Magic: The Gathering offers thousands of cards across every color, type, and strategy. Whether you are building a Commander deck, brewing for Modern, or looking to strengthen your Standard lineup, choosing the right cards is essential. This comprehensive guide ranks the best MTG cards across four high-impact categories: equipment artifacts, black cards, green cards, and demon creatures.
#Best Equipment Cards in MTG
Equipment cards are artifact subtypes that attach to creatures, boosting stats or granting new abilities. They stay on the battlefield when the equipped creature dies, making them a reliable long-term investment.
#Why Equipment Cards Matter
Equipment offers a consistent way to increase a creature’s power and toughness or provide additional abilities. Unlike auras, equipment persists after a creature is removed, so you can re-equip to another creature without losing the card. This resilience makes equipment a vital part of many competitive and casual strategies.
#Top 10 Equipment Cards
1. Loxodon Warhammer — One of the original equipment staples from 2003’s Mirrodin set. A +3/+0 buff with trample and lifelink turns any creature into a serious offensive and defensive threat. It can make a cheap creature dangerous or an already powerful creature nearly unstoppable.
2. Skullclamp — Costs just one mana to cast and one to equip. The equipped creature gains +1/-1, and when it dies you draw two cards. Pairing Skullclamp with one-toughness creatures creates an incredible card-draw engine that accelerates your game plan.
3. Sword of Fire and Ice — A Mirrodin-era legend. Grants +2/+2, protection from red and blue, and lets you draw a card plus deal two damage whenever the equipped creature deals combat damage. The combination of protection, card advantage, and removal makes this a top-tier pick.
4. Lightning Greaves — A Commander staple that grants shroud and haste for zero equip cost. Shroud prevents your creature from being targeted by any spell or ability, keeping your expensive commander safe. Haste means it can attack or use tap abilities immediately.
5. Batterskull — Enters the battlefield with a 0/0 black Germ token already equipped, creating an immediate 4/4 with vigilance and lifelink. You can bounce it back to your hand for three mana to dodge removal and get a fresh Germ when recast.
6. Basilisk Collar — One mana to cast, two to equip. Grants lifelink and deathtouch, two of the most potent keyword abilities in the game. Combine with Niv-Mizzet or any pinger to turn incidental damage into creature removal.
7. Cranial Plating — Dominant in artifact-heavy decks. The equipped creature gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control, and you can instant-speed equip for two black mana. In Affinity builds, this often means swinging for lethal out of nowhere.
8. Godsend — Grants +3/+3 and exiles any creature that blocks or becomes blocked by the equipped creature before combat damage. Your opponent can never play another copy of the exiled creature, making Godsend devastating against decks with key blockers.
9. Blade of Selves — A Commander powerhouse. Gives the equipped creature myriad, creating token copies that attack each opponent simultaneously. Especially brutal on creatures with enter-the-battlefield triggers.
10. Nim Deathmantle — Grants +2/+2 and turns the creature into a black zombie. When any of your non-token creatures dies, pay four mana to return it with Nim Deathmantle equipped. This creates an infinite recursion loop with the right sacrifice outlets.
#Best Black Cards in MTG
Black is the color of ambition and power at any cost. It excels at creature removal, card draw (often at the cost of life), graveyard recursion, and hand disruption.
#Key Strengths of Black
- Efficient targeted and mass creature removal
- Powerful card draw engines (Phyrexian Arena, Necropotence)
- Graveyard recursion and reanimation
- Hand disruption through discard effects
- Life drain and direct damage
Black’s weaknesses include difficulty dealing with enchantments and artifacts, reliance on life as a resource, and limited options for handling large creatures efficiently.
#Top Black Cards for Commander
1. Demonic Tutor — Search your library for any card and put it into your hand. Unmatched consistency in a singleton format.
2. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician — Sacrifices creatures for card draw, proliferates counters, and gives -1/-1 counters for removal. Works as a commander or in the 99.
3. Toxic Deluge — Pay life to give all creatures -X/-X. Flexible, efficient, and handles indestructible creatures that other board wipes miss.
4. Exsanguinate — Drains X life from each opponent simultaneously. In long Commander games, this frequently ends the game in one spell.
5. Gray Merchant of Asphodel — “Gary” drains each opponent based on your devotion to black. Even as a common, it creates massive life swings in mono-black and heavily-black decks.
6. Reanimate — Put any creature from any graveyard onto the battlefield for one mana. The life cost is well worth cheating out a game-ending threat on turn one or two.
7. Phyrexian Arena — Draws an extra card each upkeep for one life. The steady card advantage snowballs over time and keeps your hand full.
#Top Black Cards for Modern
1. Thoughtseize — See your opponent’s hand and make them discard any nonland card for one mana. The most efficient hand disruption spell ever printed.
2. Fatal Push — Destroys a creature with mana value 2 or less (4 or less with revolt) for one mana. A staple removal spell in virtually every black Modern deck.
3. Inquisition of Kozilek — Targets nonland cards with mana value 3 or less without the life cost of Thoughtseize. Often run alongside it for maximum disruption.
4. Dark Confidant — “Bob” reveals the top card of your library each upkeep; you draw it and lose life equal to its mana value. The extra card per turn is worth the risk in aggressive and midrange decks.
5. Liliana of the Veil — Forces both players to discard, edicts creatures, and her ultimate splits an opponent’s permanents in half. A multi-format all-star.
6. Damnation — Four-mana unconditional board wipe. The black Wrath of God, essential for control strategies.
#Iconic Black Cards in MTG History
- Black Lotus — The most famous card ever printed. Zero mana for three mana of any color. Banned in most formats.
- Necropotence — Trade life for cards at a 1:1 ratio. Defined entire eras of competitive Magic.
- Yawgmoth’s Will — Replay your entire graveyard in one turn. Banned in Legacy, restricted in Vintage.
- Vampiric Tutor — Instant-speed tutor for any card on top of your library.
- Dark Ritual — Three black mana for one. The original fast-mana spell.
#Budget Black Picks
For players on a budget, Zulaport Cutthroat, Syr Konrad the Grim, Go for the Throat, Sign in Blood, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel all provide strong value at minimal cost.
#Best Green Cards in MTG
Green is the color of nature, growth, and raw power. It dominates in mana acceleration, summoning massive creatures, land interaction, and removing artifacts and enchantments.
#Top Green Cards for Commander
1. Cultivate — Found in 47% of green Commander decks. Searches for two basic lands, puts one onto the battlefield tapped and the other into your hand. Essential mana ramp and color fixing.
2. Kodama’s Reach — Functionally identical to Cultivate and just as important. Running both provides unmatched consistency in mana development.
3. Eternal Witness — Returns any card from your graveyard to your hand when it enters the battlefield. Versatile recursion that fits in nearly every green deck.
4. Heroic Intervention — Gives all your creatures hexproof and indestructible at instant speed for two mana. The best protection spell in green against board wipes and targeted removal.
5. Avenger of Zendikar — Creates a plant token for each land you control, then pumps them all with each subsequent landfall trigger. Frequently ends games the turn after it resolves.
#Top Green Cards for Modern
1. Tarmogoyf — The iconic two-mana creature that grows based on card types in all graveyards. Often a 4/5 or larger by mid-game.
2. Noble Hierarch — One-mana creature that taps for green, white, or blue mana and has exalted. The premier mana dork in Modern.
3. Collected Company — Four mana at instant speed to put two creatures with mana value 3 or less from the top six cards of your library onto the battlefield. Enables explosive mid-combat plays.
4. Scavenging Ooze — Eats cards from graveyards, gaining +1/+1 counters and life. Provides mainboard graveyard hate while being a solid creature.
5. Primeval Titan — Searches for two lands when it enters and attacks. The engine behind Amulet Titan and other powerful land-based combo decks.
#Green Card Strategies
- Mana Acceleration: Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise, and Fyndhorn Elves enable faster deployment of powerful spells.
- Creature Beatdown: Green boasts the most efficient creatures in the game. Cards like Beast Whisperer add card draw to creature-heavy strategies.
- Land Utilization: Oracle of Mul Daya and Azusa, Lost but Seeking let you play extra lands per turn, maximizing resource generation.
- Token Generation: Avenger of Zendikar and Scute Swarm flood the board with tokens to overwhelm opponents.
#Best Demon Cards in MTG
Demons are among the most powerful creatures in Magic, predominantly aligned with black mana. They offer high stats, flying, and game-altering abilities, though they often demand a price.
#Top 10 Demon Cards
1. Griselbrand — The most powerful demon ever printed. A 7/7 with flying and lifelink that draws seven cards for 7 life. So dominant it is banned in Commander and several other formats.
2. Razaketh, the Foulblooded — Sacrifices a creature and pays 2 life to tutor for any card. In decks with expendable creatures, Razaketh provides unmatched consistency and enables combo finishes.
3. Vilis, Broker of Blood — Turns every point of life lost into a card drawn. Also removes creatures by giving -1/-1 for one black mana and 2 life, which triggers even more card draw.
4. Rakdos, the Showstopper — A 6/6 flyer with trample that flips coins for every non-Demon, non-Devil, non-Imp creature when it enters. Potentially a one-sided board wipe attached to a massive body.
5. Archfiend of Despair — Prevents opponents from gaining life and doubles all life loss they take each end step. Closes games rapidly in any deck dealing consistent damage.
6. Demon of Dark Schemes — Gives all other creatures -2/-2 on entry, generates energy, and can reanimate creatures from any graveyard. A versatile answer to token strategies with built-in value.
7. Demonlord Belzenlok — A 6/6 flying trampler that draws you nonland cards from the top of your deck when it enters. In decks built around high-cost spells, this can refill your hand immediately.
8. Harvester of Souls — A 5/5 with deathtouch that draws a card whenever any nontoken creature dies. In creature-heavy metas, this generates overwhelming card advantage.
9. Reiver Demon — When cast from hand, destroys all nonartifact, nonblack creatures. A board wipe on a 6/6 flying body that leaves your black creatures untouched.
10. Master of Cruelties — Only a 1/4, but when it attacks alone and is not blocked, it sets the defending player’s life total to 1. Combined with first strike and deathtouch, it demands an immediate answer.
#Building a Demon Tribal Deck
- Mana Acceleration: Demons are expensive. Include mana rocks and rituals like Dark Ritual and Cabal Coffers.
- Reanimation: Cheat big demons into play with Reanimate or Animate Dead.
- Life Gain: Offset life payments with Gray Merchant of Asphodel and similar drains.
- Protection: Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots keep your investment safe.
- Synergy: Shadowborn Apostle can tutor for any demon directly.
Popular demon tribal commanders include Rakdos the Showstopper, Kaalia of the Vast (also enables angels and dragons), and Vilis Broker of Blood.
#FAQs
Are equipment cards considered artifacts? Yes, all equipment cards are a subtype of artifacts.
Can I equip more than one equipment to a creature? Yes, a single creature can carry multiple equipment cards simultaneously.
What happens to equipment when the equipped creature dies? The equipment stays on the battlefield and can be attached to another creature.
What are the main strengths of black cards? Black excels at creature removal, card draw, graveyard manipulation, life drain, and hand disruption.
Are green cards good for beginners? Yes. Green’s straightforward creature-focused strategies and mana ramp mechanics are among the easiest to learn.
Why is Griselbrand banned in Commander? Drawing 7 cards for 7 life is too powerful in a format with 40 starting life, allowing players to draw most of their deck in one turn.
Are demons only black in MTG? Predominantly, but some demons incorporate red or even blue in their color identity.
What are some budget-friendly options across these categories? Basilisk Collar and Skullclamp for equipment, Zulaport Cutthroat and Sign in Blood for black, Llanowar Elves and Rampant Growth for green, and Shadowborn Demon and Overseer of the Damned for demons.
#Conclusion
Choosing the right cards for your MTG deck depends on your format, strategy, and budget. Equipment cards provide persistent creature buffs that survive removal. Black cards offer unmatched control and resource trading. Green cards accelerate your mana and deploy the biggest threats on the battlefield. And demon creatures bring raw, game-ending power at a price. Mix and match cards from these categories to build a deck that fits your playstyle and dominates your local meta.