The 80 Best Ravnica Remastered Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on April 26, 2024

Cyclonic Rift | Illustration by Chris Rahn

With 13 (!) MTG sets that have taken place on Ravnica, you’d have to expect some banger cards in a Ravnica Remastered set that collated all of that for one Draft environment. Even just with rares and mythics, that’s a lot of fodder to boil down to just 71 rares and 20 mythics that make up this set, so I’d imagine they’re all really good cards. How do we rank the best of the best?

Very carefully!

I’m doing this with EDH primarily in mind, assuming that everyone who wants to play Arclight Phoenix in Pioneer or the shock lands in Modern already have their copies. This a reprint set, and I think those sets benefit Commander players the most. I’m looking for the best cards that work well in games of Commander and in some of the better archetypes in those games. For example, a card like Sphere of Safety is basically unplayable in any format but Commander, but it absolutely rocks in EDH enchantress decks, which are consistently popular.

There are so many good reprints in this set, and I’m sure I’m leaving off a few favorites. The top 30ish are more generically good, followed by about 50 key pieces for their respective decks.

All set? Let’s go!

#80. Wild Cantor

Wild Cantor and the next card are likely not better than cards I left off, like Ral Zarek, but I wanted to make sure you knew this card existed. This is the sort of thing you discover one day and wonder why no one told you it was perfect for your new Korvold, Gleeful Glutton deck.

#79. Loaming Shaman

Being able to empty someone’s graveyard at will in a Bant blink deck is worth more and more every year. Think again about Loaming Shaman.

#78. Voidslime

There are so many ways to get Stifle effects, and Voidslime can save your night.

#77. Niv-Mizzet Reborn

This card is just too fun to build around to leave it off the list. Niv-Mizzet Reborn is a lifestyle.

#76. Cindervines

Cindervines can really add up in your aggressive decks, especially if you get it down early. Just think of dropping this alongside Klothys, God of Destiny and you’ll see what I mean.

#75. Shattering Spree

Sometimes, you gotta pack a Shattering Spree, as inefficient as it seems. A nice reprint of a card that’s too expensive.

#74. Lord of the Void

Lord of the Void isn’t the best thing to ninjutsu in your Satoru Umezawa deck, but it’s up there.

#73. Drift of Phantasms

Transmuting for a 3-drop like Drift of Phantasms is fine, and it gets used quite a bit in the walls decks, it seems, as grabbing a High Alert, Wall of Denial, or Slaughter the Strong is a good thing.

#72. Quasiduplicate

Quasiduplicate is cheap for a copy, with jump-start value to boot, but this card gets worse as you increase the number of legendary creatures in your decks.

#71. Dreadbore

Dreadbore does the job, even though it’s been strictly power crept by Molten Collapse.

#70. Lightning Helix

I don’t buy Lightning Helix in Commander, although it’s fun to do your best Randy Buehler impression when you topdeck it. There are decks that like it, though, like General Ferrous Rokiric and Firesong and Sunspeaker.

#69. Pack Rat

A key piece of rat typal decks, Pack Rat really needed a reprint!

#68. Dimir House Guard

Transmuting for 4. I’ll bet you’ve got something you need for that. Inefficient, but if you can’t afford the good tutors or can and are using busted black fast mana in your cEDH K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth monster, Dimir House Guard does the work.

#67. Karlov of the Ghost Council

A classic commander, Karlov of the Ghost Council pairs well with combo star Amalia Benavides Aguirre, so we may see a resurgence in efficient Orzhov.

#66. Debt to the Deathless

Debt to the Deathless is a nice finisher for any Orzhov deck because it hits all opponents. It often synergizes in those colors as well. It’s expensive, but I’ve seen game states where this cast with X as 1 is enough to win.

#65. Teysa, Orzhov Scion

I know Teysa Karlov is better, but it feels a bit like a boomer flex to sit down at a table with Teysa, Orzhov Scion as your commander! If you can get working on making a bunch of those black and white spirit tokens that the afterlife mechanic makes, you can sac them and trigger Teysa at the same time. It’s like having an inefficient board wipe in the command zone. It works great against decks that want to durdle around with utility creatures like Baba Lysaga, Night Witch.

#64. Bruvac the Grandiloquent

Bruvac the Grandiloquent is absolutely required for a successful mill deck in Commander. Please let me know if anyone makes one of those….

#63. Turnabout

Turnabout is a sneaky way to win games. A true groan-inducer.

#62. Yeva, Nature’s Herald

Yeva, Nature's Herald is nice in an elfball deck, but I keep cutting it from my green stompy decks. I rarely am not tapped out. The new hotness seems to be to run Yeva as a commander, pack tutors, and drop Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant at instant speed.

#61. Condemn

If you play spot removal and need one more Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile sort of card, Condemn is a good one. You can also just use it for emergency lifegain by targeting your own creature, which makes this flexibly good with Swords in a lifegain deck.

#60. Golgari Grave-Troll + Golgari Thug

Busted in 60-card formats, dredge plays more like I think the designers thought it would in the diluted space of 99-card Commander decks. Both are great in classic Golgari graveyard matters decks. Golgari Thug is cheap and easy value. Golgari Grave-Troll wants you to really mean it, and it can be awesome. Other dredge reprints in this set, like Greater Mossdog and Shambling Shell are less impactful.

#59. Sphinx's Revelation

Knocking this out right before your turn starts is the classic control mage move. It’s still great, but it’s a bit harder to pass with 6+ mana up in Commander these days. If you can, Sphinx's Revelation brings value. It’s really nice with Will, Scion of Peace, if you’re building that deck.

#58. Maze's End

Gates are better in Commander with the printing of Baldur's Gate and Gond Gate, but I still think it unlikely that this works outside of Nine-Fingers Keene decks, and honestly, even in those decks. Still, if you’re going to gates, you have to have Maze's End, one of the few Dragon’s Maze cards anyone plays.

#57. Assemble the Legion

Slow value town. Assemble the Legion isn’t what you imagine when you’re thinking Boros, but this gets out of hand.

#56. Divine Visitation

Does anyone else (how to start your post to get upvoted on Magic reddit!) sing the name Mondrak, Glory Dominus in the vein of “Carmina Burana” (okay, so that didn’t finish as quite the upvote fishing it started with)? Maybe now you will? #earworm.

Anyway, if that’s your commander, you know you need Divine Visitation. Also sweet in Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation / Temple of Civilization and other token making decks. (Be honest, now. Aren’t you trying to squeeze the syllables of Ojer Taq into the music?)

#55. Ilharg, the Raze-Boar

The red “god” in the god-eternal Amonkhet cycle, Ilharg, the Raze-Boar is pretty nuts in decks like Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded and Henzie “Toolbox” Torre. It’s hard to remove andthere’s a lot of value here.

#54. Murmuring Mystic

I often finding myself cutting this from Izzet spellslinger tokens decks because it’s so much harder to cast in those shells as a 4-drop, but Murmuring Mystic is kinda cool doing the same kind of job in mono-blue or Azorius in decks like Octavia, Living Thesis, Raff, Weatherlight Stalwart, and my newest obsession, Zethi, Arcane Blademaster.

#53. Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God

Until they print a superfriends commander that really works in Grixis colors, you’re stuck with this in Esika, God of the Tree / The Prismatic Bridge decks, which isn’t that bad, really. Without other planeswalkers, though, Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God isn’t quite worth the squeeze.

#52. Lavinia, Azorius Renegade

Is Lavinia, Azorius Renegade more annoying as a stax commander than Grand Arbiter Augustin IV? With a reprint the cost goes down and you can buy one and see!

#51. Master of Cruelties

A niche card folks might not be aware of, Master of Cruelties does work in Rakdos decks that can easily ping you for the last life. But this really shines in decks that can make it unblockable, moments where you can pick on a player without defense to remove them from the game, and when it can be reanimated attacking as with Kaalia of the Vast and other such cards.

#50. Rakdos, Lord of Riots

The previous card is a must-include in Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck, which themselves remain popular as pingy value piles.

#49. Izzet Charm

It looks boomer-y, but Izzet Charm draws two cards at instant speed for 2 mana. That’s the deal. Then you’re Izzet so you can spell up the graveyard. Also, you can counter a thing or kill something small if you need to. One of the best charms in the game.

#48. Light Up the Stage

One of the best red impulse card draw spells, Light Up the Stage isn’t even embarrassing to play for 3 in a pinch.

#47. Coiling Oracle

Coiling Oracle is a rock solid Simic card that pretty much synergizes with the two things Simic decks want, lands and cards.

#46. Response / Resurgence

It’s expensive to cast the second half of Response / Resurgence, but there are tons of Boros and Mardu combat decks that dearly love their extra combats. The Response side as emergency removal is fine, as well.

#45. Expansion / Explosion

The classic finisher to the old Wilderness Reclamation decks, Expansion / Explosion is good on both halves. The Explosion part is really expensive, but if you have a lot of mana it can end someone’s night. It’s also good as an emergency twisted version of Sphinx's Revelation for yourself, where you pay life for cards. This card is used mostly in decks that like to copy spells for the Expansion side, and it’s nice to have that on rate with the potential upside of the other half.

#44. Legion Warboss

Can’t run a goblins deck without Legion Warboss. Someday, when that’s no longer true, we’ll know that power creep has truly eclipsed us with its spreading darkness. Also good in other decks, like Winota, Joiner of Forces and Neyali, Suns' Vanguard.

#43. Magewright's Stone

Didja know this was a card? And a pricey one up until now. You can imagine a thousand uses for this in your artifact decks, like Oswald Fiddlebender, but it’s really annoying with odd decks like Merieke Ri Berit. If this drops enough in price with the reprint, it’ll go in my upgraded The Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan deck.

#42. Hellkite Tyrant

Grabbing Hellkite Tyrant out of the 99 is one of the primary reasons to run Zirilan of the Claw as your dragon commander over the powerful multicolor alternatives. Go-wide dragon tokens is a fun archetype if you haven’t played it, and you can also use it as a Revel in Riches style wincon you can get to with cards like Mycosynth Lattice.

#41. Utvara Hellkite

The other reason to run Zirilan. Utvara Hellkite gets really, really out of hand if not answered.

#40. Midnight Reaper

A key card draw engine for Teysa Karlov style aristocrats decks as well as Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver zombie decks, there are only so many cards that do what Midnight Reaper does, so this is a must have for a ton of black decks.

#39. Illusionist's Bracers

Illusionist's Bracers goes infinite with creatures that tap to untap things, like Aphetto Alchemist. But this equipment is super useful in fairer decks that use the Bracers to double up good effects like those on Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink, Feldon of the Third Path, Alaundo the Seer, Dynaheir, Invoker Adept, etc.

#38. Massacre Girl

Playing Massacre Girl as your commander is a definite statement, and one which the Toski, Bearer of Secrets player at the table isn’t a fan of. But I like it best in assassin decks like Mari, the Killing Quill. It’s also hilarious with Grismold, the Dreadsower!

#37. Dark Confidant

Bob here is fine as a card engine given the life counts in Commander and the likelihood that someone wipes the board before turn 4. But Dark Confidant really shines in life loss decks like Rowan, Scion of War and sacrifice decks that can easily get you out of the Bob business when you need to.

#36. Life from the Loam

Most dredge cards reprinted in this set aren’t huge in Commander, but Life from the Loam has always been absurd in decks like The Gitrog Monster, and I can see this working nicely in The Mycotyrant and the next Golgari mythic rare WotC prints with a “The” in its name.

#35. Vindictive Vampire

4 mana is a lot, but in sacrifice decks, sometimes you really, really need one more card that drains and gains, and Vindictive Vampire is happy to be that card if you need it.

#34. Rest in Peace

Because sometimes you want to end the table’s fun super quick, and Rest in Peace is on that as fast as a high school vice principal who smells pot in the bathroom.

#33. Protean Hulk

A busted combo piece and efficient tutor, green mages are happy to see this Protean Hulk reprint!

#32. Karn, the Great Creator

Recently banned in Pioneer, it doesn’t seem like Karn, the Great Creator will matter in Commander, where you can’t have a sideboard to mine. But Karn lets you grab exiled things, which is a fine way to bring back key combo pieces. That said, you’re running this in Commander to blank people’s mana rocks and Treasures with the passive ability. And animating your big artifacts isn’t the worst thing ever, either.

#31. Cloudstone Curio

Cloudstone Curio goes infinite with a ham sandwich. If you’ve already eaten yours, try Dockside Extortionist. Maybe this goes higher on the list if Commander culture wasn’t so anti infinite combos, because it doesn’t do much else besides go boom.

#30. Blind Obedience

The extort is valuable for lifegain and drain decks, but Blind Obedience really mucks up everyone’s works, especially in Treasure-centric strategies.

#29. Sphere of Safety

Sphere of Safety feels like a wincon in enchantress decks. I mean, it’s not, but it feels like one as the table groans sadly in despair. Repeatedly. I guess you’ll find an actual wincon later. You’re drawing 15 cards a turn. But isn’t making the table want to quit Magic the real wincon for enchantress decks?

#28. Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Maybe aside from a few Chandras Liliana, Dreadhorde General is the best 6-mana planeswalker for Commander. Even if you just tick it down to force some sacrifices and draw cards, that’s killer on certain board states. And if you drop Liliana, make a zombie, and pass, they’ve got to deal with your planeswalker because its ultimate is really scary. They use a spell or attack, and in that case you defend and draw more cards. Sounds nice.

#27. Muddle the Mixture

Muddle the Mixture is a counterspell when you need it and you can transmute it into a tutor for a 2-drop when you want, as well. I’m sure you’ve got some 2-drops you could use. Orcish Bowmasters, maybe? Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy?

Ah, who are we kidding. You’re gonna go for Cyclonic Rift!

#26. Teferi, Time Raveler

Teferi, Time Raveler as bounce with value really blanked quite a few opposing strategies in War of the Spark era Standard, and that static ability still serves as a check not only on instant speed interaction but on cascade and storm strategies, which is where this card matters for Commander. There aren’t that many planeswalkers that make a real impact outside of superfriends, but this is one.

#25. Mayhem Devil

A key wincon for Rakdos sacrifice decks, Mayhem Devil gets better and better the more sacrificeable tokens WotC prints.

#24. Aetherize

Aetherize is super flexible. You can defend yourself or use it when others are targeted, depending on what you need in the moment. I have once used it to bounce back my own Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest Voltron attack in response to a Deflecting Palm, even. So, yeah. Flexible.

#23. Supreme Verdict

Supreme Verdict used to be a top-class board wipe, and the uncounterability still matters. But when everyone is sleeving up Teferi's Protection and all the lesser copies that grant indestructibility like Unbreakable Formation, it’s lost a bit of sheen. Exile based removal seems to be where it’s at these days, boomers.

#22. Unbreakable Formation

Speaking of, Unbreakable Formation is the best of the white 3- and 4-mana spells that protect your whole team, mostly because the main phase addendum can turn this into a game ender.

#21. Deathrite Shaman

Busted in 60-card formats with fetch lands which allow Deathrite Shaman to immediately tap for mana, this is a still an awesome card in any EDH deck in Golgari colors. It’s cheap and effective graveyard hate while also serving as reasonable ramp if you have enough self-mill online.

#20. Utopia Sprawl

Utopia Sprawl is great ramp and fixing, but as people play less basic lands, is gets a little less good. Compare Utopia Sprawl to Wild Growth. In most Commander opening hands, the Sprawl is less of a sure thing.

#19. Chromatic Lantern

3-mana rocks are a bit power crept out of Commander, these days, but Chromatic Lantern is still welcome for its perfect fixing.

#18. Ghostway

My hot take of the set is that Ghostway is awesome. In the age of increased exiling board wipes but only one Teferi's Protection, cards like this start to eclipse cards that merely make your team indestructible. Plus, even if you aren’t a blink deck, I’m sure you’ve got some decent ETBs. The downside is that this doesn’t work with your token army, but most of my go-wide decks are not tokens. Maybe that’s true for you, too?

#17. Mizzix’s Mastery

The classic Cube Izzet top end works well in Commander as well when the graveyards can get even bigger. Don’t be afraid to cast Mizzix's Mastery for 4 when needed. Greed is often good in Magic, but this is now a classic card to lose with in your hand as you wait for one more land.

#16. Crypt Ghast

A key piece of big black mana, as well as an enabler of drain and gain strategies Crypt Ghast is a super welcome reprint. Note that the mana symbol is in the extort rules text, which means it doesn't count towards color identity, so you can play this in mono-black!

#15. Niv-Mizzet, Parun + Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind

Niv-Mizzet, Parun is a top 50 commander that even heads up some Izzet cEDH decks; the Curiosity combo always entertains (at least the person playing it). Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind is a bit worse, but they both do different things and love to hang out together.

“Hey, Niv, looking good over there!”

“You are a very fine dragon yourself, Niv!”

“Look at that! Are we winning this game already?”

“They Niv-er stood a chance!”

“Lol.”

I know, that’s not really canon, but these are the things that go through Izzet players’ minds while they wait for you to pass priority so they can cast their entire hand on your end step.

#14. Chord of Calling

In a go-wide green deck, Chord of Calling is the best creature tutor. A toolbox at instant speed that can grab something huge with convoke, this is a needed reprint.

#13. Guardian Project

In Commander, Guardian Project’s text is basically “green players draw a card for every creature they cast.”

#12. Wilderness Reclamation

Banned in various 60-cards formats because doubling your mana is cracked, Wilderness Reclamation is likely underused in Commander because it’s been pretty expensive for an uncommon up until now. Prophet of Kruphix is a lot better, but it’s also banned in Commander, so perhaps this card is better than you think? If you play stuff at instant speed, take one of these and call me in the morning.

#11. Guttersnipe

If you’re not going wide with things like Young Pyromancer tokens or generating some combo, Guttersnipe is a brutally efficient wincon of choice. It can late-game drop and just kill the table.

#10. Krenko, Mob Boss

One of the most popular commanders in the game and the premier goblins commander, Krenko, Mob Boss goes wide fast. If you wanna keep it simple and turn cardboard sideways, Krenko is the one.

#9. Thespian’s Stage

Clearly valuable in Lotus Field and Amulet of Vigor decks, Thespian's Stage has even more value in EDH, where you know someone has a busted land like Cabal Coffers or even The World Tree, and the fact that you can shift it as needed is just awesome.

#8. Goblin Electromancer

Goblin Electromancer is just a huge mana advantage for spellslinger decks. You gotta keep it alive, but you’re playing a lot of spells, so I imagine some of those will do that for you.

#7. Karn’s Bastion

Obviously Karn's Bastion is lovely in superfriends decks, poison decks, and counters decks of all kinds. Heavily played in Commander, it’s becoming a bit of a staple.

#6. Rhythm of the Wild

An awesome reprint of a pricey uncommon, Rhythm of the Wild does it all for a Gruul or multicolor creature mage. Turning off counterspells is always a bonus and sometimes vital. And riot is so useful. Haste or a +1/+1 counter? The worst part about this card is that sometimes that’s a tough choice!

#5. Farseek

A vital ramp spell for multicolor decks. 2-mana ramp spells are pretty vital for green in Commander, and Farseek is really flexible.

#4. Two-Color Signets

I like talismans a bit better, but signets are a vital set of 2-mana mana rocks, in some ways the bread and butter of the Commander game. The ones with green see a little less play than those without because green has good ramp in other ways and the other colors tend to have better artifact synergies overall. But it’s good advice for a new Commander player to pack each signet they can play as a given.

#3. Birds of Paradise

The birds that you’re supposed to bolt are still the premier mana dork in the game, especially in Commander, where the pall of Orcish Bowmasters is lessened. Birds of Paradise is second to Sol Ring as far as turn 1 plays go, and as more and more folks dogpile on the Sol Ring player as immediate archenemy, the Birds might have the last laugh, or, well, cheep? or maybe caw? Tweet? Hmmm. How about screech? (#protip: make that particular sound when you play them. Your play group will thank me).

#2. Cyclonic Rift

Arguably, no card screams “Commander!” like Cyclonic Rift, the best blue board wipe, the champion of instant-speed board wipes, and just about the saltiest card you’ll play this weekend. Wicked in a 4-player format, you love to hate it and hate to love it.

#1. Ravnican Shock Lands

The shock lands remain just about the best lands in MTG and any reprint is a banner event. 2 life is fine in 40-life Commander for these still awesome nerfs of the original duals. Maybe you’d rather use your fetch lands to grab a triome in lots of cases, sure, but they’re must-plays across formats where they’re legal, without question. I’d also argue that they’re the essence of what it feels like to play with Ravnica cards since their printing in the first Ravnica block, in Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, and Dissension.

Wrap Up

Temple Garden | Illustration by Alayna Danner

There’s a good density of much-needed reprints in this set. As always, I can’t speak to the overall value of a box, but if you’re looking for singles, there are a pile of key cards that will be a lot cheaper soon.

Overall, I’d say that green is the standout color in Ravnica Remastered. There is a huge density of really important green cards. But perhaps someone wants to argue for black? Let’s see. Let me know in the comments or on Discord!

If you’re drafting a box, may the odds be ever in your favor!