The 32 Highest-Toughness Creatures in Magic Ranked

Last updated on October 24, 2025

Impervious Greatwurm | Illustration by Simon Dominic

Greetings, folks. Some decks need a critical amount of high toughness, whether to block with or to trigger synergies. These days, the “assign damage via toughness” text is becoming more common. Today, we’re looking at extreme stats from MTG creatures, and we’ll rank the creatures that bring the most toughness to the table.

While this list will have some of the biggest Eldrazi titans in the Multiverse, we also cover creatures that WotC decided to give a “big butt,” so to say. Expect to see strange power and toughness distributions, like 1/13 and 9/14. And sorry Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger: You’re only a 10/10, and you must be this big to enter this list.

What Are High-Toughness Creatures in MTG?

Jokulmorder | Illustration by Mark Zug

High-toughness creatures in MTG are creatures with an astonishing amount of toughness. Not all creatures in MTG have equal power and toughness, so we can have 10/10 or 11/11 creatures, but there are also the 9/14s and 2/15s of this world. These rankings work slightly differently from what we usually do. I’m ranking creatures solely on their toughness value, and only evaluating the card itself in case of a tie. So, a 1/13 will be an improvement over a 12/12, and so on.

I’m considering creatures and even vehicles, but not */* cards, double-faced cards like Ludevic's Test Subject, which can turn into a 13/13 creature, or tokens that can be created (sorry Marit Lage!). I used a cutoff of 11 toughness or more to avoid ranking 60+ cards that have toughness 9-10.

Honorable Mention: BFM (Big Furry Monster)

B.F.M. (Big Furry Monster) is an Un-set card comprised of two parts. It’s a 99/99 creature if you manage to have it on the battlefield, and if people allow you to use it, of course.

#32. Denizen of the Deep

MTG found a way to turn a terrible creature with downside into a very interesting one. The catch with Denizen of the Deep is that you’re paying a little (just 8 mana) to get a huge 11/11 creature into play. So, you pay for that by returning all your creatures and being left with no board at all. Turns out, if all your creatures have good ETB effects, you actively want to do that. Plus, the creature type serpent is relevant for many decks.

#31. Spawnsire of Ulamog

Spawnsire of Ulamog is a very flexible card, working as a big Eldrazi for the decks that want it, a token maker, and even a “mana accumulation” engine. If you can double the tokens you make, you end up with infinite mana and have infinite creatures or sacrifices.

#30. Darksteel Colossus

Good old Darksteel Colossus, one of MTG’s original mightiest heroes. It’s still good, it still has indestructible. But if you were to cheat a big artifact creature into play, we have better options in this day and age. It still sees play in decks that need a critical mass of expensive artifacts or big artifact creatures.

#29. Inkwell Leviathan

Inkwell Leviathan used to be a top reanimation target, being a big islandwalker with trample and shroud. You still see this card being played in Cubes or decks that synergize with artifacts, but at least 10-15 creatures are better suited for this role nowadays.

#28. Titanoth Rex

The best part about Titanoth Rex is that it’s good early as a cycler and good late. It even goes to the graveyard if you need something to reanimate. Talk about a versatile uncommon card.

#27. It That Betrays

It That Betrays was designed as a creature that attacks hard while forcing an opponent to sacrifice permanents, which then betray them. That said, there’s a lot of ways to steal your opponent’s board with this card around. This Eldrazi is a good reanimation target if you play cards like Smokestack and Braids, Cabal Minion.

#26. Blightsteel Colossus

Blightsteel Colossus is one of the Tinker targets of choice because it takes only one hit from it for you to win. And outside of very specific exile removal, it’s hard for them to interact favorably.

#25. Jokulmorder

Jokulmorder is bad. Like, really bad. But it has 12 toughness, so there’s that. I’d say you should play this card if and only if you have a specific EDH deck like The Mimeoplasm, where you can dump it into the graveyard and use its stats there.

#24. Ancient Stone Idol

Ancient Stone Idol is very interesting. You can get this card on the board for cheap, ambush one of their best creatures during an attack, and it leaves a good, chunky creature behind when it dies. Talk about a nice 2-for-1 or even better trade.

#23. Phyrexian Dreadnought

Phyrexian Dreadnought’s seen play in competitive decks that cast it and Stifle its enters trigger. You can also play it with more modern white creatures that don’t allow enter triggers to happen. In any case, that leaves you with a 12/12 trample way ahead of schedule.

#22. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant

This card is funny. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant is one of the cheapest ways to get a 12/12 trample in MTG, not counting cost reduction, but you’re supposed to cheat it into play so you can put your other creatures down for free. But you often just cast it as your last card. It’s an interesting ramp payoff in a deck filled with big creatures.

#21. Ghalta and Mavren

Ghalta and Mavren presents 12/12 of trample stats for 7 mana. If that wasn’t good enough, it impacts the board if you attack with other creatures. It goes wide, it goes tall, and your opponents better have a sweeper ready. The card has a clunky mana cost, but I suspect it ends up impacting formats like Limited the most.

#20. Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Ghalta, Primal Hunger has interesting cost reduction based on other high-powered creatures you control, so it gets cast a lot. You don’t need to cheat this one into play that much. It’s an interesting dinosaur commander seeing as many of the green dinosaurs are also huge creatures.

#19. Hierophant Bio-Titan

If Ghalta, Primal Hunger needs high-powered creatures around, Hierophant Bio-Titan feeds on +1/+1 counters. Need a little incentive to play with +1/+1 counters? Here’s an almost free 12/12, with vigilance and reach.

#18. Koma, World-Eater

This card delivers the stats, on a Standard-legal set, no less. Koma, World-Eater is an 8/12 that can’t be countered, and just one hit creates 4 3/3 creatures. Ward 4 is also very difficult to deal with. This card is a great fit with its other version, Koma, Cosmos Serpent, giving you more things to do with Koma's Coils.

#17. Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle

Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle is, first and foremost, a mana rock that generates 2 mana. You need to cast five spells to turn it into a creature, or have the counters moved in other ways. Some people play it as a commander, but plenty of popular Simic commanders, like Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, appreciate this card in the 99. 

#16. Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth doesn’t have any downsides. It’s giant, you draw four cards even if the card gets countered, and it has annihilator 4. Some EDH decks just want to ramp into Kozilek, cast it, draw cards, and sometimes even attack and decimate a board.

#15. Kozilek, the Great Distortion

Kozilek, the Great Distortion, while being a weaker creature than Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, potentially draws more cards, up to seven. You also gain the counter ability, which saves you now and then. These cards usually see play together in EDH, so play whatever you like best, whatever you have at hand, or ideally both.

#14. Emrakul, the World Anew

Emrakul, the World Anew can be cast for as little as 6 colorless mana with a discard outlet. Once that happens, one player unfortunately loses all their creatures to you. It’s up to you to choose who’s gonna hate you for the next five minutes. And yeah, in 1v1 it’s pretty much over. And if this cast trigger isn't ridiculous enough, well, you get a 12/12 to rumble, with some relevant protection from spot removal.

#13. Unhallowed Phalanx

It’s a 1/13! It’s common. And as many entries in this list, you’ll jam Unhallowed Phalanx in decks that care about the defensive aspect of the card. Thirteen toughness! Take that, Eldrazi titans.

#12. Krosan Cloudscraper

The dream with Krosan Cloudscraper is morphing it, then unmorphing it by paying 9 mana, so you can hit with a 13/13. Oh, and it also has a downside while in play. MTG in the 90s was way more clunky. But today, we can cheat this into play by blinking the morph, or with abilities from legends like Kaust, Eyes of the Glade or Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods.

#11. Tree of Redemption

People love or hate this card because of the Masters 25 reprint episode. But seriously, take a look at the card. With 13 toughness, Tree of Redemption certainly blocks well. You can use this card to gain 13 life if you were to die. You can also make this a 0/20 and strike for the win with the help of Doran, the Siege Tower and friends. If you’re into toughness synergies, I’d run this one.

#10. Tree of Perdition

As a black high-toughness matters card, Tree of Perdition sees less play than its green counterpart. In EDH, where life totals start at 40, it has an alternate job of keeping life totals low. In addition, turning this into a 0/40 and hitting is a good combo.

#9. The Last Ride

I’m rating The Last Ride as a potential card-draw engine, and even better if you benefit from life payment. Greed is also a card, so if you need card draw, play one or both.

Turning this into a creature becomes harder depending on the format you play, but Commander decks that need more vehicles or more artifacts should take a look at this card.

#8. Death's Shadow

Death's Shadow sees lots of competitive 1v1 play in decks that lower their own life total via fetch lands and shocklands, or by paying life for effects. Either way, you get a 5/5 or bigger for just 1 mana most of the time.

An interesting interaction is to Oust one Death's Shadow and shrink or kill the other one because they gained life. Just don’t bother playing this card in EDH; maybe The Last Ride fits better there.

#7. Emrakul, the Promised End

Combining a big creature with a Mindslaver effect often is the “promised end.” Emrakul, the Promised End saw competitive play across many formats as a card worth building your deck around. Against many decks, especially combo ones, taking someone's turn is often game over. Or you just burn your opponent with their own spells.

#6. Autochthon Wurm

At the 14-toughness threshold we have a *not* very exciting card. I remember Autochthon Wurm being a go wide tech some 10-15 years ago. Yes, it’s a 9/14 trample that costs a whopping 15 mana, but you can reduce it. In the past, paying 7-8 mana for a creature this big was premium.

#5. The Pride of Hull Clade

We’ve reached the 15-toughness bracket with The Pride of Hull Clade. This card is very weird with its 2/15 stats, but it’s an enabler and payoff for high toughness. The dream is to use the activated ability on itself, attack, and draw 15 cards if it goes unblocked. Once you build around this crocodile elk turtle, it sometimes attacks as a 15/15 with cards like Assault Formation, and then you’re really in business.

#4. Worldspine Wurm

Worldspine Wurm has a guaranteed place in green decks trying to cheat creatures into play. It’s not bad as a 15/15 trampler, but once it dies, you get three “small” 5/5 trample wurms for your efforts. This card is one of Xenagos, God of Revels’ best buddies, attacking as a 30/30 haste when it comes into play. It’s also a nice combo with Flash.

#3. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is not our #1 on the high toughness aspect, but it’s probably the #1 creature in MTG to cheat into play. This card brings inevitability in 1v1 games, and one attack is often enough to win the game or to turn it in your favor.

#2. Impervious Greatwurm

Moving up the ladder at 16 toughness we have Impervious Greatwurm. This card is a 16/16 indestructible creature with convoke in order to offset the steep 10-mana cost. You usually see this played with cards that care about cheating big creatures into play, or in Commander decks that go wide. Once you have a 16/16 indestructible in play, be sure to give it trample.

#1. Charix, the Raging Isle

Our undisputed toughness leader is Charix, the Raging Isle. As a blocker, it holds the fort surprisingly well, and no one attacks into it safely because of the 3-mana threat of activation. Besides, as a commander, you have access to cards that let it go unblocked and switch its power and toughness, with a little pump. Or include this in your “defenders/toughness matters” deck.

Best High-Toughness Creature Payoffs

There’s a surprising amount of support for high-toughness creatures, usually from sets that have this as a Limited archetype (Crimson Vow, Dragons of Tarkir, Ravnica Allegiance), or from Commander designs. Here’s how you can put your high-toughness creatures to full power.

MTG has several cards that synergize with high-toughness cards, or will give you a bonus based on a certain toughness threshold:

• Abzan Beastmaster draws cards if you control the highest toughness among all creatures.
• Catapult Fodder / Catapult Captain can be great finishers.
• Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper gains life based on the creature’s toughness, like a strange lifelink ability.
• Betor, Kin to All gives you different bonuses if your total toughness is 10, 20, or 40.
• Arbor Adherent generates mana based on toughness. It doesn’t count its own, but there’s plenty of 0/5 creatures for 1-2 mana around.
• Geralf, Visionary Sticher makes tokens based on the highest amount of toughness you have available.
• Phenax, God of Deception lets you build a novel mill deck around cards like Unhallowed Phalanx. Tap it, mill for 13!

Sometimes, you want to deal damage using a creature’s toughness rather than its power. Of course, many creatures that have high toughness are defender creatures, so you need them to be able to attack as well:

• Assault Formation and High Alert are premium cards to support your “defender” strategy.
• Ancient Lumberknot and Sapling of Colfenor are creatures you want in this strategy, both as enablers and payoffs.
• Doran, the Siege Tower is the classic defender/high toughness commander. Considering MTG’s power creep, there are better alternatives around, but don’t forget this one as a role-player.
• Arcades, the Strategist not only lets your defenders attack, but also draws a card whenever you cast a defender.
• Felothar the Steadfast was made for a defender decks. It turns the good old 0/6s of this world in to something that can sac them to draw 6 cards!
• Baldin, Century Herdmaster and Plagon, Lord of the Beach are also interesting payoffs for high-toughness cards.

Wrap Up

Charix, the Raging Isle | Illustration by Kekai Kotaki

And that’s about it for the highest-toughness cards in MTG. I know that evaluating the printed toughness of the card brings is an incomplete picture. We could also consider cards that have * in their toughness, so they can be very big, cards that enter the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters, and so on – Lord of Extinction comes to mind.

Were there any notable omissions? Which other creatures do you play in toughness-matters decks? Leave us a message in the comments section below, or on Draftsim Twitter/X. Thanks for reading, and keep your defenses up, guys!