10 best Streets of New Capenna cards in Magic: The Gathering’s latest set

Gangster attraction.

Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Best Games by Jason Coles Contributor

Published on April 19, 2022

The best cards in Streets of New Capenna are actually kind of hard to figure out. Unlike a lot of Magic: The Gathering sets where there are clear winners and losers, this latest expansion has power sprinkled throughout it like peri-peri on chips, so it’s tough to pick out only a few of the best.

With that tortured comparison out of the way, New Capenna is the next full MTG set, taking us all to a plane where gangsters reign supreme and you have five different crime families vying for the top spot. It’s a cool idea, and it’s led to some interesting cards.

We’ve technically chosen fourteen cards in our list of the ten best cards in New Capenna - but, in our defence, crime is all about breaking rules. Streets of New Capenna features a lot of tri-coloured cards, which means it also feels very Commander-focused as a result, and our selection reflects that with the inclusion of a few big legendary creatures, and the powerful new tri-lands cycle.

Without any more ado, here are our picks for the best Streets of New Capenna cards to keep an eye out for. Whether you’re looking to upset your friends in multiplayer games, get involved with casting too many spells or just like a little bit of added value, we’ve got something for you here.

1. Lord Xander, the Collector

Everybody disliked that

Lord Xander's combination of effects makes it one of the most powerful cards in New Capenna. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

Let’s kick things off with a New Capenna card that is undoubtedly going to upset a lot of people. Lord Xander, the Collector is a seven-mana Blue, Black and Red 6/6 vampire demon noble who is going to ruin a lot of Commander games.

When they enter, you can make someone discard half of their hand; when they attack, whoever they’re attacking has to mill half of their library; and when they die, someone has to sacrifice half of their nonland permanents.

This combination of abilities is going to cause so many arguments in multiplayer games of Commander. It’s a great New Capenna card, but the arguments and chaos it’ll cause when you play it won’t be worth it unless that’s specifically your aim with your deck.

2. Arcane Bombardment

Explosions?

With a hefty mana cost of six, Arcane Bombardment may not become a common sight in Standard - but expect to see the New Capenna card appear in many a Commander deck. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

There are a lot of six-mana enchantments in New Capenna that won’t see play in formats like Standard, but will become cornerstones of obnoxiousness in Commander. Arcane Bombardment is the latest addition to that club.

It reads: “Whenever you cast your first instant or sorcery spell each turn, exile an instant or sorcery card at random from your graveyard. Then copy each card exiled with Arcane Bombardment. You may cast any number of the copies without paying their mana costs.” In essence, whenever you cast a spell, you can cast more spells - and it snowballs.

3. Fleetfoot Dancer

Suddenly, you’ve lost

Fleetfoot Dancer is one of the simpler cards in New Capenna, but that doesn't make it any less dependable. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

A good creature with haste is hard to beat in MTG, and Fleetfoot Dancer is definitely a good creature with haste. Fleetfoot Dancer is a four-mana Red, Green and White 4/4 with trample, lifelink and haste. It’s not especially fancy, but the mix of abilities is good enough to make it excellent on turn four - or a fine topdeck later on in the game, too.

There’s nothing tricky or over-the-top here; it’s just a four-mana creature that comes down and can immediately attack. At its worst, it’s four extra life and hopefully a blocker or two taken out. At its best, though, playing a couple of these in a row will allow you to become essentially unbeatable very quickly. Also, it’s an elf, which is very relevant in some MTG formats like Modern and Commander.

4. Giada, Font of Hope

Simply heavenly

Giada, Font of Hope costs just two mana to cast, and will make angel creatures in your deck even more formidable. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

Giada, Font of Hope is a two-mana White 2/2 angel with flying and vigilance. Along with that, you can tap them for one white mana to spend on Angel spells. While specific, a flying mana dork is already not a bad get - but there’s more.

Giada also reads: “Each other Angel you control enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it for each Angel you already control.” This is an absurdly powerful ability and, while it’s definitely going to find a home in Commander, the low mana value means it could theoretically see play in any format you might find other angels.

5. Even the Score

Cards for everyone

Even the Score helps you to, erm, even the score by spending your mana to draw extra cards. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

Card draw spells are great because knowledge is power - and, in Magic: The Gathering, knowledge is also the number of cards in your hand. Here we have a spell called Even the Score, which is an instant spell that costs X and three Blue mana to draw X cards.

That’s okay normally, but if your opponent has drawn four or more cards this turn, the spell costs three fewer Blue mana to cast. In formats where players regularly do this - like in Legacy, thanks to Brainstorm - this spell acts as a deterrent of sorts, and also balances things out by allowing you to pour as much mana as you’d like into your card draw.

6. Luxior, Giada's Gift

Planeswalkers attack!

Luxior is an equipment card that can be attached to planeswalkers, essentially making them creatures that can use their loyalty abilities - a powerful combination. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

Equipment cards can sometimes be a little hard to rate, because they often fail to be useful if someone has just killed all your creatures. That’s not an issue if you can equip something other than a creature - and that’s what Luxior, Giada’s Gift does.

For one mana, you get an equipment that gives whatever it is equipped to +1/+1 for each counter on it. This effectively doubles +1/+1 counters on creatures, which is good, but this equipment can also be attached to planeswalkers, turning them into creatures that can still use their loyalty abilities. It’s very silly.

7. Ognis, The Dragon's Lash

Treasure for days

A New Capenna card to treasure: Ognis, The Dragon's Lash generates treasure tokens whenever a creature with haste attacks. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

Treasure tokens have risen to a level of popularity and power that makes them feel almost unfair at times. That’s why cards that make treasure tokens are often so good, and Ognis is definitely going to make some treasure tokens.

For four mana, you get a Black, Red and Green 3/3 with haste that allows you to create a tapped treasure token whenever a creature with haste attacks. This triggers multiple times if you swing in with multiple creatures with haste. While you can’t use the mana from these tokens immediately, it’ll serve as an excellent source of mana from then on.

Plus, despite being three colours, two of those symbols are hybrid mana symbols, which means you can cast these using only red mana.

8. Brokers Ascendancy

Counters for all

Adding counters to every creature and planeswalker during the end of your turn, Brokers Ascendancy helps make New Capenna's best cards even better. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

What if you could put a +1/+1 counter on every creature you control once per turn? What if you could also put a loyalty counter on every planeswalker you control every turn too? Well, that’s what Brokers Ascendancy does in every one of your end steps.

Brokers Ascendancy is a three-mana Green, White and Blue enchantment that will strengthen your side of the battlefield every single turn without any extra effort. While some enchantments that don’t have an effect as they enter the battlefield can often feel underpowered, this one triggers in your end step, so you get a very immediate boost to your power.

9. Gala Greeters

The Swiss Army knife of creatures

With three handy abilities, Gala Greeters' flexibility makes it one of New Capenna's best cards not just turn-to-turn, but across an entire match. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

Gala Greeters is more than just a friendly face. It’s a two-mana Green 1/1 with alliance, which is an ability that triggers whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control. When this happens, you can choose one of three different options that you’ve not yet chosen that turn.

The three abilities are putting a +1/+1 counter on Gala Greeters, creating a tapped treasure token and gaining two life. The flexibility of this ability - and the fact that you can hit each one in a single turn in the right deck - means you’ll be generating absurd value constantly, just by playing other creatures or making creature tokens. It’s the kind of thing that might not seem like much on a single turn but across a game is likely to be the difference between victory and defeat.

10 (and 11, 12, 13 and 14). Tri-lands cycle

Neapolitan mana

Comprising five cards, New Capenna's tri-lands cycle offers powerful ways to gather mana and draw cards. *Image: Wizards of the Coast*

Here we have five different cards: Raffine’s Tower, Xander’s Lounge, Ziatora’s Proving Ground, Jetmir’s Garden and Spara’s Headquarters. Each of these is a land card that has three different types, which means you can fetch them using any card that can get any one of those land types from the library.

Each of them also has cycling for three mana, which means you can discard them to draw a card if you don’t need the extra land. While they do enter tapped, there’s no doubt that these lands are powerful enough to see play.