The 48 Best Selesnya Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 13, 2026

Sigarda, Font of Blessings | Illustration by Justyna Dura

Do you love the combination of gaining life and creatures slowly getting larger? Maybe creating a horde of creature tokens and dodging the craziest artifacts and enchantments along the way is your play style. If so, you might love Selesnya cards.

Let’s analyze the Selesnya colors, talk about their best cards in Magic, and touch on each of those cards’ synergies. Are you ready to get big, mean, and green (with a touch of white)? Then let’s battle it out!

What Are Selesnya Cards in MTG?

Selesnya Charm | Illustration by Zoltan Boros

Selesnya cards are ones with a white and green color identity. They don't all have white and green in their casting costs, but the and mana symbols both appear somewhere in the rules text of the cards. The Selesnya Guild‘s name was first introduced in Ravnica: City of Guilds and has since been used to describe all GW cards, even ones unrelated to Ravnica.

These colors have the most creature cards out of all the 2-color guilds, with a heavy emphasis on token generation, large creatures, enchantments, and lifegain.

Honorable Mention: Typal

On their own Earth King's Lieutenant, White Lotus Reinforcements, and Suki, Kyoshi Warrior would not make this ranking, but of all the colors, and can go wide with great typal support. While elves and soldiers have been doing this for years, even the smaller types like allies get out of hand in a hurry and it's easy to see how with this sample from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

#48. Veteran Beastrider

In any other colors, Veteran Beastrider would be lackluster. Back this knight up with a wide board of creatures that want to crew, convoke, saddle, station, or tap to produce mana, and this is three mana well spent.

From another angle, I say Beastrider is better than Serra's Blessing and the built in activated anthem really comes in handy.

#47. Tolsimir Wolfblood

Every Selesnya deck needs a little buff, and that’s where Tolsimir Wolfblood comes in. Fortify your deck with creatures that are both green and white so they get a +2/+2 buff instead of just +1/+1.

Wilt-Leaf Liege, which also buffs green and white creatures, and Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves slot right into a Tolsimir Wolfblood Commander deck.

#46. Kyler, Sigardian Emissary

Humans assemble! Kyler, Sigardian Emissary pumps humans based on how many counters it has, regardless of what type of counters, and naturally gets +1/+1 counters as more humans enter the battlefield. It's payoff and enabler all in one, and stomps people if left uncontested for more than a turn or two.

#45. Ghalta and Mavren

Ghalta and Mavren gives you the option of creating a large Dinosaur token or several Vampires on attack. It has immediate value since it doesn't have to be the attacker, and it has appropriately large Ghalta, Primal Hunger stats for a 7-drop. Also, you can put this into play with Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord if you're trying to get extra janky.

#44. Othelm, Sigardian Outcast / Mike, the Dungeon Master

Graveyard recursion is more for black decks, but Selesnya decks can have some synergy with that as well with Othelm, Sigardian Outcast. All it takes is 2 mana and tapping this creature to return a creature card that went to the graveyard that same turn. Always be sure to have that 2 mana open in the event your commander or another key creature goes to the graveyard.

If this card doesn't look familiar, it's the Universes Within version of Mike, the Dungeon Master.

#43. Buried in the Garden

You can play flashier spells than Buried in the Garden, but Selesnya cares enough about enchantments that this souped-up Oblivion Ring variant deserves a mention. I appreciate that it bundles a ramp spell with a removal spell as neither are exciting adds to your Commander deck; both effects on one card gives you more room for the good stuff.

#42. Dragonlord Dromoka

Dragonlord Dromoka is a double whammy when it comes to how players can interact with it. No one can counter this creature spell and your opponents can’t cast spells on your turn, which totally shuts down interactions from instant-heavy decks.

Since the only thing it really offers is two evergreen abilities, you can take this Selesnya commander in any direction you wish. Fliers, dragons, you name it.

#41. Torsten, Founder of Benalia

Effects that let you search the top cards of your library usually limit you to finding just one card. However, Torsten, Founder of Benalia lets you take as many creature or land cards as you find from the top seven of your library, which is awesome value.

Plus, getting seven Soldier tokens when this creature dies is a great defense mechanism and a great way to rebuild post board wipe.

#40. Hunting Grounds

Selesnya decks rarely mess with the graveyard, but between cheap cards like fetch lands and ramp spells and green mill like Malevolent Rumble and Winding Way, you should have no trouble enabling threshold for Hunting Grounds. Once enabled, you get to watch the chaos as your opponents try to gauge whether they can afford to cast spells into your enchantment. It pairs particularly nicely with cards like Survival of the Fittest and Fauna Shaman to ensure you always have an appropriate threat.

#39. Strength of the Harvest / Haven of the Harvest

Strength of the Harvest isn’t my favorite MDFC from Modern Horizons 3, but I don’t think any of these but the Simic one are actually bad. An enchantress or bogles deck loves sneaking an aura into the mana base to minimize land flood; it even works in go-wide decks, though I prefer playing it in decks that care about it being an aura.

#38. Sterling Grove

Sterling Grove protects your enchantments from targeted removal. It not only acts as enchantment protection but also as an enchantment tutor to expedite finding your win condition. It's a Selesnya enchantress staple through-and-through.

#37. Dauntless Escort

Selesnya decks need all the protection they can muster in Commander since everybody plays board wipes and this color combination is particularly susceptible to them, so you can justify Dauntless Escort in more than a few decks when you need to keep the creature count high.

#36. Gaddock Teeg

If you asked me to define a hatebear, I’d show you a picture of Gaddock Teeg: a cheap creature that looks your opponent in the eye and tells them “no.” A frequent flyer in the sideboards of creature-toolbox decks, this hobb-er, kithkin, works incredibly well in Commander since it tells most decks not to do the thing they were built to do: play big, splashy spells.

#35. Knight of New Alara

In just a Selesnya deck, Knight of New Alara can buff your multi-colored creatures by +2/+2, making simple creatures like Catti-brie of Mithral Hall and Conclave Guildmage 4/4s. Of course, this card benefits multi-colored creatures with 3-5 colors even more.

#34. Sigarda, Champion of Light

Sigarda, Champion of Light encourages a build of creatures with different powers. This angel pumps the power and toughness of humans, making it best friends with Heron's Grace Champion.

You might also consider running Horn of Gondor to increase your human creature count, or Karvanista, Loyal Lupari to spread out +1/+1 counters on attacks, or even Cloaked Cadet for some extra card draw.

#33. Farmer Cotton

You get the best of both worlds token-wise with Farmer Cotton. Depending on how much mana you pour into it, you get the same number of Halfling tokens and Food tokens. Make a halfling typal deck with Meriadoc Brandybuck to create more Food tokens when a halfling attacks. Peregrin Took increases your Food token output. Don’t forget the quintessential Selesnya token doublers like Parallel Lives and Anointed Procession.

#32. Finneas, Ace Archer

If you asked me what I thought Selesnya’s most dominant archetypes are, I’d say tokens and +1/+1 counters, at least in Commander. Bloomburrow‘s Finneas, Ace Archer rolls these two archetypes into one package. You most often find it in the command zone, aiding fleets of tokens to overthrow the rest of the pod, which is about where it belongs.

#31. Sigarda, Host of Herons

Sigarda, Host of Herons protects you against sacrifice decks with black in them. Sigarda's hexproof and anti-sacrifice effect make it an ideal Voltron commander and a great target for auras like Bear Umbra and Battle Mastery.

#30. Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice

Trostani, Selesnya's Voice benefits from creatures with higher toughness, plus it populates with its activated ability. Token generators like Leonin Warleader and Grand Crescendo work with both elements of Trostani. This is a lifegain commander that rarely sees play outside of decks dedicated to the high-toughness theme.

#29. Dueling Grounds

Dueling Grounds doesn’t belong in every Selesnya deck since it’s an active impairment to its many go-wide strategies, but anything that plays a bogles-esque strategy that builds the biggest creature in play can use it to prevent multiple blockers from getting them down.

Alternatively, enchantress shells can use this as a pillow fort card to prevent most opponents from making any meaningful attacks.

#28. Maja, Bretagard Protector

Maja, Bretagard Protector acts as a commander of a Selesnya landfall deck of epic proportions. It's a straightforward uncommon commander that doesn't push the boundaries, but feels distinct enough from most other ramp-centric landfall commanders.

#27. Danitha, New Benalia’s Light

Danitha, New Benalia's Light gives graveyard recursion exclusive to your aura and equipment spells, making this card the perfect addition to a Selesnya deck focused on those card types. Include auras like Ancestral Mask and All That Glitters and the usual equipment like Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots.

#26. Katilda, Dawnhart Prime

Katilda, Dawnhart Prime turns all your supporting humans (and itself) into mana dorks. Don't focus too much on the expensive activated ability; use cards like Cathars' Crusade and Virtue of Loyalty for cheaper versions of the same effect.

#25. Cadira, Caller of the Small

Cadira, Caller of the Small, Regal Bunnicorn, and Pollen-Shield Hare all have one thing in common: rabbits. Cadira was the original rabbit commander before they became cool in Bloomburrow.

#24. Anthem of Champions

Check it out, it’s Glorious Anthem at a fraction of the cost! Anthem of Champions might be simple, but that simplicity is all you need to pump all your creatures cheaply. There’s not much to say; anthems are solid, and this anthem comes at an excellent rate.

#23. Brightglass Gearhulk

Brightglass Gearhulk tutors for two small cards and is great for setting up plenty of combos while also being a substantial construct for combat.

#22. Brigid, Clachan's Heart / Brigid, Doun's Mind

Brigid, Clachan's Heart / Brigid, Doun's Mind churns out a decent number of tokens just for transforming. Though it does not count itself, the mana from the green side is scary good that I can't unsee the improved mana capability compared to Reserved List land, Gaea's Cradle.

#21. Aerith, Last Ancient

Aerith, Last Ancient improves on the gravedigger category of cards as a sweet lifegain payoff. Angel's Mercy still does not deserve a slot, but pump up a lifelink creature Serra Ascendant or Danitha Capashen, Paragon, or jam Sephara, Sky's Blade and you're set for powerful reanimation each turn.

#20. Sigarda, Font of Blessings

Sigarda, Font of Blessings gives all other permanents hexproof, meaning they’re protected from targeted removal, but not from board wipes. That’s where Heroic Intervention can come in to save the day.

You can get ahead of the game by casting human or angel spells from the top of your library. Shalai, Voice of Plenty, Starnheim Aspirant, Lyra Dawnbringer, and Katilda, Dawnhart Prime are highly synergistic cards with this Sigarda as a commander.

#19. Arahbo, Roar of the World

Arahbo, Roar of the World is the only Selesnya card with the eminence ability, which works from the command zone. Since you’re buffing by power, you can make this into a Voltron deck with Kemba, Kha Enduring or Kemba, Kha Regent as your large, impervious creature carrying all your equipment.

Arahbo has to be on board for that second trigger, but throw that on a cat equipped with Shadowspear for a deadly swing.

#18. Knight of the Reliquary

While Knight of the Reliquary becomes a decent sized threat, especially when you crack a couple of fetch lands, the charm comes from the activated ability. You can play a suite of utility lands like Glacial Chasm and Karakas (outside Commander), or assemble combos with Dark Depths. That kind of flexibility makes it a blast to build around.

#17. Calix, Guided by Fate

Fun fact: Calix, Guided by Fate is the only Selesnya card with the constellation mechanic. Buff your creatures with +1/+1 counters as this creature or other enchantments enter. Get more triggers with lower-cost auras like All That Glitters and Wheel of Sun and Moon. The second ability can be explosive, making this a popular commander in MTG Arena's Brawl format.

#16. Trostani Discordant

With a creature buff and two Soldier tokens on ETB, Trostani Discordant advances any Selesnya deck mid-game. The last ability feels like a throwaway, but it's surprisingly effective against blue decks full of Control Magic effects.

#15. Rhys the Redeemed

Rhys, the Redeemed starts off small, then gives you a copy of each token you already control later in the game with its second activated ability. It creates its own fodder, though you'll want to rely on other token generators to copy something other than 1/1 elves.

#14. Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar

Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar takes Grand Abolisher a step up with more power and a potent card draw ability that pairs well with the various buffs Selesnya offers its creatures. This generally plays best in Commander as both a card draw engine and a way to protect powerful combos from equally powerful countermagic like Force of Will.

#13. Arwen, Mortal Queen

Arwen, Mortal Queen’s one of Selesnya’s best Cube cards that does an incredible amount for very little mana. Some decks struggle with a cheap indestructible creature while the combat trick works against just as many decks. You need a high creature count to make this work, but it’s worth it—especially if you can find a sneaky proliferate effect to keep Arwen safe and get additional triggers.

#12. March of the Multitudes

I fondly remember the days of March of the Multitudes in Standard. It’s even better in Commander, where you have the time to play it alongside token doublers like Mondrak, Glory Dominus to multiply your board presence several times over for a surprise lethal strike force.

#11. Voice of Resurgence

Voice of Resurgence combats control decks frustratingly well by punishing them for playing instants while not dying easily. Our modern era of Magic has crept past this card as a 2-mana play that doesn’t snowball with the game in a world of Ragavans and Ocelot Prides, and it lacks an impactful enters ability like Orcish Bowmasters. This Selesnya card still has a place in certain Magic formats, like mid-power Cubes and Pioneer’s Collected Company decks.

#10. Conclave Mentor

Conclave Mentor’s not quite Winding Constrictor since it only helps out with +1/+1 counters, but it’s close enough to be exciting. A cheap creature that bolsters the number of counters you spread around gets out of control quickly; this is just Hardened Scales on a Collected Company-sized stick!

#9. Kitchen Finks

Kitchen Finks primarily sees play in combo decks requiring a cheap persist creature for sacrifice loops, but it’s a perfectly respectable fair card that excels at putting down aggro decks. If your Cube’s red decks are a little strong, consider adding this for a bit of counterplay instead of just weakening that color or archetype.

#8. Faeburrow Elder

Magic is a game of resources and the best of those resources—or at least very close to the best—is mana. Faeburrow Elder makes a ton of mana. Even in an exclusively Selesnya deck, a mana dork that taps for 2 mana provides a huge jump in value by leaping up the mana curve before your opponents have a chance to catch their breath. It even becomes a threat dhould you break into three or more colors!

#7. Rite of Harmony

Rite of Harmony sets up some of Selesnya’s most explosive turns with its insane card draw. Counting tokens specifically pushes this over the top, allowing you to leverage cards like Selvala, Eager Trailblazer and Hallowed Haunting to have long enough turns to make an Izzet player jealous. And then you get to do it over again thanks to flashback!

#6. Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order

These colors made it trivial to put counters on creatures, and Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order cost as much as Helpful Hunter or Elvish Visionary, but this is easily a card every turn. Build in ways to add counters on your opponent's turns and this becomes one of green and whites greatest of all time ways to draw cards.

#5. Yuna, Hope of Spira

For 5 mana I barely overpay for reanimation, but for I get Yuna, Hope of Spira which gives three relevant keywords and free reanimation each turn. Provide Yuna with a Power Conduit to convert those finality counters and I get to be aggressive with enchantment creatures and summons all day.

#4. Sythis, Harvest’s Hand

Sythis, Harvest's Hand has my money for the best enchantress because it is both a payoff for filling your deck with enchantments and an enchantment itself. The incidental lifegain adds up well in an archetype that wants to extend the game for slow win conditions like Sigil of the Empty Throne, and it makes cards like Sigarda's Splendor more playable.

#3. Captain Sisay

Captain Sisay is one of the OG Selesnya cards from Invasion with an updated printing from a Secret Lair Drop. You can search for any card with legendary typing like an artifact, creature, or enchantment. The stat-line is terrible, but you'll learn to respect Sisay the moment you allow an opponent to untap with it.

#2. Aura Shards

Aura Shards completely shuts down artifact and enchantment-based decks because of its ability to destroy one for every creature that enters. Place this rockstar enchantment in a Selesnya token deck to break up any and all artifact/enchantment synergies your opponents hope to achieve.

#1. Eladamri’s Call

I can’t quite call Eladamri's Call “Demonic Tutor,” though it feels awfully close. Like any tutor, it works best in combo shells to assemble game-winning loops, which almost always involve at least one creature in GW, but you can also search up silver bullet creatures like Archon of Emeria, Collector Ouphe, and Containment Priest to answer a variety of threats.

Best Selesnya Card Payoffs

Selesnya's at its best in two spaces: tokens and +1/+1 counters. The token space is occupied by Commander all-stars like Parallel Lives, Anointed Procession, Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation / Temple of Civilization, Doubling Season, and whatever token generators you happen to have. March of the Multitudes is a great one in this color pair.

The +1/+1 counter space was something this color branched into heavily with the release of Core Set 2021, which introduced us to Conclave Mentor. Selesnya has always had +1/+1 counter cards, but it wasn't until that Core Set that it become a pivotal part of the color pair's identity. In other words, +1/+1 counter payoffs tend to be quite good in Selesnya decks.

This is also the most prolific enchantment color pair. Sythis, Harvest's Hand is an S-tier enchantment commander, and this color pair houses some of the most-played enchantments like Felidar Retreat, Ghostly Prison and ramp enchantments like Wild Growth. The strongest payoffs tend to be enchantress cards that draw extra cards as you deploy more enchantments.

Shamanic Revelation is a culmination of traits you find in and . Revelation rewards you for having lots of creatures, and recognizes how tall you grow your creatures with lifegain.

What Is Selesnya Good at in MTG?

Selesnya is good at pumping creatures with green and white enchantments. Gaining life, creating creature tokens, preventing damage, placing +1/+1 counters on creatures for extra buffs, and removing artifacts and enchantments from the battlefield are some of the other functionality that this color pair has over others.

Wrap Up

Trostani Discordant | Illustration by Chase Stone

Selesnya's one of Magic's most straightforward color pairs. It plays to the board and doesn't boast a lot of instant-speed trickery, though it has quite a few branching subthemes that it supports quite well.

Are you ready to try out a Selesnya deck if you haven’t already? Head over to the Draftsim Facebook page for updates about everything related to Magic. Check out the Draftsim blog for more inspiration on deckbuilding, Magic news, and card synergies.

Until next time, I hope you’ve been enchanted by the possibilities that Selesnya cards bring to the table!