The Top 10 Best Cards in MTG’s Latest Set: Wilds Of Eldraine

The Magic of Behind Wilds of Eldraine

This autumn we’ve returned to everybody’s favourite fairy tale and Arthurian legend inspired plane, Eldraine, with Magic: The Gathering Wilds of Eldraine.

Bringing us Magic: The Gathering versions of our favourite tales, the set is full of returning and new mechanics that turn your favourite stories into the stuff of legend. Adventures are back once again, with many creatures providing powerful two-for-ones, and this time we have some multicolour versions for the first time. Also returning are Sagas – perfect for a plane all about stories and enchantments.

The new Roles mechanic is also enchantment focused, creating token auras for your or your opponent’s creatures, turning them into classic fairy tale character types, from ‘young hero’ to ‘monster’. These tokens play well into the second new mechanic, Bargain, which allows you to sacrifice permanents for additional effects. Finally, Celebration is a new mechanic that triggers if two or more nonland permanents entered the battlefield under your control this turn.

Ranking Criteria for Our Top 10

There’s many ways to rank cards from MTG Wilds of Eldraine, from competitive to casual. This list is based on the competitive side of things, looking at the cards that have had the biggest cross-format impact, but especially in Standard, hot on the heels of the World Championships. Now we get to see if we were right about the most exciting cards from the Wilds of Eldraine spoilers.  

Cards that have versatility – such as those with adventure – will feature highly, as will those that have already enjoyed tournament success. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a newcomer to the game, this list will help give a run-down of the most impactful cards of Wilds of Eldraine.

Honourable mentions

It would be remiss to ignore the only Planeswalker in Magic: the Gathering Wilds of Eldraine, Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator. It’s yet to cement itself in the metagame, only featuring as a sideboard card in the Top 8 of Worlds (in Golgari) yet it’s also showing up in builds of Esper Control. Ashiok can be powerful with a steady stream of creatures and card advantage, and can take over a game if unanswered. Scalding Viper, Wilds of Eldraine’s version of Bonecrusher Giant and Brazen Borrower, is bound to find a home, while Farsight Ritual is a new take on a classic we know works well – instant speed card selection. Finally Kellan, the Fae-Blooded has a lot of exciting words on it and could be very good with the right support from future releases.

10. Goddric, Cloaked Reveler

Even though it had a poor showing at the World Championships, we can’t ignore the existence of the mono red deck, so I’m putting a representative of it at number 10. While this could have also gone to Charming Scoundrel, I’ve gone with the more exciting Goddric, Cloaked Reveler. In a deck designed to drop its hand fast, it’s not hard to trigger Goddric to create a three mana, hasty, 4/4 flying dragon with the fire breathing ability, burning your opponent to a crisp!

9. Bramble Familiar

While there was only a single copy of Bramble Familiar in the Top 8 of Worlds (Golgari), I’m excited by the potential of this card and its room to grow. Two mana for a 2/2 that taps to add a green is already in the realm of playability, while the ‘Fetch Quest’ adventure provides a potentially game-winning play later. The fact the familiar even lets you return it to your hand to then play the adventure makes it even more exciting, meaning you don’t have to worry about whether to cast it or hold it for later. I expect to see a lot more of this elemental raccoon in MTG Wilds of Eldraine standard and beyond.

8. Regal Bunnicorn

What could be dismissed as the kind of casual card that new players love but ‘dies to removal’, the Regal Bunnicorn is surprisingly powerful, and featured as a two-of in Simon Nielsen’s World’s Top 8 Azorius Soldiers deck, despite being nothing like a ‘soldier’. In a deck full of small creatures and control elements, it’s not hard for this cutey to be a two mana 5/5+ reminiscent of the once-£100 card Tarmogoyf. Against decks that are light on interaction, like ramp, it’s a massive threat.

7. Horned Loch-Whale

While certainly not a format staple, the Horned Loch-Whale is a powerful option for control decks and a key part of Greg Orange’s World’s Top 8 Bant Control Deck. Along with synergising with Up the Beanstalk (more on that later), the Whale provides powerful early removal while late game becoming a finisher that’s hard to deal with, thanks to its flash ability enabling you to drop it at the end of your opponent’s turn, and Ward 2. It’s Wilds of Eldraine version of the classic big blue flash finisher, and we know those are great.

6. Blossoming Tortoise / Restless Cottage

A slight cheat, but it’s hard to think about one of these cards without the other. When most people saw Blossoming Tortoise on the Wilds of Eldraine spoilers, their minds first went to Commander, however it also has huge implications in Standard thanks to the new cycle of creature lands – namely Restless Cottage. The Golgari deck from World’s Top 8 had four Cottages and three Tortoises, with the Tortoise able to find a Cottage (or bring one back from the dead), while also reducing the cost of activating it (allowing the potential for multiple creature lands to attack each turn), and even pumping them. So powerful is this interaction that the deck also ran two Mishra’s Foundry, bringing the number of creature lands to six.

5. Mosswood Dreadknight

If this list was based on cards that I personally was most excited about, this guy would be number one. A ‘rock’ player's dream, Mosswood Dreadknight is a powerful early threat that’s almost impossible to deal with, as well as being a card draw engine. It’s testament to the power of the card that in Anthony’s Lee’s Top 8 Golari deck from worlds, which was full of one-ofs, there were a full four copies of this powerful knight. Without going too deep in the top-down design, the Mosswood Dreadknight is the set’s take on the Arthurian legend of the Green Knight who, after being decapitated by Sir Gawain, rides away for the two to meet a year later – hence the card coming back from the dead after a time.

4. Lord Skitter, Sewer King

On first glance, it would be easy to dismiss the Rat Noble due to it’s pretty ‘fair’ stats but Lord Skitter, Sewer King is the only legendary creature from the set to break into the powerful Esper Legends deck, including two copies in Jean-emmanuel Depraz World’s winning deck, meaning the rodent lord needs a lot of respect. While the 3/3 body for 3 mana isn’t exciting, Lord Skitter’s ability to create a rat token every turn can quickly get out of control, especially against decks that are light on interaction, like ramp. Unanswered, this rat is bringing a whole army with it, just like Goblin Rabblemaster from back in the day. The graveyard hate also keeps the reanimator decks in check. Testament to its power, it’s also now seeing play in the Golgari deck too.

3. Virtue of Persistence

So far the black aligned virtue – Virtue of Persistence – has been the stand out of the cycle, and is my kind of card. Combining versatility and power, the adventure side provides early-game removal, while the enchantment can take over a game – allowing you to bring back a creature from ANY graveyard each turn. It’s a Last Gasp and Debtors’ Knell in one, what a deal! The Virtue saw play in Anthony Lee’s Top 8 Golgari deck, and both Reid Duke and Willy Edel’s ramp/control decks.

2. Up the Beanstalk

A very unassuming uncommon, but one that’s having a huge impact across all formats. Up the Beanstalk has a lot going for it as a card drawing powerhouse. Firstly, it’s just two mana, and instantly replaces itself, while being an enchantment makes it harder to deal with than if it was a creature. If we first look at Standard, we can see there are plenty of spells players want to cast that cost five or more, especially Leyline Binding (which never really costs five), and the enchantment side of Virtue of Persistence. Reid Duke had three copies across his 75 from Worlds, and it's a perfect fit in his Domain Ramp deck that’s designed to play big spells. Moreover, there were a full four main deck copies in Greg Orange’s Bant Control deck – and the main reason it splashed green – triggering off the likes of Horned Loch-Whale and Sunfall. Beyond Standard, it’s simply broken with the Evoke elementals in Modern, while in Legacy cards like Force of Will and Terminus again ‘cheat’ the 5-casting cost clause.

1. Agatha's Soul Cauldron

Fittingly for a set about witches and fairy tales, our top spot goes to a witch’s cauldron, specifically Agatha's Soul Cauldron. While it’s a card that doesn’t jump off the page as overly powerful, the Cauldron has already had a huge impact across formats, and carries a price to match. First thing to look at is the incredible versatility; for just two mana, we have an artifact that can theoretically be played in any deck and has incidental graveyard hate. It allows you to grow your creatures to unlock board stalls, while enabling some very interesting synergies by dishing out creature abilities to your team. It’s this ability that has led to some crazy combo decks built around the card, with Alexey Paulot just missing out on the Top 8 of Worlds with his UG Cauldron build. It worked by using Kami of Whispered Hopes and Sleep-Cursed Faerie to ensure one of the two (or another creature) had both the untap ability and the mana producing ability to create infinite mana, and then the ability of Realm-Scorcher Hellkite to burn them to death. The rest of the deck was based around dumping cards in the graveyard for the Cauldron to exile and bring back the key pieces to your hand as required. It’s also seeing play in Yawgmoth in Modern and Bomberman in Legacy, amongst other decks.