This thread's sole purpose is to list the most powerful multiplayer gold cards in the game. I merely wanted something quick and easy that anyone building a multicolored deck could consult in order to obtain a reasonably accurate snapshot of the options available to them. I'm not going to list every niche playable, simply the "best ones" that people could reasonbly play on a frequent basis in a competitive multiplayer environment. Don't expect write-ups other than an extremely basic description of the cards. The idea here is to limit the entries to the "obviously powerful cards" such as Soulfire Grand Master and Prophet of Kruphix that don't require an explanation. Feel free to post comments/criticisms/concerns/outbursts but keep in mind that this is literally a raw information dump.
This thread is purely designed to be used as a reference post for my multiplayer colored guides. It'll save me the hassle of having to update each one individually with each new expansion. Feel free to post comments/criticisms/concerns/outbursts but keep in mind that this is literally just a raw information dump. I merely wanted something quick and easy that anyone building a multicolored deck could consult in order to obtain a reasonably accurate snapshot of the relevant gold cards available to them. I'm not trying to list every possible playable either; just the "best" ones that people could reasonably play on a frequent basis in a somewhat competitive multiplayer environment. So yeah, don't expect any big guides or write-ups in here other than an extremely basic explanation of the cards. The idea here is to limit the entries to the "obviously powerful" cards such as Soulfire Grand Master and Prophet of Kruphix that don't really need an explanation.
Balthor is good, I missed him, just bear in mind that it's hard for me to catch all of the Sunforgers and Balthor the Defileds when you're trying to compile a list like this. I'm not going to go through Gatherer in its entirely or anything and there's no easy way to search for ALL RB cards or whatever. I can find the ones with RB mana costs but things like Balthor aren't easy to snag in the process.
The other cards I just plain wouldn't play in 70% or more of my RB decks. I think that the Thoctar is bad outside of infinite combos mainly because Inferno Titan is like a buck and it's 10x better. The Reaver is a purely aggressively card and it sucks at aggro-ing a table down. I absolutely despise anything that virtually has "must attack" printed on it because there are tons of good cards that can be aggressive but that're also good even if you're just sitting back on D. The cards are so bad when you're behind (which is a common occurrence) and not even fantastic when you're ahead. I also refuse to acknowledge a 5 mana 3/3 as a playable Magic card in a multiplayer setting so I'm not going to entertain the notion that the Reaver doesn't have "must attack" printed on it. Lyzolda I should probably add mostly because she costs 3 or less mana and has relevant text. I will promote basically any and all inexpensive and playable blockers that will still provide value on turn 8.
This is great. Already making me rethink some of the cards in the gold section of my cube. Quick question about Jund, are you not a fan of Hellkite Overlord? I've enjoyed that card a lot so was just wondering. Although, I've never played with or against Prossh so maybe I'll have to give that a whirl if it's as good as you say.
This is great. Already making me rethink some of the cards in the gold section of my cube. Quick question about Jund, are you not a fan of Hellkite Overlord? I've enjoyed that card a lot so was just wondering. Although, I've never played with or against Prossh so maybe I'll have to give that a whirl if it's as good as you say.
Prossh is very good when supported which is what I like about him. If you just jam him in a deck as a generic 6 drop then he'll suck but if your list actually cares about the SEVEN bodies then he does work.
The Overlord is fine but unexciting. He's a big dumb idiot who flies in for damage and that's about it. I won't call it a bad card or anything but I wouldn't play a marginal 8 drop over Molten Primordial, Insurrection, Vicious Shadows and various other cards that all cost a buck and that win games much more consistently. Jund has a throng of amazing finishers at its disposal so I'd just plain never field a card like that under normal circumstances.
it's hard for me to catch all of the Sunforgers and Balthor the Defileds when you're trying to compile a list like this. I'm not going to go through Gatherer in its entirely or anything and there's no easy way to search for ALL RB cards or whatever.
I checked my binders, and the only "secretly gold cards" that I actually bother having 4 of are:
I caught some of those but missed others, namely the UB ones. You also reminded me about Dismantling Blow which is probably still worth a mention. Thanks for the catch, I'll add them asap!
A few that get run in my meta that weren't in your initial lists...
Falkenrath Aristocrat. Sac outlet, hasty flier capable of nice damage, and extremely hard to kill off in the right deck. Almost on par with Olivia at Rakdos 4CC, IMHO.
A few that get run in my meta that weren't in your initial lists...
Falkenrath Aristocrat. Sac outlet, hasty flier capable of nice damage, and extremely hard to kill off in the right deck. Almost on par with Olivia at Rakdos 4CC, IMHO.
1) I'll add her.
2) Wouldn't touch either with a 10-foot pole.
3) Too "tribal." I'll probably add her just because Mardu has no real playables so it'll help fill out the slot for now.
4) Also too Tribal. People playing Sliver decks will know to include Slivers. I'm trying to avoid overly specific (and obvious) information as much as possible. I'm fine listing Enchanted Evening + Aura Thief/Calming Verse because none of those are obvious cards that I'd expect an average Magic player to know about. I would, on the other hand, expect a Sliver player to know about the various Sliver lords. This is kind of why I don't want to list Kaalia but I'll still add her.
1) I'll add her.
2) Wouldn't touch either with a 10-foot pole.
3) Too "tribal." I'll probably add her just because Mardu has no real playables so it'll help fill out the slot for now.
4) Also too Tribal. People playing Sliver decks will know to include Slivers. I'm trying to avoid overly specific (and obvious) information as much as possible. I'm fine listing Enchanted Evening + Aura Thief/Calming Verse because none of those are obvious cards that I'd expect an average Magic player to know about. I would, on the other hand, expect a Sliver player to know about the various Sliver lords. This is kind of why I don't want to list Kaalia but I'll still add her.
Fair enough on all counts.
Mindleech and Nemesis are very, very Timmy cards for a guild like Dimir.
1) I'll add her.
2) Wouldn't touch either with a 10-foot pole.
3) Too "tribal." I'll probably add her just because Mardu has no real playables so it'll help fill out the slot for now.
4) Also too Tribal. People playing Sliver decks will know to include Slivers. I'm trying to avoid overly specific (and obvious) information as much as possible. I'm fine listing Enchanted Evening + Aura Thief/Calming Verse because none of those are obvious cards that I'd expect an average Magic player to know about. I would, on the other hand, expect a Sliver player to know about the various Sliver lords. This is kind of why I don't want to list Kaalia but I'll still add her.
Fair enough on all counts.
Mindleech and Nemesis are very, very Timmy cards for a guild like Dimir.
Dimir is way too powerful as a color combo for me to waste time of cards that I've never even consider playing. Baleful Strix, Memory Plunder and Notion Thief are all top tier cards that I'd be happy to play in any format and/or setting. Consuming Aberration is solid, especially in decks with lots of Mortivores and Rogue's Passages or whatever. The card always OTKs. Beyond that the color has solid playables like Soul Ransom (aka Control Magic) and Evil Twin which are always very good. I see basically no reason to list marginal 5-8 drops that offer no immediate impact and that have to attack in order to accomplish anything meaningful (not that milling 10 cards is meaningful outside of Cube).
Nemesis of Reason does not need to connect, just attack. Still feels awesome when 10 cards are shaved off the top of their library.
It's a 5 mana 3/7 with no text box unless you're playing Cube and/or a dedicated mill deck. I still don't think that the card is insane in Cube by any means and I would not play that card in a competitive Constructed mill deck. I just don't like the card given how powerful UB is in general.
I don't really want to list it, the card seems more-or-less terrible, but I'm tempted if only because it's a cheap creature that survives both Wildfire and Destructive Force which is basically my favorite RG Archetype. That being said I'm trying to think of a world where I play that over Thragtusk, Malignus, Hunted Dragon, Titania, Protector of Argoth... yeah, never mind. I'm sure the card was fine at some point but I just wouldn't play that kind of card in 90% of my modern-day RG decks. Bouncing a dude is obviously an upside a large % of the time but a conditional 5 drop that gets rekt by removal seems kinda sketchy to me. As a generic dude I'd rather have Acidic Slime, Seedborn Muse, Genesis, Thragtusk, Zealous Conscripts, Siege-Gang Commander and any number of other reasonable alternatives.
I don't really want to list it, the card seems more-or-less terrible, but I'm tempted if only because it's a cheap creature that survives both Wildfire and Destructive Force which is basically my favorite RG Archetype. That being said I'm trying to think of a world where I play that over Thragtusk, Malignus, Hunted Dragon, Titania, Protector of Argoth... yeah, never mind. I'm sure the card was fine at some point but I just wouldn't play that kind of card in 90% of my modern-day RG decks. Bouncing a dude is obviously an upside a large % of the time but a conditional 5 drop that gets rekt by removal seems kinda sketchy to me. As a generic dude I'd rather have Acidic Slime, Seedborn Muse, Genesis, Thragtusk, Zealous Conscripts, Siege-Gang Commander and any number of other reasonable alternatives.
Fair enough; I just think with so many great ETB creatures it performs pretty well. I wasn't comparing it to mono 5cmc options; just what was available in R/G.
I don't really want to list it, the card seems more-or-less terrible, but I'm tempted if only because it's a cheap creature that survives both Wildfire and Destructive Force which is basically my favorite RG Archetype. That being said I'm trying to think of a world where I play that over Thragtusk, Malignus, Hunted Dragon, Titania, Protector of Argoth... yeah, never mind. I'm sure the card was fine at some point but I just wouldn't play that kind of card in 90% of my modern-day RG decks. Bouncing a dude is obviously an upside a large % of the time but a conditional 5 drop that gets rekt by removal seems kinda sketchy to me. As a generic dude I'd rather have Acidic Slime, Seedborn Muse, Genesis, Thragtusk, Zealous Conscripts, Siege-Gang Commander and any number of other reasonable alternatives.
Fair enough; I just think with so many great ETB creatures it performs pretty well. I wasn't comparing it to mono 5cmc options; just what was available in R/G.
I want to stress that the point of these lists are to collect the most "objectively" powerful cards (based on the greater multiplayer community) that you should play if you're solely looking to win games. I'm not just comparing gold cards to the other gold cards; they're being held against all reasonable alternatives within their respective colors. I'm using the multiplayer, multiplayer EDH and multiplayer Cube communities in addition to my own "personal expertise" to try and keep the bias and "pet cards" to a bare minimum. I want someone who knows very little about MTG to be able to open these tabs and be presented with objectively powerful cards that require very little support in order to function. Some cards obviously need explanation, I'm not saying otherwise, but I don't want to list oh, say, Lightning Reaver or Breath of Malfegor just because they have "each opponent" written on them. The last thing that I want to have happen is for someone to buy and play those cards and lose games because of something that was directly published by me. That's why I'm trying to limit things to the Baleful Strixes of the world that cannot possibly backfire.
With that in mind, I'm truly stumped on what to do about Naya (White Red Green). The cards are all horrendous and I'd basically never play them. I was this close | | to leaving the tab empty but then decided against it at the last minute and jotted a few things down. I'd basically never play any of them but they're there.
I don't really want to list it, the card seems more-or-less terrible, but I'm tempted if only because it's a cheap creature that survives both Wildfire and Destructive Force which is basically my favorite RG Archetype. That being said I'm trying to think of a world where I play that over Thragtusk, Malignus, Hunted Dragon, Titania, Protector of Argoth... yeah, never mind. I'm sure the card was fine at some point but I just wouldn't play that kind of card in 90% of my modern-day RG decks. Bouncing a dude is obviously an upside a large % of the time but a conditional 5 drop that gets rekt by removal seems kinda sketchy to me. As a generic dude I'd rather have Acidic Slime, Seedborn Muse, Genesis, Thragtusk, Zealous Conscripts, Siege-Gang Commander and any number of other reasonable alternatives.
Fair enough; I just think with so many great ETB creatures it performs pretty well. I wasn't comparing it to mono 5cmc options; just what was available in R/G.
I want to stress that the point of these lists are to collect the most "objectively" powerful cards (based on the greater multiplayer community) that you should play if you're solely looking to win games. I'm not just comparing gold cards to the other gold cards; they're being held against all reasonable alternatives within their respective colors. I'm using the multiplayer, multiplayer EDH and multiplayer Cube communities in addition to my own "personal expertise" to try and keep the bias and "pet cards" to a bare minimum. I want someone who knows very little about MTG to be able to open these tabs and be presented with objectively powerful cards that require very little support in order to function. Some cards obviously need explanation, I'm not saying otherwise, but I don't want to list oh, say, Lightning Reaver or Breath of Malfegor just because they have "each opponent" written on them. The last thing that I want to have happen is for someone to buy and play those cards and lose games because of something that was directly published by me. That's why I'm trying to limit things to the Baleful Strixes of the world that cannot possibly backfire.
With that in mind, I'm truly stumped on what to do about Naya (White Red Green). The cards are all horrendous and I'd basically never play them. I was this close | | to leaving the tab empty but then decided against it at the last minute and jotted a few things down. I'd basically never play any of them but they're there.
It gets bleak pretty fast when you start comparing dual cards to all the mono options; worse so with tricolor cards...the card pool is just so limited. I think you've included the cards that fit your criteria.
It gets bleak pretty fast when you start comparing dual cards to all the mono options; worse so with tricolor cards...the card pool is just so limited. I think you've included the cards that fit your criteria.
It's a start if nothing else. I can always revisit my criteria in the future if need be.
Not sure about it and Sagu Mauler. The cards are "fine" but the problem is that UG is a DISGUSTINGLY powerful color combo that has access to some of the best gold cards in the game. Sky Swallower is durable but it's not better than Primordials and various other green fatties. Mauler is "ok" but it's no Prophet of Kruphix, Thragtusk, Mulldrifter, Seedborn Muse, Genesis, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, etc. Whereas I would feel very good to play Coiling Oracle/Kiora's Follower on 2, Trygon Predator/Edric on 3, Plasm Capture on 4, Kruphix on 5, Zegana on 6, etc. the generic Hexproof durdles strike me as being "meh." They block and dodge spot removal but that's about it. Ok, that's not entirely fair, Sky Swallower can get his beat on, but UG has amazing finishers in general and doesn't need to rely on a random, value-less fatty to get the job done.
If the cards were in a weaker color, sure, they might make the cut. But in UG? One of the top color combos in the game? I have a hard time letting the marginal stuff slide when the tier 1 stuff is an AMAZING and affordable to the masses.
If the aim is to educate the masses, then shouldn't things that are playable make the list? I can easily see a R/G deck based around bounce effects that could use the Shivan Wurm.
I say that because while Simic Sky Swallower may not be the best U/G creature, it's not a bad one.
Hell, that decision alone made you fill up RWG.
Or if all else fails, just make various tiers:
Playable - This is the stuff you use until you get good cards
Good - The good stuff
Busted - This is the stuff that costs a lot of money but is good
Unlike your Mono Coloured Lists, Multicoloured is too weird to be able to say "Buy 4 of this and never look back" like you can say to White Mages for Wrath of God or Gray Merchant of Asphodel for Black.
If the aim is to educate the masses, then shouldn't things that are playable make the list? I can easily see a R/G deck based around bounce effects that could use the Shivan Wurm.
My goal isn't really to educate the masses. These lists are as much for my own personal use as they are for others. The reality of the matter is that there are (probably) thousands of playable Magic cards that could all reasonably make the maindecks of an average, casual, multiplayer lists. I'd like to focus on the top ~5% that stand out as being "special."
Or if all else fails, just make various tiers:
Playable - This is the stuff you use until you get good cards
Good - The good stuff
Busted - This is the stuff that costs a lot of money but is good
Unlike your Mono Coloured Lists, Multicoloured is too weird to be able to say "Buy 4 of this and never look back" like you can say to White Mages for Wrath of God or Gray Merchant of Asphodel for Black.
That's the thing, I DO think that I can say that about the top 5%. I can say "buy 4x Baleful Strix" or "buy 4x Prophet of Kruphix" and feel good about myself if people played them in 70% or more of their (appropriately colored) decks. That's kind of the criteria that I use and that's why I hesitate to add things like the Sky Swallower. The card is "fine" but would I ever play it over Sylvan Primordial, Diluvian Primordial, Sphinx of Uthuun, Avenger of Zendikar, Prime Speaker Zegana, Titans, Souls, anything? Probably not. Whereas I would happily start every UG deck with 4x Coiling Oracle and 4x Kiora's Follower I just wouldn't even be happy to play a random 7 drop that doesn't provide immediate value.
Have to agree with Simic Sky Swallower. Sure, it's the best Simic beatstick going around... but that's not saying much. It's a bland flier that I can't perform tricks on. It may be the finisher cubes pick for Simic, but as soon as something is printed at a decent power level in these colours, SSS is outta there. I wouldn't want to be putting SSS in a list of best gold cards evvvaaaar for this reason - it gives the impression that it's a great card, when in reality it would be far more profitable to splash a third colour and put a complete bomb in the same slot (heck... splash white for Sigarda, which is infinitely better, for example?).
I try not to hold every card to Primetime/Conq because otherwise my lists would be very short. Still, I do agree that they have to be in the top % of playables to make the cut. Very reasonable alternatives include Sylvan Primordial and Diluvian Primordial which I would ALWAYS play over SSS and they're like 50 cents.
Drogskol Reaver has always performed very well for me. Not sure if he makes the cut to top % though...
7 drop with no immediate impact. I'll have to take a pass. I'm going to compare every 7 drop to Primordials and even though I don't expect anything to surpass them they have to be in the same Universe. I know that not everyone will agree with this method of rating cards since it probably seems absurdly strict but insofar as Souls and Primordials cost nothing and Titans cost a couple of dollars I'm not going to give 6+ mana creatures a free ride. They better ******* WOW me because I know what it's like to cast Sun Titan and recur a threat. Reaver has obvious applications in lifegain decks, namely ones with creatures such as Soul Warden, but it doesn't feel like a Prime Speaker Zegana or an Ashen Rider to me. It's just another big dumb idiot who dies to removal at no benefit.
Question, what (if anything) would people cut? I'm trying to keep this list really tight and so I want to remove any of the excess chaff that clearly doesn't belong. Some of the color combos feel "right" to me, such as UB, UG and GW but then there are some like UR that I have absolutely no idea about. Pretend that I want to keep these lists to 15-20 cards MAX and that everything in here should be the absolute cream-of-the-crop, top tier playables. What doesn't make the cut and should get the axe? I'm way more interested in removing cards than adding them but I'm not just going to start hacking and slashing. Still, I know that I have biases given that I play some color combos far more than others so for things like UR, a color combo that I've probably never played in my life outside of Limited, I legitimately have no frikkin idea what's even good.
Soulfire Grand Master: From Silence to Time Warp there's no shortage of amazing spells to recur with her activated ability.
Sphinx's Revelation: Lategame draw spell that all-but ensures inevitability.
Supreme Verdict: Competitive mass removal spell.
Brago, King Eternal: Abuses ETB triggers, untaps mana rocks to support Stax effects, resets disruptive enchantments and/or Planeswalkers, etc.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: Formidable ramp spell that doubles as a Stax effect to significantly hinder your adversaries.
Venser, the Sojourner, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria: Powerful mdirange value engine.
Special Mentions:
Mistmeadow Witch, Cloudblazer: Casual all-stars for Blink decks.
Mirrorweave: Noninteractive finisher/absurd value engine for token strategies.
Enchanted Evening: Calming Verse, Aura Thief and more all make this is a fairly insane combo card.
Dovescape: Uninteractive + tutorable finisher for pillow-fort strategies.
Baleful Strix: Cantrips, threatens to trade with anything and provides a body for your equipment and sac outlets.
Sygg, River Cutthroat: Reliable draw engine tacked-on to a reasonable blocker.
Lim-Dul's Vault: Powerful card selection spell for degenerate combo decks.
Nightveil Specter: Pseudo-Phyrexian Arena that comes with an evasive body.
Notion Thief: Oppressive combo card that punishes Brainstorms and draw spells.
Memory Plunder, Hostage Taker: Midrange value spells that scale with the increased number of adversaries.
Consuming Aberration: These gargantuan "Lord of Extinction" type threats are perfect for OTKing players (think Rogue's Passage and Cyclonic Rift).
The Scarab God, Havengul Lich: Oppressive recursion engines that seize control of the game when left unchecked.
Sire of Stagnation: Bombtastic finisher/Reanimator target that provides insane quantities of card advantage.
Special Mentions:
Mind Grind: Relevant form of mass mill.
Urza's Guilt: Good in decks that abuse things like Underworld Dreams and Liliana's Caress. Think Nekusar, the Mindrazer EDH.
Whispering Madness: Spirit of the Labyrinth, Waste Not, Leovold, Emissary of Trest, Notion Thief, etc. all break this card in half.
Cut // Ribbons: cheap removal spell that doubles as non-interactive finisher.
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden: Stellar value engine with competitive combos applications (Doomsday + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Zealous Conscripts and/or Laboratory Maniac).
Terminate: Efficient form of spot removal.
Last One Standing: Efficient form of mass removal.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death: Amazing value engine that supports Grenzo insanely well given that they both care heavily about creatures with power 2 or less.
Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast: Key roleplayer in Stax/MLD archetypes given his ability to fuel oppressive engines and recur key disruption/win conditions when supported with various looters.
Balthor the Defiled: Powerful form of mass reanimation that combos well with Grenzo, Dungeon Warden and Alesha, Who Smiles at Death. See also: Feldon of the Third Path.
Rakdos, Lord of Riots: Chaining any global burn spell into an army of Eldrazi is obscenely degenerate.
Olivia Voldaren: Dominates fair, creature-based battles.
Angrath, the Flame-Chained: Midrange value engine that excels in Waste Not/Death Cloud-esque builds.
Sire of Insanity: Curving into and/or Reanimateing this thing is absolutely miserable to play against.
Special Mentions:
Spiteful Visions: Good in the Windfall decks that abuse Underworld Dreams and Liliana's Caress. Think Nekusar, the Mindrazer EDH.
Garna, the Bloodflame: Stellar mass recursion engine and haste enabler.
Kessig Wolf Run: Uninteractive lategame finisher.
Orcish Lumberjack: Oppressive ramp engine for Primeval Titan/Sylvan Primordial archetypes.
Tinder Wall: Niche ritual for degenerate combo/ramp strategies.
Vexing Shusher: Hatebear against permission-heavy strategies.
Ancient Grudge, Hull Breach: Efficient 2-for-1s.
Firespout: Cheap Wrath spell that hits fliers.
Decimate: Easy 4-for-1.
Xenagos, the Reveler: Midrange ramp/token engine.
Predatory Advantage: 5 drop that pairs well with Wildfire/Destructive Force/Devastation effects.
Xenagos, God of Revels: Uninteractive finisher that abuses fatties/Kessig Wolf Run/etc.
Dragon Broodmother: Souped-up Verdant Force for your token decks.
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed: Uninteractive finisher that hoses spell-based decks.
Special Mentions:
Scapeshift: Combos with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Prismatic Omen, Primeval Titan, Sylvan Primordial (+ Cinder Glade, Stomping Ground), etc.
Grand Warlord Radha: Oppressive mana engine for token-based lists.
Gavony Township: Infinite Kitchen Finks value aside there's very little reason to omit these from your token/creature-based decks.
Krosan Verge: Free 2-for-1.
Eladamri's Call: Cheap, instant-speed tutor for oppressive threats such as Primeval Titan, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and Sylvan Primordial.
Gaddock Teeg: All-star disruptive threat that prevents your opposition from resolving their expensive, noncreature bombs and board clears.
Aura Shards: Tremendously powerful mass removal option for creature-based decks.
Knight of the Reliquary: Crop Rotation on a stick that scales insanely well into the lategame. Combos well with Armageddon effects and somewhat goes "infinite" with Retreat to Coralhelm.
Selvala, Explorer Returned: Degenerate ramp + card draw engine for decks filled with denial and/or MLD.
Renegade Rallier: Pseudo-Wood Elves (Fetchlands/Sakura-Tribe Elder) that can scale into an "Eternal Witness" for threats such as Gaddock Teeg, Scavenging Ooze, Stoneforge Mystic, etc.
Captain Sisay: Repeatable tutor for oppressive threats such as Gaea's Cradle, Gaddock Teeg, Hokori, Dust Drinker, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Paradox Engine, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite etc.
Mirari's Wake: Cheap mana doubler + anthem.
Fracturing Gust: Mass removal and burst lifegain all rolled into one.
Special Mentions:
Saffi Eriksdotter: Enables infinite combos. Karmic Guide/Reveillark/Sun Titan/Angel of Glory's Rise + Blasting Station/Altar of Dementia is an obvious example but there are plenty of others as well.
Sterling Grove, Privileged Position: Amazing in Enchantment-based pillow-fort decks.
Tithe Drinker: Reasonable drain engine that carries Equipment (such as Bonehoard) extremely well.
Kambal, Consul of Allocation: Formidable drain engine.
Vindicate, Anguished Unmaking: Versatile spot removal spells
Lingering Souls: Value spell that's superb at fueling things like Liliana of the Veil, Contamination, Smokestack, Grave Pact, Cathars' Crusade, etc.
Unburial Rites: Recursion spell that still functions even when it's self-milled. Enables sequences such as "EOT Gifts Ungiven fetching Rites + Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur."
Debt to the Deathless: Game-ending mid-to-lategame drain spell in big mana decks
Magister of Worth: A Wrath of God/Living Death tacked-on to a body is exceptionally powerful in decks with plenty of recursion.
Merciless Eviction: Final Judgment with additional options is never a bad place to be assuming that your meta is plagued with graveyard-based strategies.
Sorin, Grim Nemesis: Card advantage, removal, burn and an alternate win condition all rolled into one. Pairs well with mass removal, MLD, both, etc.
Special Mentions:
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim: Solid blocker + sac outlet + removal spell for lifegain-focused strategies.
Karlov of the Ghost Council: Perfect for those Soul Warden + Soul's Attendant decks seeking additonal copies of Ajani's Pridemate.
Vizkopa Guildmage: Exquisite Blood combos aside it's trivially easy to kill people with her second activate ability. Give a Mortivore lifelink, pop a Martyr of Sands, fire off a mid-sized Exsanguinate/Gray Merchant of Asphodel, it really doesn't take much.
Deathrite Shaman: Best mana dork in the game assuming a meta rich with Fetchlands.
Abrupt Decay: Extremely efficient and versatile removal spell.
Grim Flayer: Inexpensive and formidable value engine for graveyard-based archetypes.
Maelstrom Pulse, Putrefy: Cheap, versatile spot removal spells.
Pernicious Deed: Dominant mass removal spell.
Deathreap Ritual: Oppressive draw engine.
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord: Scaling/recursive threat that can Fling fatties to clear the table.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth: Immensely potent recursion engine.
Lord of Extinction: Gargantuan beater that pairs well with cards such as Rogue's Passage and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord.
Seasons Past: Combos with Black tutors to ostensibly generate infinite value.
Special Mentions:
Lotleth Troll: Free discard outlet for Reanimator and/or Dredge decks.
Grisly Salvage, Nyx Weaver, Jarad's Orders: Solid enablers for graveyard-based strategies.
Winding Constrictor, Corpsejack Menace: Redundant Hardened Scales/Doubling Season effects for your counter-based decks.
Journey to Eternity: Impressive ramp/reanimation spell for creature-based decks.
Grim Feast: Gain ludicrous quantities of life in fair, creature-based metas.
Glissa, the Traitor: Stellar blocker and powerful recursion engine for Artifact-based builds.
Worm Harvest: Reliable (albeit slow) win condition for Life from the Loam decks.
The Gitrog Monster: One of the most absurd card advantage engines ever printed for Dredge/Life from the Loam style decks.
Burgeoning, Exploration: Oppressive ramp engines that boast immense synergy with Bouncelands, draw engines, mass card draw, draw 7s, etc.
Nissa, Steward of Elements: Turn 1 dork, turn 2 Nissa (+2), turn 3 "0" to cheat lands/creatures into play is a bonkers curve.
Coiling Oracle: Versatile 2 drop that boasts immense synergy with blink engines.
Kiora's Follower: Degenerate ramp engine for decks that feature cards such as Gaea's Cradle, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, etc.
Trygon Predator: Evasive beater who eats troublesome permanents.
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter: Oppressive value/draw engine that boasts immense synergy with cheap permission, cheap removal, untap effects, etc.
Mystic Snake: While the base card is relatively anemic it becomes oppressive in Deadeye Navigator/Cloudstone Curio + Prophet of Kruphix style decks.
Plasm Capture: It's incredibly easy to chain one of these into a card such as Sylvan Primordial or Genesis Wave in order to seize control of the game.
Kiora, Master of the Depths: Generates ludicrous quantities of mana (think Tolarian Academy, Gaea's Cradle, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Bouncelands, lands enchanted with Wild Growth/Utopia Sprawl/Overgrowth, Arbor Elf, Kiora's Follower).
Bounty of the Luxa: Stellar ramp/card advantage engine.
Prophet of Kruphix: Essentially allows you to take "all of the turns" making it one of the most broken 5 drops in the game.
Bring to Light: Fromuncastable bombs to random beaters to board clears to card draw to a game enders this card is as fun, fair or broken as you want it to be.
Prime Speaker Zegana, Tishana, Voice of Thunder: Massive card advantage engines for creature-based lists.
Special Mentions:
Sage of Hours: Combos with cards like Immaculate Magistrate to take infinite turns.
Biovisionary: Combos with cards like Mirrorweave, Infinite Reflection and Deceiver of Form.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Stupendously powerful draw engine for Elfball/token/swarm decks.
Nin, the Pain Artist: Stellar card advantage engine that plays well in big mana/artifact decks.
Dack Fayden: Powerful looter who can permanently steal anything from Sol Ring to Blightsteel Colossus.
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind: Card draw/burn engine who combos with cards like Curiosity, Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study and Trade Secrets.
Special Mentions:
Saheeli Rai: Fantastic in "Wildfire" decks since her Ultimate reads "you win the game" and her -2 is a "Black Lotus" when properly supported.
Fevered Visions: Relevant for the Nekusar, the Mindrazer combo decks that abuse cards like Teferi's Puzzle Box and Underworld Dreams.
Storm the Vault, Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain: Obscene resource engines for Artifact-based builds.
Melek, Izzet Paragon: Powerful Future Sight + Pyromancer Ascension hybrid for spell-based archetypes.
Soulfire Grand Master: From Price of Progress to Blasphemous Act there's no shortage of amazing spells to recur with her activated ability.
Wear // Tear: Solid 2-for-1 removal spell.
Nahiri, the Harbinger: Generically useful Planeswalker with 3 relevant abilities. Pairs well with mass denial and/or mass removal.
Assemble the Legion: This card will always find a good home in Jokulhaups decks but even as a standalone threat it's still one heck of a clock.
Aurelia, the Warleader: Amazing in decks with cards such as Helm of the Host Inferno Titan, Hellkite Tyrant, Mob Rule, Molten Primordial and Insurrection.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight: Asymmetrical Furnace of Rath that halves the damage that you receive.
Special Mentions:
Leave // Chance Impressive combo card for Cheerio and mass land destruction archetypes.
Boros Reckoner: Combos amazingly well with things like Blasphemous act but even as a standalone threat it's still a scary beater/blocker.
Sunforger: Powerful value engine that pairs well with Mistveil Plains.
Swans of Bryn Argoll: Has incredibly synergy with burn spells such as Slagstorm, Chain Reaction and Blasphemous Act.
Painful Truths: Oppressive form of card advantage.
Zur the Enchanter: Once this guy fetches-up Vanishing, Necropotence and Grasp of Fate it's all over but the crying.
Sharuum the Hegemon: Formidable "Titan" who enables throngs of infinite combos and who pairs immensely well with recursion/manipulation.
Sphinx of the Steel Wind: One of the stronger Reanimator and/or Tinker targets in the game.
Special Mentions:
Thopter Foundry: Combos with Sword of the Meek to convert 1 into a 1/1 flier and 1 life.
Magister Sphinx: Lifegain hoser that does serious work in EDH.
Soulfire Grand Master: From Time Walk to Blasphemous Act there's no shortage of amazing spells to recur with her activated ability.
Jeskai Ascendancy: Oppressive combo enabler for decks filled with cheap cantrips and mana lands/creatures.
Special Mentions:
Narset, Enlightened Master: Boasts immense synergy with cards like Armageddon, Time Warp, World at War and Expropriate
Wargate: Marginal tutor for decks fielding oppressive + inexpensive permanents such as Gaea's Cradle and Skullclamp.
Tamiyo, Field Researcher: The prospect of enabling Ancestral Recall + Omniscience cannot be overlooked. Pairs well with MLD and Doubling Season.
Painful Truths: Oppressive form of card advantage.
Crackling Doom: Awesome mass removal spell.
Special Mentions:
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death: Robust recursion engine in decks filled with low-power creatures. Loves Grenzo, Dungeon Warden.
Painful Truths: Oppressive form of card advantage.
Anafenza, the Foremost: Cheap, huge body, pumps your team and meaningfully disrupts your adversaries.
Siege Rhino: Good body, good effect, good card.
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Midrange Titan that boasts immense synergy with things like Doubling Season and Dictate of Erebos.
Duneblast: This "Plague Wind" is playable as a 1-2 of in most ramp decks.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain: Oppressive lategame value engine.
Marath, Will of the Wild: Versatile threat that dominates creature-based combat.
Realm Razer: Armageddon that you can tutor for and/or cheat into play.
Guided Passage: "3 mana draw 3 cards" is an incredibly efficient rate.
Temur Ascendancy: Hasted creatures that immediately replace themselves are extremely difficult to play against.
Riku of Two Reflections: "Kicker 2: Double this spell" is ludicrously overpowered.
Surrak Dragonclaw: "Flametongue Kavu" that hoses Control decks and provides you with a solid Trample enabler.
Maelstrom Wanderer: Absurd finisher that pairs well with Titans, Primordials, Wildfires, Upheavals, etc.
Special Mentions:
Animar, Soul of Elements: This card is straight-up busted in Cloudstone Curio style decks that field cheap, cantripping threats and Prophet of Kruphix.
Painful Truths: Oppressive form of card advantage.
Jund Charm: Volcanic Fallout is already a playable Magic card and the ability to hose graveyard-based decks is a relevant bonus.
Shattergang Brothers: Between recursive permanents such as Rancor and Bloodghast these guys can be rage-inducing to play against.
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: Think Zulaport Cutthroat, Beastmaster Ascension, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Dictate of Erebos, etc.
Special Mentions:
Sprouting Thrinax: Defensive 3 drop that blanks removal and plays well in sacrifice-based decks.
Painful Truths: Oppressive form of card advantage.
Kess, Dissident Mage, Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge: Stellar midrange value engines.
Dark Intimations: Backbreaking removal spell.
Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh: Devastating finisher who immediately seizes control of the game.
Special Mentions:
Phyrexian Tyranny, Nekusar, the Mindrazer: Stellar in Windfall decks filled with cards like Liliana's Caress and Underworld Dreams.
Leovold, Emissary of Trest: Degenerate combo card when paired with Wheels.
Painful Truths: Oppressive form of card advantage.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang: Cheap value engine attached to an impressive body.
Muldrotha, the Gravetide: Oppressive Titan in decks featuring cards like Fetchlands, Urza's Bauble, Animate Dead, Pernicious Deed, etc.
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Chromantic Lantern for WUBRG? Or that'd be more in the purview Bl00m's Artifice guide?
RB's probably my favourite colour combination after UB, even though it is terrible so I think you've got a few missing picks: Balthor the Defiled? Anathemancer? Deathbringer Thoctar? Lightning Reaver? Lyzolda, the Blood Witch?
Mid-Tier:
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG
That's the idea :).
I don't know if I want to start listing all of the relevant mana-fixing just yet. I probably should though, even if it's just Signets and Karoos.
Balthor is good, I missed him, just bear in mind that it's hard for me to catch all of the Sunforgers and Balthor the Defileds when you're trying to compile a list like this. I'm not going to go through Gatherer in its entirely or anything and there's no easy way to search for ALL RB cards or whatever. I can find the ones with RB mana costs but things like Balthor aren't easy to snag in the process.
The other cards I just plain wouldn't play in 70% or more of my RB decks. I think that the Thoctar is bad outside of infinite combos mainly because Inferno Titan is like a buck and it's 10x better. The Reaver is a purely aggressively card and it sucks at aggro-ing a table down. I absolutely despise anything that virtually has "must attack" printed on it because there are tons of good cards that can be aggressive but that're also good even if you're just sitting back on D. The cards are so bad when you're behind (which is a common occurrence) and not even fantastic when you're ahead. I also refuse to acknowledge a 5 mana 3/3 as a playable Magic card in a multiplayer setting so I'm not going to entertain the notion that the Reaver doesn't have "must attack" printed on it. Lyzolda I should probably add mostly because she costs 3 or less mana and has relevant text. I will promote basically any and all inexpensive and playable blockers that will still provide value on turn 8.
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My 540 card Free-for-All Multiplayer Cube
Prossh is very good when supported which is what I like about him. If you just jam him in a deck as a generic 6 drop then he'll suck but if your list actually cares about the SEVEN bodies then he does work.
The Overlord is fine but unexciting. He's a big dumb idiot who flies in for damage and that's about it. I won't call it a bad card or anything but I wouldn't play a marginal 8 drop over Molten Primordial, Insurrection, Vicious Shadows and various other cards that all cost a buck and that win games much more consistently. Jund has a throng of amazing finishers at its disposal so I'd just plain never field a card like that under normal circumstances.
I caught some of those but missed others, namely the UB ones. You also reminded me about Dismantling Blow which is probably still worth a mention. Thanks for the catch, I'll add them asap!
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1) I'll add her.
2) Wouldn't touch either with a 10-foot pole.
3) Too "tribal." I'll probably add her just because Mardu has no real playables so it'll help fill out the slot for now.
4) Also too Tribal. People playing Sliver decks will know to include Slivers. I'm trying to avoid overly specific (and obvious) information as much as possible. I'm fine listing Enchanted Evening + Aura Thief/Calming Verse because none of those are obvious cards that I'd expect an average Magic player to know about. I would, on the other hand, expect a Sliver player to know about the various Sliver lords. This is kind of why I don't want to list Kaalia but I'll still add her.
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Fair enough on all counts.
Mindleech and Nemesis are very, very Timmy cards for a guild like Dimir.
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Dimir is way too powerful as a color combo for me to waste time of cards that I've never even consider playing. Baleful Strix, Memory Plunder and Notion Thief are all top tier cards that I'd be happy to play in any format and/or setting. Consuming Aberration is solid, especially in decks with lots of Mortivores and Rogue's Passages or whatever. The card always OTKs. Beyond that the color has solid playables like Soul Ransom (aka Control Magic) and Evil Twin which are always very good. I see basically no reason to list marginal 5-8 drops that offer no immediate impact and that have to attack in order to accomplish anything meaningful (not that milling 10 cards is meaningful outside of Cube).
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It's a 5 mana 3/7 with no text box unless you're playing Cube and/or a dedicated mill deck. I still don't think that the card is insane in Cube by any means and I would not play that card in a competitive Constructed mill deck. I just don't like the card given how powerful UB is in general.
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I feel Shivan Wurm should be listed.
I don't really want to list it, the card seems more-or-less terrible, but I'm tempted if only because it's a cheap creature that survives both Wildfire and Destructive Force which is basically my favorite RG Archetype. That being said I'm trying to think of a world where I play that over Thragtusk, Malignus, Hunted Dragon, Titania, Protector of Argoth... yeah, never mind. I'm sure the card was fine at some point but I just wouldn't play that kind of card in 90% of my modern-day RG decks. Bouncing a dude is obviously an upside a large % of the time but a conditional 5 drop that gets rekt by removal seems kinda sketchy to me. As a generic dude I'd rather have Acidic Slime, Seedborn Muse, Genesis, Thragtusk, Zealous Conscripts, Siege-Gang Commander and any number of other reasonable alternatives.
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Fair enough; I just think with so many great ETB creatures it performs pretty well. I wasn't comparing it to mono 5cmc options; just what was available in R/G.
I want to stress that the point of these lists are to collect the most "objectively" powerful cards (based on the greater multiplayer community) that you should play if you're solely looking to win games. I'm not just comparing gold cards to the other gold cards; they're being held against all reasonable alternatives within their respective colors. I'm using the multiplayer, multiplayer EDH and multiplayer Cube communities in addition to my own "personal expertise" to try and keep the bias and "pet cards" to a bare minimum. I want someone who knows very little about MTG to be able to open these tabs and be presented with objectively powerful cards that require very little support in order to function. Some cards obviously need explanation, I'm not saying otherwise, but I don't want to list oh, say, Lightning Reaver or Breath of Malfegor just because they have "each opponent" written on them. The last thing that I want to have happen is for someone to buy and play those cards and lose games because of something that was directly published by me. That's why I'm trying to limit things to the Baleful Strixes of the world that cannot possibly backfire.
With that in mind, I'm truly stumped on what to do about Naya (White Red Green). The cards are all horrendous and I'd basically never play them. I was this close | | to leaving the tab empty but then decided against it at the last minute and jotted a few things down. I'd basically never play any of them but they're there.
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It gets bleak pretty fast when you start comparing dual cards to all the mono options; worse so with tricolor cards...the card pool is just so limited. I think you've included the cards that fit your criteria.
Maybe Simic Sky Swallower?
It's a start if nothing else. I can always revisit my criteria in the future if need be.
Not sure about it and Sagu Mauler. The cards are "fine" but the problem is that UG is a DISGUSTINGLY powerful color combo that has access to some of the best gold cards in the game. Sky Swallower is durable but it's not better than Primordials and various other green fatties. Mauler is "ok" but it's no Prophet of Kruphix, Thragtusk, Mulldrifter, Seedborn Muse, Genesis, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, etc. Whereas I would feel very good to play Coiling Oracle/Kiora's Follower on 2, Trygon Predator/Edric on 3, Plasm Capture on 4, Kruphix on 5, Zegana on 6, etc. the generic Hexproof durdles strike me as being "meh." They block and dodge spot removal but that's about it. Ok, that's not entirely fair, Sky Swallower can get his beat on, but UG has amazing finishers in general and doesn't need to rely on a random, value-less fatty to get the job done.
If the cards were in a weaker color, sure, they might make the cut. But in UG? One of the top color combos in the game? I have a hard time letting the marginal stuff slide when the tier 1 stuff is an AMAZING and affordable to the masses.
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Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I say that because while Simic Sky Swallower may not be the best U/G creature, it's not a bad one.
Hell, that decision alone made you fill up RWG.
Or if all else fails, just make various tiers:
Playable - This is the stuff you use until you get good cards
Good - The good stuff
Busted - This is the stuff that costs a lot of money but is good
Unlike your Mono Coloured Lists, Multicoloured is too weird to be able to say "Buy 4 of this and never look back" like you can say to White Mages for Wrath of God or Gray Merchant of Asphodel for Black.
Mid-Tier:
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG
My goal isn't really to educate the masses. These lists are as much for my own personal use as they are for others. The reality of the matter is that there are (probably) thousands of playable Magic cards that could all reasonably make the maindecks of an average, casual, multiplayer lists. I'd like to focus on the top ~5% that stand out as being "special."
"Not bad" and "very good" are 2 completely different things in my books.
Hell, that decision alone made you fill up RWG.
That feels needlessly complex.
That's the thing, I DO think that I can say that about the top 5%. I can say "buy 4x Baleful Strix" or "buy 4x Prophet of Kruphix" and feel good about myself if people played them in 70% or more of their (appropriately colored) decks. That's kind of the criteria that I use and that's why I hesitate to add things like the Sky Swallower. The card is "fine" but would I ever play it over Sylvan Primordial, Diluvian Primordial, Sphinx of Uthuun, Avenger of Zendikar, Prime Speaker Zegana, Titans, Souls, anything? Probably not. Whereas I would happily start every UG deck with 4x Coiling Oracle and 4x Kiora's Follower I just wouldn't even be happy to play a random 7 drop that doesn't provide immediate value.
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I try not to hold every card to Primetime/Conq because otherwise my lists would be very short. Still, I do agree that they have to be in the top % of playables to make the cut. Very reasonable alternatives include Sylvan Primordial and Diluvian Primordial which I would ALWAYS play over SSS and they're like 50 cents.
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cEDH: WUBR Blue Farm WUBR, UG Kinnan Flips UG, U Urza Scepter U
7 drop with no immediate impact. I'll have to take a pass. I'm going to compare every 7 drop to Primordials and even though I don't expect anything to surpass them they have to be in the same Universe. I know that not everyone will agree with this method of rating cards since it probably seems absurdly strict but insofar as Souls and Primordials cost nothing and Titans cost a couple of dollars I'm not going to give 6+ mana creatures a free ride. They better ******* WOW me because I know what it's like to cast Sun Titan and recur a threat. Reaver has obvious applications in lifegain decks, namely ones with creatures such as Soul Warden, but it doesn't feel like a Prime Speaker Zegana or an Ashen Rider to me. It's just another big dumb idiot who dies to removal at no benefit.
Question, what (if anything) would people cut? I'm trying to keep this list really tight and so I want to remove any of the excess chaff that clearly doesn't belong. Some of the color combos feel "right" to me, such as UB, UG and GW but then there are some like UR that I have absolutely no idea about. Pretend that I want to keep these lists to 15-20 cards MAX and that everything in here should be the absolute cream-of-the-crop, top tier playables. What doesn't make the cut and should get the axe? I'm way more interested in removing cards than adding them but I'm not just going to start hacking and slashing. Still, I know that I have biases given that I play some color combos far more than others so for things like UR, a color combo that I've probably never played in my life outside of Limited, I legitimately have no frikkin idea what's even good.
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