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Ranking the Mythics of Theros Beyond Death

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Right before the pandemic hit us all in early 2020, we got one last paper set before the world went into lockdown. Theros Beyond Death saw us return to the beloved plane of Theros after six and a half years and brought with it a whole host of powerful cards. This might seem surprising coming off of one of the most powerful sets ever with Throne of Eldraine, but make no mistake: the trend of exceedingly powerful cards continued right here. There's 16 mighty mythics in this set and today we're going to rank each and every one of them!

16. Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded

Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded

Sneak Attacks rule, and there was certainly an air of excitement over the fact that you could do Sneak Attack nonsense with this card. There were two problems, though. The biggest one was the restrictions on it only allowing you to cheat in Red or Artifact - notably not Colorless - creatures. That severely hinders your ability to make good use out of this ability and makes it less desirable than actual Sneak Attack. The other reason is that less than a year prior, Ilharg, the Raze-Boar was released in War of the Spark which had a fairly similar ability that just overall played better. Purphoros is a cool card, but it's really hampered by its downsides comparatively.

15. Erebos, Bleak-Hearted

Erebos, Bleak-Hearted

It feels weird putting Erebos so low, because it's not a bad card. It's certainly not as good as his original Theros counterpart, but it's still reasonable to have both removal and card draw all in one card. It simply doesn't have much of an impact anywhere other than Commander and of all the cards on this list, I'd argue it's the most underwhelming of the bunch. That just goes to show you how downright stacked this set was in its mythic category.

14. Nylea, Keen-Eyed

Nylea, Keen-Eyed

Nylea is in a similar boat to Erebos. Nothing about this card is bad, and in fact getting to constantly pull out more creatures and cast them for an affordable rate is a great deal. It merely feels less potent than most of the other cards on this list, but is still a great option for any creature-based Commander deck, even more so if you have graveyard synergies as well.

13. Athreos, Shroud-Veiled

Athreos, Shroud-Veiled

Weirdly, Athreos has a lower average ranking than Erebos or Nylea, which is interesting for a trio of cards clearly destined for Commander and nowhere else. However I think Athreos is a lot more interesting than the others in how it enables you to get creatures back from death continuously. I feel like the only reason its numbers are hindered are because of the color restrictions, but there are many decks playing White and Black that can and should be playing Athreos. It's only a decent Commander card, though, and its ranking here reflects that. That said, that status made it an excellent option as far as buy-a-box promos go.

12. Calix, Destiny's Hand

Calix, Destiny's Hand

For a dedicated enchantment deck, Calix is outstanding. We hadn't yet seen a planeswalker with such a dedicated focus on the card type before, but this also proved to be its downfall. There simply wasn't the depth of enchantments players needed to pull it off, leading to the card seeing relatively niche play outside of dedicated enchantment-heavy Commander decks.

11. Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

You know what players love doing? Flickering stuff, and this version of Thassa had that in spades. Clearly a major player in Commander, the card also had a relatively modest showing in Standard as well. Its biggest claim to fame was in the various Gyruda shells where you'd blink the namesake card - Gyruda, Doom of Depths - to start the deck's combo anew if it failed initially. It also had some decent play in Yorion decks as well to continue the deck's overall theme of blinking permanents.

10. Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis

Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis

Compared to her previous iterations with cards like Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Elspeth, Sun's Champion, this one feels way more modest. The loyalty abilities aren't exactly spectacular and it costs quite a bit to escape her back onto the battlefield. Despite this, however, Elspeth proved a pretty formidable force, making a relatively decent showing in Standard at the time, though not nearly to the degree as many of the high end mythics this set brought with it.

9. Nyxbloom Ancient

Nyxbloom Ancient

When this card was previewed, just about every Commander player on earth collectively lost their minds. Doubling mana is frequently seen as being quite powerful, but tripling your mana? That was something players hadn't seen ever before, and it seemed especially exciting for casual players everywhere. While absolutely an awesome card that became tremendously popular in Commander, many felt it to be quite a bit win-more and unnecessary in many games, despite the cool and fun factor the card brought with it.

8. Ashiok, Nightmare Muse

Ashiok, Nightmare Muse

Initially, many players were quite down on this iteration of Ashiok. Five mana to either make a small creature or bounce another one with a Recoil-like effect didn't seem particularly strong. Turns out that when you make it your finisher in a dedicated control deck, however, it can be quite good and tears through opponents in just a matter of turns. This made Ashiok very good throughout its Standard tenure, despite being in one of the most juiced Standards ever.

7. Polukranos, Unchained

Polukranos, Unchained

Polukranos doesn't seem like much at first blush, but in practice, it's quite mighty. At a base level, a four mana 6/6 is huge, but then it both comes back bigger and can also deal with your opponent's problem creatures as well. The card was a mainstay of Sultai Yorion decks in Standard and was a dominating force in Limited as well thanks to this excellent versatility.

6. Kiora Bests the Sea God

Kiora Bests the Sea God

Theros Beyond Death Limited was a mixed bag for many players with some liking it but others disliking the slow pace of the games. Two cards absolutely dominated the format without question, though: the mighty Dream Trawler and the unbeatable saga of Kiora Bests the Sea God. If this card came down, you were just done. This translated over to Standard as well, with many decks getting strong use out of it for years until the card eventually rotated out.

5. Ox of Agonas

Ox of Agonas

I originally had Ox of Agonas much lower on this list, but that's because I remembered it best for being a niche staple in Hollow One and Dredge decks in Modern and Legacy. While this was true and it was very good in those spaces, it never broke out too far. What I didn't realize - or perhaps simply forgot - was just how prevalent the card was in Standard at the time. When looking back on mtgtop8.com, the card showed up in nearly 3200 decks from the era - more than even the biggest players of the set. That alone deserves it a high place on this list, and it only comes in at number five simply because I feel the ones above it are far more notorious in their own right.

4. Klothys, God of Destiny

Klothys, God of Destiny

The only multicolor god we saw in the main set proper - excluding the aforementioned Athreos - Klothys was interesting because of how she filled the hole left by Xenagos from the original Theros block. Thankfully, this Gruul God(ess) proved extremely powerful. Costing only three mana let her come down fast and slowly tore through opponents' graveyards, all the while furthering your own game plan. This made her great in not just Standard, but in formats like Pioneer, Modern, and even a respectable amount in Legacy.

3. Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Heliod, Sun-Crowned

On its own, this iteration of Heliod doesn't seem as powerful as it ended up being. It's certainly better than the god's first version in the original Theros, but not good enough to get something banned, right? Well, when you pair the card with something like Spike Feeder and Walking Ballista, the result is a combo that can either gain you infinite life or deal infinite damage. The power of this combo led to Walking Ballista eventually being banned with Heliod continuing to be a mighty threat in just about any game it showed up in.

2. Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

While not quite as ever present as its Simic sibling (spoiler alert), Kroxa left a similarly destructive path in its wake. The card ripped away cards from opponents hands in the early game and then later provided a monstrous threat that provided difficult to deal with for many players. This has led Kroxa to be playable in several formats ranging from Standard all the way to Pioneer, Modern, and even a touch of Legacy. This style of designed proved just potent enough that Wizards eventually would revisit it in Modern Horizons 3 with the similarly controversial Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury.

1. Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath

Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath

Following the printing of Oko, Thief of Crowns one set before, players couldn't believe that we were once again seeing a dominant three mana Simic card. Uro was eventually banned in Standard, Pioneer, and Modern while also seeing a decent amount of play in Legacy as well, all owing to the immense value the card provided. It draws cards, ramps, and gains life all in one swing, enabling players to out value non-Simic players with ease. This makes it one of the best cards not just of its era, but of all time, easily taking the top spot on this list as a result.

Paige Smith

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