Magic: The Gathering cards come in a wide variety of forms such as named legendary creatures or the game's iconic Planeswalkers. Regardless of format, a cornerstone card type that is integral to competitive play is instants, cards that are castable during an opponent's turn. Instants allow for flexible and reactionary play and are among the most interactive card types in the game.
Since the beginning of the game, instants have been home to some of the strongest cards in Magic. Therefore, let's examine ten of the most overpowered instants that have seen print.
10 Cyclonic Rift
Anyone well versed in the Commander format is likely well aware of the notorious effects of Cyclonic Rift. A blue instant for two mana, Cyclonic Rift is capable of returning a single nonland permanent an opponent controls to its owner's hand.
If this seems underwhelming, this is because the appeal of the spell comes in the form of its overload cost that allows it to be cast for seven mana, returning all nonland permanents one's opponent's control to their owner's hands. This one-sided board wipe can set other players in a Commander game back to the stone age while leaving its caster completely unaffected.
9 Once Upon A Time
Some of the most powerful cards in Magic's history are those that a player can cast without expending any of their mana. Once Upon a Time is a green instant that may be cast for free if it's the first spell that player cast that game.
Allowing a player to look at the top five cards of their library, putting a creature revealed this way into their hand, letting a player more reliably ensure their hand is full of the cards they may need. The card's reliability led to its banning in several formats including Historic, Modern, and Standard.
8 Dark Ritual
It's no secret that the Black Lotus is the most powerful card in all of Magic: The Gathering. For zero mana, the Lotus can produce three mana of any one color, providing a massive temporary boost to one's resources, allowing them to cast spells well ahead of schedule.
While not quite as powerful as the Black Lotus, Dark Ritual is an instant for a single black mana that produces three black mana. While the spell requires you to be playing black and only nets you two mana rather than a Lotus's three, Dark Ritual is still an incredible spell that can allow you to cast impressive spells earlier than an opponent would anticipate.
7 Hatred
Hatred is by and large one of the most aggressive black instants to ever see print. For five mana, Hatred allows its user to pay any amount of life, providing a creature with a boost to their power equal to the life paid until the end of the turn.
Due to the card's instant speed, a player with a life-lead can wait until an opponent's blockers are declared, casting Hatred on an unblocked creature and ending a game instantaneously.
6 Teferi's Protection
A white all-star, Teferi's Protection is a three-mana instant that functions as one of the most reliable panic buttons in all of Magic. Upon being cast, Teferi's Protection prevents its caster from losing life until their next turn.
It also causes their entire board state to phase out until the beginning of their next turn, effectively treating all of their cards as though they weren't in play. This allows a player to negate a game-ending attack or save themselves from a devastating board wipe.
5 Constant Mists
Fog effects in Magic are traditionally instant speed spell effects that prevent all combat damage on a single turn. A green fog for two mana, Constant Mists is without question one of the strongest fogs in Magic, having access to a buyback cost of sacrificing a land.
This means that as long as its user has steady access to lands, they can repeatedly shut down an opponent's combat phases by sacrificing lands, returning Constant Mists to their hand after its effect resolves.
4 Berserk
Pump spells are instants that are able to temporarily bolster a creature's power for a single turn, allowing it to push more damage through to an opponent. As far as green pump spells are concerned, few are as potent as Berserk. For a single green mana, Berserk double's a creature's power, making already threatening creatures all the more deadly.
However, it is important to note that at the end of that turn, the creature Berserk targeted is destroyed. However, this effect is often enough to take out an opponent the turn it is cast, and it can even be prevented if the target is indestructible.
3 Word Of Command
While Word of Command sees far less play than other entries on this list, it is a unique and extraordinarily powerful black instant that appeared in Magic's very first set.
For two black mana, this spell's caster temporarily gains control of another player, allowing them to look at their opponent's hand. The user can even force the other player to cast a spell, mismanaging their resources and intentionally playing in a self-destructive manner.
2 Force Of Will
Force of Will is the strongest counterspell in Magic. While this blue instant has a mana value of five, like Once Upon a Time, its power comes from the ability to cast the spell for free.
By exiling any other blue card from its owner's hand, Force of Will can be cast for free, allowing its caster to catch opponents off-guard and counter spells even without any untapped mana sources.
1 Ancestral Recall
As Ancestral Recall is part of the Power Nine: the nine most powerful Magic cards ever printed, it should be no surprise that it made its way onto this ranking. Easily the most simple card on this list, for a measly single blue mana, Ancestral Recall allows a player to draw three cards.
No instant in the game's history has come close to providing as much immediate value for as negligible of a cost as Ancestral Recall.