The 40 Best Creatures in Magic Ranked

Last updated on December 29, 2023

Colossal Dreadmaw | Illustration by Jesper Ejsing

Creatures are vital to playing Magic. Even decks focused on other card types like artifacts use a few creatures to help impact the board. The few devoutly creatureless decks, like many iterations of Pioneer Azorius () control, still look to win by making creature tokens.

Creatures have played a massive role in shaping the game we know and love for 30 years. With such a legacy, there are many, many creatures worthy of power and attention. But which of them are the greatest?

What Are Creatures in MTG?

Deathrite Shaman | Illustration by Steve Argyle

Creatures in Magic are cards with the creature type. It’s as simple as that.

However, there's much more to creatures than a type. They’re the backbone of the game. Magic would suffer from losing any card type but couldn’t exist without creatures.

Most decks win with creatures. How this happens varies wildly; you have aggressive decks that swarm the board with as many Savannah Lions and Monastery Swiftspears as they can and controlling decks that use two or three Torrential Gearhulks as their win condition. Even combo decks tend to lean on creatures; Legacy decks want to get Griselbrand and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play instantly, while dredge decks utilize creatures like Golgari Thug and Narcomoeba to win.

As a card type with a fundamental impact on how we play the game, there are tons of powerful creatures. Some that were strong at one point have seen their glory days fade. This list focuses on the powerful cards but acknowledges some that aren’t as relevant as they once were but deserve a spot thanks to their historical significance.

#40. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician is an amazing engine that needs some support. Getting board control, a sacrifice outlet, card draw, and a discard outlet in a single 4-mana creature is a lot of valuable text. Thanks to some combos with undying, you can do a lot with the Father of Machines if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty.

#39. Delver of Secrets

Delver of Secrets has long been the king of tempo. Standard, Legacy, and Pauper strategies have all boasted this as the marquee card. It still reigns as one of Legacy’s strongest and most iconic decks. What deck doesn’t want a 1-mana 3/2 flier as a blisteringly fast clock?

#38. Baleful Strix

I may be a little biased in my love for Baleful Strix but look at this beauty of a card. It screams elegance. A cheap, evasive threat that replaces itself and functions offensively and defensively is strong, but the artifact subtype makes this appealing to a broad range of decks. Baleful Strix is never the strongest card in a list, but it’s such a solid role-player and an amazingly designed card.

#37. Hermit Druid

Hermit Druid is an amazing combo enabler. Paying a single green mana to dump your entire deck into your graveyard (assuming you don’t run basics) enables a bunch of busted combos. Even if played fairly, the Druid fills your graveyard like nobody's business.

#36. Dragon’s Rage Channeler

How much value can you get for 1 red? WotC has been pushing that answer for a few years, and Dragon's Rage Channeler is one example. A 1-mana 3/3 with a bit of effort that gives you a lot of card selection has become a staple in tempo decks. It takes a little work – you need a high concentration of noncreature spells and the ability to get delirium, but the payoff is worth the price.

#35. Niv-Mizzet, Parun

Niv-Mizzet, Parun is expensive and color-intensive but powerful enough to be worth the exorbitant costs. You get a fast clock, a win condition, board control, and card advantage. You don’t even need to do anything to draw cards, though there’s no way an Izzet ()} deck lacks spells of its own.

#34. Llanowar Elves

Llanowar Elves stand in for most 1-mana dorks as just really good cards. They enable a lot of elves strategies and give midrange decks solid acceleration. Starting the game with a mana advantage from turn 1 is a great way to win.

#33. Orcish Lumberjack

Black Lotus, is that you? Okay, that’s a bit dramatic, but Orcish Lumberjack offers a serious mana advantage. This is basically a Gruul card since you need plenty of Forests, and going down a land is a cost, but the explosive power of this 1-drop is more than capable of winning games fast.

#32. Primeval Titan

The Titan cycle printed in M11 are all powerful and iconic Magic creatures, but Primeval Titan has stood the test of time the best. Getting any two lands enables powerful strategies, like Field of the Dead and Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. It’s so powerful that Amulet Titan exists to maximize the power of the Titan.

#31. Shardless Agent

Shardless Agent was always a good value engine, but it peaked once introduced to Modern via Modern Horizons 2. It’s the backbone of various cascade decks, most notably ones leveraging either Crashing Footfalls or Living End. Some Legacy decks even lean on this for Rhinos.

#30. Questing Beast

Playing Standard with this Arthurian legend was certainly an experience. Questing Beast is a prime example of what happens when you try to “answer” cards like Field of the Dead and Oko, Thief of Crowns by pushing an opposing threat: You get a massively powerful creature with more lines of text than even the greatest Magic scholars remember.

#29. Tarmogoyf

Tarmogoyf’s time in the sun may have long passed, but it deserved a spot for its historical impact on the game. For a long time, this little 2-drop greatly surpassed the power of what creatures could be. It might be the most vanilla creature here, but Tarmogoyf defined years of competitive Magic, and we’ll always remember the king.

#28. Dark Confidant

Dark Confidant has given us one of Magic’s most iconic lines of flavor text that encapsulates black’s color identity concisely, but its rules text is just as formidable. You can’t play expensive cards alongside “Bob” unless you want Emrakul, the Aeons Torn to make your opponent’s life easier. Efficient spells are all the rage these days, so this is amazing card advantage engine on a stick.

#27. Golgari Grave-Troll

Broken strategies often begin in the graveyard. To exploit those strategies, you need to fill your graveyard, and Golgari Grave-Troll is one of the best ways to do so. A card that proved too strong for Modern several times, it’s the backbone of Dredge decks in Legacy and Vintage, despite being restricted in the latter. It turns out that replacing your draw step with a virtual draw six is pretty busted.

#26. Endurance

Modern Horizon 2’s cycle of evoke elementals has redefined Modern and much of Magic, for better or worse. Endurance is one of these. A free, instant-speed way to remove your opponent’s graveyard is incredible, especially since so many broken strategies begin in the graveyard. A 3/4 flash with reach is also a fine Ambush Viper that applies a bit of pressure.

#25. Atraxa, Grand Unifier

Atraxa, Grand Unifier is topping off Standard ramp decks, but its impact extends well beyond Magic’s smallest format. Decks in all sorts of formats with the means to cheat this beater into play can casually draw a fresh hand. Phyrexia's mascot isn't the most popular creature to cheat into play, but it’s certainly relevant.

#24. Walking Ballista

Walking Ballista is kind of busted. It’s a fantastic combo engine for one, often seen alongside Heliod, Sun-Crowned for a lethal combination that’s banned in some formats. It serves as an infinite mana outlet, letting it be the payoff to other combos. Even as a fair play, it’s incredibly powerful, becoming a threat that kills off opposing creatures or sends lethal damage to your opponent’s face.

#23. Devoted Druid

Devoted Druid may appear to be a humble mana dork, but this little creature is a combo machine. There are tons of ways to use it to make infinite mana, with Vizier of Remedies, Swift Reconfiguration, and Solemnity coming to mind. It’s part of so many cheap, two-card infinites that it deserves respect – but a 2-mana dork that jumps you to 5 mana on turn 3 is a fine floor too.

#22. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

The taxes portion of Death & Taxes lists, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is among Magic’s best-designed creatures. The tax makes it good against spell-focused decks, while first strike gives it legs against opposing creature strategies. It puts a decent clock on the opponent while slowing them down, but neither is overly stifling. It’s an amazingly elegant design and honestly deserves the endless alternative arts.

#21. Orcish Bowmasters

Orcish Bowmasters is one of the newest boogeymen on the block, designed to punish opponents trying to draw a billion cards with equally busted effects like The One Ring and Up the Beanstalk. It’s a clock, it’s the perfect answer to creatures like Esper Sentinel, Birds of Paradise, and Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. It’s also fun to play on turn 2 and follow up with Timetwister in Cube or Commander.

#20. Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis

Who could forget the release of the original Modern Horizons that introduced the world to the Gaak and indicated that every Horizons set would shake the hell out of Modern? Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis earned its spot on the list for its brief notoriety following MH1’s release, where it held Modern in a stranglehold. Even as Faithless Looting caught a ban and desperate players began main decking Leyline of the Void, the Gaak proved too strong and caught the banhammer itself.

#19. Grief

Grief is the centerpiece of Scam decks that began in Modern but have also found their way to Legacy. While pitching this and immediately returning it to play with Reanimate or Not Dead After All is backbreaking, Grief is also just a strong card on its own. A reasonable threat that discards a card and can be pitched in an emergency to stop your opponent from comboing off does a lot of work.

#18. Urza, Lord High Artificer

A great hint to the most busted cards in Magic lies within the Power Nine. There’s a reason all nine cards are artifacts or blue spells; that’s as busted as it gets. Urza, Lord High Artificer is a blue card that loves artifacts, so you know it's broken. The Construct token is a nasty threat, Urza generates a bunch of mana and can be an infinite mana outlet or just a mana sink to keep the gas flowing, and we can’t ignore the synergy with Winter Orb.

#17. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

The black creature with stats like a green monster, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse reigns over Standard with a few cameos in Pioneer midrange decks. Being a 4/5 for 4 helps here; Sheoldred dies to removal, but it’s nearly impossible to attack into without it. The lifegain/lifedrain abilities seal the deal, making Sheoldred into a clock even if it must remain defensive.

#16. Yorion, Sky Nomad

The companion mechanic certainly was an interesting design choice. Yorion, Sky Nomad has always fascinated me for its power. Adding 20 cards to your deck seems like a massive drawback that would hamper the consistency of your deck – yet Yorion got the ban hammer in several formats, and some Modern decks still tinker around with 80 cards, even without the extra creature in their sideboard.

#15. Dockside Extortionist

Dockside Extortionist’s relevance is constrained to Commander, but what an EDH card. It’s the centerpiece of many infinite mana combos, utilizing other cards like Temur Sabertooth, Barrin, Master Wizard, and Cloudstone Curio. Even if it doesn’t go infinite, it’s the best red ritual, often netting a ton of mana that fixes and can be saved for later turns.

#14. Archon of Cruelty

Archon of Cruelty has become one of the best creatures to cheat into play. It has an incredible impact as soon as it comes into play, generating card advantage by drawing a card while making your opponent discard and stopping them from developing a board if you cheat it out fast enough. This has made it the weapon of choice for Modern Creativity and a powerful tool for various Legacy decks whose general gameplan is a big creature on turn 2.

#13. Solitude

It turns out that tacking Swords to Plowshares onto a creature with flash that costs no mana is good. Solitude doesn’t scam as hard as Grief, but this is still an amazing creature that swings games in your favor for no mana investment.

#12. Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath

You don’t see Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath around often enough to think it’s busted, but that’s just because it’s been banned in practically every format but Cube and Commander. This does all the strong things in Magic: drawing cards and making land drops. A relatively cheap, resilient threat that provides mana and card advantage makes for a busted creature.

#11. Omnath, Locus of Creation

Landfall is arguably one of the strongest mechanics because it magnifies the basic game action of playing lands. Omnath, Locus of Creation is one of the strongest landfall cards, to the point many decks have been built around it and it was deemed too powerful in several formats. It’s a one-card value engine that replaces itself and rewards you handsomely for taking basic game actions, which is kinda busted.

#10. Thassa’s Oracle

The key to many combos, Thassa's Oracle has especially impacted cEDH. This better edition Laboratory Maniac can win on the spot with Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact. Don’t mistake this for an EDH exclusive; Oracle was a key component of the Inverter of Truth decks in Pioneer and has given some niche combo decks in older formats new life.

#9. Griselbrand

If you’ve played Legacy, you’ve encountered Griselbrand, potentially the strongest demon in Magic. It pops up in Modern from time to time alongside Goryo's Vengeance, but its primary home is in Legacy, with decks like Sneak and Show and Reanimator abound. When you’re cheating something into play, it’s hard to do much better than the terror of Innistrad.

#8. Fury

Pitch cards like Solitude and Force of Will are primarily balanced by being card disadvantage. If you pay no mana, you’re trading two resources for one of your opponent's. Fury, the (former) scourge of Modern, completely ignores this, often being card-neutral by killing two creatures or even becoming card advantage as a Plague Wind that also wins because it’s a powerful double striker.

#7. Birds of Paradise

“Bolt the Bird” is one of the game’s oldest heuristics, and it’s as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. Birds of Paradise is the best mana dork, unless you’re playing exactly Elves. Even as the speed of some formats hampers its power, the Bird is a notable piece of Magic history and a boon to many creature decks.

#6. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is pretty much the best creature ever printed to put into play with cards like Sneak Attack and Show and Tell, among others. WotC ensured every one of the 15 mana you need to invest in this creature was worth it without considering that nobody would ever pay the actual mana cost.

#5. Stoneforge Mystic

Stoneforge Mystic was thrown on the Modern ban list at the format’s inception, primarily to avoid the reign of Cawblade. It came off many years later and has had a positive impact on the format. But the Mystic’s impact goes well beyond Modern; it’s a fantastic Cube card and a staple of Legacy Death and Taxes lists that use it to find some of the strongest equipment in the game.

#4. Deathrite Shaman

Everybody lost their minds over Wrenn and Six as a 2-mana planeswalker, but the game has secretly had a 1-mana planeswalker the entire time in Deathrite Shaman. It’s a great mana dork in Eternal formats filled with fetch lands, but the activated abilities are also incredibly powerful. A 1-mana creature that ramps you and fixes your mana is excellent, but one that also gains a bit of life or drains your opponent? Busted.

#3. Pack Rat

The greatest Limited card of all time, Pack Rat also did a number on Standard when it was around. It still sees fringe play in some Pioneer decks. This card offers unparalleled board presence for little investment, going wide and tall to dominate boards if your opponent isn’t lucky enough to have removal the turn you cast it.

#2. Lurrus of the Dream-Den

Lurrus of the Dream-Den is one of my favorite cards to build around in the Vintage Cube. That’s also the only place you can play it since this nightmare has been banned virtually everywhere. Even after the companion mechanic got rebalanced, Lurrus proved too powerful for most formats that could easily match its deckbuilding requirement and turn it into a grindy value engine.

#1. Colossal Dreadmaw

Colossal Dreadmaw may seem like an odd choice to top this list but bear with me. There’s more than raw power that goes into designing creatures. You could argue that this slot belongs to something like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, but Dreadmaw is a triumph beyond power level.

Colossal Dreadmaw is the perfect draft common. Sure, Ragavan wins the game if it goes unanswered and applies that oppressive pressure on turn 1, but Dreadmaw mops up games of Limited. You can have as many of these in play as you want since it doesn’t have that pesky legendary supertype. How many opponents can handle two or three copies of this card?

Dreadmaw also functions as a beautiful expression of green’s color identity. A 6-mana 6/6 with trample strikes the perfect balance of a powerful threat that’s efficient regarding its mana cost. Meanwhile, Ragavan provides such an insane amount of card advantage, mana fixing, and ramp for 1 mana (or 2, if you’d like to ignore summoning sickness and dodge sorcery speed removal), replacing the Dreadmaw’s elegance with blunt force – which does sound kind of red, so Ragavan has that going for it.

Wrap Up

Lurrus of the Dream-Den | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

Creatures have one of the longest histories in Magic and are arguably the most important card type in the game. This is especially true for those who love Limited and Standard, two formats defined by their creatures.

With such importance to the game, there are tons of great creatures everybody can enjoy playing. What’s your favorite creature? Can you play it in your favorite format? Let me know in the comments or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and curve out!