illustration by Ryan Yee

I’m sure you’re no stranger to enchantress decks, but on the off chance that you are, picture this: You’re playing a dozen or so cards per turn, drawing three times as many, and only ending the turn because you’ve taken far longer than you should have. That’s how enchantress decks operate, and Sythis, Harvest's Hand is no different.

This Selesnya () enchantments deck operates off having card-neutral or -positive enchantments to allow you to continuously accumulate more mana sources, enchantment effects, and threatening creatures. You have protective enchantments like Sterling Grove to give an extra layer of defense while the big bombs like Starfield of Nyx and Sigil of the Empty Throne go to work.

#12. Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow

Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow | Illustration by Yongjae Choi

Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow has recently become one of my favorite commanders in my collection. It offers a great middle ground between high power and cEDH, so you can play against a wide variety of other decks and power levels. Yuriko brings a fun yet competitive strategy unlike any other deck.

It revolves around Yuriko’s ability to flip the top card of your deck, turning its mana value into direct damage to each of your opponents. It’s much like Purphoros, God of the Forge in that it chips away at everyone at once.

My list, and any list worth its salt, uses plenty of deck manipulation cards like Sensei's Divining Top to ensure high-cost cards get revealed, dealing maximum damage per turn. It even functions with split cards like Commit//Memory, dealing damage equal to the combined mana value!

It’s a powerful but simple strategy that I’d recommend to anyone looking for something fresh.

#11. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic Lifegain

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic | Illustration by Eric Deschamps

I’ve always been a fan of turtle-y cozy Commander decks, and no card does it better than Oloro, Ageless Ascetic. It’s a premiere lifegain commander that gives you consistent lifegain for triggers, and even card draw if it’s in play. It’s the ultimate defensive commander, and in Esper () colors no less.

Gaining life each turn and relying on powerful triggers like Crested Sunmare or an early Serra Ascendant is the ultimate feel-good moment in multiplayer Magic. This is a control player’s dream Esper deck, especially if you like to sit back and hold up interaction while you march toward victory.

#10. 5-Color Kenrith Good Stuff

Kenrith, the Returned King | Illustration by Kieran Yanner

This is exactly what the title says. I first started playing Commander when I was 12 years old, and all the decks my friends and I played could be summed up as “[commander name] Good Stuff.”

It’s a style and strategy that’s both underrated and incredibly fun to play. You get to toss all your favorite/pet cards into a pile with some staples and get playing. When it works you have an incredible time and at worst you just play land drops until you find something fun!

Kenrith, the Returned King (as well as Golos pre-ban) helped bring this strategy to the main stage, so much that it’s one of the most popular commanders in the format! It offers great utility, lifegain, card draw, recursion, you name it.

Five-color decks like these are just good cards and lands, and a well-rounded commander that can do it all is just perfect. I’d highly recommend you try out this deck in a casual setting, or even a high-powered one!

#9. Rakdos, Lord of Riots

Rakdos, Lord of Riots | Illustration by Yigit Koroglu

I started playing Rakdos, Lord of Riots when I wanted a casual but powerful Rakdos () deck to play in casual pods at my local game store.

It’s a very simple strategy: Deal direct damage early to reap massive discounts via your commander. It has allowed for some particularly crazy games, especially if you get Rakdos in play early. There isn’t much that’s as fun as deploying a bunch of 10+ mana value creatures all together on turn 5 because you did 3 damage to every player.

This strategy needs a few key pieces to get off the ground. The first and most important is a way to deal consistent damage to your opponents, ideally each one. It isn’t just a pre-requisite to cast your commander, it's also how you can make up for the fact that the non-bomb cards in this deck are often mediocre ways to ping each opponent for 1 damage.

After the direct damage is secured it’s just a matter of resolving Rakdos and having cards to play. This strategy works sort of similarly to the next deck I’m going to mention because it doesn’t get too much going in the first three or four turns.

This deck quickly makes up for lost time with massive Eldrazi and other high mana value threats. Who needs a proper mana curve when you have turn-4 Eldrazi and your opponents don’t have Path to Exile?

#8. Kozilek, the Great Distortion

Kozilek, the Great Distortion | Illustration by Aleksi Briclot

I’ll admit I was skeptical when I first started putting together my Kozilek, the Great Distortion deck, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it held up. I was very worried about the early game with this deck and how it would perform without staple card advantage or land acceleration. To my surprise, it held up just fine and became one of the most fun decks I’ve ever played!

This is a colorless deck, mono-brown if you will. You’ve got no colored permanents or spells, but plenty of action.

The game plan is pretty simple: Use the bountiful sources of colorless ramp out turbo into the countless bomb payoffs. You’ve got access to everything from Emrakuls to a backup Kozilek, and you’d be surprised to see just how much work one of those can put in!

#7. Azami, Lady of Scrolls

Azami, Lady of Scrolls | Illustration by Ittoku

Prior to my ventures into the world of Urza, Lord High Artificer, I was deep in the trenches of Azami, Lady of Scrolls wizards. It’s honestly a blue player’s dream: plenty of counterspells, lots of card draw per turn cycle… As the pace-setter, everybody immediately looks to you for permission whenever trying to cast something big!

It has essentially the same win condition as Urza, too. Generate infinite mana and untaps using Isochron Scepter to draw your deck and play Thassa's Oracle. You’ve also got Mind Over Matter for some sweet combo action.

All in all, it’s fringe cEDH. It’s not too powerful, especially compared to some of the newer stuff, but it’s in an interesting middle ground where you can still take games off of high-power cEDH pods while joining up high-power casual games. Call it Bracket 4 teetering on the edge of Bracket 5.

#6. Krenko Goblins

Krenko, Mob Boss | Illustration by Karl Kopinski

This cEDH Krenko, Mob Boss list wants to explode out of the gate, stick Krenko, and start to multiply goblins before the table can stabilize. Fast mana from Sol Ring, Ancient Tomb, Skirk Prospector, and Jeska's Will help you to cast key pieces early, while Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, and Thousand-Year Elixir make sure that Krenko can tap right away and survive removal.

The deck stays consistent with tutors like Goblin Matron and Goblin Recruiter, then boosts pressure with goblin lords like Goblin Warchief, Goblin Chieftain, and Hobgoblin Bandit Lord. You’re basically building one huge momentum turn when every token maker becomes fuel for the next play.

Once that engine is online, the deck shifts from building to finishing fast. Damage engines like Impact Tremors, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Goblin Bombardment, Pashalik Mons, and Throne of the God-Pharaoh let you win without even attacking, while Shared Animosity, Coat of Arms, and City on Fire make combat kills very real.

There are also strong combo-style lines with Thornbite Staff, Ashnod's Altar, and Staff of Domination, and token loops around Krenko, Mob Boss that can spiral into game-ending damage.

#5. Sliver Overlord

Sliver Overlord | Illustration by Tony Szczudlo

Slivers have been around in Magic since, well, almost forever! They’re a unique collection of creatures that each act as hivemind, giving each other sliver a buff (usually in the form of a keyword ability). One sliver gives trample, another haste, another flying, and they add up to create massive creatures out of one another.

This is a heavily cEDH-influenced list that seeks to combo off with cards like Sliver Queen, Training Grounds, and Cloudshredder Sliver to create infinite mana to then blow up the entire table.

But that’s just one of the ways the deck can win. It’s a creature deck at heart and can easily run over tables with a wide board full of 5/5 creatures with flying, haste, first strike, vigilance, unblockable, and whatever other keywords you can jam in. It’s a very fun deck to play, and I recommend that every Commander player give slivers a shot at some point.

#4. Tasigur Turbo Ad Nauseum

Tasigur, the Golden Fang | Illustration by Chris Rahn

Pairing one of the best Sultai commanders, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, with Ad Nauseam is one of the oldest cEDH strategies in the book. There’s a plethora of ways to fill up the graveyard out there, and a turn 1 or 2 Tasigur is all but a feature of this deck. It’s also a sweet infinite mana outlet in the command zone, which allows for on-the-spot wins once a combo is put together.

This deck is a turbo list first and foremost and runs incredibly low to the ground with an average mana value under 1.5. Your Ad Nauseam becomes an excellent draw spell when it’s time to pop off, and it increases your combo consistency significantly.

As for closing out games, there are a few options. Demonic Consultation and Thassa's Oracle are about as easy as it gets. There’s even a sweet Neoform tech where you can flip your turn 1 Tasigur into a turn 2 Toxrill, the Corrosive or Hullbreaker Horror, which can run away with the game if unanswered.

#3. Tymna Kodama Stax

Tymna the Weaver | Illustration by Winona Nelson

Tymna the Weaver and Kodama of the East Tree is a stax classic. It puts you perfectly into the Abzan () colors, allowing for all the good old fashioned graveyard strategies.

This deck is sort of like a muted Blood Pod list with plenty of early interaction, card advantage, and ways to pull ahead. Much like Pod lists, this deck can come completely out of left field to win a game. Graveyard hate is nowhere as prominent in EDH as it should be, and that gives this deck a massive advantage when playing from behind.

You’ve also got the full power of early mana dorks to set you off on the right start. They work as mana sources and become excellent Eldritch Evolution targets to grab one of your many different stax pieces.

#2. Urza Poly Kraken

Urza, Lord High Artificer | Illustration by Grzegorz Rutkowski

My personal favorite deck is also the one I’m currently playing most: Urza, Lord High Artificer, possibly Magic's best artifact commander. It’s a fast and furious combo deck that pops off using Hullbreaker Horror to generate infinite mana and instant-speed interaction.

This deck revolves around fast artifact mana through Urza, which it uses to rush out stax pieces and eventually combo off by using a Polymorph on your Construct token. I first built this list purely because I wanted a mono-blue control deck, but I was surprised at how consistently it won on turn 3 or 4. It was a very different playstyle for mono-blue even with aggressive mulligans.

#1. Blood Pod

Tana, the Bloodsower | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

Blood Pod is a 4-color Pod-based deck, and one of the most powerful cEDH builds I’ve managed to pilot; it’s always a major threat in any pod it’s in. It has the perfect mixture of powerful interaction, ways to get ahead, and enough combo potential that I’m always a little bit scared of what it’s going to do next.

The main combo revolves around a Pod effect, like on Vivien on the Hunt and Birthing Pod, and making infinite combos with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. It can go off from basically nothing, assuming you know the combo lines, so it’s always a threat despite what permanents it may or may not have.

It’s strong against removal, too. It functions well from the graveyard thanks to cards like Karmic Guide, and even functions completely under most stax effects. This allows for the perfect intersection of defensive interaction (like Red Elemental Blast and Veil of Summer), brutal stax effects (like Archon of Emeria, Collector Ouphe, and Drannith Magistrate), and a consistent combo thanks to the many different tutors in the list.

There’s almost always an out or way to clutch a win, the trick is just learning how to see the lines.

What Is the Best Commander Deck to Start With?

Most of the decks presented up above are pretty high power, and some are fairly expensive. So if you're here looking for a beginner recommendation I've got you covered.

A strong first pick is Draconic Destruction, because it’s a preconstructed Commander deck you can buy and play right away, no brewing required. Its game plan is very simple and beginner-friendly: Ramp your mana, cast big dragons, and attack. Atarka, World Render, the face commander, pushes huge combat turns.

You also get useful staples and easy upgrades in the same shell, so it teaches core Commander fundamentals while still feeling powerful out of the box. If you want a second easy path, Krenko, Mob Boss is another classic starter option, though the Krenko decklist ranked up above is tuned for cEDH.

Wrap Up

Jeweled Lotus | Illustration by Alayna Danner

I hope you enjoyed reading through these decks even a fraction of how much I’ve enjoyed playing and writing about them!

What do you think of the decks I’ve chosen? Have you played any of them yourself? What do you have to say about them? Let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!

Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, you’ll help Draftsim continue to provide awesome free articles and apps.

The post The 15 Best Commander Decks I’ve Ever Played appeared first on Draftsim.

Consider | Illustration by Zezhou Chen

Card grading is an important part of being a collector. You want to make sure that your high-value, rare cards keep their value, whether you look to sell or trade your cards in the future or want them insured.

There’s a lot of risk involved when grading comes with sending thousands of dollars of card stock through the mail, so I’ve got a quick rundown on where to have your cards graded in person.

Where to Get Cards Graded In Person

Field Research | Illustration by PINDURSKI

In-person card grading comes in two main forms. Some options offer you an in-person, same-day turnaround, while others only allow for an in-person drop-off, with the cards shipped back to you later or available for pick-up at the same place you left them. I ranked the following grading services based on how quickly you can have your cards graded and how easy it is to find information on having it done in person, while you wait.

#5. MNT Grading

In the interest of being more thorough, I mention that MNT Grading processes grading for many local dealers and game stores across Canada, and a few in the US. Their website states that they don’t offer in-person drop-offs themselves, but they still take local drop-offs through the dealers listed on their dealer locator.

This isn’t really getting cards graded in person, though. You do an in-person drop-off and pick-up at a location, and your cards are sent elsewhere for grading. This process can also be slower, as many dealers only bulk ship your cards and those of other clients once per month. The service is cheaper, although your dealer of choice may quote a higher price than you’d pay if you were shipping directly to MNT yourself.

#4. PSA

PSA is one of the more well-known card grading services, and they often attend card shows, conventions, and other events. The booths at events often allow for dropping off cards to be graded and authenticating autographs. Their on-site grading is available at certain events, but there’s no specific guarantee of turnaround time because it can be hard to predict the demand. There’s also no specific price that’s quoted for every event; but the events PSA attends are listed in advance and the prices and turnaround times are greater than last year. If you find the price comparison helpful, here is a cost breakdown for one specific event in Toronto in 2023.

PSA’s Canadian office in Halifax, Nova Scotia, offers in-person drop-off, but they don’t do any of the grading on-site. Instead, your cards are sent to Santa Ana, California, so the quickest turnaround that they offer is 15 business days.

As with MNT, there are many trading card stores across North America that offer grading services fulfilled by PSA, so check your local game store, or GameStop, to see if they can have your cards shipped to PSA.

#3. GameStop

This one is a bit of a shortcut, because these the cards ultimately get graded by PSA. You don't need to be a huge video gamer to have stepped into a GameStop, and it's a lot easier to find a reliable GameStop than a PSA location. This is the reason GameStop ranks better. It's more accessible.

You are limited to cards worth less than $200 or you pay an extra fee, but the drop off and pick up process is as smooth as you can ask for at the price of $20 per card plus shipping. You get valuable benefits if you're a GameStop member, and the turnaround is on the slow side at 75 business days, a likely side effect of keeping the cost low. Not for everyone that wants card graded, but a very good option for many.

#2. Beckett

Beckett Collectibles is a company based in Plano, Texas, that offers grading for all kinds of collectibles, including grading services for trading cards. While most grading services give your card an overall grade, Beckett also offers the option to get subgrades for some of the key features like centering and corners.

Beckett attends trade shows, though you’ll need to make an account with them to access the list of upcoming shows where you can find them.

You can also make an appointment with Beckett if you want to drop off your cards in person at their office in Plano. While they don’t have a same-day option, their Priority grading option for trading cards runs at about $125 per card with subgrades, and a turnaround of 5 business days.

#1. KSA

KSA is a Canadian company that offers grading services in Ontario and British Columbia. While you can send them your cards through the mail, they also take in-person drop-offs at both locations without an appointment.

If you need a more immediate turnaround, KSA also offers a same-day grading at the price of $112 per card. This service and the online booking tool are mainly geared toward the Ontario office in Elmira, but the website also mentions that you can contact the Vancouver office directly by email or by phone to ask about in-person grading there.

I’m frankly rating KSA above the rest because of how easy it was to find rates for their in-person, same-day services. Everyone else made me dig, and even then, I didn’t always find what I was looking for.

How Much Does It Cost to Get Cards Graded in Person?

You can expect to pay more than $100 per card for in-person grading, or drop off for as little as $25 with a long wait. The in-person, same-day grading offered by KSA goes for $112 CDN per card, but you have to book an appointment and get yourself and your cards to their office in Elmira, ON.

PSA’s events calendar doesn’t quote specific prices for in-person grading. You could pay more to access higher card values and quicker turnarounds, as well, but having your cards graded at an event also means that you’ll have to pay to attend the event itself.

Beckett Collectibles doesn’t mention a same-day option for grading, although you can make an appointment for in-person drop off. The quickest grading option for TCG cards is Priority grading through Beckett at $125 with a turnaround of 5 business days.

Can I Get a Card Graded at a Card Show?

It is possible to get your card graded at a card show, huge tournament or convention. You should look for a large company like Beckett or PSA, and have an account with them before going in. Seek them out early since their turnaround time depends on demand.

What's the Process for In-Person Grading?

The process of sending your cards for grading by handing them off in person is generally similar with the most reputable graders. The costs vary widely and not all companies offer same-day returns. You bring your cards to the company booth, they'll ship them to their facility, then back to you.

Getting Cards Graded in the EU

GetGraded

GetGraded is a UK-based grading service that offers grading through the mail or through a few partner stores. While I couldn’t find a specific price for their in-person grading service there’s the option to come back when your cards are ready, or to have them graded while you wait. GetGraded’s Express Card Grading has an estimated turnaround of 2-5 business days and is priced at £18 per card. They accept shipping from the UK and USA.

GRAAD

GRAAD is a company based in Milan that offers in-person, same-day grading at their head office as well as drop offs at a local shop. You’ll have to put together an order on their website first, but it’s possible to select that you don’t need to have your items shipped. Same-day card grading starts at about €45 per card for up to nine items, then decreases to about €40 for 10-30 cards, and around €37 per card for 31 cards and more.

Can I Grade a Card Myself?

No, you can evaluate your card all you want and give it a sealed hard toploader, but you need credibility to give collectors a sense of what standards you hold card grading to. You are capable of evaluating a card's condition, but the weight of that evaluation is subjective. For example, how much do I trust a seller if they award a near mint card a 9.5, yet that seller is full of 1-star reviews?

Wrap Up

Forensic Researcher | Illustration by Aldo Dominguez

And that’s our quick look at having your cards graded in person! Don’t forget that getting to these places can also add to your grading costs, especially if you need to travel or pay entrance fees for trade shows or conventions. But, especially for the places that offer same-day services, you have the peace of mind that you’ll get your cards back on the same day you drop them off, rather than having to wait for any shipping or other processing times. Even if it’s just a drop-off that’ll be shipped to you, there’s something humanizing about having that face-to-face contact.

Have you had your cards graded in person? Are there any card grading companies we’ve missed that offer in-person, same-day grading? Let me know in the comments or over on Draftsim’s Discord.

Thank you for reading and take care! (Of yourself, and your cards.)

The post 7 Places You Can Get Cards Graded in Person appeared first on Draftsim.

Dockside Extortionist | Illustration by Forrest Imel

There are WAY too many good enters-the-battlefield effects (ETBs) in Magic to have them fit in a single list, but today we will do it specifically for red cards.

While creatures will be our biggest focus, we will also rank other permanent types, such as enchantments and artifacts.

Intrigued by the best red ETB effects in MTG? Let’s dive right in!

What Are Red Enters the Battlefield Cards in MTG?

Cavalier of Flame | Illustration by Wesley Burt

As the name suggests, red “enters the battlefield” (ETB) cards are the ones known for triggering powerful effects when they hit the battlefield. While there are many strong red cards that enable ETB triggers from other creatures, like Terror of the Peaks or Mana Echoes, they don’t have an ETB effect themselves and won’t be included on this list.

Also note that cards whose color identity is outside of red will be excluded, meaning some powerful ones like Etali, Primal Conqueror will not be featured. With that out of the way, let’s jump into the list.

#41. Cheap Token Makers

There is a BIG list of cheap cards that let you put a wide variety of tokens into play. Instead of talking about them separately, I decided to put the most popular of the cheap red token generators on the same list, which includes:

• Mogg War Marshal / Goblin Instigator (creature token)
• Voldaren Epicure (Blood token)
• Charming Scoundrel (role token)
• Wily Goblin (Treasure token)

#40. Mindclaw Shaman

Long-time Commander players know Mindclaw Shaman’s effect as one of the better ones around for its ability to “steal” and cast an opponent’s spell for free. Of course, the hope is to cast an Emergent Ultimatum, but that's pretty much the best-case scenario.

#39. Combustible Gearhulk

Combustible Gearhulk is proof that punisher effects are just fine if both options are beneficial to you. Do you really care if you give up three cards if it means you've got a shot at doming the opponent for 10-15 damage? And the reverse is true, too, giving you ETB card draw that would make a blue deck blush. This gearhulk is a prime target for reanimation, copy effects, blink, and so on.

#38. Goblin Goliath

Goblin Goliath has a similar ability to other very good cards like Siege-Gang Commander or Beetleback Chief that can put tokens on the field, perfectly suited for goblin and token archetypes. On top of that, it can double the damage those tokens and other damage sources you control deal to your opponents.

#37. Spiteful Banditry

Spiteful Banditry’s effect reminds me of what The Meathook Massacre does but in a less powerful way. The difference is that this board wipe does damage rather than giving -X/-X to creatures, and you don't gain or lose life; rather, you get a treasure token whenever one or more creatures die. This last bit would be extremely good, but it only triggers once per turn.

#36. Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant / Ifrit, Warden of Inferno

Ifrit, Warden of Inferno

TheFinal Fantasy set added to the depth of MTG by creating interesting playstyles inspired by the games. Creatures that transform into sagas, like Clive, Ifrit's Dominant, have many upsides. The ETB trigger can be crucial card draw in the late game, and once transformed, the legendary saga provides ramp to sling a ton of spells.

#35. Obsidian Charmaw

I don’t usually like land destruction effects as they are somewhat expensive. Still, Obsidian Charmaw is a dedicated hate piece against Eldrazi decks that, more often than not, only run cards that could produce colorless mana, and you will find yourself casting this card for a mere 2 mana most of the time.

#34. Thundermaw Hellkite

Thundermaw Hellkite is a beast when it comes down flying across the sky, as its enters the battlefield ability will let you tap each flying creature your opponents control while also pinging them. If you manage to give it deathtouch before the ability resolves, you can then kill each flying creature instead. Still, on its own, it's a fierce dragon that hits hard and fast.

#33. Goblin Recruiter

The key here is to just set up your hand in a way where you can use Goblin Recruiter to stack your deck with key goblins, like Goblin Matron to tutor for specific pieces, and Goblin Ringleader to draw a ton of goblins. This creates a chain of card advantage, allowing you to flood the board with goblins and overwhelm your opponents quickly.

#32. Goblin Bushwhacker

Goblin Bushwhacker used to be a menace when paired with Kuldotha Rebirth in Pauper, as for 3 mana you get 8 attacking power from one turn to another. This pattern is not unknown, as it was previously used during Rise of the Eldrazi with cards like Devastating Summons to finish games in a blink of an eye. Similar effects exist, but this at common is truly a powerhouse.

#31. Pain for All

As a red deck player, don’t you want pain for all? Pain for All is an aura that works as removal and as an aggro rattlesnake. When this card enters, you can remove an opponent’s creature, and the damage trigger also provides a ton of value for aggro decks that can be a headache for any opponent that needs to block a threat.

#30. The Rollercrusher Ride

The Rollercrusher Ride was introduced in Duskmourn, and provides not only a solid red board wipe but also a solid way to double damage once delirium is up.

#29. Tersa Lightshatter

Tersa Lightshatter works as a graveyard filler and aggro card. This red creature can help you get the cards you need early, or fill up your graveyard for reanimation or threshold effects. On top of this utility, once its threshold-like requirement is satisfied, you can get a ton of value back from your graveyard. Tersa fits perfectly into many different decks’ curves.

#28. Firebender Ascension

Firebender Ascension focuses on attacking triggers, but still provides a nice enters trigger as well. This card wants to get four quest counters to double all of your attack triggers. As support for this goal, it provides a creature token with firebending. This red enchantment pairs quite well with cards like Fire Lord Azula and Firebending Student.

#27. Cavalier of Flame

The enter the battlefield effect on Cavalier of Flame is similar to others that let you rummage cards away. That said, the upside is that when it dies it deals damage to your opponents based on the numbers of lands you have in your graveyard.

#26. Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms

Naming an influential character after the first mythical hero, nice job, Final Fantasy. Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms is a great creature for samurai and equipment decks. This may sound too specific, but these decks are quite effective and popular. When this card enters, you can throw equipment onto the battlefield and even equip one of them to a samurai you control. This card will make it into many, many samurai decks going forward.

#25. Trumpeting Carnosaur

Since Etali, Primal Conqueror is not viable on this list with green as part of its color identity, the next best thing you have is Trumpeting Carnosaur, with its obvious downsides. That said, you can use it as removal in tough spots and later reanimate it with other spells.

Similar cards like this exist in Geological Appraiser, with discover working a lot like cascade on ETB rather than when the spell is on the stack.

#24. Experimental Synthesizer

Experimental Synthesizer is a critical part of recent mono-red Pauper decks and it was a critical piece on Rakdos Anvil ones in both Alchemy and Pioneer, allowing low-curve decks to have the critical card advantage they need in longer games.

#23. Goblin Chainwhirler

I bet you have used Goblin Chainwhirler to kill random elves or cheap tokens as part of your sideboard strategy, but have you ever used it along with Call of the Death-Dweller to kill your opponent's entire board? Let us know in the comments!

#22. Goblin Ringleader

Goblin Ringleader’s effect is very similar to Muxus, Goblin Grandee in the sense that you get goblins from the top of your library, but with a much weaker effect as those only go to your hand rather than to the battlefield. Still, I remember a time where Goblins was a terrific Legacy deck, and this card was a key piece for them.

#21. Overlord of the Boilerbilges + Inferno Titan

Overlord of the Boilerbilges and Inferno Titan are the top end of creatures that deal damage when they enter the battlefield, with the former being flexible due to its impending cost. I remember playing Inferno Titan as a win condition in Wolf Run Standard decks as Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle rotated from the format.

#20. Goblin Matron

While Goblin Matron has seen play in many MTG formats such as Legacy, Historic on MTG Arena, and even Modern, it shines in Pauper as a tutor for the infamously-named “Moggwarts”, where the plan is to tutor for either Skirk Prospector or Putrid Goblin (whichever is missing) to go infinite along with First Day of Class. If you’re also missing the winning piece, you can tutor for Flamewave Invoker as well.

#19. Depthshaker Titan

Depthshaker Titan is a killer red artifact creature that turns your noncreature artifacts into an army. Not only does this card animate your noncreature artifacts when it enters, it also pumps them full of great attacking keywords. I especially like melee to help you end multiplayer games. Seven mana is steep, but it's dangerous with noncreature artifacts like treasure tokens, or with cards like Weapons Manufacturing.

#18. Embercleave

Embercleave is the ultimate last-resort card to swing and win games you’d normally have no business winning. Its power level in aggro decks is undeniable. Flashing it in for a reduced cost during combat can catch opponents off guard, equipping a creature with double strike and trample, often turning a close game into an instant victory.

#17. Muxus, Goblin Grandee

Muxus, Goblin Grandee is a total beast in typal goblin archetypes as more often than not, once it's resolved it usually means game over. For 6 mana, Muxus lets you reveal the top six cards of your library and put all goblins with mana value 5 or less onto the battlefield, often flooding the board with a horde of creatures. On top of that, Muxus gets a power boost based on the number of goblins you control, making it a massive threat itself.

#16. Imperial Recruiter

Imperial Recruiter is the red counterpart of Recruiter of the Guard, as it can fetch creatures with power 2 or less. It’s one of the best tutors in Commander across the board, especially in red decks where tutoring options are usually limited.

#15. Ox of Agonas

Ox of Agonas is one of the most annoying creatures you don’t want to see on your opponent’s side of the field in the late game, or in a top deck war. It’s a key piece in lategame graveyard decks to escape from behind during grindy match ups.

#14. Cemetery Gatekeeper

Red usually lacks the graveyard hate seen in others colors like green or black. Because of this, Cemetery Gatekeeper is so high on the list as it's one of the few red cards with dedicated hate against reanimation strategies and other decks that rely on the graveyard to execute their plan.

#13. Godo, Bandit Warlord

Godo, Bandit Warlord gives birth to a combo that only requires itself, Helm of the Host, and mana. The idea is to attack with it once you have searched and attached Helm of the Host to it, and after that, you'll have infinite extra combat phases.

#12. Headliner Scarlett

I was not high on Headliner Scarlett at first simply because I didn't read it fully. The thing is that for 4 mana, this card can serve as a stall-breaker and a game finisher on its own. On top of that, in the off-chance your opponent survives, you'll still get the card advantage this provides at the beginning of each of your upkeeps.

#11. Seasoned Pyromancer

Seasoned Pyromancer is an extremely versatile red card for multiple decks and archetypes. For instance, it can be a key component for reanimation decks that want to bin their win conditions, or in convoke decks where you need a good density of creatures to cast others for cheap. You can also just use it while you have no cards in hand to draw two more, making it an excellent card in late-game scenarios.

#10. Emberwilde Captain

The monarch and the initiative are powerful mechanics on 1v1 and fair ones in multiplayer formats. For this list, I wanted to include one of each and Emberwilde Captain is the best mono-red creature with the monarch ability.

#9. Dire Fleet Daredevil

Dire Fleet Daredevil is an excellent card for late game plans as it’ll let you steal a card from your opponent’s graveyard and use it in your favor. The 2/1 first strike body is good as well if you ever need to cast it in the early stages of the game.

#8. Caves of Chaos Adventurer

Initiative is one of the most broken 1v1 mechanics, and Caves of Chaos Adventurer represents it. The card's pretty powerful even if you never complete a dungeon.

#7. _____ Goblin

Banned from Pauper, Legacy, Vintage, and even Oathbreaker, _____ Goblin is a powerful creature that generates massive amounts of mana as it’s essentially a 2/2 creature that refunds its own mana most of the time, and provides even more mana if you’re lucky. One might say that Priest of Urabrask is a more “fair” option.

#6. Amped Raptor

Not so long ago, energy was a forgotten mechanic that was not used in any format. That quickly changed with Modern Horizons 3, and Amped Raptor is one of the best energy cards as this dinosaur basically lets you cast two cards for just 2 mana. On top of that, this creature has first strike, making it a pain to pass in the early stages of the game.

#5. Pyrogoyf

While there are other creatures that deal damage once they enter the battlefield, such as Flametongue Kavu or Flametongue Yearling, Pyrogoyf is clearly a better card overall, as its ability also triggers once other lhurgoyfs enter the battlefield. On top of that, its power and toughness increase based on the number of different card types in all graveyards, similar to the classic Tarmogoyf.

#4. Dualcaster Mage

Dualcaster Mage has been a key component for multiple combo strategies to copy spells repeatedly, but once in a blue moon, it can also be used to “fizzle” counterspells.

#3. Fury

While I’ve already mentioned cards that deal damage to other targets such as Pyrogoyf, they are not nearly at the level of what Fury does, as it can virtually be cast for free. On top of that, you can use some “tricks” to bring it back for as little as 1 mana as seen in “Scam” decks where the idea is to pair them with the likes of Not Dead After All to return them to the field and retrigger their abilities.

#2. Goblin Engineer

Goblin Engineer’s entomb effect is mainly seen in black, so having it in red is a big plus if you're into reanimation strategies, usually involving Sword of the Meek or Painter's Servant.

#1. Dockside Extortionist

Recently banned from Commander, Dockside Extortionist was one of the best creatures with an ETB ability in multiplayer games. For 2 mana, you could create multiple Treasure tokens that ramp you ahead, often enabling powerful strategies or even combos to take out opponents. While I don’t think the ban was bad overall, it certainly stirred up a lot of feelings within the community. Some players felt it removed a critical tool for certain decks, especially in treasure-heavy archetypes, while others welcomed the change, seeing Dockside as warping the format by enabling too many fast and degenerate plays.

Best Red ETB Payoffs

There are a couple of cards that come to mind if you're trying to exploit red ETBs, such as Panharmonicon to double these triggers, or ways to essentially reuse, creatures like Norin, Swift Survivalist and Airbender Ascension.

Of course, abilities that let you copy creatures such as Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker or the infamous Splinter Twin are excellent additions.

Other cards, such as Heat Shimmer, Molten Duplication, and Twinflame will let you do this one time, and Devastating Onslaught can do this multiple times.

Outside of doubling or blinking ETB effects, we can look at some goblin payoffs, as there are a ton of goblins on this list. Goblin cards like General Kreat, the Boltbringer, any version of Krenko, and Grub's Command can greatly benefit alongside the goblin ETB effects from these rankings.

Wrap Up

Spiteful Banditry | Illustration by Manuel Castañón

ETB effects are strong in MTG. Whether they boost your strategies, fetch the cards you need, or blow up opponents’ game plans, ETB effects provide a ton of value. Red decks clearly benefit immensely from the cards above, but make sure to also check out the overall best ETB cards, and you can find the best ETBs in other colors as well: White, Blue, Black, Green, Colorless.

What was your favorite ETB effect? I tried to cover as many as I could, but obviously I may have missed some. Were there any you would have loved to see on the list? Let us know in the comments or on the Draftsim Discord!

As always, take care, and we will meet again for my next article.

The post The 41 Best Red Enters the Battlefield Cards in Magic Ranked appeared first on Draftsim.

Ayara, First of Locthwain | Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

Each color in Magic has something it excels at and does almost exclusively, even if they share the mechanical space with other colors. One of black’s marque mechanics? Sacrifice outlets! Black decks love throwing creatures into the woodchipper for all sorts of value.

It’s common to find these effects stapled to creatures themselves, which are colloquially known as aristocrats thanks to a heater from Tom Martell. Today, I’m looking at the best aristocrats in Magic for when you need to sacrifice the world!

What are Aristocrats in Magic?

Falkenrath Aristocrat | Illustration by Igor Kieryluk

“Aristocrats” is a slang term for creatures that sacrifice themselves or other creatures, like Cartel Aristocrat. These are often cheap creatures with activated abilities that sacrifice one or more creatures for a boon, though the exact nature of both the cost and the reward varies greatly from card to card. These are a predominately black effect, with the majority of aristocrat cards fitting within the Mardu wedge ().

In addition to creatures with activated abilities, this list includes creatures with enters abilities that sacrifice other creatures; while the former tend to be stronger since you get repeated value, the latter have their uses. I primarily focused on Commander and Cube for these rankings.

#43. June & Joo Dee

Joo Dee, One of Many

The bottom slot used to be occupied by Vampire Gourmand, which only ever made sense in Peasant Cubes. It's largely usurped by a pair of Avatar: The Last Airbender uncommons, June, Bounty Hunter and Joo Dee, One of Many. These have different outputs, but they're still fresh enough off the presses that they could climb up this list in time, or drop off completely.

#42. Cartel Aristocrat

A 2/2 that gains protection from colors isn’t quite the threat it used to be, but Cartel Aristocrat still has a place in lower-powered cubes and EDH decks. Free sacrifice outlets are always in demand to make these strategies tick.

#41. Sawblade Skinripper

The rate on Sawblade Skinripper’s sacrifice ability leaves a bit to be desired and signals that this was mostly designed for Limited play, but that last line of text intrigues me. That ability can deal significant amounts of damage alongside cards like God-Eternal Bontu and free sacrifice outlets that sacrifice loads of permanents at once. It’s like a Vengeful Bloodwitch that stores up all its damage for one go and controls the board.

#40. Teysa, Orzhov Scion

You need tons of sacrifice fodder to fuel Teysa, Orzhov Scion, but interactive aristocrats have incredible potential. It sounds like a terrible deal when you sacrifice three creatures to remove one, but remember that an aristocrat deck layers synergies based on creatures dying. On top of removing an opposing threat, you’re likely to draw a card and deal some damage, and maybe more.

#39. Whisper, Blood Liturgist

I like Whisper, Blood Liturgist, perhaps more than it deserves, but the rush of turning a few tokens into an Archon of Cruelty or similarly stacked threat makes up for this being rather slow. It also works as a recursion piece; sacrifice decks often go wide, which makes them vulnerable to board wipes, so a synergistic way to get your best cards back has value.

#38. Pashalik Mons

One of the most threatening cards on the list, Pashalik Mons’s greatest weakness is its restriction: It only works with goblins. But pumping out a horde of goblins while pressuring your opponents makes this a nasty threat and aristocrat decks can dabble in goblin synergies; cards like Empty the Warrens, Hordeling Outburst, and Beetleback Chief provide plenty of sacrifice fodder for your aristocrats.

#37. Akul the Unrepentant

Akul the Unrepentant provides an interestingly divergent aristocrat. These cards often encourage you to play cheap cards to overwhelm your opponents, but Akul puts its sacrifice ability towards cheating cards like Valgavoth, Terror Eater and It That Betrays into play. That makes it more of a build-around than a seamless addition to a traditional aristocrat strategy, but it’s always nice to come across a bit of spice.

#36. Smothering Abomination

The promise of card advantage makes Smothering Abomination an appealing card, especially since it’s self-enabling and counts tokens dying, but it can be slow if you rely on its upkeep trigger to get things going.

#35. Braids, Cabal Minion

This nasty legend tips towards a stax piece more than an aristocrat, but it works in both strategies: You get to sacrifice random bits of fodder to trigger Morbid Opportunist and Vengeful Bloodwitch or whatever while eating away at your opponents’ resources. This pairs best with cards like Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia and Lord Skitter, Sewer King that produce a token each turn.

#34. Ghoulcaller Gisa

Though Ghoulcaller Gisa is terribly slow, it's also inexorable. This takes over games provided you have time to exploit turning a big creature into a shambling horde. It works well with cards like Shallow Grave that get something big into play for a turn. If you pair it with blue for Intruder Alarm and other untap effects, you can churn out zombies faster than Geralf could ever hope to.

#33. Gas Guzzler

Gas Guzzler starts as a serviceable 2/1 aggressive body for 1 mana. Once you get to max speed, sacrificing creatures for 1 mana and drawing cards is very potent, and paying isn’t the end-all be-all. It’s an ordinary card if you don’t have max speed, but one cheap and strong sacrifice outlet if you do.

#32. Bartolomé del Presidio

Bartolomé del Presidio earns its spot not by being flashy or overwhelmingly impactful but for simple functionality. It’s cheap, the ability costs nothing, you have no timing restrictions, and you can even eat Treasure and random artifacts like Mycosynth Wellspring for extra value. It’s also worth noting that as an uncommon, it can be a pEDH commander for a sacrifice deck.

#31. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim

Aristocrat decks and lifegain decks overlap significantly since sacrifice payoffs like Blood Artist often result in you gaining life. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim firmly forces that Venn diagram into a circle with a combination of lifegain and interaction that gives you plenty of chances to sacrifice other creatures for varying amounts of mana. Only costing 2 makes it an excellent, efficient commander.

#30. Chittering Witch

Any creature that makes multiple bodies has value in an aristocrat deck; when those bodies come with an aristocrat that controls the board, I become very interested. Chittering Witch’s value craters outside of Commander since you don’t get three tokens, but I love it within Commander to handle small creatures.

#29. Plaguecrafter + Friends

Plaguecrafter and other Fleshbag Marauder variants are excellent interactive spells for aristocrat decks. They work with all your sacrifice synergies, and in Commander they remove three cards for the price of one.

Plaguecrafter is the best since it hits planeswalkers and has no fail case, but Accursed Marauder deserves a nod for being the cheapest variant and having the nontoken clause that combats a weakness of the edict effect.

#28. Ellie, Vengeful Hunter

Ellie, Vengeful Hunter is a much more aggressive take on aristocrats. You have to pay 2 life to sacrifice a creature, but you deal 2 damage straight to a player and attack with an indestructible 3/1. Many black cards can offset the life loss with lifegain when a creature dies, so you’ll rarely be in danger when using it. All things considered, it’s a free sac outlet and in a good color combination for this archetype.

#27. Colonel Autumn

Colonel Autumn turns your legendary creatures into honorary aristocrats by spreading exploit across the team. It works best in a token-based shell with plenty of fodder to throw beneath your legendary creatures and enough bodies to maximize all the counters the Colonel spreads around.

#26. Rakdos, the Muscle

You typically want cheap aristocrats, but Rakdos, the Muscle is worth investing the mana into. Gaining indestructible takes the edge off the mana cost since it’s much harder to remove, but this card’s charm lies in its immense card advantage. This is one of the better aristocrats to pair with threaten effects.

Since it exiles the cards it swipes, you can utilize Rakdos’s () many cast-from-exile synergies, like Wild-Magic Sorcerer and Party Thrasher.

#25. Disciple of Bolas + Disciple of Freyalise

Disciple of Freyalise

Disciple of Bolas and the later riff Disciple of Freyalise are a little different than your typical aristocrat since they encourage you to sacrifice something rather large as opposed to many smaller things. They aren’t for every sacrifice deck, but the burst of card draw makes them quite useful, especially if you can recur the sacrificed creature for further value.

#24. Sidisi, Regent of the Mire

Sidisi, Regent of the Mire operates like Birthing Pod, but from your graveyard, so it’s slightly more limited. It’s awesome when you have value creatures to sacrifice, like Solemn Simulacrum. Sacrifice it, get a 5-drop from your graveyard, and draw a card.

#23. Falkenrath Aristocrat

Falkenrath Aristocrat dominates the skies with hasty power. It lacks toughness, but the sacrifice ability makes up for that by protecting the noble and even growing it, assuming you throw plenty of humans into your deck to feed the nobility. Immersturm Predator does a good impression with some graveyard hate mixed in.

#22. Woe Strider

An excellent aristocrat for many cubes, Woe Strider provides a grindy, recursive threat that requires exile-based removal to handle for good. Coming with a Goat for that first sacrifice trigger makes this an excellent card and even gives it legs in a more aggressive strategy interested in flooding the board with creatures to pump with counters or anthems.

#21. Felothar the Steadfast

Felothar the Steadfast is a strong high-toughness build-around card, and its greatest strength is the activated ability. You can sacrifice a 0/4 creature, like a Wall of Omens, and draw four cards, while discarding zero. All that while enabling defenders to attack and dish out high damage. Unlike other aristocrats cards, here we want quality over quantity.

#20. Dina, Essence Brewer

Dina, Essence Brewer is already a good sacrifice payoff by drawing a card each time you sacrifice a creature, which can be something as tiny as an Eldrazi Spawn. However, its activated ability works best when sacrificing bigger creatures to get some life, and put +1/+1 counters on another creature or Dina herself. This ties very well with Dina’s own ability, considering that this bigger creature can be sacrificed later for even greater value.

#19. God-Eternal Bontu

God-Eternal Bontu only gives you one crack at sacrificing things, but it refills your hand and lets your sacrifices extend well past your creatures to include extraneous mana sources to combat flooding. A 5/6 menace creature also provides a formidable threat that’s nearly impossible to remove effectively, so it gives your opponents all kinds of trouble.

#18. Wight of the Reliquary

Ramp isn’t your typical reward for sacrificing creatures but that just makes Wight of the Reliquary special. This works best with cards that produce creatures off landfall triggers like Springheart Nantuko and Scute Swarm. It’s also a nasty combo with Bloodghast since many sacrifice payoffs only see nontoken creatures die.

#17. Krav, the Unredeemed

Krav, the Unredeemed gives you tons of control over what you sacrifice. You can go all-in in response to a board wipe or throw away a card or two at a time to build a steady supply chain. The counters are what makes this powerful; backing up card draw with a growing threat puts you very far ahead since you’re gaining more resources than your opponent while actively killing them.

#16. Commissar Severina Raine

Commissar Severina Raine excels in aggressive aristocrat decks that leverage the first ability for a clock that your opponents can’t match. The sacrifice ability comes in clutch here, providing lifegain and card draw to ensure you have the resources to win the race.

#15. Caesar, Legion’s Emperor

All of Caesar, Legion's Emperor’s text is good, but the token production ability looks the strongest. Converting one piece of fodder into two gives a sacrifice deck an absurd amount of value and lets your other sacrifice outlets take over the game twice as fast.

#14. Priest of Forgotten Gods

Requiring two pieces of sacrifice fodder is a pretty steep cost, but Priest of Forgotten Gods pays dividends with its ability. Mana and card draw are the most important resources in Magic, so getting both from one trigger plus whatever rewards you get for sacrificing your creatures is a massive advantage.

#13. Erebos, Bleak-Hearted

Erebos, Bleak-Hearted converts your random junk into removal while drawing plenty of cards. Two life per card is a lot, but this one’s worth it. Erebos serves as both a sacrifice outlet and a payoff for sacrificing cards since it triggers off anything that dies, plus it’s hard to remove and becomes a massive threat later in the game. That’s an absurd amount of value for a mere 4 mana, so I’m happy to include this in any aristocrat shell.

#12. Warren Soultrader

Warren Soultrader converts your sacrifice fodder into Treasure, which is absolutely ludicrous! Imagine cards like Bitterblossom, Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia, and Ophiomancer just saying “create a Treasure every turn or upkeep.” It’s even an okay card in the face of a board wipe since you get more than enough mana to rebuild afterwards.

#11. Siege-Gang Lieutenant

An aristocrat that provides its own sacrifice fodder? Sign me up! Even if you never activate Siege-Gang Lieutenant‘s sacrifice ability, just having it hang around and pump out tokens to feed into commanders like Korvold, Fae-Cursed King and Akul the Unrepentant would be fine. Toss in a Basilisk Collar or another way to give this deathtouch and your opponents have a serious problem.

#10. Viscera Seer

Scrying feels low-impact, but controlling what you draw gives you legs in a game because you aren’t relying on blind luck to draw into gas. The player who scries 10 times over the course of a game simply has an edge over the player who doesn’t. But the real draw to Viscera Seer is its mana cost. Sacrifice combo decks sorely need aristocrats that aren’t restricted by mana and Viscera Seer provides that at as cheap a cost as possible.

#9. Carrion Feeder

Carrion Feeder has all the efficient benefits of Viscera Seer except it becomes a nasty threat that your opponents have to deal with before it slaps them into the dirt—or you Fling it at their faces.

#8. Ayara, First of Locthwain

Between the mana cost and the restriction on what you can sacrifice, Ayara, First of Locthwain works best in mono-black or near-mono-black lists. It provides incredible value over a longer, grindy game thanks to card draw and damage, plus a life buffer; it also adds a ton of devotion for cards like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Gray Merchant of Asphodel.

#7. Zahur, Glory's Past

It’s funny to compare Zahur, Glory's Past to Umbral Collar Zealot. For starters, it’s a 2-mana rare versus a black uncommon. At face value, Zahur is slightly worse, as its ability only works once each turn. But when you get to max speed, it compensates by turning any creature that dies into a 2/2 zombie. Plus, it can be a fun commander to build around max speed, because it starts your engines on turn 2.

#6. Umbral Collar Zealot

Umbral Collar Zealot is a slightly more expensive Viscera Seer, but it’s worth paying the extra mana if you have a 3/2 body instead of a weak 1/1. Besides, Umbral Collar surveils and can also sacrifice artifacts. The combination of a good body with an easy-to-cast cost and a free, good sacrifice ability puts this card high in the list.

#5. Eddie Brock / Venom, Lethal Protector

Venom, Lethal Protector

Eddie Brock is a nice value card, getting a 1-drop for free from your graveyard (which you could have sacrificed before if you’re into aristocrats anyway). But the fun begins when it transforms into Venom, Lethal Protector. It costs a hefty 6 mana, but you immediately get a 5/5 menace haste and trample creature and an incredible sacrifice trigger on attacks. Venom is also in colors that cheat big creautres into play, so you can easily draw six cards and put a 6-drop into play.

#4. Braids, Arisen Nightmare

Braids, Arisen Nightmare has an incredible ceiling at Commander tables. Causing your opponents to sacrifice three creatures, or lands, or enchantments, or whatever? Excellent. Drawing three cards? Fantastic. And I’m happy with any combination therein, especially when sacrificing cards like Ichor Wellspring for additional value.

#3. Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER / Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel

Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER is one of the most exciting aristocrats cards, being an enabler and a payoff for the strategy. All you need to do is keep it alive and surround it with a healthy amount of sacrifice fodder. Sephiroth drains for 1 whenever any creature dies, and its sacrifice trigger draws a card when you sacrifice a creature to it. The best part is, when you transform it, you get a “Blood Artist” emblem, so the effects persist even if Sephiroth’s not around anymore.

#2. Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

One of the most busted sacrifice commanders in the game, Korvold, Fae-Cursed King tends to exploit Treasure more often than other creatures, but its still lets you sacrifice your Shambling Ghast and similar cards while rewarding you with plenty of card draw for taking the game actions your deck wanted to do anyway. And you get a giant threat with all that!

#1. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Card advantage is one of the most important resources in Magic and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician provides it in spades. Simply sacrificing as many creatures as you like to draw cards at any time would be a good enough card, but this came out in a Modern Horizons set, so it’s got tons more text.

Spreading -1/-1 counters around gives you potent board control to go with your card advantage; this reduces your opponents’ pressure, giving you more time and life to sink into the sacrifice ability. The proliferate ability doesn’t come up as often, but you can set up incredible blowouts, exploit planeswalkers, or discard something to reanimate later. Yawgmoth covers most of what black does in Magic in a single, compact package.

Best Aristocrats Payoffs

Now that you've selected your aristocrats, you need to consider how sacrificing a bunch of creatures actually wins the game. While most of these cards reward you for sacrificing creatures, you can go even deeper with cards that trigger when you sacrifice a creature or when a creature dies.

Mayhem Devil

Ninja Teen

Vein Ripper

Blood Artist and similar effects that ping or drain your opponents when creatures die are the standard payoffs. These effects are scattered throughout red and black, with notable variations including Mayhem Devil (which works really well with Treasure), Ninja Teen (it’s nice since it survives most board wipes), and Vein Ripper (the biggest variant, both in creature size and damage dealt).

Agent Venom

Card draw is another common payoff. Cards like Morbid Opportunist and Agent Venom fill your hand as you toss creatures into the woodchipper.

Reaper from the Abyss

Tragic Slip

Grave Pact

Dictate of Erebos

Triggering the morbid mechanic on demand can be a good payoff for playing aristocrats cards. Cards like Malicious Affliction, Reaper from the Abyss, and Tragic Slip are much more powerful when you can toss away one of your creatures or tokens to make sure it’s online. Similarly, cards like Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos can be backbreaking if you’re sacrificing your disposable tokens and they’re sacrificing real creatures.

Doomed Traveler

Stitcher's Supplier

Cards that require you to descend every turn or so are also good payoffs, like Corpses of the Lost. Descend wants us to put permanents in our graveyard, so sacrificing a 1-drop like Doomed Traveler or Stitcher's Supplier will meet the requirements while also giving you further upside.

Elenda, the Dusk Rose

There’s also a variety of cards that get larger as you sacrifice permanents, like Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher and Elenda, the Dusk Rose, which provide essential board presence as you churn through creatures on board.

How Do You Play Aristocrats Decks?

If you want to build and pilot a functional sacrifice deck, you need to understand the trifecta of sacrifice fodder, sacrifice outlets, and sacrifice payoffs that are the essential building blocks of your deck.

Reassembling Skeleton

Greedy Freebooter

Experimental Synthesizer

Sacrifice fodder refers to the cards you actually sacrifice. Common sacrifice fodder includes tokens from cards like Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia, recursive creatures like Reassembling Skeleton, or creatures that reward you when they die, like Greedy Freebooter. Since some sacrifice outlets sacrifice artifacts in addition to or instead of creatures, you can use cards like Experimental Synthesizer and Treasure tokens for a similar effect.

Ashnod's Altar

Deadly Dispute

The sacrifice outlets are cards like the aristocrats above or noncreature cards like Goblin Bombardment, Ashnod's Altar, and Deadly Dispute. These are what you’ll sacrifice your creatures to and often overlap with the final category.

Blood Artist

Homicide Investigator

Sacrifice payoffs reward you for all that sacrificing. They may specifically reference sacrificed permanents, like Mayhem Devil, or just trigger when creatures die, like Blood Artist and Homicide Investigator.

Midnight Reaper

You must make sure your payoffs align with your sacrifice fodder. Some payoffs don’t care about tokens; you don’t want to build a deck based on sacrificing Bitterblossom tokens and add Midnight Reaper because it just doesn’t work.

You have to balance all of these effects. If you don’t have enough sacrifice fodder, your outlets won’t do anything. Too few payoffs, and your outlets might not close out a game, though it’s important to consider that a sacrifice outlet can double as a payoff.

How Do Aristocrats Decks Win?

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician | Illustration by Greg Staples

Aristocrat decks often win via combat and draining their opponents. Prominent aristocrats like Carrion Feeder, Falkenrath Aristocrat, and Korvold, Fae-Cursed King become quite large as a result of their sacrificing abilities.

Additionally, your best payoffs are Blood Artist effects that damage your opponents as your creatures die, which excel at forcing through the last couple points of damage even if your opponents stabilize with blockers.

While aristocrat decks often focus on an aggressive curve out, the lifegain that often comes with your Blood Artist effects and the card draw from cards like Deadly Dispute and High-Society Hunter allow them to grind very well.

First Day of Class

Altar of Dementia

Goblin Bombardment

Mayhem Devil

You also have combo variants which assemble various combos that win in a single, explosive turn. For example, a persist creature like Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, and a free sacrifice outlet let you sacrifice the Goblin as many times as you like. That might be to Altar of Dementia and Goblin Bombardment for a win or you can throw in a Mayhem Devil so that any sacrifice outlet works.

Why Are Sacrifice Decks Called Aristocrats?

Cartel Aristocrat | Illustration by James Ryman

The name Aristocrats comes from this Mardu deck Tom Martell piloted to a win in Pro Tour: Gatecrash back in 2013. It was a classic sacrifice deck that leaned on Cartel Aristocrat and Falkenrath Aristocrat chewing up cards like Doomed Traveler, tokens from Lingering Souls, and the occasional stolen creature from Zealous Conscripts to fuel them and enable Skirsdag High Priest. The deck requires a lot of concentration to play well, but it’s very rewarding when you know what you’re doing with it.

Wrap Up

Blood Artist | Illustration by Johannes Voss

Aristocrat decks are one of my favorite strategies to mess around with if only for their complexity and the interesting decision trees they open. It can also be fun to just play a deck that goes infinite at the drop of a hat, plus it’s always cool to play an archetype with a good history in the game.

What are your favorite aristocrats? Do you keep things traditional with creatures or try sacrificing noncreature permanents? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe and thanks for reading!

The post The 43 Best Aristocrats Cards in Magic Ranked appeared first on Draftsim.

Dandân | Illustration by Drew Tucker

There are tons of things to love about Magic. Maybe you’re like me and get super hooked on the game’s planes, lore and settings; maybe you’re like my friends who always try to find ways to build the more optimal decks; maybe you like the mechanical complexity, the competitiveness over casualness, the collectable aspect, or even the artwork.

You probably have one or two formats that you enjoy more than the others. In my case, it’s definitely Commander, because I prefer to play multiplayer matches, and EDH opened up a new world for me.

There was a time when my friends improvised multiplayer games. We decided to homebrew a format called Juggernaut, where one player had to face off against three or four others. No, we didn’t know about Archenemy then.

Magic’s a game that can be modified a lot as long as you and your friends all agree on the new rules. You can create formats or even entirely new ways to use the cards; remember, EDH was an unofficial format for around two decades.

This open-endedness is a highly positive thing about Magic, and I dare say The Source user Nick Floyd also shares this thought. After all, they created Dandân, the format we talk about today.

I’m no Rhystic Studies, so if you want to see a lovely telling of how the format first showed up and its gradual rise to recognition, go watch his absolutely wonderful video.

Let’s now take a look at the format and how it works!

What Is Dandân?

Memory Lapse | Illustration by Greg Staples

To put it as concisely as possible, Dandân is a format where two players share a single 80-card deck and its graveyard. The rules are otherwise normal: Both players have 20 life, and you lose when your life total reaches 0 or you’re milled out.

DandânMemory Lapse

The format revolves around the eponymous Dandân, a not-that-great common from Arabian Nights. The shared deck runs a whopping 10 copies of this card, and it’s the only creature in it. The other notable card in the deck is Memory Lapse, of which there are eight copies. These two cards are what gave the format its original name: Forgetful Fish. The rest of the deck includes different blue spells, mostly instants or sorceries aimed at interacting with the stack, the top of the library, or the fish itself.

Dandân represents the only damage source in the deck. The format revolves around it, after all. This makes it extremely important since having at least one makes it so that you can start draining out your opponent’s life.

The other main card in the deck, Memory Lapse, generates a really interesting interaction since both players share a single deck. Pretty much everything you do needs to take into account the fact that your opponent could have a Memory Lapse in hand, which turns any advantageous thing you play into an advantage for your opponent. Likewise, you can use it to pretty much steal any card you need away from the stack. But don’t play it at just any time, since the card you counter will be the next card drawn.

This format forces players to be very mindful of whatever’s on the stack or on the top of the deck, and anything they may have seen in their opponent’s hand. It’s essentially a format that necessarily teaches players how to properly play blue decks.

Who Is Dandân For?

Dandân is honestly for anyone. If you’re a more casual or inexperienced player, the format can be a great way of learning how to incorporate tempo and control mechanics into your gameplay. If you’ve been playing Magic for years and consider yourself competitive or experienced, Dandân is kind of like a game of chess: You’re pretty much always aware of what your opponent can do, the game pieces are technically always the same, and you need to constantly think several turns ahead.

This format can be a fun challenge for new and veteran players, plus it's super easy to carry around since you only need a single 80-card deck.

Dandân-Legal Sets

As far as I’m aware, all MTG sets are legal in Dandân. The format’s hyper-specific theme and gameplay makes it so that you don’t really need to outlaw any sets. I suppose you could technically say silver-bordered sets (Unfinity included) aren’t legal for this format since they pretty much go against what makes it what it is. Even so, if you want to add some wacky joke cards to your Dandân deck, you technically can.

Dandân Rules

Predict | Illustration by Rebecca Guay

The biggest rules differences between Forgetful Fish and other formats are the fact that you share a deck and graveyard with your opponent, and there being 10 copies of Dandân and eight of Memory Lapse. One other rule that can be applied is a modified mulligan that allows for one free mulligan at first to ensure the match won’t stall out right at the start.

Everything else is pretty much the same.

Dandân Ban List

Since this is a completely casual and unsanctioned format, there’s no official ban list. Even from unofficial sources, I was unable to find any ban lists. You could technically consider all creatures other than Dandân banned by default.

Same thing applies to any other permanents like artifacts or planeswalkers. Technically you can choose to add them in, but that's drifting away from what the format really is.

Where to Play Dandân?

The only way to play the Forgetful Fish format is in real life, especially with more than four copies of non-basic lands. It’s a completely unofficial format, so Arena doesn’t have it, and as far as I know it hasn’t shown up in MTGO yet.

Dandân Decks

Most decks for the Dandân format are somewhat similar. Besides the necessary 10 Dandân and eight Memory Lapse, decks for this format only run instants and sorceries. And plenty of Islands.

The instants and sorceries in these decks usually fit one of three categories: counterspells, ways to interact with the top of the deck, and “removal”.

In terms of a decklist to get started, the original decklist brewed up by Nick Floyd is a good primer.

Nick Floyd’s Forgetful Fish Deck

Supplant Form | Illustration by Adam Paquette

This is the deck that gave birth to the format. Other decks have expanded upon the original idea by swapping out some of the instants for things that maybe fit their playstyle or preferences better, but this is ultimately the root of the entire format.

Getting Started With Dandân

The best part about Dandân is the fact that you don’t really need to consider any kind of meta when building your deck. It simply needs to work within the standards of the format, and you’re good to go.

But which types of cards should you add to your Forgetful Fish deck?

In terms of lands, you need at least 20 islands; whether they’re basic lands or not doesn’t matter as long as they keep your Dandân alive.

Izzet Boilerworks

Temple of Enlightenment

Aside from that, lands with cycling are also pretty good in this format since they allow you to manipulate the top of the deck. Most decks also run a couple of Izzet Boilerworks and Temple of Enlightenment to fit a couple “multicolored” cards in the deck. Plus, the Temple gives you a free scry.

Izzet lands are there to fit Mystic Retrieval into the deck. Considering how this format is dependent on instants and sorceries, this card is ideal to have. Plus, you can technically pay the flashback cost even if your opponent was the one who played the spell originally.

Unsubstantiate

Lost Days

Things like Supplant Form, Unsubstantiate, or Lost Days also hold a place in Dandân. They not only serve as temporary removal for your opponent’s Dandân but also as a way to force them to play it again, which opens up the possibility of stealing it with a Memory Lapse. This type of dynamic is pretty much what the entire format is based on.

Crystal SprayMind Bend

Other types of cards that are pretty ubiquitous to Forgetful Fish are those like Crystal Spray and Mind Bend. These are your main removal spells. Since Dandân needs its owner to have islands in play to stay alive, you simply swap the word “island” in that rules text for any other land type, and the fish is gone. Once again, this is pretty much the most mono-blue way to play Magic I’ve ever seen. Even removal works in a convoluted way.

One more card to point out in Dandân is Diminishing Returns. Considering you’re playing with a shared deck, this serves as a way to pretty much reset the deck if your opponent is about to mill you out, or if all of the deck’s Dandâns are in the graveyard. You also have the highly unlikely chance that the 10 exiled cards are all or most of the fish in the deck, and that's why stalemates are a reasonable end to chess games, and sometimes the best you can play for.

Dandân Products

Wizards cashed in on Dandân with a Secret Lair deck made available on March 16, 2026 with several changes from Floyd's list. What appears to be duplicate lines are alternate arts for the Dandân and Islands.

You can still buy the singles from either decklist provided today. If you want extra bling, get some great and durable sleeves, carry the deck around with two dice, either spindown life counters or six-sided dice. Since damage in this format is done in increments of 4, five hits is all that’s needed to take down an opponent; use a regular die to count each of the hits, for a flat option, use Fish tokens and once you get to five, you’re done.

Dandân Communities

As far as I’m aware, there aren’t any specific social media groups or forums that specifically revolve around this format. MTG’s subreddit has a couple threads here and there that discuss Forgetful Fish, so you can always go there to find a community to share with. Players get inspired by this and love to brew up variants.

You can also hit up the Draftsim Discord if you’re looking for a Magic-based community.

Since this is pretty much a meta-less format, it makes it somewhat harder to build a thriving online community around it. You can discuss deck changes and card preferences with others, but that’s about it.

Wrap Up

Diminishing Returns | Illustration by Greg Opalinski

I get inspired to play Dandân when I see Rhystic Studies’ video on it. The format and the video made me appreciate Nick Floyd’s creativity, something I maybe never would’ve even discovered. I think it’s a great way to keep playing while you’re in between matches or if two players were defeated in an EDH game that doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. It’s fun, easy to carry around, and it serves as training to understand tempo and control better.

What’s your opinion on Dandân? Do you have a decklist for it? What other fan-made formats would you want us to talk about? Leave a comment to let us know! And while you’re here, make sure to visit Draftsim on Twitter/X. You’ll find an amazing community of MTG fans to share your hobby with!

That’s all from me for now. Have a good one, and I’ll see you next time!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Dandân appeared first on Draftsim.