The 71 Best Cards in Outlaws of Thunder Junction Ranked

Last updated on April 29, 2024

Kaervek, the Punisher | Illustration by Pedro Potier

Outlaws of Thunder Junction looks to be an MTG set with very powerful cards and a very powerful hat game, both eclipsing Murders at Karlov Manor. There are a lot of cards here that will make waves in Standard, Pioneer, and Commander, and I think we’ll see more than our usual share of cards for Modern from a regular Standard set release.

Alrighty, pardner, let’s git along and look at the best of the lot!

#71. Gold Rush

I think there is a Treasures Commander deck where Gold Rush is the nuts. The green is tough, though.

#70. Deepmuck Desperado

Deepmuck Desperado seems useful. If you’re operating at instant speed, I can see how this contributes to the mill plan.

#69. Shifting Grift

Shifting Grift seems hilarious in Commander for all 6 mana.

#68. Boom Box

A Boom Box seems good to pack for emergencies alongside artifact commanders.

#67. Magda, the Hoardmaster

Magda, the Hoardmaster is surely better than I think, but the gated ability feels bad.

#66. Rustler Rampage

Rustler Rampage is pretty niche, but it will win some games.

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#65. Return the Favor

This is likely sideboard city, but I just see Return the Favor being hilarious in an Izzet turns mirror match.

#64. Annie Flash, the Veteran

For 6?!? I guess Annie Flash, the Veteran is Sun Titan in the command zone, sort of, in your, um, Naya blink deck?

#63. Colossal Rattlewurm

All I see is milling this to find your Scavenger Grounds, so maybe Commander only, but potentially nice tech.

#62. Map the Frontier

We have Invasion of Zendikar and similar effects, but Map the Frontier can nab your Scavenger Grounds.

#61. Gisa, the Hellraiser

Gisa, the Hellraiser is good to drop as an Overrun in a zombie or skeleton deck, but I am otherwise not a believer.

#60. One Last Job

Floor is a 5 mana reanimation spell. Always useful in Standard. But One Last Job gets better.

#59. Claim Jumper

There’s only so many Knight of the White Orchids we can play in Commander. But I like that Claim Jumper potentially triggers twice.

#58. Pillage the Bog

In 60-card formats it takes 10 lands for Pillage the Bog to be Assemble the Team. That card is a decent enough tutor in Timeless because it can come out early. So this is only for land ramp decks, especially in Commander, where it kind of does decent work.

#57. Railway Brawler

Railway Brawler is another 5-drop for mono green devotion. Is there room?

#56. Eriette, the Beguiler

Eriette, the Beguiler looks like the most fun Commander buildaround in the set. And I’m sure it’s fine when opponents play creatures.

#55. Stingerback Terror

Without haste, Stingerback Terror is likely just a combo piece that can be discovered. It is cool that all instant speed cards in your hand become combat tricks.

#54. Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero

Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero goes infinite with Mind Over Matter and something like a Psionic Gift. Do with that what you will, EDH brewers.

#53. Bristly Bill, Spine Sower

This plant druid seems useful in an Agatha's Soul Cauldron deck. And Bristly Bill, Spine Sower looks like a great card for Commander counters decks, maybe even as a counters commander?

#52. The “… Joins Ups”

All five of these enchantments seem good in a legends deck, especially because they are also legendary. Are they better than the legendary creatures that synergize with the rest of the deck? We’ll find out. In order of excellence, I’d suggest:

• Annie Joins Up
• Rakdos Joins Up
• Kellan Joins Up
• Vraska Joins Up
• Tinybones Joins Up

#51. Calamity, Galloping Inferno

Art says this has haste and Calamity, Galloping Inferno does! You want good ETBs since you get two tokens when saddled. I’m sure there are better cards, but I keep thinking of my fave pryomancer suite: Young Pyromancer, Seasoned Pyromancer, and Viashino Pyromancer. Still not sure where I'll play this huge red creature, though….

#50. Kambal, Profiteering Mayor

You can feel the Treasures wincon in Commander with Kambal, Profiteering Mayor, can’t you?

#49. Fleeting Reflection

This blue instant seems ridiculously good! Fleeting Reflection is going to so often be a two-for-one. And a 2-mana clone??? My god, it’s full of stars.

#48. Akul the Unrepentant

A dream in the vein of Show and Tell. Have Akul the Unrepentant in hand. Turn 1 and 2 get three unworthy-of-removal creatures out. Turn 3 Insatiable AvariceAtraxa, Grand Unifier or Vein Ripper to the top of your deck. Turn 4 Akul into the bomb. Fun, huh? Of course, since the ability is sorcery speed, any removal fizzles it. Still, there’s something here as a part of a longer game package.

#47. Kellan, the Kid

I can’t see Kellan, the Kid working outside of plot, flashback, foretell, and adventure cards that draw cards. Otherwise the engine sputters.

The exception is a janky combo. Kellan out. 4 mana up. Hustle / Bustle is cast as Hustle. Aven Interrupter plots it from the stack. Cast Bustle for free. Now you can cast a 7-drop for free from your hand. If only there was a big Phyrexian angel for us. So if you can draw all four parts of this you have a nice combo. If.

#46. Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot

In a world where they have Skrelv's Hive out and churning and you drop Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot and then End the Festivities, well it just starts your festivities! This feels absolutely plausible in a Boros () burn shell, especially now that Lightning Helix is legal in Standard. I don’t see Boros burn charging up the ranks in Commander, but I feel like this card has a place.

#45. Laughing Jasper Flint

Obviously there’s some kind of meme deck here for Commander which I have little faith in, but Laughing Jasper Flint seems cool enough for a Mardu () Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival sort of thing, since it yoinks at least one card for free every turn.

#44. Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius

If they’d made a fourth season with The Thirteenth Doctor we’d have surely met this Simic () druid. As it stands, they’re immediately joining any deck helmed by The Doctor. Bear in mind (I’ll be here all week), plot, foretell, adventure, disturb, and especially flashback all get a deep discount from Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius. For a lot of flashback and disturb costs especially, Doc reduces the recursion cost to the casting cost, which is pretty swell.

#43. Magebane Lizard

Magebane Lizard hates storm decks. Note that storm copies aren’t cast, but a storm deck typically wants to cast a lot of cheap or free spells to maximize those storm triggers. This also puts in work against prowess, Underworld Breach, and Lotus Field decks. So this is likely a good sideboard card.

#42. Arid Archway

In a world of Spelunking, Arid Archway promises to grant a huge next turn. Guildless Commons sees a lot of play in EDH, and this desert will, as well.

#41. Trash the Town

Trash the Town is an inefficient combat trick, yes. But in any deck with green that attacks with creatures, especially a go-wide deck, this is a 2-mana draw-two, assuming you avoid a removal blowout. 3 mana gets you the trample you might need, so Divination. This is going to work out much better than Warriors' Lesson.

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#40. Hell to Pay

A Fireball that doesn't go face. Okay. But in Commander, with Ingenious Artillerist and Reckless Fireweaver out, now we’re talking! And a removal spell you can use instead for some ramp isn’t the worst thing. So I’ll run Hell to Pay in Treasure decks, even though they enter tapped.

#39. Ornery Tumblewagg

A Luminarch Aspirant is good even at 3 mana, as we saw with Siege Veteran. Is that good in green with no real typal synergies and some extra abilities? Probably, and for sure in Commander.

#38. Vraska, the Silencer

This seems like an awesome, efficient Golgari commander. Vraska, the Silencer can get returned permanents’ ETBs, and, as with the frustrating Kitesail Larcenist, the ability to keep their cards out of the graveyard if you don’t crack them is big game against certain decks.

#37. Obeka, Splitter of Seconds

There are a bunch of busted things to do in Commander with Obeka, Splitter of Seconds, from Darksteel Reactor to Mechanized Production to Herald of Leshrac. In Standard, there’s Phyrexian Arena and Mindsplice Apparatus. Beyond that, what matters most is likely cards you only have out when you’re winning, like Portal to Phyrexia and Virtue of Persistence. Plus it’s a damage trigger, and those are hard, so Commander-only, and mostly jank at that.

#36. Assimilation Aegis

If I have a token creature lying around for attaching, this is a fragile Fractured Identity. So that’s fun. But more realistically this is an Oblivion Ring-style upgrade of Glass Casket for bigger threats. It’s very cool in Commander, where copying artifacts is a bit easier. In formats where you play Teleportation Circle, this munches its way through tokens.

I see Assimilation Aegis as a nice option for Azorius () control strategies playing planeswalkers that poop out tokens. When you have your countermagic ready, equipping this to your samurai token or whatnot to make it their Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or something worse seems really nice. Plus, you can use this on your own creature so you can kind of make it hide behind your tokens, which makes your opponent have to think twice about attacks.

#35. Selvala, Eager Trailblazer

It’s hard to evaluate a card that pretty easily goes infinite with Staff of Domination that’s also an elf, because all I think of are busted Commander applications! This is asking a lot in 60-card formats. The joke is that the Mercenaries can adjust each other’s powers to get you the mana you need, which seems more meme than dream. But I can see this in a Naya go-wide deck, especially with all the red haste enablers in Standard.

#34. Caustic Bronco

Dark Confidant at home or dangerous Scroll Thief? Caustic Bronco triggers on attack, not combat damage, which is really convenient.

So let’s say you’re running this snake horse as just a black creature that can get you cards. Cool. You will rarely saddle it, as that doesn’t seem worth it, usually. But perhaps you also just drop an Insatiable Avarice and just set something juicy on the top of your deck. You saddle the Bronco and attack to saddle the opponent with the life loss off the flip and…. it’s Shadow of Mortality to dome them for 15!

That’s not the hardest thing in the world to do, especially if you can protect your horsey. And this is on plan for a Hidetsugu and Kairi deck, anyway, which folks tried and largely abandoned. But maybe there’s something’s there now?

#33. Geralf, the Fleshwright

Poppet Stitcher can make zombies on other players’ turns, but they are decayed until you flip it and then you don’t make any more. Geralf, the Fleshwright can only work on your turn, and only with the second and subsequent spells each turn, but what you get out of that is a lot more value. Loads of walkers plus pumping the other zombies you might have. Put this blue warlock and the Stitcher together in a control deck filled with Flip the Switch, Startle, Rotten Reunion and other, better Dimir control spells? I could see it. This also slots nicely into EDH decks focused on zombies or Izzet spells.

If this blue creature is good enough for Standard, which I sort of doubt, I can predict that someone on coverage will say it wrong, in the way you expect, to the widespread hilarity of Twitch chat and podcasts the following week.

#32. Seize the Secrets

Would this improve Izzet Murktide or Dimir control enough to up their tier in their formats? Draw two for 2 is good, even at sorcery speed. I’m in for Seize the Secrets!

#31. Phantom Interference

A Quench that you can also be a flying spirit for 3 more mana? Time for some Phantom Interference with Pioneer Azorius spirits, maybe?

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#30. Forsaken Miner

Forsaken Miner doesn’t come back tapped! It doesn’t block, sure, but if I get four of these in the graveyard and Cut Down on your end step after you swing at me with everything, I mean, doesn’t that feel like super budget (I still have to pay 4 mana…) almost maybe Arclight Phoenix? I know, calm down, Steve! I will not!!

#29. The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride

I was offended for The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride for this indignity until I saw it eats its riders. Hell, yes! The haste is good and it gives you something awesome to do with The Ancient One in your Sultai brew.

#28. Lively Dirge

There aren’t that many Entomb effects running around out there, so one more is always good for Commander nonsense. Lively Dirge adds something new to Standard in that way, as well. And then you’ve got the second ability. Call of the Death-Dweller was quite playable in its day. A 4-mana version that gets two big cards in the Urborg Lhurgoyf deck or reanimates a good 4-drop for only 4 mana is good.

For 5 mana you can just grab Sheoldred, the Apocalypse out of your deck and put it on the battlefield. So can Beseech the Mirror for 4 mana (plus the bargain cost), but in Lively Dirge‘s case 4 of this mana is colorless, so think about it.

#27. Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot

Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot plots Slick Sequence for you, as well as Lightning Helix and Sacred Fire if you expand your colors. A 3-drop seems a bit much for prowess, but for this kind of value we can make it happen! In other formats, Izzet Charm, Expressive Iteration, etc.

#26. Marchesa, Dealer of Death

Everything Grixis () wants to do is a crime. So I see Marchesa, Dealer of Death climbing the ranks as a Grixis spellslinger commander, mostly because of their simplicity. Archmage Emeritus didn’t even see much play in Standard, and MTG was even slower then, so it’s hard for me to see this working in other formats.

#25. Oko, the Ringleader

Becoming a copy instead of entering as a copy means we need to find a nonlegendary creature this matters for in the age of ETBs. Terror of the Peaks and Venerated Rotpriest come to mind. There’s plenty more. Getting a +1/+1 counter on this seems sweet for Agatha's Soul Cauldron, as well. Then draw cards toward ultimate with removal backup? Seems legit.

#24. Aven Interrupter

This white creature is gonna be soooo annoying! I love it! Aven Interrupter does things I like.

First, it can work like an Unsubstantiate, but better in the late game because they can’t recast the card this turn. You also get a 2/2 flier for the deal. If you have some instant-speed blink around, you could prevent them from casting something important, like a key combo piece, for a really long time.

Second, you can plot your own spells. That feels like extra wasteful durdle, and it is! As long as you aren’t plotting counterspells, though, this might be a nice way to get a card out of your hand for storm-style payoffs, to get the sweeper out on a turn when an opponent is tapped out, or to guard against discard spells. Niche cases, sure, but they will happen.

Third, it can permanently bin a counterspell, plotted spells can only be cast at sorcery speed.

#23. Another Round

At sorcery speed, Another Round seems less useful than EDH blink’s favorite card, Eerie Interlude. Sure. But paying 5 to get double ETBs on everything is wacky. It’s cheaper and faster than Golden Argosy, so maybe the dream of blinking Aether Channeler and Virus Beetle as a “build your own one-sided board wipe” is slightly less impossibly far off?

#22. Tinybones, the Pickpocket & Servant of the Stinger

Attack damage triggers are hard, but the deathtouch helps. In formats with Orcish Bowmasters, Servant of the Stinger might just be better than Tinybones, the Pickpocket, but the Pickpocket in the command zone seems super fun.

#21. Requisition Raid

Requisition Raid is Wear / Tear in one color that can pump your team. It’ll find its way into a million sideboards.

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#20. Kaervek, the Punisher

I hate this so much for Arena. The nonsense mono-black decks filled with nothing but removal and Virtue of Persistence you see in the low ranks on the ladder have a new tool. Just about every spell in their deck triggers this and lets them recur another removal spell from the graveyard. Yawn. And I thought mono-red annoyed me.

I do like this for Dimir control, though. Discard, of course. Casting a counterspell is a crime, which means you can cast a second counter from the yard, which will feel a bit like sacrificing something for Make Disappear to doubly make sure you get your counter in.

#19. Rakdos, the Muscle

Wait, what? Why is this a thing? Rakdos, the Muscle, if you look closely enough, only has one red pip. Which means if you want to turn your Dimir () mill deck into a slightly Grixis () one, you can always cast and then sac Lord Xander, the Collector to keep that lost dream alive. And you can always chomp that unearthed Terisian Mindbreaker before it exiles itself.

I know that’s all a bit much, but this card tells me I can play a Rakdos () sac deck, maybe even one with old steal and sac vibes, and deplete the opponent’s library as an alternate wincon.

Sure, I can just use the cards, but if this can get folded into Scion of Draco rainbow decks in Modern, even out of the sideboard, that exiles a meaningful amount of their deck. It’s impossible to imagine actually having time to cast this card in Modern, but if the right cheat can be found, watch out.

#18. Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds

The Huntsman's Redemption and Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds (which Redemption can find, by the way) are good together and may be a Standard deck, especially with meme/dream Roxanne, Starfall Savant. Add another card you’ve heard about called Fable of the Mirror-Breaker in Pioneer and predictably crazy stuff starts happening.

#17. Jace Reawakened

So you can drop this blue planeswalker on turn 2 on your opponent’s turn in Pioneer and Modern with Leyline of Anticipation out. And then you can plot a card that costs 2, like Valki, God of Lies / Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor Then you can play either side for free once you’ve plotted the card.

Is all of that worth the deckbuilding costs? Maybe not.

Okay, so looking at this in a fair way, Jace Reawakened does nice things for you in a classic control shell. You can just keep upticking and plotting and using removal and sweepers while stockpiling whatever board state you want to drop when you’re ready and just vomiting cardboard at the right time.

#16. Nurturing Pixie

Clearly my boomer is showing, but if you played Shrieking Drake back in the day, you know how good this kind of thing can be. You can always use a Clue from Novice Inspector to make Nurturing Pixie a flying 2/2 on turn 2 and still cast another spell! But there’s also good ETBs to recur, and there are more of those on 1-drops in Standard alone to list here!

#15. Satoru, the Infiltrator

Any ability to draw a card that isn’t gated to only once a turn is a potentially busted card, and that’s what we have in the very cheap to cast Satoru, the Infiltrator. There are cEDH brews abounding to see if filling the deck with Ornithopter and other zero-cost cards can just churn through the deck looking for combos. We’ll see.

But I think this legendary ninja will be an awesome card in basically a Dimir or Esper scam package using flicker cards and Not Dead After All-style effects to draw cards. Reanimation helps, as well, and ninjutsu, of course. Will access to Persist mean that this has a role in Modern, where there are bad Dimir control decks using Grief? That seems ambitious, but I’m building this deck in Standard day one.

#14. Pitiless Carnage

I’m getting strong Squandered Resources vibes from this, but maybe it’s even better in today’s MTG? Tap all lands, sac all lands and pump away on Proft's Eidetic Memory. Convoke things, sac the convokers, and go? Of course, if you’re just sacrificing a bunch of artifact tokens, so much the better.

Pitiless Carnage is the one card in the set that is soooooo much better for plot being face up. Will it chill your opponent from doing something big for worry about the kind of turn you’re going to have next?

In Commander this seems like a must-include in a black deck.

#13. High Noon

Shut down Arclight Phoenix, storm, and Lotus Field decks with High Noon. Then sac it to go face for 5 and also shut it off for your own busted turn.

#12. Duelist of the Mind

The world champ’s card slots so nicely into the new hotness deck, Proft's Eidetic Memory, especially a version that uses Coveted Falcon, for a possible turn-4 kill in Standard. And Duelist of the Mind is a strong blue card overall. The big question is whether or not it’s good enough to displace something to go into Arclight Phoenix decks.

#11. Slick Sequence

This is my hottest take, I think, but Slick Sequence will make Izzet prowess decks finally viable again, down the chain from Standard to Modern. Damage, especially damage that can go dome, with a card stapled on, for 1 mana cheaper than beloved boomer burner Electrolyze is really big game. Outside of prowess, this isn’t enough for Modern, but I can see it finding a home in Arclight Phoenix, especially if they ever ban Treasure Cruise. And given we’re going to see Spirebluff Canal in Standard again, let’s go!

#10. Slickshot Show-Off

Festival Crasher always needed haste! Here’s to prowess climbing the ranks. Also mono-red gets another toy in Standard in Slickshot Show-Off.

#9. Enemy Fastlands

The fastlands are finished, with these supplementing the allied lands from Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Sure, Blooming Marsh, Botanical Sanctum, and Concealed Courtyard are all awesome, but getting those fast Jeskai vibes going with Inspiring Vantage and Spirebluff Canal is where it’s at for me! And Boros Convoke will get even better. Yay?

#8. Terror of the Peaks

Terror of the Peaks is a huge reprint. Classic beater and finisher.

#7. Smuggler’s Surprise

Smuggler's Surprise isn’t quite Tooth and Nail, as you have to have already tutored or drew the creatures. But it’s also at instant speed, which is bonkers. 1 more mana and whatever you drop is indestructible this turn. That is pretty sweet. Or you can just self-mill. But I love that for 2 you can make a big creature (well, all your big creatures!) indestructible and hexproof.

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#6. Rush of Dread

Rounded up?! So I can Rush of Dread you to death with Bloodletter of Aclazotz out. Good times for, well, no one, but it’s a thing.

#5. Getaway Glamer

Folks use Touch the Spirit Realm as a blink that can be slow removal in various decks, including Goryo's Vengeance scam decks in Modern. Isn’t Getaway Glamer just better since you have the option to cast it for 4?

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#4. Insatiable Avarice

Insatiable Avarice can be a worse Grim Tutor, but in mono-black decks just drawing three is pretty wild. And if you pay 5, which is tough at sorcery speed, you can tutor and then draw the card plus two more. That seems a good deal for Standard and Commander. If that’s not all, you can always use the card to finish off an opponent by pointing it at them, which will happen more often than you might think.

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#3. Great Train Heist

When you really want a Relentless Assault to finish the game, Great Train Heist is here for you. When you wish you could cast the Assault after blockers are declared, well, the Heist is here for you. When you need a 3-mana mass-pump effect but never put Burn Bright style cards in Constructed decks because they usually rot in your hand, the Heist’s got you.

But when you want the option to flood the board with tapped Treasures for 2 mana in a go-wide deck, well that’s just awesome across formats, but especially in Commander with Ingenious Artillerist and Reckless Fireweaver out.

And will you ever want to spend 4 mana to untap all of your creatures at instant speed on someone else’s turn? Maybe! I can see Izzet decks wanting that option. And this is the only red instant that does that.

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#2. Three Steps Ahead

This is kind of a DIY Sublime Epiphany that does quite a bit less for more mana. You can always cast Three Steps Ahead as a Cancel, which you don’t love. Or as less good card draw than Archmage's Charm. Or both together, which is pretty inefficient at 5 mana. But in decks with Haughty Djinn that lose when they have the wrong things in hand at the wrong time, a counter or Impulse is useful even at this cost.

The real fun is copying a creature or artifact at instant speed. We don’t really have a lot of that, and often those copies have to be sacrificed, as on Molten Duplication. But I really want to do that to Assimilation Aegis in response to an attack.

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

#1. Final Showdown

There are instant-speed board wipes, especially for smaller creatures, but Final Showdown drops as the best of a very limited field.

The Showdown can be cast for 6, but the fact that it’s a modal card makes it so, so much better. Think of Cyclonic Rift and its utility. I can Showdown for 2 and save a creature from combat or some kinds of removal. For 2 I can also blank creatures like Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor before combat. For 7 I can kill indestructible creatures with the sweeper, and for 8 I can save one of mine.

We have a lot of great board wipes in Standard right now, but anyone who lived through the Settle the Wreckage years knows that instant speed is another thing entirely.

Reminder that this can be fetched with Micromancer.

Round Up

Requisition Raid | Illustration by Viko Menezes

Yee haw! Those are some good cards. There are still some doozies that I didn’t have room for, but this all looks very fun to try out. I like when sets have a lot of modal cards and buildaround cards. It makes the cards so much more fun for me across formats.

How are you feeling about the set? How are some of the new cards from the OTJ Commander Decks looking? Let us know in the comments or on Discord while I mosey on out of here.

(*tips hat*)