Wizards of the Coast brought us something players had been asking about for years hot off the heels of the downer that was Murders at Karlov Manor, a plane based on the Old West. However, Outlaws of Thunder Junction was met with mixed reactions. The setting seemed odd, and the focus on villains who were on the plane with questionable motives made it feel disjointed, leading to the inevitable "hat set" criticisms. Just another plane with the same characters wearing different hats.

Despite this, the set was packed with a ton of wild cards and made for one heck of a Limited experience. The set is packed to bursting with a lot of cool mythic rares - even if few of them broke into serious competitive play. Today the plain is to rank every one of the mythic rares in the main set! Don't worry, I'll be touching on the bonus sheet and the Big Score in future articles.

Let's get to ranking!

• 20. Annie Flash, the Veteran
• 19. Oko, the Ringleader
• 18. Selvala, Eager Trailblazer
• 17. Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds
• 16. Double Down
• 15. Kellan, the Kid
• 14. Rakdos, the Muscle
• 13. Vraska, the Silencer
• 12. The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride
• 11. Gisa, the Hellraiser

10. Assimilation Aegis

Oblivion Ring-style effects are always pretty solid, though they can feel somewhat narrow when only hitting creatures. Having the ability to turn one of your creatures into the creature you exiled can be an excellent bonus, though. This made Assimilation Aegis a fringe player in Standard while simultaneously being a solid inclusion for Commander and Cube. It's not perfect, but it allows you to get up to some silly shenanigans all the same.

9. Jace Reawakened

Jace had quite a bit going for him with this card. For one, his appearance in the Outlaws of Thunder Junction story was a bit of a shock thanks to becoming a Phyrexian in Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Not only that, but two-mana planeswalkers are exceedingly rare. His effects seemed powerful and people assumed there was a way to take advantage of him, even if the card had the Serra Avenger text that meant you couldn't cast him in the first three turns of the game.

As it happens, he simply wasn't all that powerful, but people certainly tried to break the card. For example, there were attempts to cheat on mana costs with him thanks to how the plot mechanic works. Despite this, it was too slow and too narrow to make a major showing, though it's worth noting how it got players' brains turning.

8. Geralf, the Fleshwright

Up until now, most of Geralf's previous cards felt a bit underwhelming. His team up card with his sister, Gisa and Geralf, is the exception and would go on to be a Zombie deck staple in Commander. Geralf, the Fleshwright, really pushed you into playing as many spells as you can, presenting a sort of Storm deck that spit out tons of creatures. This made Geralf an occasional win-con in Standard and excellent for other formats as well - particularly Commander.

7. Final Showdown

Players saw Final Showdown and the gears started turning. It seemed like there had to be something cool you could do with it. When players see an instant speed board wipe, they wonder if it could make the cut into Standard. Sadly, it only ended up showing up in a handful of lists with minimal impact on the Standard format. Despite the low impact in Standard, it has continued to show up in Commander thanks to its versatility as a board wipe.

6. Railway Brawler

Just about any Commander deck loves making gigantic creatures, and this one lets you go absolutely nuts with gigantic creatures. Even if it didn't have the ability to grant extra +1/+1 counters, a five-mana 5/5 with reach and trample is already a good deal. Paying 4 mana to Plot it and then cast it for free later? Even better! The fact it effectively doubles creatures' power makes it an extremely powerful threat that must be dealt with before it runs away with the game. It has even facilitated some fun casual Standard brews over the years, though it looks awfully modest in the era of Ouroboroid and turn three Craterhoof Behemoths.

5. Goldvein Hydra

Hyrdas are frequently overlooked, as many players see them as being hit or miss. There's card simply doesn't miss, though. You can make it as big as you want, and with 3 powerful keywords (Vigilance, Trample, and Haste are a big game), it's priced to move at just about any mana cost you pay. More importantly, it also leaves behind a ton of Treasure tokens when it dies, making it an all-star in Casual formats as well as low-tier Standard decks.

4. Archangel of Tithes

For quite some time, Archangel of Tithes had been climbing in price thanks to Commander. With only one real printing in Magic Origins and a smaller reprint in Mystery Booster/The List, the price had been creeping up due to a lack of accessibility. The reprint in this set made it far more available, to the point that you can buy a copy for only a few bucks. A fantastic, if not surprising, reprint!

3. Tinybones, the Pickpocket

When Jumpstart first came out, players instantly fell in love with the small Tinybones, Trinket Thief character. Outlaws of Thunder Junction and its heist story proved a perfect setting for the little guy's return, and his new card was a good one! Tinybones, the Pickpocket had a ton of hype behind it and it lived up to that hype in many ways! Usually, 1/1 deathtouchers for 1 mana are a dime a dozen and go unblocked with ease. This card offered you a choice. You either block it and lose the blocker, or I steal something of yours. That's a huge jump in power, and made it a modest player in Standard as well as a Casual staple.

2. Terror of the Peaks

Terror of the Peaks has remained a costly Commander staple for years, and this reprint was sorely needed given how brutally expensive it was at the time of reprinting. Even after getting another printing here, it has maintained much of its value - a testament to how popular it still is. The card also managed to make a handful of appearances in Standard as well, thanks to various Smuggler's Surprise decks, and it even pops up in current Sultai Reanimator lists.

1. Bristly Bill, Spine Sower

When I think of powerful cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Bristly Bill, Spine Sower is hardly the first card that comes to mind. My first thought would be something like the reprinted Kaladesh fast lands, Slickshot Show-Off, Three Steps Ahead, and all the Big Score cards.

However, as far as mythics are concerned, it's not difficult to see how Bristly Bill tops the list. This powerful 2-drop immediately became a hit among the Casual crowd and managed to find a home as a Commander favorite everywhere. Then it started showing up as a game-ender for Nadu, Winged Wisdom decks in Modern until that card was banned, and it eventually showed up in Standard thanks to Landfall decks. The various applications clearly show it has the widest range of play options, easily making it the top mythic of the set!

Paige Smith

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