The 25 Best Cycles in Magic Ranked

Pedro Furtado (djorso) 11 days ago Collecting, Deckbuilding, MTG Cards

Mox Ruby | Illustration by Volkan Baga

Cycles are an important part of Magic’s story and gameplay, and they show different situations from different perspectives of MTG’s color pie. Designers use cycles to show how different colors like red, black, and green see and feel the same phenomenon, or how different factions from a given Magic set are represented, and what they have in common. Land cycles are the most common, but we can have all sorts of card cycles in MTG, including creatures, instants, artifacts, and planeswalkers.

Throughout MTG’s history, there have been hundreds of cycles, and we’re highlighting the best ones. Let’s go!

Table of Contents show

What Are Cycles in MTG?

Oliphaunt | Illustration by John Di Giovanni

Cycles are a group of five (or ten) cards usually designed in a given MTG set or set block. They’re often variants of the same effect, but with variations due to the limitations of MTG’s color pie. They can share mechanical identities, creature type, card type, mana value, and so on. Cycles can also have five allied color cards, five enemy color cards, or even 10 for each color pair, not to mention 3-color combinations like shards and wedges.

For this list I’m taking a very liberal approach to cycles, prioritizing cycles that were somehow played in Constructed and are relevant to this day, and sometimes the cards will be from different sets (a “super-cycle”). Also, since almost every Magic set has a relevant 5- or 10-land cycle, I’m taking most of them out except those that do something relevant instead of only generating mana, like manlands.

#25. Dragons of Tarkir’s Dragonlords

As the name implies, Dragons of Tarkir was all about dragons, and the five factions were each commanded by one of these dragonlords. These dragons embody the philosophy of their clans. Dragonlord Atarka is the biggest one, and a nice reanimation target, splitting up 5 damage on ETB. Dragonlord Ojutai saw a lot of play in control, having situational hexproof and a way to get up on cards. These are all fine and playable in dragon Commander decks, but you can do a lot better with other commanders, even dragon commanders.

#24. Lord of the Rings Basic Landcyclers

Here’s another functional cycle. These common cards from LTR all allow you to cycle them and search for a land with a given basic land type. Lórien Revealed is actually a multi-format staple. The other cards see less play but it’s nice to have a threat that can also fix your mana. Troll of Khazad-dûm in particular also benefits from cycling in combination with cards like Reanimate and Animate Dead.

#23. Neon Dynasty’s Legendary Dragons

The original Kamigawa had legendary spirit dragons that, for a long time, were Constructed playable and even good commanders. Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty went a step further, making these more powerful overall, with two different modes to choose from when they die. While not as great in the command zone as Kokusho, the Evening Star, you’d be more inclined to run NEO dragons that are less expensive and more effective overall.

#22. Return to Ravnica Block’s Ten Guildleaders

It’s impossible to talk about cycles without mentioning Ravnica sets, which are usually built upon 10-card cycles featuring Ravnica's ten guilds, from lands to mana rocks and creatures. I could mention the charms, but due to the popularity of legendary creatures and EDH, I’ve elected this one. I’m surprised to see that most of these still hold up as good commanders, like Prime Speaker Zegana and Aurelia, the Warleader.

#21. The Second Generation of Phyrexian Praetors (DMU, NEO, SNC, ONE)

The Phyrexian praetors have a good ability for you and deny a good ability from your opponent in a mirrored way (e.g.: buff your creatures, shrink theirs, double your counters, halve their counters). These plenty of Constructed play across multiple Magic formats. Vorinclex is just “another Doubling Season,” while Elesh Norn doubles your enter triggers while denying theirs. And we don’t even need to mention black staple Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

#20. Baldur’s Gate’s Ancient Dragons

The Ancient Metallic Dragons from CLB are giant air threats, and when they deal damage, you get to roll a d20 die and get a reward based on the number. On average you’ll get 10, but maybe even a 20. These are high on the mana value, but they’re among the best and most flavorful cycle of dragons ever printed, especially if you had any previous knowledge of D&D.

#19. Theros’s Mono-Color Gods

Think of a Standard format utterly dominated by mono-color decks for about a year, and these cards are the main culprits. The first gods of MTG were indestructible and turned into big creatures if you have enough devotion. The highlights here are Purphoros, God of the Forge, a nice way to kill opponents in EDH if you have token production, and Thassa, God of the Sea, a card that’s usually a 5/5 unblockable for 3 mana – with the right support team.

#18. Commander 2011’s Wedge-Colored Commanders

These five legends, released in Commander 2011, are 3-color “wedge” commanders, and very popular to this day. At their release, options to build wedge Commander decks were few and far between, and this was the first product WotC released to support the format, obviously addressing the wedge problem. Kaalia of the Vast is a powerhouse, being able to cheat strong cards like demons or dragons just by attacking, while Zedruu the Greathearted is a nice group hug commander.

#17. The Ultimatums

Besides the name, you only need to look at the cost of these cards to see the similarities, and they’re hard to cast, but awesome nonetheless – especially if you manage to cast one of these in Draft or Sealed.

Ultimatums are powerful finishers, from classic Cruel Ultimatum, a wincon in Cruel Control decks of old, to the newest ones from Ikoria. Eerie Ultimatum is awesome in highlander formats like EDH, while Emergent Ultimatum saw a lot of Constructed play in ramp decks. Getting to tutor and cheat two strong mono-colored cards into play helps a bunch, and it’s a huge payoff for ramping to 7 mana.

#16. Swords of X and Y – Multiple Sets

The megacycle of “Swords of X and Y” all cost 3, equip for 2, and give +2/+2, two protections, and a spell effect when the creature hits – which should be easier with protection. Sword of Feast and Famine saw plenty of 1v1 Constructed play, because forcing them to discard and untapping your lands is all upside. Sword of War and Peace, on the other hand, depends on the number of cards in players’ hands, so it won’t be always good.

#15. Forgotten Realms' Manlands

We hadn't seen a cycle of mono-colored manlands since Urza's Legacy (Faerie Conclave, Treetop Village, etc.), and the Forgotten Realms versions even enter untapped most of the time. Suffice to say, decks play these lands without downside most of the time, and they shine in 1- or 2-color decks. A card like Hall of Storm Giants is a nice blue finisher, while Lair of the Hydra shines in green devotion decks as a big threat later in the game.

#14. Wilds of Eldraine’s Virtue Enchantments

The Virtue cycle of adventure enchantments are expensive, but their cost is offset by the cheap adventure version, offering you a card that’s good early and late. A card like Virtue of Persistence is a straight-up better Debtors' Knell, while also being removal early that gives you life against aggro. Virtue of Loyalty is good when you have enough creatures to pump them, but it’s also a cheap 2/2 flash knight creature, and so on.

#13. Commander 2015’s Confluences

Confluences take commands to the next level, allowing you to stack modes multiple times. That’s 27 possible outcomes on a spell, to the six possibilities of the commands. Some players will argue that cards like Fiery Confluence and Mystic Confluence are auto-includes in many EDH decks with those colors, and also staples of formats like Cube, but the others are playable in the right spots.

#12. Lorwyn’s Commands

Lorwyn’s Commands was the first “high profile” cycle of instants and sorceries, one that allows you to choose two modes out of four, providing immense value and flexibility. The name command went on, and many sets have a cycle of commands. These are the original mono-color ones, and cards like Cryptic Command were Constructed staples for a long time. Austere Command and Profane Command are fine playables in EDH too.

#11. M20’s Cavaliers

M20’s Cavalier cycle costs 2CCC, and they’re strong creatures that do something when they enter and when they die. Barring exile effects, you’ll get a lot of value from these. Cavaliers dominated Standard with cards like Fires of Invention that offset their high mana value. Cavalier of Thorns sees play in green devotion decks in Pioneer as a huge creature that delivers value and blocks well. The other cavaliers are good on their own, and they add a bunch of devotion if it’s your thing, or if you support elemental as a creature type.

#10. Tempest’s Medallions

Medallions are slightly better than mana rocks the fewer colors you have, because they shave 1 mana of all the spells from their respective color. As such, they're good at ramping, but also essential in storm decks since this is permanent cost reduction. They stack in multiples too. Ruby Medallion ends up seeing more play in red storm decks, while Emerald Medallion is in the color that has naturally more ramp. Of note, these cards used to cost a small fortune until they were reprinted due to their popularity in EDH.

#9. MH3’s Transforming Planeswalkers

The first set to have a cycle of legends that turn into planeswalkers was Magic Origins, and I considered that cycle for this ranking. This Modern Horizons 3 cycle is newer and more powerful overall, with cards like Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student and Ajani, Nacatl Pariah being Modern staples, and the other cards seeing some play. It only takes a Brainstorm to flip Tamiyo. Overall, the legendary creatures are nice to have in play, with Ral helping storm decks, but you’ll usually want to flip as fast as possible.

#8. Duskmourn: House of Horror’s Overlords

It’s hard to say if the impending Overlords are better or worse than Titans, but they’re in contention. Overlords from Duskmourn are enchantment creatures with the impending mechanic, so you can cast them for cheap and get their benefits much earlier in the game. It’s like suspending a permanent and getting goodies immediately. Overlord of the Hauntwoods fixes your mana and ramps you early, but it’s not something you want in the late game. On the other hand, Overlord of the Mistmoors keeps giving you tokens, like Grave Titan, but it’s slightly more expensive. They’re a no-brainer if you need enchantments in your deck.

#7. Talismans

Talismans are among the best 2-drop mana rocks you can play in EDH, especially because they don’t enter tapped. I’d add the Ravnica Signets cycle here as well, but with Signets you often lose tempo the turn they enter. Play whichever Signets or Talismans are available in your color identity.

#6. M11’s Titans

Titans are synonyms for powerful creatures in MTG, and these are all 6/6 for 6 mana that do something when they enter and also trigger when they attack, basically making them predecessors to the Overlord cycle. Primeval Titan is still played in Amulet decks in Modern while being banned in EDH, as fetching two lands is very powerful. These are showing their age, but if you’re looking for a strong 6-drop, they deliver power.

#5. Ikoria’s Companion Cycle

Ten companions from Ikoria, one for each color pair, all hybrid-mana cards to work best in Limited. The companion mechanic had to be nerfed to stay competitive in a fair way, and almost all of these saw heavy play in Constructed. Lurrus of the Dream-Den is banned in Vintage, of all formats, while you can’t play Lutri, the Spellchaser in EDH because of the obvious restrictions.

#4. Modern Horizons 2’s Pitch Elementals

This cycle from Modern Horizons 2 has five “pitch creatures,” creatures that you can evoke by exiling (pitching) a card from your hand of that color. These have all seen Constructed play in multiple formats, with Fury and Grief being banned in formats like Modern and Legacy. They also work wonders with cards like Ephemerate and Undying Evil, allowing you to get multiple enter effects and keep the creature.

#3. Time Spiral’s Free Suspend Spells

Time Spiral created “0-mana” spells that you can only suspend, and they all represent broken cards from MTG’s past, like Balance, Eureka, and Ancestral Recall. Turns out, waiting for them to resolve actually balances the card, but there’s cascade and a bunch of ways to break these. These beloved cards are usually played in Cubes and formats like Legacy and Vintage, and most of them are banned and restricted in multiple formats, like Hypergenesis and Restore Balance.

#2. Alpha’s Boons

Alpha had five spells which show each color getting three of a resource, and we can see that drawing three cards or getting 3 mana isn’t the same as gaining 3 life, but that’s the beauty of unbalanced cycles. For example, Giant Growth is a fine Limited card, while Healing Salve is unplayable, and the rest are absolute Constructed staples, with Ancestral Recall being part of Magic's famous Power Nine.

#1. Alpha’s Mox Cycle

MTG has nine cards considered “the Power Nine,” and five of them are actually a cycle. These cards are only allowed in Vintage as a 1-of, but why are they so good? In your opening hand, it’s a “free land.” Fast mana is often broken, and even moxen that have restrictions like Chrome Mox are often banned as well.

What Is a Vertical Cycle?

A vertical cycle is a cycle that encompasses different rarities, usually from the same color, so you have a common, an uncommon, and a rare that do similar stuff. WotC usually does that to show different versions of a mechanic at different power levels. M20 had three versions of Chandra to depict the character’s power level evolution: Chandra, Novice Pyromancer, Chandra, Acolyte of Flame, and Chandra, Awakened Inferno.

What Is a Supercycle?

A supercycle is a cycle that has similar cards across different Magic sets. The cycle of Sword equipment is probably the most famous one and took decades to finish, having cards in Darksteel (2004), Scars of Mirrodin (2010), Mirrodin Besieged (2011), and even in Phyrexia: All Will Be One (2023).

Are There Any Incomplete Cycles?

A lot of MTG cycles are actually incomplete. WotC’s R&D always receives questions about “when you’re going to complete said cycle.” As an example, we can cite the 1-mana tutors that tutor for a card and put it on top, like Vampiric Tutor, Worldly Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, and Mystical Tutor, lacking the red one.

Similarly, a card like Archdruid's Charm was designed to mirror the blueprint of Archmage's Charm, which leaves the door open for this to become a full cycle down the line with a white, black, and red “Arch-something's Charm.”

Wrap Up

Healing Salve | Illustration by Dan Frazier

Cycles are a very important part of MTG sets, and one that players award anxiously when a new set is revealed. It’s very common for a set to have 5-10 cycles, but most of them are only relevant for Limited at best.

A lot of cycles were considered to write this list, and I know that many powerful and flavorful ones were left behind. Now I want to hear from you. Which cycle should be here, no matter what? Let me know in the comments section below, or in our Draftsim Discord.

Thanks for reading guys, and l can’t wait to see which exciting cycles MTG has next.

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Pedro Furtado (djorso)

Pedro started playing Magic way back when in Fourth Edition. After a long hiatus, he now plays mostly MTG Arena Standard and Limited. His biggest MTG regret is trading a bunch of Force of Wills for Serra Angels.