Flying is one of the most prized keyword effects in Magic: The Gathering. While abilities like hexproof, ward, and shroud can provide defense from spells, flying allows a creature to avoid blockers without flying or reach, and strike a player directly. Evasion is a powerful thing in Magic, and flying is one of the best kinds of evasion.
That said, not all flying creatures are designed equally. Many have an outsized mana cost that makes them not even worth using. However, there are a marked few that rise above the rest and become some of the best creatures that Wizards of the Coast have ever printed.
10 Murktide Regent Has Its Own Category Of Modern Decks
Murktide Regent is a recent addition to Magic, having been printed in Modern Horizons II. Since then, it has become such a prevalent part of the Modern metagame that there is a whole category of blue and red spell decks built with Murktide Regent in mind.
Murktide Regent is a seven mana blue dragon with delve. It starts off at 3/3, but it gets a +1/+1 counter for every instant and sorcery it exiles with delve and every instant and sorcery that leaves your graveyard while it's in play. It also, notably, has flying. Murktide Regent is an absolute monster that can easily shut down a game once it enters the battlefield, and the nature of the card means that you'll probably have at least one counterspell to protect it once it's out.
9 Delver Of Secrets/Insectile Aberration Remains A Powerful One-Drop Creature
Delver of Secrets is a card that originally appeared in the first Innistrad block that received a reprint with Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. It is a one-mana blue 1/1, but it transforms into a 3/2 with flying if you reveal an instant or sorcery spell from the top of your deck during your upkeep.
Like Murktide Regent, this was the primary win condition of countless spell-centric Modern decks. It was a much-beloved card during its first stay in Standard, but it hasn't seen much use with the Midnight Hunt reprint. That said, it remains a force to be reckoned with, even if its glory days in Modern have faded.
8 Restoration Angel Flashes In And Flickers A Creature
Restoration Angel is another flying creature that was once a Modern and Standard all-star. For four mana, Restoration Angel can come into play and flicker (or exile then return to play instantaneously). This was incredible in its standard for creatures with enter-the-battlefield effects like Thragtusk. It was a win condition in Modern decks when paired with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
With the banning of Birthing Pod, Kiki-Jiki and Restoration Angel fell out of favor in Modern. The format has also become much faster, so even cards like Eldritch Evolution can't keep this combo in Modern relevance.
7 Ice-Fang Coatl Is A Flashing Flyer With Deathtouch That Draws A Card
Ice-Fang Coatl is an addition from the first Modern Horizons set. It is a 1/1 with flying and flash for one green mana and one blue mana. It draws you a card on entering the battlefield, and, if you control at least three other snow permanents, it has deathtouch. While that last bit is certainly useful, Ice-Fang Coatl earns its place with the rest of its text.
It's a frequently-used card in all manner of decks that use green and blue. It can be a surprise flying blocker that draws you a card, or it can be all that plus a deathtouch creature that takes out whatever it blocks. Ice-Fang Coatl is an all-around great value for its low mana cost.
6 Scion Of The Ur-Dragon Can Easily Alpha-Strike An Opponent
Scion of the Ur-Dragon is arguably the best Dragon commander and one of the best five-color commanders on offer. It's a 4/4 with flying and costs one of each mana color to come into play. For two mana of any color, you can search your library for any dragon, discard it, and Scion of the Ur-Dragon becomes that dragon until the end of the turn.
This opens up a lot of combo options in Commander, with turning into Moltensteel Dragon, pumping him up, then becoming Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon being a particular favorite among many players. That's just scratching the surface, and it's worth mentioning that, even if it turns into another creature for the turn, Scion still doles out commander damage.
5 Consecrated Sphinx Is A Bomb In The Commander Format
Consecrated Sphinx is another very powerful Commander card. A 4/6 for six mana may not seem like much on the surface, but Consecrated Sphinx has one special quality that sets it apart. For every card your opponents draw, you draw two.
At the very least, this means that you get to draw two cards on your opponents' draw steps. However, your opponents almost certainly have some kind of additional draw effect, and you will get to benefit from those twice as much as your opponent does.
4 Zur The Enchanter Is The Quintessential Enchantment Commander
Zur the Enchanter is a legendary blue, black, and white wizard with flying. When he attacks, you can search your library for an enchantment with a converted mana cost of three or less and put it on the battlefield.
This can be used for any number of useful purposes in Commander, but one of the most common is searching for an aura enchantment to attach to Zur himself. Searching up cards like Daybreak Coronet, Spirit Mantle, and Ethereal Armor will make Zur more and more powerful, and he will quickly become a virtually untouchable enchanted monster capable of one-shotting other players with commander damage.
3 Avacyn, Angel Of Hope Gives Everything You Have Indestructible
Avacyn, Angel of Hope isn't an easy creature to get into play at eight mana, but it's worth every bit of that mana cost if you can get her into play. However, she's even more useful if she is reanimated from the graveyard at one or two mana.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope gives all of your permanents indestructible. While she is out, nothing can be removed through damage or destroying effects. In many cases, having her on the field is essentially game over unless your opponent has abilities that can exile creatures or give them -8/-8 (Avacyn's power and toughness).
2 Griselbrand Is So Powerful That He's Not Allowed In Commander
Griselbrand is actually powerful enough to have been completely banned in Commander. He is a 7/7 for eight mana, and he has lifelink and flying. For seven life, Griselbrand allows you to draw seven cards. Cheating him into play through a reanimation effect is essentially a game over.
There have been and still are reanimation builds in Modern and Legacy that revolve around cheating Griselbrand into play and drawing cards until you hit a win condition. The most common one for Modern was getting Borborygmos Enraged into play and killing your opponent by discarding lands. Nourishing Shoal with Worldspine Wurm as well as Simian Spirit Guide were also used to keep things running smoothly.
1 Emrakul, The Aeons Torn Is A Game-Ending Card
Emrakul, The Aeons Torn is possibly the single most powerful Magic creature to have ever been printed (outside of an Un-set). It is a 15/15 for 15 mana with protection from colored spells, flying, and annihilator six. It can't be countered, gives you an extra turn, and shuffles back into your deck if it's somehow put into your graveyard.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn isn't easy to get into play through mana, but spells like Summoning Trap, Through the Breach, and Sneak Attack can and have been used to cheat Emrakul into play for far fewer mana. Even if it's only in play for one turn, attacking an opponent for 15 damage and forcing them to sacrifice six permanents will almost certainly take them out of the game. Fortunately, Emrakul is banned in Commander, but it can still terrorize the Modern and Legacy formats.