Thurid, Mare of Destiny | Illustration by Ishikawa Kenta
I submit the following thesis for your consideration, Magic players of the jury: There is a Mythical Creatures Tax at WotC. Birds? Good. Monkeys? Great. Even raccoons, bunnies, otters, all sorts of things, even tanuki, everything in the natural world makes a Magic card of reasonable power level. But grab a showy creature that could be a child’s fantasy BFF and/or show up on ‘70s album art and/or the side of an ‘80s conversion van, like your unicorns, griffins, and pegasus, and they’re underpowered.
That said, there are some good pegasi/pegasuses. Since we’re ranking all pegasi in MTG, the bottom of the list is going to be rough, but we’re gonna have a good time here. I’ll supplement the sagging power level with snark and shenanigans.
Buckle up for the flight, and please keep your hands and arms near the beast.
What Are Pegasus Cards in MTG?
Pegasus Courser | Illustration by Mathias Kollros
Pegasus is a creature type that first appeared in Alpha with Mesa Pegasus, and primarily appears in white.
Note that I’ll cover the two non-legal pegasi, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, after the list of legal cards.
Okay. Let’s fly!
#23. Sunmane Pegasus
John Severin Brassell has an approved pegasus paint livery, with dashing yellow highlights and a fin-like mane that looks like how they’d have manufactured a pegasus action figure in the ‘80s. None of that rescues Sunmane Pegasus from the underwhelm that haunts this creature type.
#22. Pegasus Courser
Continuing to put the “sus” is “pegasus,” Pegasus Courser jumps a buddy. I’d like Mathias Kollros to explain the collar thing that drags to the ground like the Fourth Doctor’s scarf. I hear Edna Mode screaming: “No capes!”
#21. Armored Pegasus
I find both the original Portal art by Andrew Robinson and the Tempest version by Una Fricker hilarious. Each Armored Pegasus looks existentially weighed down by this ill-advised armor. And each of them seems to only have armor where the other doesn’t, as if they wheel through the skies, looking for their love, the one that was foretold and which will complete them, armor and soul.
#20. Pegasus Charger
First strike is just not this good. That said, respect for Val Mayerik’s Pegasus Charger art, which really conveys that “I am first striking you, bro!” energy, probably the best among first strike cards.
#19. Mistral Charger
The boring stats on Mistral Charger are slightly more interesting with the cards that care about 2-power creatures? So many of these pegasi show up as fringe plays in Arabella, Abandoned Doll decks, which is about the best testimony to being under-statted I can think of. I do like the way Nils Hamm’s soaring equine pauses to look at the viewer, like a commercial for Mane ‘n Tail shampoo.
#18. Stormfront Pegasus
I’m just taking a moment to think about Stormfront Pegasus and Mistral Charger as uncommons at this stat line. Power creep is real, folks.
#17. Tizerus Charger
The black pegasus is the works, with lightning in the background, indoors, as it seems to wait on chained rocks to escape, freeing it’s “Wicked Game” era Chris Isaak pompadour upon the lands o’er which it will commence its dread flight! Too good a vibe from Jason A. Engle’s art for Tizerus Charger, a common below even Draft chaff in its environment.
#16. Loyal Pegasus
Another John Severin Brassell joint, Loyal Pegasus is fine in Limited as a flying Savannah Lions. But you can almost feel its art posture, on the tip of the lands of the pegasi, looking across the waters at the lands of good decks, wishing for a friend since it can’t venture forth alone. Perhaps, you, my misunderstood friend, are the companion it needs?
#15. Concordia Pegasus
A 1/3 for 2 that flies is sorta fine for Limited. Concordia Pegasus is hoping you’ll just focus on that magnificent tail in Chris Rahn’s art. How long is it? Long enough, Mikey. Long enough.
#14. Plated Pegasus
In a flash, Plated Pegasus swoops down to (checks notes) prevent 1 point of damage to everything! All are friends to this good steed of the air! Some day this card will be a piece of a combo. Until then, it waits in cardboard boxes to flash out at its appointed time.
#13. Trusted Pegasus
One of the better stats lines in what I now want to call the “Ride Me, Gideon” mechanic after reading Trusted Pegasus’s cursed flavor text. A 2/2 flier for 3 with an ability doesn’t quite hack it these days.
#12. Phyrexian Pegasus
Now Gideon-free, Phyrexian Pegasus is here to make sure even Phyrexian typal decks have access to overcosted, under-statted fliers in white!
#11. Sungrace Pegasus
Flying and lifelink for 2 mana makes Sungrace Pegasus a niche include in keyword-palooza Odric, Lunarch Marshal decks. Otherwise, this is in the running for the least wanted card in Pioneer Masters on Arena.
#10. Arborea Pegasus
Blink targets always have some kind of a home, and Arborea Pegasus has a sorta okayish ETB. Justyna Dura’s art is rad, also. Its head is like as big as the rider holding on for dear life. This is one pegasus that never skips leg day!
#9. Shepherd of the Clouds
A third eye (maybe?), a fancy jazzercise leg kick, and evocative art by Valera Lutfullina isn’t enough to save a 5-drop Raise Dead that gets better with mounts. Still, you could do a lot worse than Shepherd of the Clouds, which sounds like a phrase Robert Plant screams on the back half of Stairway to Heaven but, F.Y.I., it’s not.
#8. Mesa Pegasus
Melissa Benson’s art from Alpha is still there on a card which rarely sees reprints because banding is a lot. If you’re playing banding matters in EDH, maybe in your boutique Ayesha Tanaka deck, by all means.
#7. Park Heights Pegasus
One of the most frustrating rares to open in Streets of New Capenna Limited, gazing on one of these in your rare slot felt a bit like this creature must feel constrained by the claustrophobic roof here. An awkward Scroll Thief with hard to meet conditions is a such a bummer that even as card draw in Selesnya (), Park Heights Pegasus is underpowered.
#6. Cavalry Pegasus
Cavalry Pegasus jumps the whole team of humans, which is kind of huge, and certainly the best version of the “I’m Gonna Ride this Pegasus into this Air” battle mechanic we have. Kev Waker’s art is funny, though. Dude in the back look like he’s reading the manual, or a map, or a complex menu as this beast readies itself to jump off a cliff. Exactly how is this thing enabling all the humans to fly, again? Shh, don’t worry about it, buddy. Just c’m’ere.
#5. Pegasus Guardian
Leanna Crossan’s art for Pegasus Guardian is lovely and sweet. The Rescue the Foal adventure spell, which is what makes this card so good, looks like you (yes you, with those hands!) have in fact just rescued the little pegasus and have now turned it over to its guardian. Nice! Usually, you don’t really want a 6-drop that makes tokens in a blink deck, but it’s just a solid value bonus on the card.
#4. Boreas Charger
Christine Choi’s Boreas Charger is working so hard fetching plains for you that it’s losing the odd feather! Good horsey! Look, this is one of the best white catchup cards we have. It grabs all plains, not just the basics, so you can pull up a ton of fixing. And it does this when it leaves the battlefield, which means you can blink this for fun and profit as long as there’s someone at the EDH table with more lands that you.
#3. Vryn Wingmare
Vryn Wingmare is a reasonably popular card, chilling in Gaddock Teeg decks, naturally, but it’s also a good buddy for blink decks, Yasharn, Implacable Earth control decks, and Winota, Joiner of Forces decks. Making things more expensive is annoying, and there aren’t that many cards that do that if you’re in the market.
#2. Starnheim Courser
Artifact cost reductions are cool. Same for enchantments. Getting both on one card is kinda awesome. Of course, as a 3-drop, Starnheim Courser isn’t the most timely cost reducer. Andrew Mar’s pegasus probably needed time to get all that sweet shiny armor strapped on and is just missing the first rays of dawn. But when it shows up, it sparkles, baby.
#1. Thurid, Mare of Destiny
Not only is this the best pegasus, making copies of assorted equines as they’re cast and serving as a lord. Not only is it a possible, if not quite competitive commander. But Thurid, Mare of Destiny has a sweet name and the raddest artwork we have. Kenta Ishikawa’s art just looks like it’s ready to bust right out of the puffy sticker on your Trapper Keeper and take you away from all your troubles to soar across the skies to a soundtrack of one wailing solo guitar, heavy on the whammy bar, while leaving a wake of glitter and jealous middle schoolers. #bitchin
Caveat: My spouse, who also grew up in the ‘80s, when gazing upon this card, said in full “Gag Me with a Spoon” intonation, “Who braided its hair?!??” So maybe this art isn’t quite as rad as it seemed to me. I think we need to crowdsource this question, so fire up those comments!
Best Pegasus Payoffs
The jokes? Only you can be the judge of that, I guess, having read this far? There are four EDH spaces here, I think.
Pegasus Storm!
Any eight-year-olds reading this who want that as a band name, be my guest. There are a ton of cards that do pegasus tokens things. Many of those cards want other pegasus bodies on the battlefield, so some of these pegasus cards get better with the power of friendship!
Are any of these besides the Archon good enough in other decks? Not yet.
Arabella, Abandoned Doll
Arabella, Abandoned Doll wants creatures with low power and evasion. In Boros colors (), that means pegasi fit the bill, to some extent. The better build is tokens, of course, but people have posted these decks, if only for memes.
Thurid, Mare of Destiny
The boss of horses, unicorns, and pegasi, Thurid, Mare of Destiny needs pegasi to be able to round out a deck in mono-white, as that leaves out some of the best equines in Boros and Selesnya colors. Thurid also shows up in Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn and Shadowfax, Lord of Horses decks, where it’s probably better than as a general. Maybe someday we’ll get better payoffs.
My Little Pony!
The brief for this article read with an audible sigh to me: “I guess we should mention Princess Twilight Sparkle.” It was even highlighted in a rarely seen desultory orange color so I’d see it. I saw it! Let’s glow!
Princess Twilight Sparkle is a fine pegasus commander. This card, of course, loves every pony, including all the equines you can sleeve up.
Sadly, not all the My Little Pony cards in MTG support pegasi directly, so even if you can convince your playgroup to let you use these cards, you’re not gaining much. Pegasus art direction tends to be so hardcore, there are no smiles to be found for Pinkie Pie! There are some synergies with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, which is just as weird to write as it is to read.
Are There Any Pegasus Commanders in MTG?
There’s Thurid, Mare of Destiny, and that’s about it. There are other commanders that synergize with under-statted fliers in white, like Arabella, Abandoned Doll, but not well enough to matter.
Do Pegasi Count as Horses in MTG?
Nope! Each equine is its own creature type, which is why they’re all spelled out on cards like Thurid, Mare of Destiny and Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Wrap Up
Starnheim Courser | Illustration by Andrew Mar
I think there’s a vast untapped answer to The Pegasus Problem in MTG: horsemanship! Let's convert the “Ride Me, Gideon” jumping mechanic into granting the rider horsemanship! I mean, if I jump on the back of a pegasus and run into battle, how exactly do you “block” me? It’s like the charge of a heavy horse from any direction with airborne hooves, a blast of wind from the wings and whatever the rider is doing in any direction.
Okay, so maybe you’re a dragon or kraken or whatnot and can actually block that. How about the return of flanking in addition to the flying? That would mean my storm of righteous pegasi would roll over your fiddly band of lil birds.
We need something, and I also demand the immediate return of support for Pegasus tokens! Are you with me, internet? Let me know in the comments or on Discord if you’re Team Flying Horseys!
Happy brewing!
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