The 39 Best Shamans in Magic Ranked

Last updated on February 12, 2026

Burning-Tree Emissary | Illustration by Izzy

Creatures are at the center of MTG’s show, and they come in all types, shapes, and sizes. Today we’re taking a look at the best shamans MTG has printed throughout the years.

MTG’s got a bunch of shaman cards, around 400, and we’re narrowing the list down to 39, based on how much play they see across formats. Do any of these powerful, reserved mages have what it takes to shape Constructed formats? Let’s find out.

What Are Shamans in MTG?

Timeless Witness | Illustration by Deruchenko Alexander

Shamans are one of the main creature types in MTG, and there’s been more than 400 shaman creature cards printed, mostly in Jund colors.

Shamans are powerful mages deeply connected to nature, the elements, and life or death aspects. In MTG you’ll see many shamans related to mana production, red direct damage, or cards that reward you for sacrificing creatures.

There are powerful cards that make shamans or turn into shamans like Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or Kumano Faces Kakkazan, but we’re not ranking them today.

#39. Dragonmaster Outcast

Dragonmaster Outcast is good in the long run, as you start producing Dragons late in the game. In formats like EDH, this is the red creature you’ll want to see in the late game. In 1v1 formats, this human shaman doesn’t do enough on its own, and there are at least 10 better red 1-drops.

#38. Young Pyromancer

Young Pyromancer, although a little power crept these days, is still an interesting card. A 2/1 that makes a token each time you cast an instant or sorcery can be one of the best token generators for red-leaning decks.

#37. Nightshade Harvester

Nightshade Harvester is a strong hate card against ramp decks. In Commander games, this black creature grows naturally and deals a lot of damage.

#36. Timeless Witness

Timeless Witness is a 4-mana riff on Eternal Witness. This green creature has the same effect, and eternalize lets you use it once more later in the game. It’s worse upfront but better as the game goes on.

#35. Brallin, Skyshark Rider

Brallin, Skyshark Rider is a strong discard commander, allowing you to grow it by discarding cards. Of course, wheels effects are some of the most effective ways to do it, and red’s got plenty of “discard your hand, draw some cards” effects to go nicely with this card.

#34. Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest starts small, but if your opponents crack some fetch lands or Treasure, this insect shaman and your creatures grow a lot, and fast. It’s also a creature that thrives on your opponent’s combats.

#33. Sapling of Colfenor

Having a legendary creature that has indestructible is already an interesting way to start a Commander deck, because you can rest assured that your commander is sticking to the table. What’s more, Sapling of Colfenor allows you to draw more creatures, and you‘ll get more benefits if they have higher toughness than power. As such, this card is an interesting treefolk/high-toughness-matters Golgari commander, or a good addition to Doran, the Siege Tower or other similar toughness-matters decks.

#32. Fauna Shaman

Fauna Shaman is a classic tutor that can be good early and late. It can help your reanimator engine get going, as well as a tutor for a creature combo piece.

#31. Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca

Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca is a merfolk shaman that gets better with numbers. Cards that make more merfolk are excellent with Kumena around since you can tap them to do all kinds of stuff. You can also benefit from merfolk typal lords, +1/+1 counter synergies, and saboteur effects.

#30. Yurlok of Scorch Thrash

What I like most about Yurlok of Scorch Thrash is the ability to dome almost every player for 3, and that can be done even after attacking. You can ramp mana while your opponents are punished for mana screw. Besides, being a Jund commander gives Yurlok of Scorch Thrash the perfect color identity for including other shamans.

#29. Ghave, Guru of Spores

Ghave, Guru of Spores is a classic Abzan +1/+1 counter commander. You can basically cash in +1/+1 counters for creatures and sac creatures to put +1/+1 counters back. With Ghave, you have a sacrifice outlet in the command zone, and it works wonders with cards like Anointed Procession and Hardened Scales.

#28. Judith, Carnage Connoisseur

Judith, Carnage Connoisseur reminds me of Pestilent Spirit, only on steroids. After playing Judith, every Blazing Volley you play becomes a board wipe. Not to mention something stronger like an overloaded Mizzium Mortars, which also gains you so much life.

#27. Guttersnipe

Guttersnipe is a strong incentive to play cheap instants and sorceries, as you’ll deal 2 damage to all players. It’s also a goblin that gives your goblin deck more reach, so each Lightning Bolt you throw at your opponent’s face deals 5 instead of 3.

#26. Lagomos, Hand of Hatred

Lagomos, Hand of Hatred is a good addition to sacrifice decks because it generates a free 2/1 body that’s going to die anyway. You might as well attack or sacrifice it for value! It sees some play in Standard decks with Urabrask's Forge.

#25. Herald of the Pantheon

Here's the first shaman in our list who cares about enchantments. Cards like Herald of the Pantheon and Jukai Naturalist are the cornerstone of enchantress strategies. Play this guy with many enchantments that ETB: draw a card and you have a base to a solid deck already.

#24. Sarkhan, Soul Aflame

Sarkhan, Soul Aflame is a strong incentive to play dragons, making them cheaper and giving them pseudo-haste. It can be a huge swing to make a dragon, like Ancient Copper Dragon, cheaper and attack the turn it comes in through Sarkhan.

#23. Doran, the Siege Tower

Doran, the Siege Tower is the original card that cares about toughness. By itself, it’s a 5/5 for 3 mana, and you can surround it with other 0/3s and 0/5s. It was also one of the first Abzan commanders available. People usually play Doran as a treefolk commander or as a toughness-matters one.

#22. Judith, the Scourge Diva

Judith, the Scourge Diva is an aggressive powerhouse. With it around, striking with many creatures is always a good proposition. Not only that, but you can sacrifice creatures to deal direct damage to any target in the same way as Mayhem Devil.

#21. Rosheen Meanderer

Each shaman cares about something different in this list, hence the shaman versatility. Rosheen Meanderer is excellent with X-spells, seeing as it generates 4 mana to cast them. Between cards like Fireball and Genesis Hydra, you have an X-spells commander, or just a good addition to hydra decks.

#20. Shaman of the Pack

Shaman of the Pack packs a huge punch in dedicated elf decks, making them competitive in low-power environments. This shaman is a big payoff for playing elves, especially in 1v1, and it can be deadly with cards like Undying Evil should it be killed.

#19. Meren of Clan Nel Toth

Meren of Clan Nel Toth is a classic Golgari commander that only asks you to sacrifice some creatures in order to return the big chonky guys from your graveyard to play. Cards that naturally die like Plaguecrafter or Sakura-Tribe Elder are great to play with Meren.

#18. Woodfall Primus

Woodfall Primus is a giant creature with a strong ETB effect, so it’s best used as a reanimation target. Plus if it dies, you’ll still keep a 5/5 and another ETB — Bramblecrush effect.

#17. Atla Palani, Nest Tender

Atla Palani, Nest Tender is one of the most popular commanders overall on EDHREC. This Naya commander turns eggs into creatures straight from your library, so filling your deck with expensive creatures like dinosaurs is the way to go.

#16. Reclamation Sage

Entering the battlefield and Disenchanting makes Reclamation Sage see some play, whether in the sideboard, or as a good tool for elf decks. One of the best artifact removal effects in green, it's a very strong turn 3 play to get this elf shaman online and nuke a mana rock.

#15. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

While not the powerhouse it was 5-10 years ago, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker is still capable of doing broken stuff, winning on the spot with the right combo, or making copies of good value creatures.

#14. Fulminator Mage

Fulminator Mage was played in Modern for a long time as a way to fend off against powerful nonbasic lands, combos, or even to mess up with 4- and 5-color decks.

#13. Goblin Anarchomancer

Goblin Anarchomancer’s main ability is to make your green and red spells cost less. This goblin shaman can give you a big boost in mana, and it also works well in multiples. You can play this card in aggressive decks or combo/big mana decks.

#12. Elvish Visionary

Back in the day, Elvish Visionary did something really unique, and today we have many cards that ETB and draw. Still, it’s an elf and one of the only green 2-drops that does it. It's good early and late, and in a relevant type as well.

#11. Allosaurus Shepherd

A combination of a good 1-drop that’s very relevant in the late game sees plenty of play. In the early game, Allosaurus Shepherd is a nice 1-drop that makes your spells uncounterable, and in the late game it converts the extra mana you’ll have around in your elf decks into certain doom for everyone else.

#10. Vampire Hexmage

Vampire Hexmage’s playability comes from the combo with Dark Depths, where you can have a 20/20 token early in the game and win from there. You can also use this vampire shaman to kill planeswalkers or mess up with big creatures with +1/+1 counters.

#9. Seasoned Pyromancer

Seasoned Pyromancer is a strong 3-drop shaman, able to create many bodies, as well as filter through your deck. This red card can even generate value after it’s dead.

#8. Sakura-Tribe Elder

Sakura-Tribe Elder, or STE, is a green staple. You can cash in this card for a basic land whenever you want, even after chumping or in response to a removal spell. This guy is the combination of a creature and a Rampant Growth effect.

#7. Oracle of Mul Daya

Oracle of Mul Daya may be fragile as a 2/2 for 4 mana, but its ability is certainly not fragile. This card works best in EDH seeing as it’s not going to be nuked at first sight, and once you start to have 3-4 more lands than your opponent, you’ll be the top dog at the table.

#6. Eternal Witness

Eternal Witness is one of the most used cards in combos, that’s for sure, and among the best ETB effects in green. The versatility of the card is great because you’ll cast a 2/1 that Regrowths you a card, and after that it can be sacrificed and brought back, repeating the loop or combo. If you have enough self-mill, Eternal Witness becomes a tutor, getting the card you want from your graveyard.

#5. Dragon's Rage Channeler

One of the best 1-drops printed, Dragon's Rage Channeler is a mere 1/1 that turns into a 3/3 flier very quickly – not unlike Delver of Secrets. Blue-red tempo decks usually welcome this surveil card, since getting to surveil each time you cast a noncreature spell also helps smooth out the draws.

#4. Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Tasigur, the Golden Fang has the delve ability, which means that in many cases it’s going to cost 1-4 mana. Once it’s on the battlefield, you can get card advantage every turn, not to mention it’s a very relevant body capable of attacking and defending. And in EDH it's one of the best Sultai commanders, showing up even in cEDH decks.

#3. Ignoble Hierarch

Ignoble Hierarch is one of the best cards in fair Jund decks, not only for the mana-fixing ability, but also because of the exalted triggers it grants.

#2. Burning-Tree Emissary

Burning-Tree Emissary sees play across multiple formats as an essentially free creature. Following BTE with another 2-drop is a huge tempo swing.

#1. Deathrite Shaman

Deathrite Shaman, or DRS, does too much as a mere 1-drop. This Golgari card’s one of the best elves in Magic; thanks to its hybrid mana cost it can be cast with black or green mana, and you can use it as graveyard hate, mana dork, life gain, or life loss. This card sees play in most formats it’s not banned.

Best Shaman Payoffs

Most shamans work best alone, doing their own thing. I guess that speaks to the lonely aspect of being a shaman in the wilds. There’s a lot of crossover though; some shamans help dragons, while other shamans favor snakes. There’s not a lot of shaman-typal cards, but here’s something you can do while focusing on this creature type:

• One of the best prowess cards in Magic, Harmonic Prodigy, is the go-to payoff for playing shamans (and wizards). You’ll get a low MV body that can double the triggers from your creatures and your shaman commander if that’s the case. It works very well with changelings, too.
• Thanks to Lorwyn and Morningtide MTG sets, there’s some incentive to mix and match treefolk and shamans. Leaf-Crowned Elder and Bosk Banneret play into this design space, allowing you to pay less for your spells, or even cast them for free from the top of your library.
• Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro is weird as a 4-mana 1/3, but if you have a bunch of shamans around, you’ll generate a lot of mana.
• Finally, there are changeling cards. If you want to increase the number of shamans in your deck, play some changelings. Or typal-generic cards like Morophon, the Boundless.

Wrap Up

Oracle of Mul Daya | Illustration by Vance Kovacs

And that brings us to the end of shaman land, folks. There are great shaman cards in MTG, with many shaman cards being Constructed staples. However, we don’t see much typal support in this case, and many shaman creatures support other strategies like dragons, mana generation, or reanimation, but that can change very quickly once we get a set based on tribes, elements, and the wilds.

Anyway, what do you think about my list? Have I missed anything obvious? Be sure to mention it in the comments below or in our Draftsim Discord.

Thanks for reading folks, and stay safe out there.