The 31 Best Power-Matters Cards in Magic Ranked

Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma | Illustration by Svetlin Velinov

What do we want? More power! Where do we want it? On our creatures!

That’s right kids, today we’re looking at cards that reward you for having the biggest, punchiest creatures. Power absolutely matters in today’s list about cards where… well, power matters!

Why does power matter so much? Let’s find out!

What Are Power-Matters Cards in MTG?

Garruk's Uprising | Illustration by Wisnu Tan

Power matters starts with cards that care specifically about the power your creatures have, but I’m not interested in general pump spells (even if they give trample), cards that double power or similar like Unnatural Growth, or creatures that only care about their own power. Don’t be selfish with power, because there’s no “I” in team! These are cards that reference the power of other creatures for some sort of benefit or effect.

#31. Dina, Soul Steeper

Dina, Soul Steeper might not be what you think of when you’re thinking of a power matters-card, but it absolutely belongs! If you manage to pump your team and make Dina unblockable, you’re going to be able to swing in for one big hit. We’re going to see a lot of green in this list, but black is going to be rarer, so it’s good to see Dina show up here.

#30. Ghalta and Mavren

Ghalta is definitely a creature who cares about power, and Ghalta and Mavren just makes things even funnier. It has two modes, but we’re looking at the mode that wants you to have another big chonker to attack with next time. These guys are all about bringing friends along for the ride, and bonus points if they also have a lot of power!

#29. Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord

Sometimes you can have all the power in the world and you just can’t get past the opponents’ defenses. That’s where something like Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord comes in. No need to attack, just sac your creatures to Jarad, and bam! Your opponents are gone. Three mana isn’t exactly free, but with big enough dudes this should be able to deal with the inflated life totals of EDH.

#28. Tribute to the World Tree

Tribute to the World Tree is a useful card that’s great if you’re playing big guys, but it also helps out to make your smaller guys bigger. Triple green is fairly steep, but green cards tend to care about power. You should have plenty of forests if you’re wanting to make the most of these power-matters cards!

#27. Entish Restoration

Generally, you need a good amount of mana to help get out these creatures with big numbers in the power box. That’s where ramp cards like Entish Restoration come in. It even gets better if you have a creature with a good bit of power, making it perfect for a deck with this game plan in mind.

#26. Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Ghalta, Primal Hunger is the perfect card for a deck that cares about big power creatures. In the right deck, this is usually a 2-mana 12/12 trampler, an incredible rate for a big beater. Even if you can’t get the full discount, you get a good rate on your big stompy dino. Maybe someone might complain that it doesn’t do anything on its own, but you don’t need it to!

#25. Warstorm Surge

There’s a lot of creatures with big power values in Magic, but a lot of them are just big idiots that can’t do much more than attack. Warstorm Surge can help you there, making all your creatures do something when they enter. Hitting any target is amazing here: Not only do you hit creatures (and planeswalkers and battles), but you can also hit face to finish off your opponents. It doesn’t take many fatties to make an impact with one of these down, and I could arguably put it higher on the list.

#24. Disciple of Freyalise

A lot of the time you want to end the game with your big creatures, but sometimes you’re going to fall behind. A card like Disciple of Freyalise is a good option to have in hand if you ever find yourself caught up in a tricky position. Is one of your big idiots just sitting there waiting to be removed? Beat your opponent to it and draw a bunch of cards and gain some life. It won’t win you the game, but it might help you get there.

#23. Fling

Fling is almost an archetype of cards, but it’s the only one that’s made it onto this list. I could have included others, and I do love a fling. It’s a single use effect, but it’s cheap and versatile. It’d be difficult for me to keep this out of a deck, even for the comedy of flinging some huge hydra at someone’s face.

#22. Temur Ascendancy

Temur Ascendancy is known for being a bit of a combo card, but it’s also just a really good utility piece. Both abilities here are important, making your big guys be able to attack right away but also replenishing your hand as you play them. It can lead to incredibly powerful turns, even if you don’t completely combo off, and it’s an appealing inclusion if you can fit the colors in your deck.

#21. Colossal Majesty

Colossal Majesty is another entry on the “enchantment that draws cards when a big guy enters” archetype, but with the slight difference of an upkeep trigger. It’s a nice distinction, as it often means you draw that first card a little earlier than you would if it was just on ETB, although you might draw fewer cards in the long run. Still, it’s a nice effect that provides a bit of redundancy to your deck.

#20. Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner

Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner is essentially another draw on ETB enchantment, except it comes with a bit of ramp attached. I say a bit, but it was a key part of the mono-green devotion deck in Pioneer for a number of iterations, and it was incredibly powerful in that deck. Kiora definitely fits in other spaces, though, and you can even use it to untap your creatures in a pinch. I’d much rather untap a Gaea's Cradle, though.

#19. Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient

We all know that big creatures need big mana. Luckily, Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient is a big commander that can make really big mana. It really can’t be overstated just how much mana this dragon makes. If you can’t dump your hand onto the battlefield after a single attack, you’re either doing something very wrong or your opponent is doing something very right.

#18. Shamanic Revelation

Shamanic Revelation is an incredible draw spell in mono-green if you have the deck that fits it. Drawing cards and gaining life. The stuff that dreams are made of. Sometimes you don’t want to wait for your guys to enter to draw those cards, you just want a new handful right away. Super powerful card under the right circumstances.

#17. Mosswort Bridge

The hideaway lands may be printed in virtually every precon, but there’s a reason for that. Mosswort Bridge is a good example that just works normally, but it works very well if you care about your creatures’ power. There’s definitely a ceiling, but that doesn’t matter. It’s just simple and good.

#16. Traverse the Outlands

Traverse the Outlands seemed so broken to me when it was first spoiled. Of course, that’s the Timmy in me coming out. In fairness, if you do manage to pull a dozen lands out of your deck, you’re going to have fun for the rest of the game. Most decks may not run enough basics to get the best use out of this, but if you’re looking for land drops and big guys, I have the card for you!

#15. Temur Battle Rage

Sometimes all you need is a really good combat trick. Temur Battle Rage combines the best two keywords to include on a combat trick: double strike and trample. It made a big splash when it was first printed and still persists to this day. We’ve seen some more tricks recently that compete with it, but Battle Rage is still in contention among combat tricks. It really shows how strong this instant was when it was printed over a decade ago.

#14. The Skullspore Nexus

I said that we weren’t going to look at power doublers. Luckily, The Skullspore Nexus does more than just that; the power matters when making tokens and when you cast it in the first place, so it’s fantastic in a deck where you want high power. It does so much on a variety of different axes that you’ll be looking for a reason to take it off your list rather than a reason to add it in.

#13. Vaultborn Tyrant

Vaultborn Tyrant makes more experienced players balk at just how far power creep has gone. A nice ETB on a well-statted creature is great, but turning all your other big creatures into more card draw and lifegain plus replacing itself on the battlefield when it dies the first time is a lot. It’s just a really solid card that holds up on its own, and you can tell we’re getting into the really good stuff.

#12. Greater Good

Greater Good is a really classic way to draw cards if you have a lot of big creatures. The ability to activate it at instant speed (and for free!) is incredible here, too, allowing you to respond to removal or a board wipe. Discarding cards isn’t going to be much of a downside, and it’s not even a downside at all if you care about your ‘yard. It might look like just another draw card, but those subtle differences are key.

#11. Zilortha, Strength Incarnate

Zilortha, Strength Incarnate might be the first card that comes to mind when you think of a power-matters card. Indeed, it’s probably the purest power-matters card, as the antithesis to past toughness-matters cards like Doran, the Siege Tower. You’ll need to give the ability some thought, but it makes sense logically. It’s a bit more difficult to make work, but get your Lightning Elementals out because this is a fun one!

#10. Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma

A lot of big power creatures are missing trample, just to try and keep things at least a little balanced. Then we get cards like Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma that change all of that and just give them all trample (and a small pump to boot!). Add in a nice cost reducing ability, and you have a fierce package of a card.

#9. Rishkar’s Expertise

Rishkar's Expertise’s design might not be anything new these days, but it was pretty unique when it was first printed. It took a little while to see extensive play, but now it’s definitely a stalwart of Commander. There’s so much value packed into this card, and it’s difficult to make it fizzle outside of a straight counterspell. Somehow this still makes it into many green decks, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be usurped anytime soon.

#8. Chandra’s Ignition

How many games of Commander have been ended on the spot by a well-timed Chandra's Ignition? A lot of cards like this hit all players, but this example spares the self burn, which makes it infinitely better. It’s not difficult to make a game-changing play with this one, even if you don’t win the game outright. I was a big fan of this early on, but it seemed to take a while to catch on and is still underplayed in my opinion.

#7. Elemental Bond

Elemental Bond sets itself apart from similar cards by allowing you to draw off creatures with power 3, whereas these cards usually care about creatures with power 4 or greater. Sure, it’s only 1 point, but it does matter even if you’re trying to get creatures out with 10+ power. It’s clean, simple, and powerful.

#6. Return of the Wildspeaker

Optionality is great, and Return of the Wildspeaker leans into that. Sure, most of the time you’re going to draw cards. Getting the option of a +3/+3 for (effectively) your whole team is a great trick once in a while, too. This card has a fairly high mana cost, but it’s worth it, believe me.

#5. Selvala, Heart of the Wilds

Selvala, Heart of the Wilds is one of the better ramp options to get your big cards out. Super popular, and still asking for a good few dollars despite a handful of reprints. People just can’t get enough of Selvala and want to use the acceleration it provides. Card draw on top, too? Chef’s kiss.

#4. Garruk’s Uprising

Yes, yes, yes, another fattie ETB card draw card. What sets Garruk's Uprising apart? Trample. We’ve seen this a few times across power-matters cards, and combining both into one package does a lot for this card’s playability. Definitely a case of two good things make a great thing!

#3. Terror of the Peaks

We’ve seen a few cards that give a bit of reach to your fatties, but Terror of the Peaks is probably the king of that. If you want to be boring, you can assemble an infinite combo with it, or you can just use it to make your big guys nug your opponent in the head. I know which one I’d prefer.

#2. Altar of Dementia

We’ve seen a lot of similar power-matters designs, but there’s some more unique ones near the top. Altar of Dementia is one of them, and that might be because it’s difficult to balance cards that care about power in this way. It’s a great way to end a game if you just can’t get those last points of damage through. Just chuck your beasts at their deck instead! Because everyone loves losing to mill….

#1. The Great Henge

And top of the list we have… another ramp and card draw piece! The Great Henge is clearly an unbelievable card compared to the rest of the dregs on this list. It does an incredible amount of work and takes everything to extremes, apart from its cost which quickly becomes inconsequential. I certainly hope this card is never power crept out of the top spot because I really wouldn’t want to be playing against that card. Let’s just leave this as the powerhouse and be happy, eh?

Best Power-Matters Payoffs and Enablers

What enablers do you need in a power matters deck? There are two main types of cards I can think of: creatures with a lot of power, and cards that can boost power.

For high-power creatures, you’re mainly looking at green and red creatures (with a few black ones thrown in for good measure).

Green has Gigantosaurus, which has a pretty difficult mana cost if you’re not mono-green but is the man when it comes to getting some stats. There’s some cards, like Steel Leaf Champion and Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig who have a good amount of power too. Generally green gives you some nicely rounded stats on creatures with no real downside.

Red tends to have high powered but fragile creatures. Some good examples are Lightning Elemental, which has a low toughness and is removed relatively easily, or Ball Lightning, which you sacrifice at end of turn. It’s still good for high power, but you just need to work around those downsides.

Black also has some cheap, high-power creatures, but they usually come with more of a downside. The best example is Rotting Regisaur, a 3-mana 7/6 that makes you discard on upkeep. Sure, it dies to a removal spell, but your opponent is going to beat you about the head with it if you don’t remove it. White and blue can also have high-power creatures, but they’re much more rare.

If you want to pump the power of your team to make your high power matters stuff work, there’s plenty of power doublers about. One of the better ones is Unnatural Growth which doubles the power and toughness of your whole team, but there are plenty of other examples out there, especially in green.

Wrap Up

Colossal Majesty | Illustration by Randy Vargas

Surely power is the stat that matters most on creatures in Magic. It’s the thing that you hit your opponents about the head with, after all. If your creatures had no power, you’d struggle to win the game! High-powered creatures are getting cheaper and cheaper, too, which makes cards that work with them better and better.

What do you think? Do you have a deck built around high-powered creatures? Are there any cards I’ve missed in my limited knowledge of the game? It’s one of the more difficult aspects of the game to build around, but the tools are there. If someone was wanting to build along these lines, what would you tell them?

I hope you enjoyed this power-matters breakdown. What do you want to hear about in future? We’re always open to suggestions, so let me know below or across in our Discord. Whatever we end up talking about, I hope to see you there!