All 21 Sirens in Magic Ranked

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator | Illustration by Eric Deschamps

I watched a horror-musical-comedy about mermaids last night. For research purposes, promise. These weren’t the Disney Peter Pan brand of mermaids. No, these were the type that will eat your heart out. Good times.

Merfolk and sirens are often conflated in popular culture, but Magic’s done a good job at keeping the two creature types distinct. These sirens, including our dear Malcom, are part-human, part-fish, part-bird… all parts beautiful and terrifying.

Whether you’ve heard the siren’s call or you’re here of your own initiative, come with me and explore the sirens of MTG.

What Are Sirens In MTG?

Threnody Singer | Illustration by PINDURSKI

Siren is a creature type in Magic introduced with Magic 2010’s Alluring Siren. Sirens are depicted as winged humanoids, often female in appearance, or humanoids mixed with sea creatures in the case of Maeve, Insidious Singer.

All sirens in Magic are mono-blue, apart from a few Dimir sirens. Flying is ubiquitous, but flash also shows up on a few sirens. They often dabble in the mechanics of the sets in which they appear, like heroic, tribute, raid, and convoke.

Abilities that interact with how opponents or their creatures attack are also common for sirens. And while many depictions of sirens see them luring pirates and sailors to their dooms, there are quite a few sirens in Magic that are pirates.

#21. Cloaked Siren

Siren with flash. As an ambush predator, I love it. But that’s all that Cloaked Siren gives you.

#20. Chorus of the Tides

Heroic in blue immediately makes me look to Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief. Chorus of the Tides gives you a scry for its trigger, which is useful, but 4 mana for it?

#19. Shipwreck Singer

Shipwreck Singer has one of those neat abilities that can force a creature into an unfavorable combat situation. Its second ability can tap to give -1/-1 to all attacking creatures, which can be murder to a token or smaller creature deck.

#18. Siren of the Fanged Coast

Tribute is one of those hit-or-miss mechanics because it gives your opponent some control over its ceiling. For Siren of the Fanged Coast, it’s a choice between a 5-mana, 4/4 flier (yawn), or a 1/1 flier and a creature theft ability (yikes). Would you pay the tribute?

#17. Threnody Singer

Another of the flash-flying sirens, and another “Singer” siren, Threnody Singer’s ETB ability cares about your devotion. It asymmetrical affects only power, so it’s almost purely a defensive or protective play.

#16. Mistral Singer

Prowess abilities and spellslinging go hand in hand, so Mistral Singer will never be completely homeless. It’s just that there are cheaper or better prowess creatures to be had.

#15. War-Wing Siren

Heroic and +1/+1 counters are like PB+J. Pretty basic, and potentially nourishing (allergies aside), but this is not fine dining. Like me, you probably have your War-Wing Sirens in your stash of unused commons.

#14. Siren Reaver

Siren Reaver’s raid ability gives it cost reduction, but that’s pretty much it. It’s a pirate that looks to take advantage of the rest of your creatures, not contributing anything aside from a body.

#13. Alluring Siren

Magic’s introduction to sirens also has an ability that forces an opponent to attack you. Alluring Siren surely captures the dangerous, luring (heh, a luring siren) side of them.

#12. Siren Lookout + Spyglass Siren

Siren Lookout has an explore ETB, which is useful to decks that can’t access green. I wouldn’t be surprised if LCC’s Storm Fleet Negotiator takes its place in a bunch of decks since the Negotiator’s multiple Map tokens are more consistent ways to explore for the same amount of mana.

Spyglass Siren is virtually the same build, although it’s cheaper, squishier, and slower. Your mileage will vary.

#11. Storm Fleet Negotiator

Storm Fleet Negotiator looks really interesting. Its parley ability can give you Map tokens, which can help your access to mana and grow your creatures. Between that and the way that Map tokens explore, you’ll be revealing a lot of the cards in this strategy, not to mention the cards you’ll be giving your opponents. Matters less if you’re making them discard anyway.

#10. Oaken Siren

“Oaken,” and yet it’s not even a little green? This only makes sense if you look closer at the art and realize that Oaken Siren seems to be the figurehead of a ship. At its base, it’s an artifact-specific mana dork. Although, you could use it to pay full or partial activation costs of artifact tokens like Maps, Blood, and Food.

#9. Siren of the Silent Song

Siren of the Silent Song makes me smile, because its inspired ability does two of my favorite things from when I first started playing Dimir colors in Magic: discarding and milling.

#8. Maeve, Insidious Singer

Maeve, Insidious Singer may be legendary, but I’m more likely to use its goad ability as a mana sink in another deck than at the helm of its own deck. Specific goad decks, like Doctor Who’s The Rani, can also make use of this siren.

#7. Dulcet Sirens

Following the pattern of sirens that interact with how and who yours opponents attack, Dulcet Sirens has an activated ability that targets one creature and one opponent. That sounds like a great way to make friends with the deathtouch player at the table, sending creatures their way that your other opponents would rather hold back. This siren is also a morph creature, giving it another home with someone like Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer.

#6. Dreamcaller Siren

Dreamcaller Siren fits into decks that plan on playing lots of pirates. Its ETB taps down two nonland permanents, which can prevent someone from using an activated ability or tapping for a huge attack. This siren can only block other fliers, but that feels secondary.

#5. Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel

Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel is one of the newest sirens we have, which makes it hard to compare to some of the more established ones. While card draw from a combat trigger can be really effective, you also have to build up chorus counters to get the full spread of this ability. A dedicated blink player just snorts at that, making sure you never build up the four you need.

#4. Zephyr Singer

Zephyr Singer is quite at home with other pirates, which can lead to all kinds of plundering. Kasla, the Broken Halo is probably the convoke-based home for it, while I like the idea of using Denry Klin, Editor in Chief to toss all kinds of counters around my board.

#3. Hypnotic Siren

Hypnotic Siren does solid work as a cheap flier. You can also use it later in your game to buff a creature and give it flying. Wait, what does that say? “You control enchanted creature?” Oh.

#2. Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

Who else? Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator is one of the more popular partner commanders available. Its Treasure-making ability can go infinite with Glint-Horn Buccaneer and other pirates, including some combos that win the game on the spot. Whether as a commander or just in the 99 as a win condition, this Malcolm can make your EDH deck soar. Or sing. Or both. Why not both?

#1. Siren Stormtamer

Heh. Stormtamer. Because you can sac your Siren Stormtamer to counter a spell or ability. Heh. It’s such good value, making this card nearly an auto-include in many pirate decks, among others.

Best Siren Payoffs

There aren’t any specific payoffs for sirens without getting into shapeshifters, but blue and U+ can be a home for flying-matters, like Donal, Herald of Wings.

Sirens that are pirates or that care about pirates fit into those homes, but it’s more pirate synergies than siren synergies.

Wrap Up

Siren Stormtamer | Illustration by Josu Hernaiz

Did you have a nice swim?

There may not be a whole lot of sirens in Magic, but some of the more powerful ones are really powerful. There’s not really much of a point to building a dedicated siren deck right now, but who knows what the future holds!

Which are your favorite Magic sirens? Who do you like to partner with Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator? Let me know in the comments below or over on Draftsim’s Discord.

Thanks for reading, and keep it breezy!