The 46 Best Knights in Magic Ranked

Last updated on April 19, 2024

Knight of the Reliquary | Illustration by Michael Komarck

Knights will always be iconic to fantasy settings. Wherever there’s a beautiful damsel in distress, wherever there’s a dragon in need of slaying, and wherever a young squire needs berating, a knight will be there.

Knights have been around in Magic: The Gathering since its inception, going all the way back to Alpha with Black Knight and White Knight. While they originally focused on the protection and first strike mechanics, they’ve since been broadened into a creature type with many different archetypes.

What are the best knights? And how can you build around them? Let’s take a look at the best knights in Magic!

What Are Knights in MTG?

Knight Exemplar | Illustration by Jason Chan

Knight is a creature type most commonly found on white cards. It’s a creature “class” type, meaning it’s often the second type after a creature’s race (think “Creature – Human Knight”). Knights are known for their access to the protection, first strike, and vigilance keywords, but have recently been expanded to include a whole range of effects and play styles. Knight decks, once reserved for mono-white, now show up as across different color combinations: white-black, Mardu (), Esper (), and even Abzan () decks.

Knights have been in the game since Alpha, and new knights are printed constantly.

#46. Dauntless Bodyguard

Dauntless Bodyguard is my favorite form of protection in my mono-white Commander decks. It’s simple and effective at saving commanders from the inevitable targeted removal or board wipe, and it’s an absolutely gorgeous foil if you can get your hands on it.

#45. Steel Leaf Champion

My favorite green cards are the ones that cost no generic mana to play. These cards are typically straightforward beaters, like Elvish Warrior or Kalonian Tusker. Steel Leaf Champion might be one of the best cards in this theme. A 5/4 for 3 mana that can’t be chump blocked speaks for itself.

#44. Cavalier of Flame

Cavalier of Flame does its best to set you up for success, but ultimately ends up being too costly for its pay off. Another 2 mana to for haste and a middling amount of damage (on average) from its death trigger means the red Cavalier pales in comparison to the others in the cycle.

#43. Hero of Bladehold

Hero of Bladehold will always be a valuable knight, and it’s simple math to explain why. Here, you’re paying 4 mana for a 3/4 that creates two 1/1s tapped and attacking, which get +1/+0 from the battle cry trigger. That’s a total of 7 power on the first attack for just 4 mana. And that’s assuming you don’t have any other knights to take advantage of that battle cry.

#42. Cavalier of Dawn

The cycle of Cavaliers from Core Set 2020 were a suite of mono-colored mythic rare elemental knight creatures with some fairly strong abilities. Cavalier of Dawn isn’t the strongest of the bunch, but it does pack a punch in the form of its pseudo-Generous Gift effect. It sucks that it has to die to recur an artifact or enchantment, and it feels like that permanent could’ve been returned to the battlefield instead.

#41. Exsanguinator Cavalry

A 2/3 with some relevant evergreen keywords and a conditional advantage-generator is about the bog standard for new Commander rares. While Exsanguinator Cavalry isn’t the flashiest knight, it still finds a home in any knight-themed Commander deck thanks to the Whirling Dervish-esque effect it grants to your entire field.

#40. Benalish Marshal

Benalish Marshal dares to ask the question: “What if you put Glorious Anthem on a body?” 3 white mana might seem extremely overcosted, but consider how buffed up your field gets when you add this 3/3 and its anthem effect to your board of knights. Best of all, it’s broad-buff applies to all creatures you control, making it a great lord effect for just about any deck.

#39. Cavalier of Gales

Cavalier of Gales is a Brainstorm on a 5/5 body for 5 mana, which is better value for a creature than blue usually gets. Its second ability prevents you from exploiting that card draw effect, but it’s still worth the include in your blue knight deck.

#38. Ethersworn Adjudicator

Ethersworn Adjudicator is generally one of the better top-end knights. Any deck with a lot of mana to throw around can make excellent use of this Mortify on a Vedalken body.

#37. Josu Vess, Lich Knight

There’s a reason Josu Vess, Lich Knight keeps showing up in Commander precons: it’s because it’s good. Josu Vess is fine value as a 4/5 with menace, but really blows up if you can hit its kicker cost. Sure, 10 mana is a lot to be paying outside of EDH, but 10 mana for 20 power will always be worth it, especially when those tokens are knight-type and get the bonuses from the rest of your knight lords.

#36. Champion of Dusk

The vampire and knights Venn Diagram has a pretty large crossover section, with many of the best knights actually belonging to vampire typal decks. Champion of Dusk is one of the best top-end spells for a vampire deck, especially one with a lot of token generation. This knight sees play in every vampire deck whether the commander’s Edgar Markov or Elenda, the Dusk Rose.

#35. Midnight Reaper

Midnight Reaper’s card draw ability can get out of hand quickly if you’ve built your deck well. Run out a free sacrifice outlet like Carrion Feeder and then let your Gravecrawler jump in and out of its own grave to draw a mass of cards.

#34. Cavalier of Thorns

Cavalier of Thorns sort of splits the difference between two of green’s iconic abilities: ramping your mana base, and returning a card to your library Reclaim-style. These abilities on top of a 5/6 reach body make it one of the more playable knights from the Cavalier cycle.

#33. Riders of the Mark

Riders of the Mark is a big creature built for the Timmy in all of us. As a 7/4 with trample and haste it hits the field like a Ball Lightning with the added bonus of making more human tokens to reduce its cost the following turn.

#32. Danitha Capashen, Paragon

The original Danitha Capashen, Paragon printing from Dominaria is a cost-reducer for aura and equipment spells. It’s about as basic as a legendary creature can get, but I still make sure to find space for it in each of my equipment- or aura-focused EDH decks.

#31. Mosswood Dreadknight

Not to let a moment in pop culture pass without capitalizing on it somehow, somebody at Wizards saw A24’s The Green Knight in 2021 and a few years later gave us Mosswood Dreadknight (yes, I know it’s based on an actual Arthurian legend, but the design on this card is too similar to the movie for me to ignore).

Mosswood Dreadknight’s ability to be recast as an adventure from the graveyard gives it a persistence we haven’t seen before in a knight card. Although a 4 mana and 1 life investment for a 3/2 creature and a draw isn’t a great rate, I’m always a fan of anything you can keep casting once you’ve run out of cards in hand.

#30. Timber Paladin

Timber Paladin is a rare from Wilds of Eldraine Commander that’s just begging to be enchanted. This 1/1 weenie grows exponentially with each aura cast on it, in addition to reaping those aura’s effects. Timber Paladin makes a great early play and can be followed up quickly with three cheap auras on the following turn; I’m thinking Rancor, Keen Sense, and Ethereal Armor.

#29. Arvad the Cursed

Arvad the Cursed is my personal favorite for a legendary-type matters deck. The +2/+2 is more than we’d usually see on a lord effect. And as anyone who’s played Vampire Nighthawk knows, you can always use another instance of deathtouch and lifelink on the board.

#28. Ellivere of the Wild Court

Ellivere of the Wild Court is the knight creature that makes enchantress decks sing with joy. Ellivere’s conditional card draw is easy to achieve, so long as you have creatures to keep enchanting. It’s even better when run alongside auras that grant evasion like Gryff's Boon.

#27. Vodalian Wave-Knight

Vodalian Wave-Knight does double-duty as a lord for both knight decks and merfolk decks. Luckily you get to trigger this once for free each turn, and any additional card draw will get out of hand real fast.

#26. Inspiring Veteran

Don’t worry, there’s no shortage of knightly lord cards, no matter what colors you’re playing. Inspiring Veteran is the Boros-aligned knight lord, and while it doesn’t grant any additional effects, it still makes a great turn 2 play.

#25. Aryel, Knight of Windgrace

Aryel, Knight of Windgrace’s token generation effect is a fair use of your mana, but it really shines as surprise removal in your knights deck. Don’t waste turns tapping Aryel for more knights unless you need to; instead drop it and follow up with a couple Call the Bloodline activations to make its removal option better.

#24. Knight-Errant of Eos

March of the Machine’s Knight-Errant of Eos continues the pseudo-cycle of knights from the plane of Alara. Knight-Errant’s got a 4/4 body that you should never spend the full 5 mana on, plus it’ll dig six cards deep and get you two creatures from your library – in some instances performing better than Modern Horizons’ Ranger-Captain of Eos (not really).

#23. Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender

The planeswalker-hunting Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender is our only legendary food creature, making it the perfect commander for any food-themed deck. Syr Ginger gets stronger and stronger as you work your way through your meal, sacrificing those Food tokens for life and scrying. Before long, you’re left with a big ol’ cookie you can have for dessert.

#22. Corpse Knight

Corpse Knight is a sort of inverted Soul Warden, or another Suture Priest, depending on your take. Regardless, Corpse Knight is a staple in any aristocrats build, or more broadly in any deck that plans to play creatures.

#21. Éowyn, Shieldmaiden

Éowyn, Shieldmaiden is the go-to for Jeskai () human EDH decks, as far as I’m concerned. 5 mana places it on the steeper end of human commanders, but if we evaluate its conditional abilities as if they’ll always be met (and they will be easily in Commander), Éowyn’s actually 5 mana to place quite a bit of power on the field and replace the human spell you played from your hand.

#20. Syr Konrad, the Grim

Syr Konrad, the Grim suffers from the same issue as Josu Vess, Lich Knight, in that WotC just can’t stop printing them into Commander precons. Syr Konrad’s excellent value is responsible for their many reprints; it’s a 5/4 for 5 mana with some guaranteed direct damage, and provides a handy mana sink. In fact, Syr Konrad’s as good as a Braingeyser in any deck where you can create an infinite amount of mana.

#19. Shanid, Sleepers’ Scourge

Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge was the off-commander for the Dihada, Binder of Wills precon deck from Dominaria United. Shanid obviously requires you to be playing a lot of legendary permanents, and luckily, many knights are legendary. There’s also something to be said for passing menace around the board; it’s a lot better of an evasive ability than folks give it credit for.

#18. Sister of Silence

It’s not often we get access to another Stifle effect, and putting it on a mid-size body isn’t a half-bad idea. Really, Sister of Silence would’ve been fine without the ability to counter instants and sorceries as well, that’s just an extra bit of protection against those board wipes.

#17. Phyrexian Crusader

Phyrexian Crusader is the ultimate infect creature. At just 3 mana, you’re getting a 2/2 first striker with protection that doubles as evasion against red and white decks, plus it’s twice as lethal when it connects with a player thanks to those poison counters. Phyrexian Crusader sees play in janky poison-themed Modern decks, where it loves to be targeted with Vines of Vastwood and Tyvar's Stand.

#16. Knight of the White Orchid

Historically, white’s access to ramp spells has been poor at worst and middling at best. Knight of the White Orchid used to be the mono-white deck’s best option for catching up on land – absent a Land Tax.

#15. Bartolomé del Presidio

Bartolomé del Presidio is crazy because Wizards basically printed Carrion Feeder into the command zone, then added white because why not? A free, repeatable, instant-speed sacrifice outlet for 2 mana? And it’s just gonna make my commander bigger while I drain you to death with Blood Artist? No brainer.

#14. Herald of Hoofbeats

I’m sorry, knights I control have what? That’s right, Herald of Hoofbeats was the triumphant return of the horsemanship mechanic to Magic, not seen since Portal Three Kingdoms. Horsemanship’s unique evasion means your knights are suddenly charging past those blockers, and it works better than a Levitation in terms of turning your board into an instant threat.

#13. Knight Exemplar

For the longest time, Knight Exemplar reigned supreme as the best knight lord. +1/+1 and indestructible was just too much value on a 3-drop for anyone to contend with. Nowadays, this knight shares the throne with other lords like Marshal of Zhalfir.

#12. Marshal of Zhalfir

Marshal of Zhalfir beats out Knight Exemplar by virtue of just being cheaper to cast. In a knight-themed deck, you’ll want your type-based lords on the field as soon as possible, or you’ll want to combine them with multiple spells in the same turn to surprise an opponent with a lot more power on the attack than they expected. In light of that, Marshal’s just easier to cast.

#11. Fervent Champion

2018 World Champion Javier Dominguez was immortalized on Fervent Champion, which isn’t just one of the best 1-drop knights, it’s one of the best 1-drops in Magic. Two, count ‘em, two keyworded abilities, a small buff for another knight when it attacks (which it can do immediately, by the way), and a reduction on equip costs means Fervent Champion hits the field running and keeps pace the entire game.

#10. Murderous Rider

Perhaps some of my favorite targeted removal of all time, Murderous Rider is both a better Murder and a Vampire Nighthawk all in one. I only wish I could get it back from the bottom of my library easier than just straight-up paying to tutor for it. Alas, this is why you run four copies.

#9. Rafiq of the Many

Where would exalted decks be without Rafiq of the Many? Probably running a legend without exalted is where. Rafiq has hands-down the best exalted trigger in Magic, doubling your super-buffed solo attacker into huge damage before your opponent knows what hit them.

#8. Armored Skyhunter

You remember how I was talking about how good Knight-Captain of Eos’s ability to dig through your library is? Well, Armored Skyhunter just made it that much better. Armored Skyhunter grabs an aura or equipment from among the top six cards in your library, puts it on the field, and attaches it to a creature for free. This all happens during the declare attackers step, meaning phase-savvy players will be able to sneak a Colossus Hammer onto something with some evasion and surprise their opponents with a bonus 10 damage.

#7. Adeline, Resplendent Cathar

White has a long history of being the “power and toughness equal to the number of creatures you control” front-runner, and Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is one of the best creatures we’ve seen with that text. Any creature that cares about the number of creatures you control needs to have a way to make more on its own, and Adeline does that in spades by creating a 1/1 for each opponent you have. These 1/1s don’t even necessarily need to survive combat, since Adeline will “see” them on the field before damage is dealt, effectively gaining +3/+0 on each attack in a typical Commander pod.

#6. Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir

There’s no question that eminence is one of the strongest abilities a commander can have. An un-interactable effect that’s constantly online the entire game may as well just be a rules change in your favor. Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir is, admittedly, one of the lower power eminence commanders, but it still packs a wallop with a free loot each time you attack with your knights. Plus, it plays into those discards by returning a knight from your graveyard whenever Sidar connects!

#5. Knight of the Reliquary

At first glance, Knight of the Reliquary seems like a lot of investment for a slow payoff, until you realize the land it fetches comes into play untapped and isn’t required to be basic. Knight of the Reliquary tutors up those shock lands for you like nobody's business, besides getting bigger with each successful fetch.

#4. Battle Angels of Tyr

Battle Angels of Tyr takes white’s “play fair” mechanics and slaps it on a 4/4 body with flying and myriad, all for just 4 mana. With three or more angel knights attacking your opponents each turn, there’s no reason you won’t trigger all three effects on each attack; drawing a card, making a Treasure, and gaining 3 life.

#3. Inti, Seneschal of the Sun

Inti, Seneschal of the Sun uses a lot of text to basically say, “you’re gonna be impulse drawing through that deck.” Inti stuffs a lot of value into its Grizzly Bears body, guaranteeing you’ll squeeze damage by with each attack and replace those cards you pitched for the +1/+1 counters.

#2. Knight of the Ebon Legion

Core Set 2020’s Knight of the Ebon Legion is an insanely valuable 1-drop in any deck that plans on their opponent losing life. In addition to a great triggered ability, Knight of the Ebon Legion can make itself a 4/5 to guarantee you actually trigger that ability. It even comes in handy late-game, where you can just pump 3 mana into the Knight over and over again once you’re opponent has decided not to block it.

#1. Edgar Markov

Edgar Markov’s knight-typing feels like an afterthought when you consider the insane amount of value it generates for vampires, but that shouldn’t exclude it from being included in this list. As I mentioned before, eminence is one of the strongest abilities a commander can have, and Edgar Markov was all the proof we needed. Edgar is one of the most aggressive commanders in the game, and its lack of reprints has locked its price above $100 for years now.

The Best Knight Payoffs

Knights are good at a couple things, generally: First, they like to be equipped with artifacts and enchanted by auras. Next, they’re always looking to be declared as attackers in the combat step. And finally, they tend to have vigilance and make for great blockers.

Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale is the best commander you can get for any equipment-themed knight deck, effectively skipping the prohibitive equip costs for expensive weapons like Embercleave or The Reaver Cleaver.

Another Throne of Eldraine card, Knights' Charge, grants each of your attacking knights a small bit of life drain. Where it really shines is its 8-mana ability to return all knights from your graveyard to the battlefield. Finally, since many knights and knight tokens have vigilance, we should take advantage of that and make them the best blockers around. Glory of Warfare and Builder's Blessing are both excellent choices for the knight deck built around the combat step.

Are Knights Good?

Yes! Knights are one of the most well-supported creature types in Magic, especially since the focus they received in Throne of Eldraine and the Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir Commander precon.

What MTG Sets Have Knights? And How Many Knight Cards Are There?

There are over 450 cards with the “knight” creature type. Dominaria, Throne of Eldraine and Wilds of Eldraine were notable for including a heavy knight theme, while sets that took place on the plane of Alara (Shards of Alara, Alara Reborn, and Conflux) also included a significant number of knights from the shard known as Bant. Ultimately, a knight has appeared in damn near every set of Magic: The Gathering since its inception.

Wrap Up

Sister of Silence | Illustration by Games Workshop

While most of the knight creatures are focused in a few specific colors, their ubiquity to fantasy settings means we can get new knights in nearly any set on any plane (except for maybe Kamigawa, where they’re more or less replaced by samurai). I can’t wait until we have enough that I can build something weird and off-color, like a Golgari knight reanimator deck.

What are your favorite knights? Are there any excellent ones I omitted? Let me know in the comments, or over on Draftsim’s TwXtter.

Thanks for reading!