The 10 best sword cards ever printed in Magic: The Gathering

If there’s one weapon that screams high fantasy, it’s surely the sword. It’s the archetypal weapon for just about any battle this side of Middle-earth or Midgar, and there have been a LOT of them in Magic: The Gathering over the years. Equipment artifacts were first introduced to the game with October 2003’s Mirrodin set, and they appeared throughout that block representing a creature’s magical weapons and other devices. These days, there are more than 500 equipment cards in the game, and more than 30 of them are swords.

In honor of Cool Sword Day, here are the all-time best swords in Magic, including some guest appearances from franchises (and Universes) Beyond.

10. Cori-Steel Cutter

Swords are cool, of course, but what about a sword with an extra little pokey bit on the end? Cori-Steel Cutter was banned in Standard, and it’s easy to see why — someone could really hurt themselves with this thing.

It gives +1/+1 and haste to a creature, and creates a monk token to attach it to when you cast your second spell each turn. So even if that first monk dies, you can always generate another one.

9. Embercleave

Another sword in Red? Embercleave has flash and is ideally used when you’ve declared attackers and your opponent’s blockers are feeling overly confident.

It adds +1/+1 and gives both double strike and trample, and the real kicker is that you can attach it to a creature for free when it enters. But all of the above could lead to a healthy dose of hubris. Also, it looks awesome.

8. Ultima Weapon

The first Universes Beyond entry on this list, Ultima Weapon is an iconic part of the Final Fantasy franchise, and its flavor text here says “This will be the end of it.”

Strong words indeed, but by giving it to a creature, they get +7/+7, and “whenever equipped creature attacks, destroy target creature an opponent controls.” That’ll be the end of it, alright.

7. Buster Sword/The Masamune

We could have split these two iconic swords, but at the risk of making this list 33.3% Final Fantasy cards, we’ve put Cloud’s Buster Sword and Sephiroth’s Masamune in the same spot.

Both are legendary in more than name, with The Masamune giving first strike when attacking and forcing a foe to block, while also giving double triggers for creatures dying.

Cloud’s chunky weapon of choice gives +3/+2 and lets you draw a card and cast a spell without paying its mana cost. While the Buster Sword is better — some might call it busted — The Masamune is more niche but still hugely powerful with the right deck strategy.

6. Worldslayer

This card from Mirrodin is as ridiculous as you’d expect, considering it’s called Worldslayer. Once it’s on the battlefield and equipped, you’ll want to block it.

That’s because when it hits a player, it destroys all permanents other than Worldslayer. That’s every creature, land, enchantment, and artifact on the board. Worldslayer is the only thing that survives. A board wipe in a sword that you can reuse as long as you can re-equip it? Savage.

5. Vorpal Sword

Finally, a sword for anyone running Black in their deck! Vorpal Sword gets the nod because it looks great, and deathtouch is always welcome.

The real appeal, though, is being able to spend eight mana to potentially end the game as long as you deal damage with the Vorpal Sword to a player. If someone lets you get to that point, they’re probably not packing a lot of removal, but hey, it’s powerful.

4. Andúril, Flame of the West

Want your creature to put on their Aragorn cosplay for combat? Give them the heir of Isildur’s sword, Andúril, Flame of the West, and they’ll get +3/+1.

When the equipped creature attacks, you can create two 1/1 spirit creature tokens with flying, and if the creature is legendary, thse tokens enter attacking. It’s perfect thematic flavor for Aragorn rushing at some enemies and calling upon the power of the undead army.

3. Andúril, Narsil Reforged

This version of Andúril only comes in borderless art, and for good reason — it’s forged from the shards of Narsil, the broken sword that Isildur used to cut the One Ring off of Sauron’s finger.

Andúril, Narsil Reforged puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control every time you attack, but once you get to 10 or more permanents and acquire the city’s blessing for the rest of the game, that bumps up to two counters.

2. Excalibur, Sword of Eden

Look, the Assassin’s Creed set was the furthest thing from memorable, but it gave us one of the most famous swords in history, Excalibur, Sword of Eden.

This blade of Arthurian legend gives a creature +10/+0 and vigilance, and its cost of 12 mana is brought down by the total mana value of historic permanents you control. Make that big swing worth it!

1. The Sword Cycle

Are we cheating by adding a whole suite of cards as number 1? Possibly, but they’re all kind of great and would otherwise nudge everything else out.

So many of them are memorable: From the artwork of Sword of War and Peace that almost smells like brimstone, the ’80s fantasy vibes of Sword of Body and Mind, or the vivid background of Sword of Once and Future, they cover a wide range of visual styles.

Sword of Feast and Famine is definitely a favorite, too: The moody sky, the glowing moon, and the fact that you can untap all of your lands by dealing damage to an equipped creature make it viable just about anywhere.

And yet, Sword of Hearth and Home takes the win in our minds, letting you get a land and a creature onto the battlefield in one fell swoop — plus protection from green and white to boot.