Incase it wasn't abundantly clear, the Overlord cycle from Duskmourn is the absolute truth.

Like Magic 2011's original Titan cycle, which defined Standard for the entire (very long) time they were legal, the Overlords are going to be the backbone of Standard for the next three years. Each one is extremely powerful, flexible, and most importantly high impact both early and late. And that's to say nothing of the extra synergies you can gain by blinking them, reanimating them, and them being enchantments for various other synergies.

But which one is best?

Today I'm going to be ranking all five of the Duskmourn Overlords from worst to best, noting that even the worst one is still very playable!

Honorable Mentions

These have no relevance to the Duskmourn Overlords (or this top five list), but I just think they're neat. Sometimes you just need some good brain chemicals ?

#5 - Overlord of the Floodpits

Coming in at number five is the Blue entry to the cycle, Overlord of the Floodpits.

All of the Overlords are powerful but expensive when hardcast, so it is vital to look at their impending cost and see if you are getting good value. And well, with Overlord of the Floodpits things could be more exciting.

A sorcery speed and difficult to cast Catalog isn't very inspiring, unless you're desperate to put cards in the graveyard for some sort of synergy. This limits the raw power of Overlord of the Floodpits and frames it more as a synergy card rather than a raw power card, which is a lot of what makes the best Overlords so good.

On the body side of things, Overlord of the Floodpits is also the smallest of the Overlords, with a very light three toughness that is well in range of many of the format's big removal spells-- Lightning Helix, Torch the Tower, Obliterating Bolt, Elspeth's Smite, Virtue of Persistence, and so on, as well as the normal removal spells and enchantment removal spells. Flying is a bit of a bonus, but it is a very poor blocker than will often trade down on defense, giving it the least board impact as well. Because the Overlords become creatures at the end of your turn and first have a chance to block rather than attack, this is a big deal.

All of this adds up to a decent role player and certainly a playable card, but not a card that is going to define a format.

#4 - Overlord of the Balemurk

Overlord of the Balemurk is perhaps the most interesting Overlord, as because it has the cheapest and easiest to use impending cost of all the Overlords (albeit for the smallest effect), it has the most chance to see play in older formats where efficiency is everything.

And it already has done so last weekend, where it saw play in various decks in the US Regional Championship, from Greasefang decks to Enigmatic Incarnation decks looking to fill the graveyard early and often with some extra upside.

And frankly? That is a lot of what Overlord of the Balemurk is all about.

Like Overlord of the Floodpits, Overlord of the Balemurk is a synergy piece. If you're just playing a normal deck, it is very medium, but if you want to utilize your graveyard with upside, Overlord of the Balemurk ends up playing out like a Satyr Wayfinder that can also be a threat of its own as the game goes on. There are many games where the impending on Overlord of the Balemurk will never really matter, but when things get messy or graveyard hate gets involved, having a well-sized 5/5 as a plan B is very nice.

That's mostly what Overlord of the Balemurk is all about; it's not going to dominate a game or make the entire game revolve around it, but it's a powerful card with synergy and enough raw power to get the job done.

#3 - Overlord of the Boilerbilges

Inferno Titan... is that you?

You may be able to get around or ignore the first two Overlords on our list, but Overlord of the Boilerbilges demands an immediate answer while almost always creating card advantage and effecting the board.

Sure, a sorcery speed Lightning Blast isn't that exciting, but think of Overlord of the Boilerbilges like Chandra, Torch of Defiance. You play it and kill a creature on turn 4 which is fine and keeps your opponent's board under control, but now the texture of the game has changed because the longer the game goes on there is a major threat looming that must be accounted for.

And of course, Overlord of the Boilerbilges also just goes to the face for a quarter of your opponent's life total, which threatens to end the game very quickly too. This sort of closing speed is paramount on a threat in Modern day Magic, and the fact that Overlord of the Boilerbilges also gets to do it while creating card advantage makes it a premiere threat.

But that's not all!

If you can give it haste, blink it, or copy it, Overlord of the Boilerbilges can produce an almost combo-like finish where you just kill your opponent with a flurry of four damage triggers, which makes the card even more potent.

When you have a card that is full of raw power but can also go above and beyond, that's a great Magic card.

#2 - Overlord of the Mistmoors

It is telling of how powerful the Overlord cycle is that Overlord of the Mistmoors only comes in at number two.

Overlord of the Mistmoors is an absolute house.

When it comes to raw power and stats, Overlord of the Mistmoors is the best Overlord. Ten power across three bodies is very reminiscent of Grave Titan, and that's just the start. Overlord of the Mistmoors dominates a battlefield, producing an army of attackers and blockers, while requiring an immediate answer.

A big step up from Catalog and Lightning Blast is the Talrand's Invocation mode of Overlord of the Mistmoors, as while four mana for two 2/1 flying creatures isn't constructed playable on it's own, it is a more than reasonable spell that most importantly plays both offense and defense. One of the most important parts of using the impending cost of an Overlord is that you want the game to drag out so it can come off impending, and two attackers/blockers do that very well.

However, what's also important is how well situated Standard and other formats can be for tokens in general. Caretaker's Talent is one of the most powerful cards in the format, so any card that makes tokens gets an immediate boost beyond just what's written on the card thanks to that.

Overlord of the Mistmoors is incredible.

#1 - Overlord of the Hauntwoods

However, the number one spot goes to Overlord of the Hauntwoods.

In a lot of ways, Overlord of the Hauntwoods resembles Primeval Titan, the consensus best of its own Titan cycle. Absent of any other Magic cards, Overlord of the Hauntwoods and Primeval Titan are only good, not great. They'll be fine in your draft decks, and are perfectly serviceable cards, but what makes them so special is how they interact with the other cards in the game.

Once you add in special lands like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Cloudpost, or Kessig Wolf Run, Primeval Titan goes from a 6/6 that ramps into a game ending engine very quickly.

The same is true for Overlord of the Hauntwoods. Domain, specifically Leyline Binding but also a few other cards, is still a major factor in Standard, and Overlord of the Hauntwoods is your one stop shop for instant domain as well as ramp. It also curves perfectly right after an Up The Beanstalk, breaking the parity of the card to create a powerful card draw engine. It even also makes tokens!

However, what's so excellent about Overlord of the Hauntwoods is how well it ramps into both itself as well as the other Overlords and threats in the format.

Turn three impending Overlord of the Hauntwoods sets up for a turn four hardcast Overlord of the Hauntwoods, which sets you up for basically anything you could ever want to do in a game. You've got tons of perfect mana, perfect domain, and are enabled and ready to roll.

Think about how Fable of the Mirror-Breaker was the perfect grease-the-wheels kind of card, and that's a lot of what Overlord of the Hauntwoods does to a game of Magic.

So, What Do We Do With Them?

The power is obvious, but what's less obvious is exactly what to do with the Overlords.

With the 2024 World Championship coming up in a few weeks, the player that is able to best unlock the power and potential of the Overlords and use them in a way that maximizes them both in general as well as against opposing Overlord strategies will likely be the one to emerge victorious.

I just hope it's me!