Hello folks! Have you enjoyed the cards that's we've seen printed for MTG this year? Anything you have cracked that has really impacted your kitchen tables games?

A lot of times, the actual play value of cards is very different than what we thought it would be prior to release. You have cards that play better or worse than they looked. That's a pretty common phenomenon, right? Right!

Now that we've had a chance to play cards from all over, which ones have stood out? What ones have made their mark? Let's look at the best cards for multiplayer newly printed this year.

As a reminder, these sets had new cards from 2019:

Modern Horizons

Core Set 2020

War of the Spark

Commander 2019

Throne of Eldraine

Ravnica Allegiance

Also note that this list cares about multiplayer cards (in general), not cards that are amazing for Commander but poor elsewhere due to the quirkiness of its rules. Every card on my list today is going to be suitably impressive in Commander too. But some cards (Arcane Signet) are great in Commander and would make any decent top ten list there but aren't going to be on my list.

With that caveat, are you ready?

Let's do it to it!

Honorable Mention #1 (aka #14) - Ugin, the Ineffable

A reduction of two colorless mana for all of the various colorless stuff in your build can be quite a lot. It works very well in a number of powerful shells, from artifacts to Eldrazi. I love the +1 on him as you can rack up 2/2 Spirits that will net you a card when they die (or get bounced or exiled). He can also destroy stuff that annoys you, so long as it's wedded to a color. Ugin is awesome; enjoy him!

Honorable Mention #2 (aka #13) - Niv-Mizzet Reborn

The Dragon Avatar of everyone's favorite Dragon Wizard is the best five-color Commander (outside of a Tribal build that runs a Tribal leader) because every theme at five colors can run enough two-color cards to make him a card drawing machine of death. But this ain't a Commander list! Outside of that, he's very strong at netting cards, digging ten deep, and giving you a powerful board presence with his 6/6 flying goodness. Enjoy!

Honorable Mention #3 (aka #12) - Dockside Extortionist

Dockside Extortionist has surprised me. Going into Commander 2019, I had it rated as my 8th best card from the set. After playing with it? It's now my choice for the best multiplayer card from the set! (I have two Commanders still rated higher in a Commander-only list). Arriving early enough to make some Treasures to speed up your deck or mid- and late-game with equally bigger effects, it's awesome! Goblins love it. The more foes you have, the more likely you are to get that sweet Treasure. What's not to love?

And you clearly agree with me. At $18.99 for a near mint copy right now here on CSI.com, you've seen its value as well.

Honorable Mention #4 (aka #11) - Hall of Heliod's Generosity

Hall of Heliod's Generosity is awesome! Reloading and reusing key enchantments give you good value for the long game. Enchantments aren't as ubiquitous as dorks or artifacts, although the card still has lots of value. Hall of Heliod's Generosity has been around the same level of power-scale drop from Academy Ruins in many artifact-centric builds to Volrath's Stronghold in virtually everything with the color. It's good enough in strong quantities to matter.

10. Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord

Sorin's first +1 is solid at giving boosts to your team and permanent boosts if they are Vampires. (They will be in this build). The next +1 will let you sacrifice a Vampire to Lightning Helix something. Both have good, strong value. But whether Sorin shines is that -3. Dropping any Vampire from your hand to the battlefield for free helps to keep your now-one-loyalty guy alive for at least a round until you can +1 and get that Vampire bigger and swing. People can dominate a table with an early drop. I've seen some sick Vampires win the game or dominate:

I've seen both Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter and Butcher of Malakir win after arriving to the battlefield. Vish Kal is amazingly synergetic as the +1/+1 counter you add can be used as creature removal.

Cards like Blood Tyrant are broken on turn three for multiplayer, and even an early lord like Vampire Nocturnus is strong for the team's synergy. You have a lot of options for power plays. And if Sorin comes out on the first turn with a Dark Ritual or mana rocks? Dang! He dominates play so much, that he must be here on this list!

9. Goblin Engineer AND Emry, Lurker of the Loch

I'm giving my 9th spot to both of these little artifact enablers that have already proved very powerful in many a build both at the kitchen table and elsewhere. Emry has proved a little stronger in multiplayer and the Engineer a little better elsewhere. I like the Engineer's ability to fetch an artifact for your graveyard all Entomb style on arrival, and then do his best Goblin Welder impression, while Emry is strong with the self-milling to help load up, and then casting artifacts from the graveyard. They also work very well together as one will ensure the perfect artifact for the other without sacrificing anything. Enjoy them!

8. Teferi, Time Raveler

Nope. Wizards of the Coast didn't learn their lesson. Way back in Time Spiral block Teferi was first printed:

This guy dominated Standard and other formats. His flashing was a surprise, he shut down folks from interacting with you, and gave you the ability to flash out your other dorks. But it was turning off instants that really made first-Teferi the annoying powerhouse he was. Did they learn their lesson? Nope! Here is a planeswalker in a two-mana cheaper force of shutting off destruction. It's cheaper, and harder to answer as a non-creature. It can also answer something on arrival and replace itself or give your sorceries flash and rise his loyalty up to a very difficult to deal with 5 loyalty out of the gate. Nope! Result? Overpowered powerhouse for the kitchen table.

7. Smothering Tithe

Smothering Tithe doesn't suck! You can cast it and drop it all day long, and then folks will usually not bother with the tax, unless they are rich in mana. That can help you out tremendously as you net more and more and more Treasures. All of the Treasures! Note that this is much more powerful with Revel in Riches, which can turn your Treasure into winning the game. You also have a number of ways to abuse the artifact making as well as making that sweet, sweet mana.

6. Karn's Bastion

Getting extra value from your lands is always something that multiplayer aficionados are looking for. Karn's Bastion is perfect along those lines. You net a useful proliferate that you can use over and over again for everything from planeswalkers to +1/+1 counters, charge counters, and many more places too. It's so useful! You'll always enjoy the Bastion of Karn's Love.

Top five time!

5. Hydroid Krasis

Hello! This Jellyfish Hydra (best creature type combo ever as they both have lots of extra body parts) wants to party. But it doesn't like being countered. It's sad. But no worries! We've got you covered. Even if it's countered, the cast trigger of cards and life gain will still happen! Just two cards, two life, and a 4/4 flying trampler for six mana is great! That's my favorite place to park it in the mid-game, but it's more incredible the longer the game takes. Did the game take too long? It's nice when your card advantage engine is also a game-winning Beast of face-smashery. We all adore card advantage in multiplayer, right? Come on down, and get your Hydroid Krasis on and stock up on cards, life and a big giant flying Beast of death all ready to win the game, all in one card!

4. Swords of X and Y

More Swords.............. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm very happy about the new-ness of Swords of X and Y. Most folks probably thought that the cycle was over in Mirrodin Besieged block. Nope! We were all gloriously and deliciously wrong. Both of these have proven themselves worthy successors of the name and throne. No worries my friends, the dynasty lives on. I still prefer the potential double card destruction of Sinew and Steel, just like I did prior to launch, but more seem to run the proliferate and counters of Truth and Justice, which is fine. Both are great.

And this duo of course leads to much speculation. What are the next three swords going to look like? And more importantly, what will their names be?

I have just one suggestion, but I think it's pretty good:

Selesnya: Sword of Wold and Wood

Now if you really wanted to push the older English inspired by the use of the old term "Wold" you could use "Weald" instead for wood and call it the Sword of Wold and Weald

Wizards? You are welcome to use it, should you enjoy it, no permission or anything else needed. Good luck!

3. Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Our highest charting planeswalker and War of the Spark card is Liliana, Dreadhorde General. She's so, so, so awesome in casual play of any sort. Multiplayer tends to see a 6-drop as a more reliable mid-game or late-game entry that can push the table around. Liliana is one of the best at powering through a big presence. Her death trigger for cards is great, her ability to churn out Zombies is fine, and she can Barter in Blood everyone which taps into the Zombies and card flow. You'll have fodder and card drawing too. Her ultimate is good too. Everything here is flexible and powerful and game-changing. She can win a game on her own, on a naked board. She's amazing. Hello Liliana, Dreadhorde General.

2. Once Upon a Time

I called it! Prior to release, I mentioned that this card's similarity to fellow free mana-fetcher Land Grant that, like the Grant before it, would change the way decks were designed. It was much better than the Ancient Stirrings comparison either (this is an Instant, and free and digs more and gets cards with colors. If your foe wins the coin flip and goes first, you can cast this on your opponent's upkeep prior to them drawing a card and playing the game.) It has proven its acumen in tournament formats like Modern, Pioneer, and Standard. It's also strong in multiplayer too! Netting a free Impulse on the first player's turn before anyone else can do...anything? Strong!

If you draw it later, it's still an Impulse that digs down one additional card but can only get land/creature. It's a very impactful card for your decks and builds, even here. Enjoy!

Now it's time for the top spot!

1. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

We've talked about Golos before, and how nasty powerful he is. I named him the strongest card from Core Set 2020 prior to release and wasn't wrong. The value of Golos is simple. He is a five- mana Solemn Simulacrum variant, gets +1/+3, and can fetch out any land rather than a basic. The Solemn can get a card on death where this can be used to cast spells for free. Any land was always going to be powerful, especially on a colorless shell. Now we've seen some bannings in Standard to dial back his power early on. But he is good to go.

In Commander he's both better (as a nasty Game-Winning Commander) and worse (can't be played in any deck that doesn't have all of the colors). Your mileage may vary, but I've found him to be incredibly powerful there. It's very easy to win the game with one activation.

Cast him on turn four with acceleration of one mana from any rock or source. You had five mana.

Search for Command Tower to make the colors you need. It's on the battlefield.

On turn five, drop a land. Activate. Win. Get Time Walks a-go-go, and game winning spells and sorceries with cards like Expropriate, Time Stretch, etc. He's nasty, and consistent. And good. We are living in an era of Golos.

And there we are! I hope you enjoyed our look at the best multiplayer cards from the past year. What did you think of my list? Anything in here you forgot about? Anything I missed? Just let me know!