Magic The Gathering has had so many sets over the years that it’s almost impossible to remember them all by heart, but we sure can remember whenever a new expansion set would bring cards that would shake the game to its core.
Let’s look at the most powerful sets in the history of MTG and find out which one reigns supreme, shall we?
10. Exodus
Exodus features a collection of some pretty brutal and efficient cards. This is the set that introduced Hatred, a card that allows players to sacrifice their own life to buff a creature in the hopes to kill the opponent in one swift move, Recurring Nightmare, a staple of early resurrection, and Survival Of The Fittest, a card that allowed players to discard creature cards to look for more powerful creature cards in their deck, and Mind Over Matter, a pretty overpowered control option.
Exodus also saw many of its old-but-not-dead find a new life in Commander.
9. Onslaught
On top of some pretty brutal creatures like Visara, Exalted Angel, Ravenous Baloth, Goblin Piledriver, and Goblin Sharpshooter, Onslaught also introduced a myriad of fetch lands, the best type of land card in the game.
Onslaught resurfaced with Commander, with cards such as the once mid Cover Of Darkness becoming pretty popular in the genre.
8. Worldwake
2010’s Worldwake introduced Jace, The Mind Sculptor, which would remain the most ridiculously overpowered Planeswalker card for many years straight.
Even after Jace got rightfully banned, Worldwake would still have the fantastic Avenger Of Zendikar, an elemental capable of greatly empowering your army of plants, Death’s Shadow, an avatar that only gets more dangerous as its controller gets weaker, Stoneforge Mystic, a utility master, and even extremely useful common cards like Bojuka Bog and Treasure Hunt.
7. Legends
Legends is not the name of a Best of collection, but it very well could’ve been. This is one of the best sets, especially if you’re into Black. It features All Hallows Eve, The Abyss, Chains of Mephistopheles, and Nether Void, a collection of some of the most powerful cards ever seen in a set.
Outside of black, Legends features other, well, legendary cards, such as Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Moat, and Mana Drain.
6. Mirrodin
Mirrodin revamped MTG’s card aesthetics and also sent the whole game into upheaval. After so many years of neglect, MTG put artifacts in the spotlight and, through a new artifact-favoring mechanic called “Affinity” and some of the most powerful artifacts in the game’s history, Mirrodin completely changed the MTG for a while.
The standout cards are the Chrome Mox, one of the best mana-generators ever based on the legendary mox cards of old, Isochron Scepter, Extraplanar Lens, and Chalice of the Void.
5. Throne of Eldraine
Some cards alone are enough to elevate an entire set to ridiculous heights. That card here would be Oko, Thief Of Crowns, a Planeswalker so powerful it got banned everywhere outside of Commander and Vintage for breaking the scene upon arrival.
Still, Throne of Eldraine features other banger cards, such as the also-banned Once Upon A Time, the fantastic fetch land Fabled Passage, Brazen Burrower, a flying creature that can come out of nowhere with a great control option, and the incredibly destructive and sneaky Embercleave.
4. Antiquities
Antiquities still carries a some of that deranged dark feel of early Magic, as it features some ridiculously overpowered cards no one suspected could break the game.
Antiquities features a bunch of extremely powerful lands, such as Mishra’s Workshop and Mishra’s Factory, but is also strong in its artifact game with the artifact Candelabra of Tawnos and excellent artifact-related cards such as Transmute Artifact and Power Artifact.
3. Arabian Nights
Arabian Nights was the first real expansion set after Beta, Revised, and Unlimited, which mostly just rehashed Alpha. However, it still retains some of the absolutely unhinged, overpowered DNA of OG MTG.
It features awesome creatures like the iconic Juzám Djinn, the first creature that would hurt its owner just so it would hurt their opponent even harder, and Old Man of the Sea, another devious Djinn capable of hijacking the opponent’s creatures. It also has Oubliette, one of the best creature control options ever, and Library of Alexandria and Bazaar of Baghdad, two of the best lands in the game.
2. Urza’s Saga
This set is what you get when you pull out all the stops. Urza’s Saga has some of the best cards from all types, an absolute bonanza of mana, power, creatures, and fantastic abilities.
Urza’s Saga introduced some of the best lands in the game, like Gaea’s Cradle and the very banned Tolarian Academy, but also revolutionary creatures such as Morphling, Gilded Drake, and ultra-powerful spells like Time Spiral and Yawgmoth’s will.
1. Alpha
In more recent years, we saw the introduction of new and supposedly more powerful cards, such as the Planeswalker type cards, but nothing beats the overpowered naivety of the OG. Alpha came out when the makers of the series were barely aware of what MTG would become — and of how easily they could break it.
Thus, Alpha is home to what the elders call the “Power 9”, a group of cards so shamelessly overpowered they would never be printed today for competitive play. The Black Lotus, an artifact you can sacrifice at no cost to get three mana, is the most well-known of the bunch for its rarity and absurd price, but every other card from the group is ridiculous as well. Extra turns at no cost? Getting to draw three cards whenever you want for one mana? Artifacts with zero cost that generated mana with no drawbacks? Alpha was wild, and there will never be anything like it ever again.
