Goblins, Dinosaurs and Dragons Oh My!

From goblin armies that cover the board, to dragons that rain hellfire down upon your enemy, it’s no surprise that red creatures are highly coveted. Red creatures are the best of both worlds, topping the charts in speed and strength.  Red decks have a variety of creatures, often with haste, as well as a bevy of big heavy hitters like Giants and Dragons that will cause the battlefield to quake in fear upon their arrival.

15. Krenko, Mob Boss

What’s great about this card?

• Repeatable Ability
• Population Boom

Who doesn’t love a good goblin hoard? Oh, that’s right everyone that has to deal with one. A massive population of goblins can be incredibly annoying to your enemy, as not only does it give you plenty of cannon fodder to block blow after blow, but it also lets you take massive swings. Goblin armies very much follow the philosophy of, ‘Well, they can’t stop all of us’ and Krenko, Mob Boss drives that point home. Its ability has no mana cost, meaning all you have to do is tap this and grow your goblin army over and over until your opponent is just drowning in a sea of the little red buggers.

14. Goblin Lackey

What’s great about this card?

• Low Cost
• Freehand Play

A one-power one-toughness goblin hardly seems like a noteworthy creature, but there’s more to this card than just a very low mana cost. The lackey’s true power comes in being able to bring more cards from your hand onto the battlefield without paying their cost. This card is great for early gameplay, you'll essentially be exchanging one mana for the ability to play higher-cost cards completely free. All you need is to land a hit on your opponent with the Goblin Lackey, and you can put any goblin card from your hand onto the battlefield. Mana is the lifeblood of this game, so any opportunity where you don’t have to spend it is golden. 

13. Dockside Extortionist

What is great about this card?

• Low Cost
• Token Generation

This card is perfect for turning your enemies' advantages into advantages for yourself. Everyone knows that Mana is king, but with a limited number of cards in your deck, it can be difficult to get a good pool going. This card not only gets you another creature on the board, which is always a good thing, but it also gives you the ability to rack up some treasure tokens that can add quite a bit to your mana pool. This card is great for mid to late game when your opponent has had the time to build up their collection of artifacts and enchantments so that you can get as much out of this card as possible.

12. Goblin Recruiter

What is great about this card?

• Low Cost
• Library Control

The random element of Magic the Gathering is equal parts exciting, and irritating. To know you have amazing cards buried in your library where you can’t get to them while you’re facing down a tough opponent can be maddening! Fortunately, this card helps you overcome the struggle of waiting on luck to bring you what you need. Getting the Goblin Recruiter onto the battlefield not only means you have another creature to add to your army, but it also means you get to search through your library. You get to take any number of goblin cards from the depths of your library and bring them to the surface in any order!

11. Arclight Phoenix

What is great about this card?

• Flying
• Graveyard Return

Creatures with flying are highly valued in any deck, couple that with haste and you have a seriously deadly threat on your side. Arclight Phoenix has exactly that, and it also brings three damage to the party, which is nothing to sneeze at. Flying creatures are almost twice as valuable as any normal creature given that they're nearly twice as hard to block. If you can put that to use, you can chip away at your opponent’s health and have them on the ropes in just a few turns. If your opponent manages to kill this creature, well true to its heritage, the phoenix can rise again. All you need to do is play a few instants and sorceries and you can put the Arclight Phoenix onto the battlefield without needing to pay an additional mana cost, and since it comes with haste, you can use it to deal damage instantly.

10. Laelia, the Blade Reforged

What is great about this card?

• Flying
• Token Generation

Dragons are a staple creature for any red-centric player, and it’s easy to see why. These powerhouse beasts always come in with the ability to deal major damage and to fly, which pretty immediately puts your opponent in danger. The Ancient Copper Dragon has all of the goodness that comes with other dragon cards, with the bonus of being able to generate treasure tokens. Dragons always have a hoard, and this dragon can create the biggest treasure hoard of them all. If you can do damage with this card, you get to generate several treasure tokens equal to the result of a d20 roll. Since I am a huge Dungeons and Dragons nerd, I love any card that lets me exercise my dice rolling, so that’s a bonus for a lot of TTRPG lovers who have picked up a passion for Magic the Gathering like me!

8. Eidolon of the Great Revel

What is great about this card?

• Static Damage
• Low Mana Cost

Enchantment creatures need a little love on this list too! They are known for having very cool abilities, but they are a little bit lacking in the power and toughness department which does put them at risk on the battlefield. Fortunately, this card doesn’t need to do damage, to do damage. Playing any spell with converted costs of 3 or lower triggers this card’s ability and does two damage to that player. This sounds more like a con than a pro, as it could potentially affect you too, however, if played correctly, this card can be devastating against blue decks that tend to play enchantments to lower mana costs, turning their advantage into a weakness.

7. Etali, Primal Storm

What is great about this card?

• Heavy Hitter
• Exile Play

Dinosaurs are just as powerful as dragons minus the wings plus a bit of Jurassic flare! Etali, Primal Storm is more than a solid hitter, bringing both a power and toughness of 6 to the battlefield which makes this card a pretty intimidating play. More than just being able to deal massive damage, this card allows you to play some extra cards. When you attack with Etail, Primal Storm, you exile the top card of your, and your opponent’s library, and let you play them without paying their mana cost. This lets you get some good play options, as well as letting you deal insult to injury by using your opponent’s cards against them. The best part is, you don’t even have to choose which one to play! You can play any number of those exiled cards, and not spend any mana to do it, which means you can make some very big moves, in just one turn! 

6. Terror of the Peaks

What is great about this card?

• Static damage
• Life drain

This beast is aptly named, as it is well and truly a terror. A five-power, four-toughness creature with flying is pretty valuable as is, but there is so much more to this card than that. This card doesn’t even need to attack to damage. As long as you have Terror of the Peaks on the battlefield, every creature you cast onto the battlefield lets this card do damage equal to that creature’s power, guaranteeing you can take out opposing creatures, or deal direct damage to your opponent. Every point counts, and this ability is triggered with every creature you play, so you can rack up the damage. Any card as powerful as this one is bound to be a target, and it’s one you want to protect. Fortunately, this card comes with a sort of built-in defense system that you don’t have to babysit to trigger. Spells that target this card cost not only mana but also cost three hit points to cast, meaning your opponent will have a Sophie’s Choice-style decision to make if they want to destroy it.

5. Fury

What is great about this card?

• Entry Damage
• Double Strike

What is a red deck without a little fire? If you want to deal some damage and double down on the red theme, then an elemental is a great choice! This card is a little middle of the road as far as damage and power, but it does boost its value with its abilities. The Double Strike ability this card brings along means that you get to turn the subpar three points of damage, into an earth-shattering six. It deals four damage spread out among any number of targets when it enters the battlefield which can be a pretty crippling blow. This card also carries with it Evoke, which provides a few options for you to cast it, and deal that extra damage without having to spend your Mana.

4. Dragon's Rage Channeler

What is great about this card?

• Low Mana Cost
• Graveyard Conditionals

A one-cost, one-toughness, one-power card hardly seems worthy of being in the top five on the list, but this unassuming card packs quite a punch. The beauty of this card starts with its first ability, Surveil. It helps combat the painful reality of the random nature of Magic the Gathering by letting you know what’s coming next. Not only that, it lets you move the card you see into your graveyard if it isn’t what you want. Now ordinarily a card going into your graveyard is not a good thing, but in this case, it’s not only possible, it is encouraged. If you manage to get at least four card types into your graveyard, you can turn this less-than-stellar seeming card into a formidable monster with a plus-two bonus to its power and toughness, and the added ability of Flying.

3. Quakebringer

What is great about this card?

• No Life Gain
• Static Damage

One of the most frustrating things your opponent can do in a game is constantly heal the damage you’ve done to them. It can make a game drag on forever, and give them the time they need to get the upper hand on the field, but Quakebringer puts a stop to that. Having this card on the battlefield means that your opponents can’t delay the inevitable by healing. On top of that, not only does Quakebringer have a fairly decent power score of five, but it also does an additional two damage to your opponent at the beginning of your upkeep step. You can use this ability to whittle away at your opponent’s life, and they can’t even block it. This ability triggers even if this card is in the graveyard as long you have a giant under your control!

2. Dreadhorde Arcanist

What is great about this card?

• Exile Over Graveyard
• Cast Without Cost

It’s no surprise to see the Dreadhorde Arcanist among the top three Red creature cards. It has been extremely sought after since its creation for its ability to let you case additional instant or sorcery cards without paying their cost whenever you attack with this card. As long as the converted cost is less than or equal to Dreadhorde Arcanist’s power, then you can play it on your turn without having to pay. Granted, this card only has one power when it first enters the battlefield, which limits your options, however, if you have enchantments or other abilities to boost a power score, you can have access to a wide variety of spells without having to pay for them.

1. Ravagan, The Nimble Pilferer

What is great about this card?

• Token Generation
• Exile Play

Finally, number one on the list! This card is incredibly useful even though it isn’t outright powerful. Whenever Ragavan, Nimbler Pilferer deals damage to your opponent, you generate a treasure token, which gives you more wiggle room in your mana pool to play more powerful, high-cost cards. It also comes with the Dash ability, letting you cast this card with the addition of haste, and lets you return it to your hand at the start of your next step, theoretically keeping it safe in your hand from your opponent. If that wasn’t enough, you also exile the top card of that player’s library and can cast it yourself until the end of your next turn. It opens up a wide variety of cards for you to play, giving you a few more options that can shake up a game and deliver you victory with your opponent’s cards. The best kind of victory!

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