Magic the Gathering: The Top 5 Cards of All Time

Magic The Gathering has long been a great and traditional pastime for many card players. Since it's launch, Magic has only grown in popularity, and though many players depart from the reigns of this card intense card flinging experience, many return as newer sets come out. Through the years, many celebrate the different cards' artwork and original flavor text, and countless tournament have been won through the strategic building of decks and the tireless research of the game's fans. In celebration today, I take a look at some of the most powerful Magic The Gathering cards to date. Whether your set of choice is Alpha, Beta, Lorwyn, Mercadian Masques or any other set, we'll discover the best cards ever to be printed by Wizards of the Coast, today.

Five: Cloudseat

This card allows you to add one colorless mana to your pool for each Lotus you have in play. This might not come in handy now that the Lotus set has been overruled, and no longer is included in Standard play, but back in the day this card was a monster. It was almost as good as having the lotus itself. When two players matched up against each other, both with a Lotus or two, matches often went on for a long time because neither player could grab the upper hand. With Cloudseat, you have more mana because of your Lotus, so you're able to jam out more spells and slaughter more of your opponent's creatures. This card is not to be trifled with. Many a player have felt their heart sink when this card hits the board. If you see this card, you better be on the right side of it (namely, the text facing you =)

Four: Rancor

This is a monster of a card. Normally I don't endorse creature enchantments because well...they get you two for oned. What I mean by that is if you enchant a creature and that creature dies, you've now lost two cards to your opponent's one card spent to destroy that creature. In Magic The Gathering, the good players know that it's all about card advantage. Rancor is different. For only one mana you get to boost your creatures attack by 2, give it Trample, AND if that creature goes into the graveyard, you get Rancor back in your hand. This allows for a vicious cycle. Once Rancor comes out, the opponent CANNOT get rid of it with traditional crowd control or removal spells, and it only costs 1 mana! This card is incredibly efficient and it will allow you big beasties to become even bigger AND rip through your enemies line of defenses and take extra damage. Once again, when Rancor hits the board, you better be on the right side of it because it's NOT leaving any time soon (if at all).

Three: Wellwisher

Elf decks, now is the time to rejoice. With Wellwisher's release, we saw an explosion of players playing elf decks in tournaments and garages alike, because it's So Damn Good. Wellwisher allows the player to tap her and gain 1 mana per elf in play. For any of you who've played an elf deck, you know how powerful this can be. Because elf decks breed the elves like Rabbits, often doubling the number of them in play in one turn, wellwisher is a nearly infinite source of mana. Traditional elf decks, known as the "Elf-Ball" or "Elf-Grenade" used Wellwisher with a combination of other elves to gather 21 mana in the pool, then cast fireball for 20 damage. Unless you've got a counterspell, you're out of the game partner!

Two: Telepathy

This blue spell wreaks of sneakiness. This card states that when it hits play, all opponents play the rest of the game with their hands revealed. In a game like Magic, their is no better saying than that of knowledge is power. If you know your opponent's hand, you know their every move (or at least you'll be able to somewhat predict it). The spell is not overly costly, and it rewrites the rules of the game in your favor. Next!

One: Black Lotus

This is the king of all Magic Cards. Anybody who doesn't know about the Black Lotus hasn't been playing Magic The Gathering for that long (but it's okay if you don't). There is a reason that the Black Lotus is sought after by every single magic player around the world. First, because of it's rarity, secondly because it is the undisputed powerhouse of the game. It's not a land, but it still costs nothing to play.This artifact can be tapped to add three mana of any color to your pool. Wanna play cards that don't go along with your color scheme in your deck? The Black Lotus can do it. Want 4 mana on turn one? Sure, that Black Lotus can also do that. This card is incredible and if you ever get your hands on one, frame it and keep it around. It'll make your friends jaws drop faster than a kid in a candy store.

Check out more of my articles for more on Magic The Gathering, including the top of the the sets included in Standard Play!