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Recently there was a Magic trend on Bluesky called Four-Drop Friday, where Magic players would post their favorite four-drops in the game. I posted one of my own, then I realized that four-drops have not only been some of my favorite cards in Magic's history, they've also been some of the most iconic.
So I figured I would talk about a few of the best four-drops here today.
In no particular order...
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
This guy was the OG four-drop planeswalker. There was a time when Jace was the absolute best planeswalker there ever was, and it felt like the best there would ever be. There was also a time when a Standard Top 8 would have 32 copies of Jace among the Top 8 decklists. Since then, several planeswalkers have contested the title of "best planeswalker," with cards like Oko, Thief of Crowns and Teferi, Time Raveler giving Jace a serious run for his money.
While that isn't the case anymore, and Jace rarely makes it into current Modern decks - a format where he was unbanned in...oh god, way back in 2018 - he's still a legend of a planeswalker and I'll still happily slam him in a Cube Draft.
Bloodbraid Elf
If Jace was the OG four-drop planeswalker, Bloodbraid Elf was his foil. In the same Standard format Jace was legal in, Bloodbraid Elf was a menace in the Jund deck that was often played to counter the three-loyalty planeswalker, being able to attack Jace the same turn Bloodbraid entered the battlefield, along with giving the player a Blightning or a Sprouting Thrinax, or some other valuable card.
In fact, Jace and Bloodbraid Elf are such good counterparts to one another, both cards were banned in Modern, and unbanned on the same day in 2018.
After being an absolute powerhouse in Standard, Bloodbraid Elf would go on to see consistent play over the years in numerous formats, including Modern, Legacy, and a ton of Commander decks, which I suppose could be said about most cards on this list.
Shorikai, Genesis Engine
I've never played this card outside of Cube drafts, but I absolutely love this card in Vintage Cube. I first added it to my own Cube, then Magic Online added it to theirs, where I would consistently draft it, and it became a fan favorite on streams. Being able to regularly draft it online has been fantastic.
Netting a card and looking at two new ones every turn for one mana, while also making a 1/1 is such a strong ability. The Genesis Engine is also a discard outlet and can attack as an 8/8 after you've made a few pilot tokens.
While someone correctly pointed out that this can feel like more of a five-drop, since you want to play it on a turn that you're also able to activate it, it's still a four-drop, so we're going to add it to the list.
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
Minsc & Boo are a couple of rascals that basically became Legacy staples before becoming first picks in Vintage Cubes. The card is amazing, allowing you to make a 1/1 for free whenever you need it, then turn that 1/1 into a 4/4, then draw four cards and deal four damage with it.
Minsc & Boo is a ridiculously synergistic card and is also well-balanced (somewhat) by having its abilities mostly geared toward working specifically with Boo. The card only wants you to add counters to Boo with the +1 ability, and only wants you to sacrifice Boo for the -2 ability. While this still makes the card impressively powerful, the two loyalty abilities require specifics for them to be at their most powerful, and using other creatures with Minsc & Boo will often result in a more tame effect.
The One Ring
This card should absolutely go without saying. In fact, it's so ubiquitous in terms of iconic four-drops that I nearly forgot it existed. It's also the newest card on this list, so while it doesn't have the same longevity that the other cards on this list have had, it definitely will eventually. Whether this cards ends up being banned in Modern or not, the impact this card has had on multiple formats, and the iconic discussion that it has produced, will be a part of Magic lore forever.
I definitely had some honorable mentions for this list, like Karn, the Great Creator and Huntmaster of the Fells, but they didn't seem as good as the other cards I chose. Actually, maybe Karn is; that guy sees a lot of play, and he's banned in Pioneer...
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
