In the right strategy, almost any card can be unfair, but the most overpowered cards in Magic are very distinct. They are resilient and oppressive. When synthesizing this list, I was looking at cards that are asymmetrical in their effect, hard to interact with, or have little ways to remove or stop them.
The most overpowered cards are powerful and unfair; we're looking at the hardest cards to deal with or play around in Commander.
Top Unfair Cards in MTG
Game Changers are the definition of cards that are so overpowered that they "change the game." We're not talking about just Game Changers for this list. Instead, we're looking through all the cards that are legal in the format and weeding out the worst to see across the table.
- Cyclonic Rift
- Notion Thief
- Oubliette
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Opposition Agent
- Drannith Magistrate
- Deadpool, Trading Card
- Last March of the Ents
- Hullbreaker Horror
Let's look at how each one landed its spot on the list.
10. Hullbreaker Horror
You'd think ![]()
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for a Kraken Horror wouldn't be a very strong card, but bouncing permanents and spells is a solid effect. It seems like it is balanced by its mana cost, but no one -- I repeat, no one -- is paying full cost for Hullbreaker Horror. We're using Reanimate and putting it into play for free.
Someone puts a Cyclonic Rift on the stack? Bounce it back to their hand with a Consider. It's very strong. It can, late game, bounce every important permanent on the battlefield. I've done it before.
It can upset a lot of players because most of the removal for it can be ripped off the stack. It's hard to deal with. A Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares with enough mana open might get there though. How many cards can one person have in hand?
9. Last March of the Ents
I thought about Last March of the Ents a lot for this list. It almost didn't make it because it's not high on the salt scores and isn't a Game Changer. However, it's lack of popularity has been drastically overlooked.
This card can reasonably draw five to ten cards for ![]()
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. Then you can put any number of Creatures onto the battlefield from your hand. And it can't be countered.
It's no question that this card is strong, but it's also the sort of thing that is so hard to stop. Seeing a Green player draw all those cards and put any number of Creatures into play and not being able Swan Song it, is brutal.
A card like this should have a weakness. Maybe Hullbreaker Horror could do it, or a Sink Into Stupor, but there aren't a lot of things that could get it done.
8. Deadpool, Trading Card
Deadpool is an insanely complicated card and has some very complicated rulings.
That's what makes it so slippery.
When you cast Deadpool, Trading Card you don't have to put a target on the stack. Another important thing is "Deadpool's text-changing replacement effect applies as it resolves, not when it enters the battlefield."
That means that this ability isn't a triggered one, so:
- Nothing goes on the stack
- No one gets priority
- It just happens immediately
It doesn't seem like a lot until you realize that it goes around Hexproof, Ward, and Shroud.
Whatever Deadpool wants to be, he becomes. It is such a hard card to stop aside from countering it on the stack. And it can steal any Creature text box! Suddenly, the best card on the battlefield is yours.
7. Drannith Magistrate
Drannith Magistrate is such a 'feels bad' card that a lot of people will condemn you for playing it. Locking your opponents out of playing their Commander is such a blowout.
It has such a high amount of toughness that even cards like Mayhem Devil or Orcish Bowmaster have a hard time removing it. It's also ![]()
so it can lock players out of the Commanders so early. And decks that play off the top of the library or from exile -- like Glarb, Calamity's Augur and Prosper, Tome-Bound, respectively -- are also shut down.
It's unfair in its ability to slow down other game plans without affecting your own. Asymmetry is so important and often so unfair.
6. Opposition Agent
Opposition Agent is straight-up oppressive. The fact that it has the line, "you control your opponents while they're searching their libraries," means you get to see your opponent's hand when they search.
This steals Land fetches along with other tutors. All those Myriad Landscapes just tap for colorless. If they flash it in for ![]()
in response to you sacing Misty Rainforest, you just lose a life and your Land and they ramp. It's brutal.
It's another card that is a 'feels bad' card that has been subtly banned in a lot of pods because of how much it warps the game.
5. Oko, Thief of Crowns
Don't let Oko's first and last ability fool you. No one is making a Food token or exchanging control of an Artifact or Creature with power three or less.
The option to +1 Oko, Thief of Crowns and turn a target Artifact or Creature into a Green Elk Creature with base power and toughtness 3/3 is what we're really talking about.
Not only does it pump Oko, but it can hit your opponent's Commander, turning off most decks. Without a way to kill your Commander and Oko, you're locked into a situation where your Commander is held hostage.
It has a very powerful effect for just ![]()
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which means that there is no problem playing it late game along with anything else. You can do it every turn if you want because it's a plus ability!
4. Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
Whenever anyone says they're playing Vorinclex, the next question is "which Vorinclex?"
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger has a reputation, and it's not a good one. Essentially -- most of the time -- it doubles your mana production. What's more, it cuts off how much a player can do by keeping their Lands tapped for a full extra turn.
The fact that it accelerates you so much and holds other players back makes this uniquely overpowered. It is like quadrupling your mana production compared to your opponents. It also means that whatever opponents spend to remove it sets them back on mana, widening the gap even more.
3. Oubliette
This card tilts the heck out of me. Some color combinations struggle to remove enchantments at all, which makes Oubliette especially punishing. It comes in for just ![]()
and phases out a Creature, which means Commanders hit by it can't escape to the Command Zone.
Like Imprisoned in the Moon, this is a card that is very hard to remove and save your Commander from. If your deck relies on your Commander, this can be backbreaking. It has an overwhelming effect on Voltron or Spellslinger decks.
The problem continues because even if you do get to remove the card, it returns your card tapped. It might make you useless for another turn, depending on your strategy.
All around, 'feels bad' and oppressive.
2. Notion Thief
Notion Thief is so high on this list because of how much of a blow out it can be. Giving this card Flash was such an insidious design choice. Someone casts a Last March of the Ents and you flash in Notion Thief, you get their draws instead. This is true against any burst draw like Return of the Wildspeaker or Rishkar's Expertise.
It also gets rid of the advantage in situations when drawing isn't optional. Garruk's Uprising and Esper Sentinel do not say "may." And what makes it better than Narset, Parter of Veils is that it gives you the draw instead.
It denies and accelerates.
1. Cyclonic Rift
Everyone has been in the situation where you're playing a strong game and see that one Blue player pass the turn with ![]()
open. The dread, knowing you're so unsafe, is unique. Returning all nonland permanents you don't control to its owner's hand, is probably one of the biggest, most powerful things you can do at Instant speed.
The fact Cyclonic Rift is asymmetrical puts you so far ahead. Everyone else is forced to start over with just their Lands. Rebuilding will take forever, and you'll be unmoved. It's the sort of thing you can do to win the game or, at least, put you so far ahead there isn't much anyone can do about it.
It is a lot of mana to hold up but Blue players manage it. It crumples to An Offer You Can't Refuse or a Swan Song or any counterspell, but a Fierce Guardianship in your back pocket, could truly be a blow out.
Honorable Mentions
There were a few cards that I thought about putting on this list but, for one reason or another, found that there were cards that better did it in the slot.
I still think they're worth giving a quick look.
3. Imprisoned in the Moon
Like the reasons I made for Oubliette, Imprisoned in the Moon is the second-worst thing that can happen to a Commander. It ramps you unlike Oubliette by turning your Commander into a Land. The thing is that removing an Aura is equally hard to remove because it's attached to a Land and is an Enchantment.
2. Narset, Parter of Veils
Like, Notion Thief, Narset, Parter of Veils denies opponents more than one draw a turn, but it's not limited to your draw step. You can draw extra cards on your opponent's turns.
It is also a Planeswalker that can't be powered up with counters, so it's very vulnerable. For ![]()
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it's still very strong, but I think the advantage that comes with Notion Thief stealing the cards it denies is better.
1. Blood Moon
This card was hard to put on the list in general because of how fair it is. Blood Moon punishes all players by making turning all nonbasic Lands to Mountains. If you build around it, though, it can push you into the lead.
I didn't include this because it isn't inherently overpowered. It shines in a niche build-around strategy with mostly basic Lands.
However, Enchantments can be very hard to remove in certain colors so you may have any easy time getting this card to stick around awhile. I understand how unfair and OP it has the potential to be, but it wasn't as straightforward as the other cards that made the cut.
Conclusion
Anything one-sided or staxy can feel unfair, but I picked cards that aren't just powerful but also feel oppressive and unfair.
I didn't want to just rattle off the top saltiest cards or every Game Changer. I wanted cards that were so one-sided or had such an edge that it is hard to ignore. This is why things like Rhystic Study and Winter Orb didn't make the list.
I tried to balance the order with how strong or oppressive an effect could be and Cyclonic Rift had to be number one. But tell me what you think? I tend to dislike stax and avoid it so maybe there are some cards that I've missed. Send them to me. I'm @strixhavendropout on everything.















