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MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction: 10 best cards in the new Magic: The Gathering set

Saddle up for the prime picks from the Wild West-themed expansion.

Image credit: Wizards of the Coast/Johan Grenier

The best Outlaws of Thunder Junction cards put a cowboy hat on a bunch of Magic: The Gathering cards, add a few more lines of text and then ask you to figure out what’s going on. The power level of the latest MTG set feels pretty high, which means there are a lot of contenders for the best cards in Thunder Junction.

Best Outlaws of Thunder Junction cards MTG

There’s a really interesting mix of cards in Thunder Junction, with a fun focus in the set on turns that you will be taking, rather than just the one you are taking. With crimes, plots and treasure all over the place, let’s dive into our list of the best Outlaws of Thunder Junction cards.

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1. Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot

Do it again

Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot effectively lets you double spells you cast using the new Plot keyword. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

We’re kicking off with a three-mana creature who can allow you to double some of your spells, which is quite the flex. Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot is a blue and red 3/3 with Prowess, which means they get +1/+1 whenever you cast a noncreature spell. Prowess has proven itself as a powerful keyword time and time again, but that’s not even the half of it here.

Along with that, Lilah also reads: “Whenever you cast a multicoloured instant or sorcery spell from your hand, exile that spell instead of putting it into your graveyard as it resolves. If you do, it becomes plotted.” Plotted cards can be cast on a later turn without paying their mana costs - meaning you can basically double any multicoloured instant or sorcery spells as you choose and when you choose to.


2. Goldvein Hydra

Lots of heads, lots of treasure

When Goldvein Hydra dies, you can create a number of treasure tokens equal to its power. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Hydras are generally quite a powerful creature type in MTG, and Goldvein Hydra looks to be no different. This green creature costs X and one green, and comes in with X +1/+1 counters on it. Along with that, it also has Vigilance, Trample and Haste - which means it can not only attack the turn it comes in, but also defend even if it does attack.

Then, when it dies, you get to create a number of tapped treasure tokens equal to its power. Even if you can’t make it stronger once it’s in play, you’ll get all but one of the mana you spent on this card back in treasure tokens. If you do have ways of making it stronger, this can be an incredible way of setting up a big turn later on.


3. Kellan, the Kid

Free stuff

When casting spells from anywhere but your hand, Kellan, the Kid lets you play a card with an equal or lower cost from your hand for free - extremely potent in the right situations. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Kellan, the Kid is a three-mana green, white and blue 3/3 with Flying and Lifelink. Aside from somehow being a human faerie rogue, it also reads: “Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, you may cast a permanent spell with equal or lesser mana value from your hand without paying its mana cost. If you don’t, you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.”

If you can plot a card, cast something from your graveyard, from exile, from someone else’s hand or directly from your deck, you can put something of your choice into play from your hand. It’s an obscene ability, and we’re expecting a lot from this Kid.


4. Jace Reawakened

He’s back

MTG stalwart Jace is back in Thunder Junction, but you'll need to wait until your fourth turn to bring him onto the battlefield. The wait is worth it, though! | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

You can’t keep Jace out of planeswalking it would seem, because he’s back at it again. Jace Reawakened sees the previously Phyrexianed hero becoming a two-mana blue planeswalker who can’t be cast until turn four of the game. Well, your fourth turn - you could get around this by doing so on someone else’s turn - but that’s an aside.

Jace comes in with three loyalty, can gain a loyalty to draw a card and discard a card, and can also gain a loyalty to exile a card with a mana value of three or less from your hand to plot it. His big ability costs six loyalty, allowing you to copy any spell you cast on the turn you activate it. It’s a very strong mix of abilities that lacks protection, but gives a lot of everything else you could want on a planeswalker.


5. Final Showdown

Da-da-da-daaa

Final Showdown costs just one mana, but you can pay extra mana to do extra effects - including wiping the board while protecting one of your own creatures. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

We love options, and when one of those options happens to be a great way to clean up that messy board state, it’s all the better. Final Showdown is a one-mana white instant card with Spree, which means you can take on as many of the additional costs as you like for more effects.

For one extra mana, you can make all creatures lose all abilities until the end of the turn. Also for one mana, you can make one of your creatures indestructible until the end of the turn. The best one, though, is that for five additional mana you can destroy all creatures. While six mana is a bit hefty, doing this at instant speed is very rare - and you can always spend one more mana to protect your most important creature.


6. Bristly Bill, Spine Sower

A prickly partner

Bristly Bill, Spine Sower showers your creatures in counters, multiplying their attack and defence. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Landfall is a great mechanic. While it shines in formats with fetch lands, it’s generally powerful everywhere. Bristly Bill, Spine Sower is a big old cactus who costs two mana to cast, summoning a green 2/2 who puts a +1/+1 counter on any creature whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control.

On top of that, you can pay five mana to double the number of +1/+1 counters on each creature you control. Read that again: each creature. You can, in the right decks, double the strength and defence of your entire battlefield presence for just five mana. There’s a lot of potential here.


7. The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride

Kermit could never

Fan-favourite creature The Gitrog returns - and this time, you can saddle up on the frog monster. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

The Gitrog monster has become something of a fan favourite in MTG, because this giant frog horror keeps on showing up. In its third outing, it’s turned into The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride, a five-mana black and green 6/5 with Trample, Haste and Saddle 1, which means a creature with at least one power can ride it.

Along with that it reads: “Whenever The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice a creature that saddled it this turn. If you do, draw X cards, then put up to X land cards from your hand onto the battlefield tapped, where X is the sacrificed creature’s power.” Being able to throw away some of your cards for not just extra cards in your hand but also extra land in play is game-winning.


8. Insatiable Avarice

Give into the greed

Insatiable Avarice only gets better the more mana you're willing to spend on its Spree effects. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Insatiable Avarice is another Outlaws of Thunder Junction card with Spree. This is a one-mana sorcery in black. You then get two options to choose from - or you can have both if you can afford them.

The first costs two mana to put a card of your choosing onto the top of your library, which is great. The other option costs two black mana, and allows a target player to draw three cards and lose three life.

Combining both of these means you can spend five mana to draw three cards, one of which is whatever you want, but you lose three life. That’s a lot of value for five mana. You can also be a little cheeky and use the lose three life effect to kill off a player if they’re very close to death. It’s a nice little bonus feature of the card.


9. Three Steps Ahead

The Benoit Blanc of the group

Three Steps Ahead is a handy counterspell at its most basic level, with the powerful option to copy an artifact or creature and draw cards if you can afford its Spree abilities. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

The third and final Spree card on this list of the best Outlaws of Thunder Junction cards is Three Steps Ahead, a one-mana blue offering. As another instant, you know you’re getting something good here. The first additional cost is two mana, allowing you to counter a target spell - a strong start. Counterspells usually find themselves in control decks, which is where the other two options come in.

For three additional mana, you can create a token copy of either an artifact or a creature you control, which is great if you’ve got only one big creature in your deck. The final option is two additional mana and lets you draw two cards and discard a card. Doing any or all of these at instant speed can allow you to set up game-ending turns out of seemingly nowhere, and it’s all tacked onto a counterspell.


10. Fblthp, Lost on the Range

Not all those who are lost wander, or something

Fblthp is a notable oddball in Magic: The Gathering, reappearing in Outlaws of Thunder Junction as a helpful way to peek at the top of your deck and cast the top card with Plot. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Fblthp, which is pronounced exactly as you’d expect, is a little one-eyed homunculus who often finds themselves in strange decks. Fblthp, Lost on the Range is a three-mana 1/1 with Ward 2 who allows you to look at the top card of your deck at any time. That’s already a good ability, because it allows you to plan ahead.

Thankfully, it also lets you really plan ahead by giving the top card of your library Plot equal to its mana cost (as long as it’s a nonland card) and allowing you to cast it with that Plot cost directly from the top of your deck. Basically, you can not only see the future, but also invest in it. It’s like if stocks and shares made any sense and weren’t just fake money that somehow makes all of our lives expensive. Sort of?

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