The 50 Best Flying Creatures in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 26, 2024

Avacyn, Angel of Hope (Double Masters) | Illustration by Randy Vargas

Evasive mechanics add depth to Magic by making combat more complicated and engaging than a game of checkers or bumper cars with multiple pieces of cardboard slamming into one another. Flying might be distinctly weaker than the “can’t be blocked” text on cards like Slither Blade, but it’s hard to think of a more iconic evasive keyword.

Flying has been around since the game’s inception on iconic cards like Shivan Dragon and Serra Angel. Often a critical piece of Limited environments to help break through board stalls, many fearsome threats take to the skies to dominate their foes in combat.

But which creatures fly the highest? Let’s figure that out together!

What Are Fliers in MTG?

Selfless Spirit | Illustration by Seb McKinnon

Flying creatures in Magic have the evergreen keyword “flying.” Creatures with flying can only be blocked by creatures with flying or reach. The presence of “reach” (“this creature can block creatures with flying”) alone demonstrates the strength of flying: How many other mechanics have a rival mechanic to combat them?

As an evergreen mechanic, creatures with flying appear in pretty much every Magic set. The number of fliers varies across sets; some have a handful, while others approach flying as an archetypal build-around. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is a recent example of a Limited environment partially defined by its fliers, specifically the high concentration of pushed Flying Men.

My favorite part of flying is honestly the logic of it. Seen most often on birds, dragons, angels, and the occasional airship, it just makes sense these things would go over the top of walls, soldiers, and merfolk. I especially love reach residing in the spiders and archers of Magic. It’s a great example of game mechanics expressing story—not only would Magic have a thinner combat system without flying, but it would also stretch the players’ suspension of disbelief way too far if Shivan Dragon and Serra Angel could get chump blocked by Savannah Lions.

This list definitely skews in favor of Commander, though you’ll see quite a few Constructed all-stars present. As always, the biggest criteria I’m looking for are efficiency and impact on the game—the less mana for the biggest impact, the better. Cards well-suited to niche strategies deserve respect, but many of the highest cards earned their spot through universality—though some titans still rank highly.

#50. Wonder

While flying creatures typically provide lots of board presence, Wonder is an odd duck that wants to hang out in the graveyard. Many self-mill decks utilize this card as a finisher they don’t need to invest mana into.

#49. Emeria Shepherd

Landfall is one of Magic’s strongest abilities because your opponents have a small window of opportunity to interact before you trigger the abilities. More expensive creatures like Emeria Shepherd make this a touch more awkward, but we can give it a pass when they have abilities as powerful as a free reanimation spell.

#48. Serra Ascendant

Serra Ascendant is amazing in Commander and weak elsewhere unless you’re playing Tier-3 Modern decks. Plenty of commanders can get along with a 1-mana 6/6 with flying and lifelink, though it dramatically loses impact as the game goes on and life totals dwindle.

#47. Vampire Nighthawk

One of the greatest Limited cards of all time—despite only being an uncommon—Vampire Nighthawk demonstrates the power a few keywords hold. This is the perfect storm: Flying gives it evasion, lifelink makes it hard for your opponent to race, and deathtouch ensures that the Nighthawk trades up on mana.

#46. Cavern Harpy

A staple of Aluren decks in Legacy, Cavern Harpy provides tons of value to any deck looking to utilize ETB creatures like Baleful Strix, Orcish Bowmasters, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, or Ravenous Chupacabra.

#45. Aarakocra Sneak

Taking the initiative is fantastic—so good it’s broken multiple formats. Aarakocra Sneak was one such offender, with Pauper decks tripping over themselves to get it into play until its banning. Having flying helps this creature steal back the initiative if an opponent sneaks past your defenses.

#44. Phyrexian Vindicator

Phyrexia: All Will Be One gave us a follow-up to Phyrexian Obliterator after a staggering 12 years. Phyrexian Vindicator is quite powerful, especially alongside cards like Blasphemous Act and Star of Extinction, but the incredibly intense color requirements make it hard to slot into just any deck.

#43. Errant and Giada

Future Sight is a strong enough card that various, more restrictive versions of the effect are always worth examining. Errant and Giada is perfectly fine. Its low cost and card advantage potential make it a perfect casual commander.

#42. Hydroid Krasis

Hydroid Krasis was an absolute house in its Standard environment. Though it’s dropped off a bit, plenty of ramp decks and X-spell decks are happy to jam Magic’s biggest jellyfish.

#41. Hoarding Broodlord

A card needs to do a lot for 8 mana in this day and age. Hoarding Broodlord can deliver! A massive threat plus a tutor plus mana generation is great in decks built around casting cards from exile, though I wouldn’t run it in any old black deck.

#40. Mulldrifter

There was a glorious time in Magic’s history where Mulldrifter might have topped this list, but we’ve reached a point where the best Divination ever has dropped into near-obscurity. It’s still a respectable card in casual ETB decks and Cubes.

#39. Thrummingbird + Grateful Apparition

There are plenty of ways to maximize proliferation in Magic these days. +1/+1 counters are classic, but loyalty counters, poison counters, and even shield counters are all worth duplicating. While Grateful Apparition is strictly better than Thrummingbird, both are powerful—especially once you slap some counters on them.

#38. Falkenrath Noble

A flying Blood Artist is good. Falkenrath Noble’s greatest weakness is being more expensive than most versions of the effect, making it the fourth best Blood Artist.

#37. Cloudkin Seer + Inspiring Overseer

Two absolute houses in their Limited formats, flicker decks can also use Cloudkin Seer and Inspiring Overseer. Of the two, Inspiring Overseer is slightly stronger as angel is a more relevant creature type, and some decks care about life gain.

#36. Talion, the Kindly Lord

Talion, the Kindly Lord has made ripples as a cEDH commander but also works well in casual. The combination of pressure and card advantage makes this an appealing commander for faerie-typal or midrange.

#35. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

Once a heavy hitter in Commander, the current age of efficient, high-impact plays has dulled the effectiveness of 7-mana bombs like Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. Slower Boros decks still respect this angel as a game-ending bomb.

#34. Twilight Prophet

What would it take for Dark Confidant to not cost life? 2 additional mana! That makes Twilight Prophet too expensive for many Constructed formats but a perfect draw engine for Commander. It’s easy enough to get the city’s blessing, so this doubles as a win condition, albeit a slow one.

#33. Thought Monitor

A key part of 8-Cast decks in Legacy (named after Thoughtcast), pretty much any artifact-themed deck is happy to play Thought Monitor for card and synergy value.

#32. Peregrine Drake

Peregrine Drake is a busted combo enabler if you can find a way to flicker it for less than 5 mana. Ghostly Flicker commonly does so. It’s nothing outside of being a powerful combo piece.

#31. Thieving Skydiver

Thieving Skydiver is an amazing Cube card. You haven’t lived until you’ve stolen an opponent’s Mox. It’s pretty respectable in Commander as well, what with virtually every deck at least playing Sol Ring and Arcane Signet, and likely several more artifacts worth nabbing.

#30. Archangel of Thune

Another combo enabler, Archangel of Thune has much more utility. It’s infinite with Spike Feeder and Kitchen Finks (alongside a sac outlet) but works as a synergy piece for lifegain, angel, and +1/+1 counter decks as well.

#29. Glen Elendra Archmage

Though slow, Glen Elendra Archmage often 2-for-1s opponents. It’s best when paired with cards like Falco Spara, Pactweaver, or Good-Fortune Unicorn that can let you persist it over and over.

#28. Niv-Mizzet, Parun

Likely the best spellslinger commander in the format, Niv-Mizzet, Parun is just… absurdly pushed. This card shouldn’t be able to do as much as it does while being uncounterable. The extra-restrictive mana cost makes it hard for any deck to jam, but mana bases that can support it probably should.

#27. Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm

If you want to play dragons without going for 5-color The Ur-Dragon, Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm is one of the best choices. It’s a value engine with ward to ensure you can generate an unreasonable advantage.

#26. Siren Stormtamer

It takes a lot for Flying Men to be effective, but Siren Stormtamer gets there. On-board tricks are powerful! Forcing your opponent to kill your Flying Men before handling more impactful threats strains their removal. Evasive pirates are also quite handy, as many pirate synergies care about attacking or dealing combat damage (see: Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator).

#25. Rankle, Master of Pranks

Rankle, Master of Pranks is a fantastic Cube card and quite reasonable in Commander. It plays best alongside cheap creatures to sacrifice or graveyard synergies that let you maximize the discard.

#24. Aven Mindcensor

Restricting your opponent’s ability to search their library is fantastic. This card used to Strip Mine me in Modern all the time. In EDH, this is better at higher-powered tables with more tutors.

#23. Brazen Borrower

Brazen Borrower shone like a beacon in Standard as a dominant force in adventure decks. It’s still a reasonable tempo card, though X/1s struggle against the likes of Orcish Bowmasters and Wrenn and Six.

#22. Butcher of Malakir

It takes a lot of justify 7-mana plays in this economy, but Butcher of Malakir clears the bar. This devastates opposing board states and makes combat a mess for your opponents.

#21. Shalai and Hallar

Shalai and Hallar is one of the strongest team-up cards from March of the Machine. In addition to infinite combos with The Red Terror or All Will Be One, it’s just a great value engine for casual decks.

#20. Chrome Host Seedshark

Artifacts are among the most busted card types in the game. Chrome Host Seedshark enables strategies that care about tons of artifacts like Urza, Lord High Artificer and it's a reasonable payoff for slinging spells.

#19. Aurelia, the Warleader

Aurelia, the Warleader is another staple drifting to the wayside as Magic grows more efficient, but it’s hard to ignore the power of extra combats. This card having haste is vital to its playability.

#18. Aurelia, the Law Above

The days of Boros lacking in card draw are long gone. Aurelia, the Law Above offers even more power than similar cards like Firemane Commando because you can profit from your opponents attacking, making this a potent card alongside goad strategies.

#17. Archon of Emeria

Rule of Law effects can be powerful. Archon of Emeria can’t go into every deck, but decks that don’t mind playing one spell a turn can exploit this shutting down strategies and forcing your opponents to play at a crawl.

#16. Glorybringer

5-mana dragons often pack incredible strength. Haste makes Glorybringer shine. While this dragon works best with vigilance enablers and other ways to untap it after exerting, it’s also just great when played fairly, like a potentially repeatable Flametongue Kavu.

#15. Ornithopter of Paradise

A 2-mana dork that taps for any color of mana is perfectly respectable—in green. Ornithopter of Paradise elevates “respectable” to “very powerful” by being colorless so any deck can play it.

#14. Deep-Cavern Bat + Kitesail Freebooter

Mesmeric Fiend has seen quite the glow-up! You can’t be as tricky with Deep-Cavern Bat or Kitesail Freebooter, but cheap fliers that attack your opponent’s hand are fantastic in Constructed.

#13. Terror of the Peaks

Terror of the Peaks distributes damage as freely as the wind blows. This goes infinite in a billion ways, but it’s just hard to handle a large flying creature that benefits from every other large flying creature you cast coming into play.

#12. Goldspan Dragon

Is Goldspan Dragon’s mana production stronger than Terror of the Peaks damage? I believe so, but only slightly. Treasure is broken, and doubling its value breaks it further. Throw in the card Crime Novelist and you’ll have riches enough to make Smaug jealous.

#11. Faerie Mastermind

As far as punishing your opponents for drawing cards goes, Faerie Mastermind isn’t Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, or Orcish Bowmasters. But this aggressive flash flier has just enough extra text to be appealing, and drawing free cards to help keep up with your opponents who are ahead on resources provides plenty of value.

#10. Avacyn, Angel of Hope

Avacyn, Angel of Hope clings to power by providing your deck with a lot of inevitability thanks to the wraths you can fire off. A commander encouraging something as unique as mono-white-angel-typal-control deserves respect. Don’t forget your Armageddon!

#9. Kess, Dissident Mage

Kess, Dissident Mage can play at many power levels thanks to its general, though fantastic value. I’m a fan of playing it alongside a bundle of extra turn spells, but I’m also a monster.

#8. Atraxa, Grand Unifier

Atraxa, Grand Unifier might be the most impactful flying creature printed over the past few years. It’s exploded into many formats as a high-value reanimation target or the best creature to ramp into. Intense card draw and keyword soup make this creature a devastating threat worthy of Phyrexia.

#7. Consecrated Sphinx

Few cards can offer the card advantage of Consecrated Sphinx. Faerie Mastermind leaves the room when this card shows up. There are few blue creatures as impactful to cheat into play or ramp into. This level of card draw borders on the obscene and it’s nearly impossible to lose once this gets rolling.

#6. Birds of Paradise

Birds of Paradise might not have the raw offensive power of other creatures on this list, but it’s the gold standard for mana dorks. It doesn’t get better than a 1-mana accelerant that fixes for all colors. It might not directly win games but many, many decks would be worse off if this card never existed in the first place.

#5. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Here’s a hot take for you: Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is a perfectly fair Magic card for 15 mana. What’s unfair is the variety of cards it shows up with that cheat it into play: Show and Tell, Sneak Attack, Shallow Grave, and so on. It’s pretty much the best card to cheat in with haste. But not quite the best reanimation target.

#4. Griselbrand

Atraxa, Grand Unifier has made waves, but Griselbrand is still one of the strongest reanimation targets in the game. You can’t play it in Commander, but that’s just because it would edge out every other must-include reanimation target. Entire decks live and die by getting this into play in the first few turns of the game.

#3. Gilded Drake

While the Reserved List unreasonably locks Gilded Drake behind a price tag most players can’t afford, it’s a fantastic interactive spell in Commander. Exchanging creatures doesn’t cause a change of zones, so this is among the best ways to deal with opposing commanders since they can’t come back. It’s also just a cool design, even if it’s a little broken.

#2. Baleful Strix

Baleful Strix offers extraordinary value for so little investment. A 1/1 flying creature that draws a card on ETB is strong solo and stronger in flicker decks. Deathtouch ensures this trades with better creatures. And it’s an artifact for all kinds of synergy! It’s unassuming but does so much for so little.

#1. Smuggler’s Copter

Smuggler's Copter is hands-down the best vehicle we’ve seen. Others are impactful, but none so much as this planeswalker assassin. It’s a 2-mana 3/3 flier! That has one of the most busted card types in the game. And it fixes your draws while any deck can play it. This card has flying because the design team pushed it so hard it never touched the ground.

Best Flying Creature Payoffs

Having evasive creatures is a reward in itself, but we have a couple of ways to exploit them further. First and most obviously, cards that reward you for having flying creatures. Watcher of the Spheres and Warden of Evos Isle provide ramp; cards like Tide Skimmer and Thunderclap Wyvern bolster your forces; and creatures like Errant and Giada or Kangee, Sky Warden makes perfect commanders.

Flying creatures also work well with buffs. They’re naturally aggressive, so stacking them with +1/+1 counters from Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, or anthem effects such as Glorious Anthem stacks damage quickly.

Because flying creatures can get in so often, they’re powerful with cards that care about creatures attacking or dealing combat damage to opponents. Just a few cards that benefit from this evasion include Professional Face-Breaker, Coastal Piracy (and all its variants), and Winota, Joiner of Forces. Providing effects like these that naturally stack with the aggressive nature of flying creatures is a fantastic avenue to demolish your opponents.

Wrap Up

Platinum Angel | Illustration by Brom

As a Limited player, flying feels like one of the most impactful evergreen mechanics in the entire game. I’ve seen matches live and die on the back of a few winged creatures. The mechanic’s evasive power lends itself well to a variety of aggressive strategies, though defensively stated flying creatures stave off attackers for days.

These are powerful flying creatures, but I’m sure one or two flew over my head. Are there any creatures you’d want to see on the list? What’s your favorite flying creature? Let me know in the comments or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!