So...I've been thinking about what the best magic the gathering creature is at each converted mana cost. Here's what I've got so far:
0 mana: OrnithopterThe list of 1 mana creatures is pretty short, and really there's only two real options here: Ornithopter and
Memnite. And...there are some decks that run both right now in Modern, but they seem to run more copies of Ornithopter usually. Flying is good. Especially when you combine it with
Cranial Plating or
Ensoul Artifact or lots of counters off of an
Arcbound Ravager.
1 mana: Delver of SecretsThere's definitely some competition for this slot. Some fantastically good mana production like
Noble Hierarch. Some just very powerful effects like
Mother of Runes. There's only one 1 mana creature banned in Modern right now, and it's
Deathrite Shaman (because it is good at making mana, and also warps the meta by killing several strategies). Delver is still just so standout in terms of stats and a multi-format all-star, that people seem to agree with it being the best.
2 mana: Stoneforge MysticTo give you an idea of what this can search up, it can search up
Batterskull and then put a 4/4 life gaining, vigilance creature into play for 2 mana at instant speed. Or it can search up equipment, some of which is just very powerful like
Sword of Fire and Ice, some of which is part of an infinite combo like
Sword of the Meek. And when you use its ability to put this equipment into play, it comes in at instant speed and they can't counter it.
There is a lot of competition for the 2 mana slot, though. Banned in Legaccy you have
Goblin Recruiter and
Hermit Druid. The problem I have with these is that they weren't good when the were new, and don't even go into most decks. But after that, there's still a collection of multi-format allstars. Stoneforge Mystic. Tarmogoyf. Dark Confidant. Snapcaster Mage. Arcbound Ravager. Scavenging Ooze. Of these...
Arcbound Ravager and Stoneforge Mystic both got banned in Standard. Stoneforge Mystic is also banned in Modern right now, though, and played in pretty much every Legacy deck running white. There's also a decent argument for
Tarmogoyf, which has been ubiquitous and oppressive in just about every format, but you know, it didn't even dominate its own Standard format for all that long, because Faeries came along.
3 mana: MetalworkerLet's take a moment to talk about Metalworker. Actually, pause for a moment and look at
Somberwald Sage instead. Somberwald Sage is considered a good card, and gets played in constructed. Creature only mana is probably a bigger restriction than colourless. So...really, to be getting good value out of Metalworker, you really only need to tap for 4 mana. Having enough artifacts to get 2 artifacts in your hand (making 4 mana) usually is not really that hard. Of course, the dedicated artifact decks do terrifying things with this card, tapping for 12 and such.
As for other options, 3 mana isn't really where the busted cards live. There's an argument for
Vendilion Clique, as that goes into lots and lots of decks--pretty good clock with evasion, and gets a big threat out of your opponent's hand.
True Name Nemesis also exists, but I'm not sure I want to count it, given that they knew it was good, and that's why they made sure it was never legal in standard or modern.
4 mana: Bloodbraid ElfI don't think there's any real debate about this one. It was never banned in Standard, but there were pro events where all 8 decks in the top 8 were running four of these (full 32 Bloodbraid Elves!) It is banned in Modern.
You get a free spell, AND a body that honestly isn't even all that unreasonable for a 4 mana creature. (4/3 haste is straight up good at 4 mana, so 3/2 haste with nothing would be...probably not in tournament decks, but not awful).
5 mana: ThragtuskSo this is an interesting one, as we're now in the range where I don't think a 5 mana creature has ever been banned in any format.
But I think I'm going to go with Thragtusk barring further arguments. Thragtusk showed up in an era of very strong 5 mana creatures in green.
Kessig Cagebreakers which won if you untapped with them.
Sigara which was near impossible to kill.
Wolfir Silverheart which was essentially 12/12 worth of power for 5 mana. And it made them all look bad, and became the definitive 5 drop in green. There's not really much you can do against it. Kill it? Ok, they still got a 3/3 and 5 life out of the deal. Exile it? Bounce it? Same thing; you always get full value. But on the flip side, if you're the one controlling it, you can do ridiculously abusive things with it.
Restoration Angel yes I would like a surprise free 5 life and bonus 3/3.
Deadeye Navigator actually I'd like to do that 3 times per turn.
Derranged Hermit is also a very strong candidate. It's a card they've thought about reprinting a few times, only to realize that it was actually way too broken. It's a card that...the very first time I drafted a Cube, I died to this card. So...next time I drafted a Cube, I first picked this (probably over some P9 card) and then proceeded to win every match. Afterward we discussed it, and noted that Grave Titan was also in the Draft, but my friend pointed out that wouldn't be as deadly--he could, say, control magic on the Grave Titan, and be just fine. That did nothing against Hermit. What does work though? Is more hermits, since they pump each other.
Baneslayer Angel was also the terror of Standard for a very long time, even if it never really made the jump to eternal formats. It can and does just plain die if you kill it. But if you don't, 10 point lifeswings every turn.
There is, however, also an argument for
Kiki-Jiki. Now, Kiki-Jiki when it was legal in Standard was quirky, not played in very many decks at all. (People would play it in Tooth and Nail decks to fetch out alongside Sundering Titan). But it has been a very persistent combo piece. A frequent subject of scruitiny in EDH. The only 5 mana creature that gets played in Modern right now, because as soon as it was out of Standard, infinite combos got printed for it--the popular one right now being Restoration Angel (which itself is a very strong card, so you don't mind running it). That said, derranged hermit is too old to be legal in Modern, so it's hard to say "See? Kiki-Jiki is better."
6 mana: Primeval TitanThere are a lot of ridiculous 6 drops, but fortunately they were all in standard at the same time, so it's really quite simple to pick out the best. Primeval Titan was consistently considered the best of the Titan (all 7 of them; I'm counting Consecrated Sphinx and Wurmcoil Engine as Titans here). It straight up got itself banned in EDH. The combos and lands it goes for change--first it was Valakut, then it was Wolf Run, in more eternal formats it might be Cabal Coffers and Urbog, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
7 mana: Elesh Norn, Grand CenobiteYou know, there's some competition here.
Angel of Serenity represents a lot of removal. Or
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, which both kills your opponents stuff AND makes it so that they need to deal with it before they play any new stuff.
Palinchron does kind-of scream infinite mana abuse. (Not a bad control creature either; play it, and still have counter mana up, and have the mana available to bounce it if they try to kill it).
Snowfire has made a decent argument for Elesh Norn, though. It's usually the top reanimation choice at this cost, it's a fine hardcast, and you don't really need to specialize your deck at all for it, unlike, say, Palinchron.
8 mana: GrislebrandSo like...let's make a necropotence that can also heal the life back and kill the opponent. This very quickly became arguably the best reanimation target, banned in commander, etc etc.
There are some very good 8 mana cards (mostly a lot of big giant things with haste--if you can cheat multiple creatures into play, those become good because they just deal 20 damage). But this seems like the overall strongest despite not being part of the haste party.
9 mana: Iona, Shield of EmeriaOh, I'm sorry, did you want to play spells?
And...once we get to 10 mana, the winner becomes really unclear. Jin-Gitaxias goes into reanimator decks. And Progenitus goes into Natural Order decks. They don't really compete head to head for the same deck space.
