The 29 Best Prowess Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on September 8, 2026

Monastery Swiftspear | Illustration by Steve Argyle

Prowess ranks with flying and haste as one of the most aggressive keywords in Magic. Making your creatures larger as you cast spell enables fantastically fast starts, with aggro decks often being defined by which prowess creatures they can play.

But not every prowess creature is a small beater like Monastery Swiftspear, and some of them are quite dominant with token creation. If you want to juice up your next deck with aggression, consider these prowess creatures.

What are Prowess Cards in MTG?

Fugitive Codebreaker | Illustration by joseph Weston

Prowess is a triggered ability that gives a creature +1/+1 when you cast a noncreature spell. This ability stacks, which means a good spellslinger deck can make a prowess creature become a true threat.

This list will rank cards with the prowess keyword ability, though we will be considering what the cards do beyond just having prowess. In some cases, that ability is what makes the card great. In others, its the secondary or tertiary abilities that are pulling the weight.

Honorable Mention: Sapphire Collector

With the digital-only mechanic conjure and an acorn stamp, don’t expect to see Sapphire Collector often. But it’s an amazing card to Rule 0 in Commander, and one of the best Alchemy cards Wizards could have printed for Cube builders.

#29. Fugitive Codebreaker

If you’re paying Fugitive Codebreaker’s full disguise cost, you’re not only playing this card wrong, but you’re playing your entire deck wrong. This can only see any real play in a spellslinger deck, which means that by the moment this card hits the field face down, you should already be able to turn it face up for a single red mana.

All that being said, this is a good red creature, but it’s far from my first pick for a prowess deck since it can be a bit slow, and the benefits aren’t all that great.

#28. Abbot of Keral Keep

Abbot of Keral Keep isn’t too complex, but it’s ultimately useful. Impulse draw is great in most spellcasting decks, since you should be playing plenty of low-mana value spells.

An additional benefit of this card is its own low mana value. That makes it easier to cast early while leaving enough mana open to cast most of what you could exile with it.

#27. Molten Lavamancer

Molten Lavamancer has a lot of restrictions. It only triggers on your turn, only once, and it doesn’t count your opponents individually, but passive token creation is still pretty solid. I’m imagining casting this and triggering Impact Tremors, then making a token and doing it again.

#26. Aisha of Sparks and Smoke

I’m a bit conflicted on this one. On the one hand it has nice stats, and being able to give it first strike is pretty good. On the other, casting a spell after dealing damage is counterintuitive and not as useful when paired up with prowess.

I think Aisha of Sparks and Smoke has its uses and can earn a place in tons of decks, but I find its design a bit unintuitive and I don’t really love that.

#25. Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot

I’m not gonna say casting multicolored spells is niche or hyper-specific, but giving Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot a specific condition like that is definitely a good slow-down on power creep, especially in an archetype like spellslinger, which uses tons of monocolored spells.

All that being said, if you have a nice build to fit this Izzet rogue into, it can become really fun and pretty powerful without too much work. Especially since it plots the cards instead of giving them something with less player interaction, like rebound.

#24. Seeker of the Way

One of the biggest issues I’ve encountered when playing prowess decks is that I always end up leaving myself open to attacks. Of course, there are plenty of ways to prepare for that, but it’s always nice to give yourself some extra support. In this case, with Seeker of the Way’s lifelink.

#23. Stormwing Entity

Playing Stormwing Entity for its full cost? Terrible. Playing it for its reduced cost? Now that’s much better. In any case, you shouldn’t have any issues playing this card for its reduced cost since you should always be playing it in spellslinger decks.

Scry is always good in decks that cast tons of spells (and usually draw tons of cards), and I’ve already spoken on the virtues of cards with prowess and evasive abilities.

#22. Bedlam Reveler

Most of my opinions on Bedlam Reveler are similar to those on Fugitive Codebreaker. I ultimately prefer this devil horror due to its better stats, and the fact that its ability triggers when it enters the battlefield, which makes it a bit more reliable.

The higher mana value can be a bit of a drawback since you’ll take longer to cast it, but decks running Bedlam Reveler are well-equipped to bring that cost down.

#21. Invasion of Regatha / Disciples of the Inferno

I’m simply gonna skip this card’s battle side and go straight into Disciples of the Inferno, which is very much a burn card.

Being able to increase the damage your spells do can uptick the speed of your already absurdly fast archetype. This creature is amazing support for any burn deck, and it can even find a place in less burn-oriented spellslinger decks.

#20. Stormchaser Mage

At this point I feel kind of annoying saying “yes, prowess and flying is a good combo,” but hey, can you blame me? Stormchaser Mage not only has prowess and flying, but also haste and a more than reasonable mana value.

This card won’t be a gamechanger, but it’s reliable and a good reward for a small investment.

#19. Monica Rambeau / Photon, Living Light

Photon, Living Light is the star of this transforming modal-double faced card because it spreads the prowess love to your other creatures. Okay, they don’t technically get prowess, but +1/+1 counters are arguably stronger and Photon’s hard to remove, making it a great finisher for go-wide decks. Just try to avoid playing Monica so your opponent doesn’t remove it before you get to the good part.

#18. Eris, Roar of the Storm

Yes, it has flying and prowess. With that out of the way, let’s look at the rest of Eris, Roar of the Storm’s abilities. For starters, its mana reducing ability can be a bit hard to hit at first, considering most spellslinger decks focus on spells with mana values of 1 or 2. But you can still work around this easily, especially if you’re using Eris as your Izzet commander.

And once this card hits the battlefield, it shouldn’t be too hard for this warlock to build a pretty large dragon army to overpower your opponents.

#17. Elusive Otter

I’m a huge fan of the recent increase in otter creatures. But Elusive Otter is kind of a thorn in my side. Its adventure is great, especially in green decks, and the creature’s abilities are more than decent.

This Simic card’s not bad at all, but its adventure being green puts it back a bit for me. For one, it doesn't fit in Izzet otter Commander decks. But more importantly, it has some issues fitting into most prowess and spellslinger Commander decks since they tend to be either Izzet or Jeskai.

#16. Sokka, Tenacious Tactician

Monastery Mentor gets the commander treatment on Sokka, Tenacious Tactician. Your allies tokens only have prowess as long as you control Sokka, but Jeskai has the tools to protect it plus redundant versions of the effect like Bria, Riptide Rogue and such. It can take over a game pretty easily.

#15. Khenra Spellspear / Gitaxian Spellstalker

I’ve been playing a ton of Brawl lately, and there’s no card in my prowess deck that draws as much hate as Khenra Spellspear. And I absolutely get it, because if it manages to transform into Gitaxian Spellstalker it can prove to be a pretty threatening creature.

#14. Emberheart Challenger

Emberheart Challenger is a very pushed creature as a 2/2 haste with prowess, and as you go off by targeting it with your own spells, you get to cast more spells. It’s not rare to see it attacking as a 4/4 or greater while also drawing extra cards.

#13. Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest

I have some mixed feelings about this card. I’m not a big of its mechanics, especially when compared to some of the other khans in its cycle. That being said, if we add Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest into a more aggressive deck, its ability can prove pretty useful. Like, one-shot an opponent out of nowhere useful.

#12. Lyse Hext

As a 2/2 for 3 mana, Lyse Hext starts small, but it's a heck of a card thanks to its cost reduction. Once you start attacking with this as a 4/4 or larger with double strike regularly, you’re in business. The difference between casting only one spell and two is huge, so treat this as a flurry card.

#11. Firebending Student

Scaling firebending is a frightening ability with the right mana sinks. For Firebending Student, that often correlates to cheap red instants. You can cast a Kumano Faces Kakkazan, attack, and fire off Lightning Strike! Combat tricks are also extremely useful here; Monstrous Rage becomes a ritual that produces 4 red, if you can only find the right outlet.

#10. Pinnacle Monk / Mystic Peak

I’m considering this card a red Shipwreck Dowser. But we must also consider that Pinnacle Monk is also a red land as a fail-safe, and we get a nice prowess creature that we can slot into decks virtually for free.

#9. Bria, Riptide Rogue

When Bria, Riptide Rogue was spoiled, I saw a lot of people saying it made sense that this card is the face of a starter, low-powered deck. I mean, sure, this otter commander’s no competitive card, but it’s definitely a fun card and one that fits perfectly into any prowess deck.

Giving additional instances of prowess to your creatures is really good, and being able to make them unblockable more than makes up for Bria's somewhat higher mana value. Do not underestimate the damage output on this card.

#8. Kitsa, Otterball Elite

Look how far Merfolk Looter has come! For no additional mana, Kitsa, Otterball Elite has vigilance so you don’t need to choose between attacking and looting, prowess so it attacks, and an extra activated ability so your 2-drop remains relevant. Power creep, baby! All that adds up to an extremely solid card worth playing if you have cheap instants and sorceries to copy.

#7. Riptide Gearhulk

Riptide Gearhulk is big, it’s an artifact for decks that care about that, and it comes with a catch-all removal spell attached, the kind we love from Teferi, Hero of Dominaria.

A 2/5 double strike is already a great body for 5 mana, and in WUx spellslinger decks, this becomes an even larger beater fairly easily. The turns you burn a blocker into bounce another blocker into attack for 8 are, indeed, great.

#6. Drake Hatcher

Drake Hatcher offers you value early while casting spells and later as you create drake tokens. The worst part about prowess creatures is that many don’t have haste, so you lose whatever spell you cast after them, but this card can at least be charged with counters.

#5. Elsha, Threefold Master

Elsha, Threefold Master’s abilities all work in unison. It’s fragile at first as a 1/1 for 3 mana, but once it gets big, it becomes a payoff with its ability. Trample helps you connect, and you get the makings of a fine spellslinger or Voltron commander. Just getting a single monk token after Elsha connects is a great deal.

#4. Narset, Enlightened Exile

One thing I’ve found through playing Narset, Enlightened Exile is that it can be a tricky card if your opponents don’t pay proper attention to it. I run it in a deck with tons of defensive spells that cost 1-2 mana, because I always expect my opponents to use any removal they have on my Jeskai commander. To my surprise, I’ve had a ton of players opt into using their removal on other things. A decision they usually regret as soon as I get a chance to attack.

If you’re playing this Narset, you should aim at ending the game in a couple turns after playing it. And this doesn’t mean necessarily winning through damage, but rather playing so many spells that it becomes a consistent threat thanks to it giving prowess to your other creatures, while also being able to use both your and your opponent’s spells from the graveyard.

#3. Elsha of the Infinite

Elsha of the Infinite has a really neat design. It’s very clearly designed to be a Jeskai commander, but it’s a really fun (and pretty good) one at that. It's often seen as the face of storm decks. There’s definitely some other, more competitive options for those decks, but Elsha of the Infinite is a great entry point as well as being good enough to hold its own without any issue.

#2. Harmonic Prodigy

I really like Harmonic Prodigy’s design. The way it synergizes with most of the creatures you’d probably be running in spellslinger and prowess decks is definitely cool, and it can make some cards big threats by doubling their triggered abilities.

My only complaint against it is that it benefits wizards and shamans, but not monks, which make up a huge portion of the creatures with prowess. And this card was definitely thought up as support for prowess decks. But at the end of the day, it can enable some pretty powerful interactions.

#1. Soul-Scar Mage + Monastery Swiftspear

1-mana aggressive cards are just… sublime. Few openings in Magic are as scary as Mountain, Monastery Swiftspear. Soul-Scar Mage isn’t quite as good without haste, but these are both premium aggro tools that define several formats.

Best Prowess Payoffs

My first pick for enabling prowess would be combat tricks. A lot of decks outside of Limited kinda forego combat tricks since they can work around what they do either with equipment, creatures, or other options. But prowess decks have a more ephemeral strategy, and those cards become a lot better here. They trigger prowess, usually cost only 1-2 mana, and also empower your attacking creatures.

In a similar vein, burn spells are also great support for prowess. They increase your creatures’ stats while also either removing creatures or dealing some extra damage to your opponents to get you to victory faster.

Cantrips are excellent in prowess decks. Opt, Ponder, Consider, you name it. Drawing cards, looting, and rummaging already give us a lot of benefits, and even better when they can act as combat tricks. Sometimes you’ll chain a cantrip into another cantrip into a burn spell, affecting combat in a big way and dishing out loads of damage.

Some of the best pieces for a prowess strategy are cards the create prowess tokens, but are themselves noncreature spells that trigger prowess. Cori-Steel Cutter, Aligned Heart, and Stormchaser's Talent work on both ends both before and after you've established a board.

Prowess Token-Makers

Many cards make prowess tokens; in fact, some of these token makers are among the strongest and most played prowess cards in the game:

• Aligned Heart
• Cori-Steel Cutter
• Crescent Island Temple
• Elsha, Threefold Master
• Goblin Wizardry
• Jaya, Fiery Negotiator
• Jeskai Revelation
• Monastery Mentor
• Otterball Antics
• Ral, Crackling Wit
• Rally the Monastery
• Stormchaser's Talent
• Tolabow, Loch Rascal

How Can I Give My Creatures Prowess?

A small number of cards give your creatures prowess. Sokka, Tenacious Tactician gives your allies prowess while Wizard's Staff and the markedly less impressive Triton Wavebreaker give it to a single creature. Bria, Riptide Rogue and Narset, Enlightened Exile are currently the only cards to give proper team-wide prowess.

I’d also like to point out Jeskai Ascendancy, Gandalf, White Rider, and Balmor, Battlemage Captain as cards that don’t technically give your creatures prowess but have a similar play pattern of making your creatures larger for a turn when you cast multiple noncreature spells.

Wrap Up

Monastery Mentor | Illustration by Brian Valeza

These were my picks for the best prowess cards. I really like this mechanic and all of the flavor around it. I usually end these lists saying I wish the strategy gets some more support or things like that, but in this case I’m honestly really content with all of the options available. We consistently get new prowess designs with almost every set, while also having tons of different possible builds.

But enough about what I think. Do you agree with my list? What are your favorite prowess cards? Would you have preferred to see other cards here? Leave a comment letting us know! And while you’re here, make sure to pay our Discord server a visit, and check out The Daily Upkeep newsletter to stay up to date on all the latest MTG news.

That’s all from me for now. Have a good one, and I’ll see you next time!