Mythic Rarity did not exist early on in Magic The Gathering’s life. As a result, a lot of extremely powerful cards were originally printed as Rares. For this reason, I will be excluding the Power Nine. Otherwise, this would simply be a list of the Power Nine and one more powerful rare. These cards are format-warping powerhouses that came crashing into different formats and forced all decks to change to include them or beat them.
1. Lurrus of the Dream-Den
Most of the cards on this list will involve the thought, “What were they thinking?” but Lurrus is the biggest example of this of any rare ever. Lurrus is considered to either be the most powerful card to ever exist or second behind Ancestral Recall. Lurrus is banned in every format that she would be legal in. She was the very first power-level ban in Vintage in decades. While she was eventually unbanned, she is now again on the watchlist for Vintage. Even in Commander, Lurrus is a monstrous presence that warps the game.
2. Underworld Breach
Oh, look, another card printed during the infamous FIRE years that is banned everywhere. Only legal in Vintage and Commander, where it is a centerpiece of combos, Breach is a terrifying spell. Have you ever thought that giving every spell in your graveyard Escape is fair? You are wrong; it is not. It is one of only two red Game Changers. Even if you are casting a “fair” or “value” Breach, it is effectively 2 mana to gain a new hand.
3. Yawgmoth’s Will
In many ways, Yawgmoth’s Will is the original Underworld Breach. I think that these cards are extremely close in power, but Underworld Breach is played more in Vintage. Even though Yawg’s Will is restricted, which may hurt its play rate, the preference in Vintage decks is clear. More decks are built around Breach than Yawg’s Will. This does not change how absurdly powerful Yawg’s Will is. It’s the same type of card as Breach: 3 mana gain your graveyard as your hand.
4. Vampiric Tutor
The second most powerful tutor ever printed, after Demonic Tutor. I have friends who always try to justify casting this spell in casual games. I had a friend cast this recently in a casual game of Commander. When another friend cast a wheel, he was devastated because he had tutored a combo and was going to win on his next turn. Yeah, I hate this card in casual commander. In competitive EDH, though? This is still terrifying, but at least I’m not upset that you have it in your deck in the first place.
5. Nadu, Winged Wisdom
I thought we had moved past this WotC. Perhaps someday we will get a 3 mana Simic card that isn’t the most insane thing you’ve ever read. You may also read this card and think, “This is so many words. How is this not a mythic?” I have no idea. Nadu was banned in Modern a month after its release. It was banned a month later in Commander. Some Legacy players are even calling for Nadu to receive the axe. There is already an article detailing the mistakes behind designing Nadu, so I won’t expand too much here.
6. Imperial Seal
The third most powerful tutor ever printed. After nearly every Black tutor goes the rest of the tutors in power. At sorcery speed and going to the top it is strictly worse than both Vampiric and Demonic tutor. Unless your opponents can shuffle your deck or mill a single card in a turn cycle, however, it is functionally the same thing. Black tutors are extremely powerful because they allow you to go and get any single card you want. These are the most powerful sources of card selection in the game.
7. Dig Through Time
Illegal in Modern and Legacy, restricted in Vintage. Delve was a mistake mechanic, as anything that allows you to cheat on mana costs is. Dig Through Time is one of the best card selection spells available to most Magic players. Most cards that allow the player to draw 2 cards for 2 mana are always powerful. Dig Through Time also lets you look at 7 cards and choose what you’d like from those two. It warps the construction of decks, and it got itself banned for this reason. It is still legal in Pioneer, but I expect this to change in the future.
8. Strip Mine
Banned in Legacy and restricted in Vintage. This classic land is powerful and a staple in Commander. When I started playing Magic, Strip Mine was cheap, so I had a lot of copies of it, and it goes into every Commander deck I build. The player is able to turn the game into an actual nightmare by playing cards that let you play lands from the graveyard. This creates a loop of blowing up your opponent’s lands until you have lands and they don’t. This is a rough strategy to deal with in 1v1 formats and a great way to lose a friend in Commander.
9. Urza’s Saga
Banned nowhere but restricted in Vintage. Urza’s Saga is another powerful land. It received the ban in Vintage because of the incredible power of artifacts in that format that cost 0 or 1. Additionally, Saga can win games entirely on its own. The most horrifying thing to see after your opponent has made two constructs and tutored an artifact is them playing another Urza’s Saga. This land revolutionized artifact decks in all formats. It is universally playable in Commander because Sol Ring costs 1.
10. Golgari Grave-Troll
Banned in Modern, unbanned in Modern, rebanned in Modern, banned in Legacy, and restricted in Vintage. This is the best Dredge card ever printed in Magic the Gathering. Dredge is already one of the greater mistake mechanics ever printed. A Dredge opponent is functionally not playing Magic by the conventional rules of the game. You will watch as they dump their library into the graveyard and create an unbeatable board that will destroy you. This is a staple deck in Legacy and Vintage, mostly Vintage.
