The 31 Best Auras in Magic Ranked

Last updated on November 14, 2025

Spectra Ward | Illustration by Ryan Alexander Lee

Hello Planeswalkers! Your aura seems to be glowing. Flattery aside, auras have become a solid enchantment type that infiltrates many decks and formats. These permanents provide a wide range of benefits from buffs to removal. You don’t have to be as dedicated to auras as Eriette of the Charmed Apple, but you should be aware of their power.

So what can these auras do for your builds? Do you have to dedicate yourself to an aura-matters deck for them to be effective? Let’s see if we can answer these questions and look at the best auras (sometimes groups of auras) to add to your decks now!

What Is an Aura in MTG?

Rancor | Illustration by Kev Walker

Auras are an enchantment subtype that attaches to a permanent or player. These evergreen permanents are the only type that requires a target to cast and resolve and each aura has some specific card type it targets. At the time of writing this, there are around 1,200 auras in all colors and there is no reason to believe they will stop being printed and used widely. Auras run the gambit of uses from removal like Pacifism to massive pumps like Moldervine Cloak. If you're a longtime player, you’ve experienced these cards since MTG was founded, but usually by different names like “local enchantments” or “enchant creature” cards.

#31. Daybreak Coronet

Let’s start with an aura that pumps up creatures that already have an aura. Daybreak Coronet is a massive stats and keyword buff for a creature that already has an aura attached to it. This shouldn’t be such a hard requirement to achieve if you have role tokens through cards like Ellivere of the Wild Court.

#30. Sticky Fingers

Sticky Fingers is the early curve enabler for aggressive red decks. This aura gives a creature menace to be evasive and ramps up your mana with Treasure tokens. If you can gain additional combats with a card like Fear of Missing Out you can also gain multiple Treasure tokens.

#29. Hydra’s Growth

Hydra's Growth starts off slow, giving just a single +1/+1 counter. The true value lies in doubling the counters on the enchanted creature each turn. If it isn’t removed quickly, you’ll have a massive creature in a few turns. Playing this aura on top of cards like Doubling Season speeds this up even more.

#28. Kaya’s Ghostform

State to your opponents which creature or planeswalker truly matters to you by enchanting it with Kaya's Ghostform. This aura saves a bomb creature, planeswalker, or even your commander from exile or death.

#27. Gift of Immortality

If you liked returning a dying creature to the battlefield with Kaya's Ghostform, you’ll love Gift of Immortality. A creature enchanted by this aura comes back indefinitely. Sounds better than it is in practice though, since exile removal breaks up the loop, and the creature can be perma-killed a second time before the aura re-attaches.

#26. Fraying Sanity

We’ll discuss the curse subtype further down this list, but I wanted to highlight Fraying Sanity. Many curse cards are beneficial (for you) and fit into many decks. However, Fraying Sanity only fits into mill decks. This aura doubles your milling potential. You can even eliminate players by pairing this with a card like Traumatize.

#25. Mechanized Production

Mechanized Production is not a highly publicized alternative wincon. The goal is to maximize your artifact production to get to at least eight artifacts and win with this aura attached to one of them. Artifact tokens are likely the quickest way to achieve this, with cards like Myrel, Shield of Argive, or Academy Manufactor looking like promising enablers.

#24. Journey to Eternity / Atzal Cave of Eternity

Journey to Eternity is one of the easiest dual-sided cards to transform from the Ixalan block. Attach it to a creature, and when it dies you return it and this card transformed into Atzal, Cave of Eternity. You then have a wonderful engine for reanimating creatures. This card is loaded with potential advantage-shifting interactions.

#23. Oblivion Ring Auras

Auras based off the famous Oblivion Ring exile some permanent for as long as the aura is on the battlefield. Oblivion Rings are risky removal spells as they can be removed, but enchantment removal is less common than other forms of interaction. Ossification is wonderful because there aren’t many basic land removal spells, Sheltered by Ghosts is great for aggressive decks, and Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads turn bomb permanents into lands.

#22. Sage’s Reverie

Sage's Reverie was made for an aura-matters deck. There isn’t much use for it anywhere else. You get a large burst of card draw and pump depending on the number of auras you have attached to creatures when this enters. In a dedicated build, this is a wonderful card.

#21. Dual Hybrid Color Pumping Auras

From the Shadowmoor block came 2-color hybrid auras that pump enchanted creatures depending on how many of the two colors they are. Steel of the Godhead is an Azorius example that gives lifelink to white creatures and unblockable to blue ones. These auras are meant to be used with multi-colored cards that fit their descriptions to maximize effectiveness. Other examples of these auras are Shield of the Oversoul, Clout of the Dominus, and Runes of the Deus.

#20. Curiosity Auras

These auras are usually cheap enchantments attached to evasive creatures that draw you cards whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player. Cards like Curiosity give you huge advantages if used properly. Other examples of these auras I like are Combat Research, Keen Sense, and Ophidian Eye.

#19. Mantle of the Ancients

Imagine a mass enchantment reanimator with the pump of an Ethereal Armor. Well, that card is Mantle of the Ancients, a great aura for aura- and equipment-matters decks. Bring back all your equipment and aura cards from the graveyard, attach them to your enchanted creature, pump that creature for each of those cards, and profit!

#18. Timely Ward

Timely Ward gives indestructible for a reasonable price of 3 mana. That’s good, but the real value lies in flash letting you save your commander at instant speed. Protecting any commander is great, but some have extra benefits, like Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice or Wyleth, Soul of Steel. Shielded by Faith is another protective enchantment with an ability to transfer between creatures when they enter.

#17. Celestial Mantle

Celestial Mantle is a cool aura enchantment that can double your life total multiple times. This card, attached to an evasive creature like Invisible Stalker, ensures your life total never gets close to 0. The high mana value and ease of removal are the ultimate downsides of this card.

#16. Curse Auras

These auras enchant a player and reward your or punish the enchanted player whenever something specific happens. These auras can apply pressure like Torment of Scarabs or incentivize your opponents to attack other players like Curse of Predation. Curse of Opulence and Curse of Bounty are my favorites.

#15. Curse of Misfortunes

This curse gets its own ranking because of its effectiveness in a curse deck. Curse of Misfortunes fetches other curse enchantments from your deck with different names than curses attached to the enchanted player. In 1v1 this can be a devastating way to curse your opponent with cards like Overwhelming Splendor and Maddening Hex.

#14. Nerfing Auras

These auras “transform” an opponent’s best creature into a vanilla card. The quintessential example of these auras is Kenrith's Transformation. It's a great tradeoff to turn an opponent’s best creature, hopefully their commander, into a minor creature. Similar auras include Darksteel Mutation, Lignify, and Witness Protection. I especially like Amphibian Downpour for storm decks.

#13. Land Auras

Auras that enchant lands to provide more mana are great for getting ahead of curves. These auras often play slower in the early game to help you out-pace your opponents later. Some of them help to fix your mana like Fertile Ground, and others help you leap ahead of your curve like Overgrowth. I also like Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, Abundant Growth, and Buried in the Garden.

#12. Rancor

The pump and keyword Rancor gives to an enchanted creature is not the reason it makes this list. This aura is great because when it is put into a graveyard it returns to your hand, making this a reusable and cheap pump. Angelic Destiny is a similar aura that is returned to your hand when the enchanted creature dies.

#11. Ethereal Armor

Ethereal Armor is one of the main reasons aura-based decks are successful. It has one of the highest cost-to-pump ratios on a board full of enchantments, and first strike makes the enchanted creature virtually unstoppable in combat.

#10. All That Glitters

All That Glitters differentiates itself from Ancestral Mask and Ethereal Armor by counting two types of permanents. This aura fits well into so many different kinds of enchantment-matters or artifact-matters decks. All your enchantments and artifacts help pump up the enchanted creature, and a card like Mycosynth Lattice greatly improves this buff.

#9. Ancestral Mask

Ancestral Mask is a wonderful aura for the green enchantment decks. It gets the nod over All the Glitters because +2/+2 is just that large, and it even counts enchantments that your opponents control. This card attached to something like Kor Spiritdancer is a recipe for success.

#8. Eldrazi Conscription

If you're looking for a massive buff from an aura, look no further than Eldrazi Conscription. This colorless aura fits into any Commander deck and gives a creature a massive pump, an evasive keyword, and sacrifice pressure on your opponents. Include this aura with already beastly Eldrazi like Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, or just conscript one of your many other creatures.

#7. Impetus Auras

The impetus auras provide a wonderful boost to your creatures or incite chaos in a multiplayer game. With these auras, you benefit whenever the enchanted creature attacks, and goading opponent’s creatures makes sure other players take the damage. All the Impetus auras have potential, but I particularly like Shiny Impetus, Ghoulish Impetus, and Parasitic Impetus.

#6. Breath of Fury

Breath of Fury is an enchantment that continually gives you value. With the right cards (including Splinter Twin below), you can create tons of or potentially even infinite combats. This aura is perfect for token- and clone-creating decks.

#5. Splinter Twin

Splinter Twin exists to create infinite combos. A few cards that do this include Village Bell-Ringer, Port Razer, and Fear of Missing Out. This aura has immense value for all sorts of strategies, from infinite loops to big-body stompy.

#4. Alpha Status

Get your typal decks ready and throw in Alpha Status. This aura pumps the enchanted creature for each other creature that shares a creature type with it. This can be an absolute game-ender. If you don’t feel like running a typal deck, a card like Maskwood Nexus could justify still running this.

#3. Umbras

I’m cheating and throwing all the Umbra cards into one category. The umbras are auras that give different keywords and pumps depending on the color, and umbra armor. Umbra armor nulls the effect of dying by sacrificing the aura instead, protecting your valuable creature. Many of the umbras are valuable but I believe the best three are Bear Umbra, Snake Umbra, and Hyena Umbra.

#2. Aqueous Form

Aqueous Form is a super cheap way to make a creatures unblockable. This aura is great when pumping up creatures or aiming to win with commander damage. The low mana value and high evasion makes this a great aura to play.

#1. Spectra Ward

The top spot goes to Spectra Ward because it makes one of your creatures almost unstoppable (board wipes ruin anyone’s time). This aura gives a creature protection from all the colors, making it unblockable and untargetable by spells. As an added bonus, this aura doesn’t remove already attached auras on a creature. However, it  prevents you from attaching future auras.

Best Aura Payoffs

We might as well start with the auras-matter commanders. Commanders like Sythis, Harvest's Hand, Uril, the Miststalker, and Eriette, the Beguiler benefit immensely from all of your bomb auras. We can even include some enchantment commanders like Zur, Eternal Schemer and Tuvasa the Sunlit. 

Enchantress cards are key to pair with auras. Cards like Enchantress's Presence and Eidolon of Blossoms provide many draw triggers from your auras.

To get ahead of the curve and your opponents you can include cards that reduce the cost of your auras. Cards like Hero of Iroas, Danitha Capashen, Paragon, and Jukai Naturalist help you cast plenty of auras.

For those of you who like Voltron decks, Wyleth, Soul of Steel, Valduk, Keeper of the Flame, Kor Spiritdancer, and Kellan, the Fae-Blooded are prime candidates to load up on auras.

Heavenly Blademaster is a solid way to move around auras to try and sneak in some big combat steps. Glamer Spinners does the same thing, though only when it enters.

You want to benefit as much as you can from the auras you play to gain advantages. To ramp, use a card like Kodama of the West Tree; to trigger constellation use a card like Ajani's Chosen; and to copy your auras, use a card like Calix, Guided by Fate.

Some interesting enchantments to include in these aura decks are cards with the bestow mechanic. You can cast a creature like Observant Alseid for its original mana cost or cast it for its bestow cost to become an aura spell that attaches to one of your creatures.

Can You Put an Aura on Any Creature?

If the aura reads “Enchant Creature” then you can put it on any creature that’s a legal target. Shroud and hexproof protect creatures from these auras, but otherwise as long as the permanent has the creature type, enchant creature auras may be attached to them.

How Do I Remove an Aura?

Auras are enchantments so any enchantment hate will work. Cards that destroy enchantments like Reclamation Sage, or even cards that remove permanents like Anguished Unmaking work. Also, if an aura is attached to a target (except for a player), you can remove that target and the aura goes to the graveyard after everything resolves. Any way you can remove a permanent will work, even other auras like Sheltered by Ghosts.

Is Enchant Creature the Same as an Aura?

Yes. Enchant creature was the original type used by cards to denote an enchantment that targets something. This type was later changed to aura to clear up some confusion between enchant creature and enchantments. They are the same card type, just updated, and work the same way and interact the same with triggers. Screams from Within interacts the same way as an aura with a commander like Eriette of the Charmed Apple.

Wrap Up

Aqueous Form | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

That does it for me, and if you can’t see, my aura is spent. Hopefully all this hard work has shown you some of the best and most useful auras to include in your builds. This enchantment subtype can create powerful interactions and there will be plenty more auras to come in the future sets of MTG.

Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what you think of these rankings (be kind please!). If you want even more content, follow us on X, join the official Discord channel, and check out all the other wonderful articles on Draftsim.com.

MTG is a wonderful game, so stay enchanted!