Before we get started on the details, let’s take a look at what makes a card overpowered. In Standard format, cards are rarely banned because, hey, there are a limited number of cards you are allowed to play anyway. But in Commander, Modern, and Vintage, things can get out of hand when using older cards. There are a few things that generally make an overpowered card. The biggest one is mana efficiency. Meaning, cards like Dark Ritual that gives you practically free mana. Another thing is cards that have loopholes that allow you to, again, cast stuff for free or completely ruin your opponent’s life in a way that Wizards of the Coast never intended. Depending on our own decks, we all have our own ‘pet peeve’ decks that we can’t stand. For example, a mono-white deck will hardly have a chance against someone playing a Grindstone mill deck. In the same way that a no creature slow mill deck will think that Goblins are overpowered. Certain decks counter other decks, and insta-win combos make us grind our teeth.

However, those are conditional. The following cards are believed to be not just overpowered, but completely banworthy by the majority of the community. In fact, they were banned for being too much. Most of them are not going to be Standard. As we’ve said before, Standard cards have their own drawback. Wait a month and they ban themselves. As for these twenty cards, Wizards of the Coast knew what they had to do.

20 Emrakul, The Aeons Torn

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Whoever thought that making a creature (colorless no less) cost fifteen mana makes it fair was wrong. In this day and age, as you’ll see later on in the list, it’s extremely easy to get more mana. In fact, there are combos that allow you to get Emrakul on your second or third turn. While this may be able to be played around in Modern or Vintage, it is unacceptable in Commander where that one Legendary is what the game is all about. It’s not likely that Emrakul will ever get unbanned in Commander.

Oh yes, what does he do that’s worth 15 mana? For one, he is a 15/15 that can’t be countered. Two: you get an extra turn after the turn you cast him. Nothing big, right? Just to make sure he can’t be blocked except by Thopters, he has Flying and protection from colored spells. But those Thopters are going to need to be sacrificed anyway, because Emrakul has a nice annihilator 6. If he gets put in the grave don’t worry, he can’t be! Most overpowered legendary of the decade.

19 True-Name Nemesis

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

This makes me laugh. In any 1v1 (as most duels are) this is practically a win condition if the deck is built around it. You literally have protection against a player. That is like some Unhinged worthy stuff there. If you have anything to ramp up this guy’s power, it’s game over. But even if you don’t, it’s still ridiculous that he can block anything without repercussions and can do three damage for free. But it’s the possibilities that make him overpowered.

Just imagine giving him a nice enchantment or two. There really is no end with what you can do with not an indestructible, but an invisible creature. That one toughness does not matter in the least and he knows it. Might as well give him 20 toughness. But then again that would be abused with “do damage to target player equal to target creature’s toughness” crap.

18 Ancestral Recall

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

This is a no-brainer. One mana to draw three cards? Back in the day, man, they had no idea what they were doing. There’s a reason that it’s banned in every format except for Vintage, where it is still restricted. When you first start out with Magic, you have no idea how powerful drawing cards or getting mana is. So they used it over and over in the simplest ways, which happen to be the most powerful given there are no loopholes. Drawing cards is powerful, kids, very powerful. Use it to your advantage and flourish.

In fact, Ancestral Recall is so powerful, it’s part of the “legendary” Power Nine. Meaning it’s banned everywhere and Wizards of the Coast all but refuse to reprint it or talk about it. Except for promotional of course.

17 Time Vault

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

You know the best place to use Time Vault? Nowhere, because it’s banned for good. Taking extra turns is never fair. But the thing that makes this even worse than other extra turn cards is two things. They had the gall to reprint it in 2014 (though for Vintage format) and the fact that it’s a freakin’ two cost. No one deserves an extra turn for two mana. Oh yes, another thing that made it impossible to remain unbanned is the fact that there are opportunities to have infinite turns. All you gotta do is untap him, simple as that. Infinite turns means that unless they counter that effect, then you win, one way or another. Let me put it like this: if you play this card successfully, you’ll no longer have any friends.

16 Time Walk

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

If Time Vault had an annoying younger brother, it would be Time Walk. Why? It just gives you one extra turn for two mana. Some people have found that through graveyard recycling, this can turn into an infinite combo as well, it’s just not as easy as Time Vault to use. However, the card itself is super easy to use. Here’s how it works…you lay it then you get another turn! Like the Ancestral Recall of extra turns. Oh wait, you mean it literally is? That’s right, Time Walk is one of the Power Nine. Meaning that Wizards of the Coast think it should never have existed. But of course, they don’t actually because the Power Nine has made them more money than the entire last block. Always something to fall back on for them when in a tight spot. The next set is: Power Nine Revived!

15 Fastbond

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

In no way is this card okay. It is far too simple. You get to play any number of lands on your turn. If it was a one turn sorcery, then okay, we can work with that. But to be able to use it as an enchantment is not cool. I mean, of course, it’s cool, it’s amazing. But it needed to have its life cut short. Alone, it’s overpowered. Paired with Ramunap Excavator which allows you to play lands form your grave and your opponents will wish they were never born. Because we all know that mana is power. I mean, this is one of those Emrakul conditions here. An easy way to get ten, fifteen mana on the field all starts with one of the most broken cards in history: Fastbond.

14 Dream Halls

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Let me just read this, “Rather than pay the mana cost for a spell, its controller may discard a card that shares a color with that spell.” So, instead of paying ten mana for that Praetor, you can just discard a card with Madness. This card was banned band in 1999, but it wasn’t just banned, it was part of an emergency ban! Yes, that’s a thing and it was necessary. Because getting cards for free (practically) is not something we want to deal with. That’s black magic. Pun definitely intended.

But for reals, Dream Halls was actually taken out from under the ban hammer in most formats, though counters are still saved for it. It really doesn’t deserve to be legal, but it has been going back and forth since its creation, so it’s safe to say that ultimately, it will be banned.

13 Burning Wish

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

No, this is no unhinged, but it should be. The card reads, “You may choose a sorcery card you own from outside the game, reveal that card, and put it into your hand. Exile Burning Wish.” Um…so, you could have a side…side deck that you use for this. A lot of the Conspiracy cards were overpowered. Like, you know Hundred-Handed One that can block 100 creatures, Platinum Angel who literally made it where you couldn’t lose the game while she was in play, and Dack Fayden who thought you should have all the cards. But the reason that Burning Wish is on the list and (SPOILERS) they aren’t is because Burning Wish can put any card that you can imagine in your hand. So long as you own it, or know someone that would officially lend it to you for a minute.

12 Mana Drain

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

So, a two-cost counter is overpowered enough given there are no drawbacks. But being able to give yourself mana for it is beyond broken. As it is written, “Counter target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add an amount of Colorless to your mana pool equal to that spell's converted mana cost.”

So, if you decide to counter a 10 cost, then you get ten mana AND you get to counter theirs. There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain. Even if it’s a one cost, you still get a free mana plus the counter. There’s nothing bad about this card and everything good about it. Therefore, it is banned in Legacy and Modern. One of the few that Legacy has banned actually, aside from that Power Nine group.

11 Stoneforge Mystic

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Stoneforge Mystic isn’t the most straightforward broken card in the game. But it is OP to no end. Straightforward cards always have an end, but tricky ones like this have even more potential. Basically, the straightforward part is that you get to get any equipment you have in your deck and play it for two mana. For those who don’t know it, some equipment cards are uber powerful. For instance, Elbrus, the Binding Blade! My favorite equipment. The only drawback being the cost. But with this card, you don’t need to pay seven for it, just two. Paired with cards that allow you to attach equipment to other creatures, which would only make it more powerful.

However, this card is banned in Modern alone, so good luck facing it on other types.

10 Moxens!

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

This isn’t one card, it’s a set of five. We could just mention one, but that would be unfair. Because everyone has a favorite mana color and we need to mention them all. That would be Mox Pearl, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, Mox Emerald, and Mox Sapphire. Anyway, each of them cost 0 mana and the effect would be to, well, use it like a land. Only it isn’t a land, so you can lay them the same turn that you laid a land. Add all five to your deck, and that’s a lot of free mana. Back in the day before they were banned or restricted, people would max them out in place of lands because you could lay them all on one turn. So, they had to be banned since they ended up replacing what made Magic…Magic.

9 Demonic Tutor

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Pretty much every tutor is overpowered. Because knowledge is power, right? But there are some that are more powerful than others. You see, Diabolic Tutor says, “Search your library for a card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.” That’s good. But it’s three cost. Demonic Tutor does the same thing for only two cost. Dark petition does the same thing for two if you use Spell mastery with it. The best thing about it is that it isn’t banned. As for Demonic Tutor, yep. It’s only legal in Commander. Which is pretty powerful given the large decks, but I guess not as powerful as your standard 1v1 60 card deck powerful.

8 Tinker

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Don’t let the silly name fool you, this thing is the spawn of Satan himself. So, you have to sacrifice an artifact, they all seem to cost 0 anyway. This is like a cheaper, more straightforward Stoneforge Mystic. Don’t think he’s too “strong” then why is he banned in every format imaginable? Because You can literally get any artifact from your deck for three mana. If you do a combo where you benefit from sacrificing the artifact, even better. Better than all those tutors that simply add to your hand. Ask anyone how powerful getting anything from your deck to the field is. They will say that it is unfair 99% of the time. Whether it be creatures, lands or, yes, artifacts too. It’s just not something they do in Standard, and with good reason.

7 Ante Cards Like Amulet Of Quoz

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

To be honest, this isn’t a “card” but an entire gameplay tactic. Early on, in MTG, players would literally bet their own cards that they would win. That’s like racing for pinks. With Amulet of Quoz, if you are playing for ante, you can flip a coin and decide who wins automatically. Paired with a card that prevents you from losing the game (like Platinum Angel) you have no chance of losing the game. Meaning, you get to not only win, but get a new card. Success!

Even worse, with Darkpact, you can exchange either ante card. That is not just a good game plan, but a really awful thing to do as a human being. It’s practically stealing, not something that MTG wanted to condone. So they took out the whole ante mechanic because gambling is not condoned either.

6 Jace, The Mind Sculptor

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Jace, the Mind Sculptor is no doubt the most broken Planeswalker of all time. His plus two lets you scry one for any player. His zero lets you draw three cards! Negative one returns a creature to its owner's hand (which should be like 2 or 3 rather than one) no matter what the cost. Gets around indestructible too. All of that alone is really nice, but the real kicker is his ult which is practically a win condition. Minus twelve to not move to the grave, but exile all cards from target player's library. Then they add their hand to their deck. At most, they will have seven cards in their deck. Meaning, Jace’s owner pretty much just wins since you can’t counter that ability.

5 Sol Ring

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Though not the most famous for its effect, Sol Ring is still pretty darn well known. It’s legal only in commander, and it gives you two mana for the price of one. Every turn! This is when you try to do the math in your head, attempting to calculate how this could ever be fair. Like we said, Mana is a win-condition. Find a way to untap artifacts and it’s definitely a win condition. Untap it just once and you get four mana from one card without paying a thing. So, on turn two, without untapping anything, you could have six mana. No, just no, that isn’t okay in any way. Four mana on turn two would give you almost any card on this list!

4 Skullclamp

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

A lot of people argue that this is a bit overpowered, but it’s not broken. Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but it is definitely broken. Remember kids, draw power equals win power! Whenever this card was created, I highly doubt that Wizards thought it would be used for its draw effect alone. But it sure is. For just one mana, you can get rid of one of your opponent’s one toughness creatures (or your own if you need to) and draw two cards. Best part is that you can do it again and again for one mana each. If it was a one cost enchantment that said, “pay one mana of any color to deal one damage to any creature and draw two cards” people would think differently.

3 Karakas

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Keep laughing, please. A land being broken seems unthinkable, but let me tell you more. Imagine that you finally did get your best legendary out there, and all of a sudden, someone uses a land to return it to your hand, wasting all of the mana that you’d built up. Go ahead, try it again and they’ll just use their land to ruin your plans. The worst part is that it’s really hard to get rid of a land. You can’t counter it and you can’t destroy it with hardly anything that doesn’t say “land” or “permanent” on it. So pretty much just don’t plan on laying legendaries unless you’re going to do something amazing with them before they return it to your hand as part of the stack of you summoning them.

2 Emrakul, The Promised End

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

Yes, another Emrakul is banned. He’s the most powerful Eldrazi in existence. This one is fairly new and it didn’t take long for Wizards to ban it in Standard. Now, Standard cards do not get banned very often, but this one was too much. It cost a lot, but there are tons of ways to get around that. Like, you know its own effect that can make it cost nothing (however unlikely).

But the real kicker here is that you get to gain control of target opponent during that player's next turn. If you don’t win that turn, then it’s not so great. But, it really, really sucks when you take control of your opponent, sacrifice their creatures, burn them with their own cards. If that isn’t enough, remember that this Emrakul has flying, trample, protection from instants.

1 Black Lotus

Via: gatherer.wizards.com

You knew this was coming, it had to! If you’ve ever heard of Magic: The Gathering, then you’ve heard of Black Lotus. It’s the Pikachu of Magic. Only like really rare. Like…really, really rare. The rarest card in the game. But it’s more than just the inability to get your hands on one that makes it so amazing in a kind of bad way. Black Lotus is the ultimate Power Nine card. If you’re a billionaire and you want an MTG player to forever be indebted to you, buy them a Black Lotus. Again, it’s banned everywhere but Vintage (where anything goes, you know) and it’s restricted there. Why? Well, for the hefty price of nothing, you can add three mana of any one color to your mana pool. That price is even less than one! Funny enough, it’s the most expensive card in the game.