While the highest rarity in Magic the Gathering is Mythic, many commons exceed the power levels of their more difficult-to-find cousins. Amongst those powerful commons, there is, of course, another level of power that can often be seen in the common-only format Pauper, but some commons are so powerful that they are banned or restricted in other formats as well. A majority of these powerful cards are rather old, coming into Magic early in its history, but some are shockingly new.

1. Brainstorm

One of the most powerful card selection spells ever printed in Magic the Gathering. It is restricted in Vintage. Brainstorm allows you to completely change your game plan for a single blue. Combining Brainstorm with shuffle effects, particularly fetch lands, allows you to take full advantage of the card. Putting away bad cards and taking fresh ones that can help you.

2. Ponder

Another blue cantrip that was formerly restricted in Vintage, is currently banned in Modern, and is an iconic card in Legacy. In the formats that it is legal in, Ponder allows its player to determine the next few turns and solve problems; if their top three cards are bad, they also have the option to shuffle. It is incredibly versatile, enabling control decks to fix their mana and plan their attack and helping combo decks find their pieces.

3. Treasure Cruise

The third in the list is also a blue spell that allows you to draw cards. Treasure Cruise is banned in Legacy, Modern, and Pauper while also being restricted in Vintage. The only formats it is legal in are commander and Pioneer. The delve mechanic allows you to cast Treasure Cruise for one mana with decent support, essentially making this an Ancestral Recall on a budget, and Ancestral Recall is considered to be either the most powerful or the second most powerful card ever printed in Magic the Gathering.

4. Gitaxian Probe

It’s one of the more infamously banned cards with one of the more infamously powerful mechanics: 2 life to draw a card and look at your opponent’s hand is absurdly powerful. Gitaxian Probe is banned in Legacy, Modern, and Pauper while being restricted in Vintage as well, putting it into the same boat as Treasure Cruise. This card offers less raw card advantage than Treasure Cruise but exchanges it for having no mana cost and giving you information on your opponent’s resources.

5. Lightning Bolt

One of the most iconic cards in Magic the Gathering is Lightning Bolt. The old reliable one mana deal three. It has been a staple across multiple formats for years as both a removal piece as well as a way to add additional pressure to your opponent’s life total.

6. Arcum’s Astrolabe

This seemingly innocuous artifact is banned in Legacy, Modern, and Pauper. The mana fixing it enables was simply too powerful for the formats it was legal in, stapling on the fact that the card replaces itself once cast. This results in a card that was one of the primary culprits in the infamous Snowko decks that dominated Modern and Legacy. In Pauper, it was responsible for enabling 5-color Tron.

7. Daze

Though it is not banned in nearly as many formats as many of the previous entries, Daze is banned in Pauper and a staple of tempo decks in Legacy. Being able to cast spells without paying a mana cost is, in general, extremely powerful. Daze may not guarantee the targeted spell to be countered, but it can catch opponents off-guard or force them to play more slowly in order to not get caught by it. Additionally, with the introduction of the surveil lands, Daze can also function as card selection.

8. Mystic Sanctuary

This land is banned in both Pauper and Modern. It was banned for the same reason in both formats. It resulted in loops that were unpleasant to play against and made it difficult to make a game plan that was different but able to keep up with in the later turns of the game. In Legacy, it is occasionally used to recur powerful card selection tools, like Ponder and Brainstorm, as well as answers, such as Force of Will and Swords to Plowshares.

9. Gush

It would not surprise me if most people were not even aware that Gush is a card that exists in Magic. It is only played in some Vintage decks, where it is restricted, but it is banned in both Legacy and Pauper. As I’ve said before, being able to cast spells for free is almost always good, and Gush allows you to draw two cards by returning two islands to your hand.  This was extremely powerful in Tempo decks like Delver.

10. Basking Broodscale

This is the newest released card to enter the list. Released into the Magic world on February 14th, 2025, it is already banned in Pauper as of March 31st, 2025. This card was a combo with Blade of the Bloodchief, which allowed you to make infinite mana and have an infinitely large creature. The deck lives on in Modern as a decent combo deck.