All 6 Nephilim in MTG Ranked, Plus Lore

Last updated on August 10, 2026

Glint-Eye Nephilim | Illustration by Mark Zug

Ancient primordial creatures roamed the lands of Ravnica long ago. These creatures were believed to be the old gods, uncaring of the lesser folk of the world. Instead they caused chaos and did as they pleased for thousands of years.

Today we’re going to cover one of the most unique creature types in Magic’s history, with only six creatures to date and a slew of unexplored lore: the Nephilim. Let’s get started!

What Is a Nephilim in MTG?

Yore-Tiller Nephilim | Illustration by Jeremy Jarvis

Nephilim were a cycle of creatures introduced in Guildpact, making up each combination of four colors in Magic. These were the first 4-color cards ever to exist, until being followed up by the Commander 2016 face commanders.

Nephilim creatures have no real unified mechanical identity outside of being multi-colored creatures with odd casting costs and semi-unique abilities, plus a sort of abstract artistic aesthetic.

The Complete List of Nephilim Ranked

#6. Witch-Maw Nephilim

The last on the list, Witch-Maw Nephilim unfortunately requires a lot of setup to become a threat. A 4-mana 1/1 isn’t winning any competitions for mana efficiency, especially when it only gets counters if you cast spells.

#5. Glint-Eye Nephilim

Sadly our sans-white entry isn’t very powerful either. Glint-Eye Nephilim’s ability is okay but it doesn’t come with any evasion to make it reliable. But you might be able to get by with a few trample enablers.

#4. Yore-Tiller Nephilim

Reanimator strategies are always fun for me, and Yore-Tiller Nephilim lends itself to a unique combat-centric approach instead of straight reanimation. The downside is that it’s effortless to kill this in combat, so you’ll need to find a way to keep it alive for repeat effects.

#3. Dune-Brood Nephilim

Dune-Brood Nephilim has the perfect color combination for its effect and I’ve seen it work wonders firsthand. It’s extremely easy to ramp in these colors and give evasion to make the trigger connect. Plus there are plenty of other token generators and anthems in those colors too.

#2. Ink-Treader Nephilim

Ink-Treader Nephilim has more homes than most of these creatures by virtue of being in the 4-color combination that’s most represented across true 4-color commanders. It operates like Zada, Hedron Grinder, but triggers off single-target spells from any player, turning 1-for-1 removal spells into board wipes and Fiery Gambit into a coinflipping frenzy.

#1. Nephilim Epochal

Nephilim Epochal isn’t just the easiest of these creatures to cast, but also the only nephilim creature printed outside 2006, so it’s got 20 years of Magic innovation over the others. It’s still just a tutor for an extremely under-supported creature type, but it’s the only one that doesn’t start off horribly underrated, and it can actually serve as a real nephilim commander.

The Lore of Magic's Nephilim

According to Ravnica lore the Nephilim were creatures that existed long before the Guildpact was formed. They were worshipped as Old Gods by the Cult of Yore, a group of people who believed the Guilds were flawed and needed to change.

At some unspecified point in history the Nephilim were all defeated and imprisoned under the surface of Ravnica, never to be disturbed. But five of them were awoken and feasted on the corpse of a dragon after some construction in the Utvara district. This allowed them to grow in power and to immense size before they wreaked havoc across Ravnica.

What Happened to the Nephilim?

The five Nephilim that escaped would eventually be defeated again and destroyed. Two of them were destroyed by Niv-Mizzet before he was defeated while another was killed by Rakdos. The remaining two were killed by “mana explosions”, according to some of the books for this block.

Will the Nephilim Return?

Nephilim Epochal is proof that Magic hasn’t completely abandoned nephilim. While they haven’t been a relevant part of the lore since Guildpact, the very existence of a “nephilim commander” is likely to get people wanting more, and that might push WotC to revisit the creature type in future sets.

Nephilim Epochal was a part of Mystery Booster Commander Edition, which intentionally dredged up legends from older Magic lore and put them on time-agnostic cards, so its printing isn’t an indication that nephilim are returning to the current story.

There’s also a non 0% chance that we see nephilim in Universes Beyond sets with a completely different identity. In various mythologies, nephilim exist as human/angel hybrids, and they’ve been portrayed in video games such as Devil May Cry and Darksiders. If Magic were to ever have a crossover with those series, we could see a completely new non-canon take on nephilim.

Why Weren't the Nephilim Legendary?

Mark Rosewater has confirmed that it was a design oversight not to make the nephilim legendary, but R&D is against making functional errata for these creatures.

Can You Use Nephilim as Your Commander?

Nephilim can be used as your commander if you approve that with your play group in a Rule 0 conversation. This can’t happen in a sanctioned tournament, but I encourage talking to your casual playgroup about it if you’re interested in building around one of these.

And of course, Nephilim Epochal is a legendary creature, so it can be your commander regardless.

Decklist: Dune-Brood Nephilim in EDH

Dune-Brood Nephilim | Illustration by Jim Murray

This deck focuses on getting your commander, Dune-Brood Nephilim, to connect along with ramping out plenty of lands to make tokens. Once you’ve got tokens you want to be able to use them for sac fodder, triggering Zulaport Cutthroat, Impact Tremors, and similar payoffs.

Wrap Up

Witch-Maw Nephilim | Illustration by Greg Staples

The original nephilim are one of the forgotten cycles in Magic, aspiring to be something great before being tossed aside. These Eldrazi precursors were the original primordial evils in Magic and didn’t get nearly enough depth to their story. I’d love if they made a comeback since there’s a lot left on the table, which seems more likely now that we've got an actual legendary representative.

Do you want to see Nephilim errata’d? What about a new cycle of them in a new Commander product? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord. And check out The Daily Upkeep newsletter to stay up to date on all the latest MTG news.

That’s it for me. I’m definitely considering building an Ink-Treader deck now!