Creatures are the bread and butter of Magic: The Gathering. They are the most commonly used method of trouncing your opponents, and most deck archetypes need them in order to nab that win. Double Masters 2022 reprints plenty of powerful cards, which is why people are eager to see what reprinted creatures they can add to their favorite decks in various formats.
But not all creatures are created equal, and even though most of the creatures in this set are nothing to laugh at, there are still some that stand out. Let's find out together which of the creatures in this set have the biggest potential of seeing actual consistent play.
8 Venser, Shaper Savant
Venser is a Human Wizard legendary creature that costs two generic and two blue mana and is a 2/2. He has flash, and whenever he enters the battlefield, you get to return a target spell or permanent to its owner's hand. This is a pretty strong effect, since you get a 2/2 body while also bouncing permanent to your opponent's hand. The fact that you can even target spells that are being cast, acting like a counterspell, is just the cherry on top.
Venser is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander, where he will definitely find a spot in some decks. He can work well in a blue deck that focuses on tempo, or a deck built around flickering your creatures in order to take advantage of their enter-the-battlefield (ETB) mechanics.
7 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
Another legendary creature, Yahenni is an Aetherborn Vampire. They are a 2/2 that costs two generic and one black mana to cast. They have haste alongside two very combat-oriented abilities. Whenever a creature owned by your opponent dies, Yahenni will receive a +1/+1 counter. If you sacrifice a creature yourself, Yahenni will become indestructible until end of turn. If you couldn't tell already, Yahenni thrives in the thick of combat, especially when they have other creatures available to sacrifice in order to become indestructible.
As far as legality goes, they are legal in almost all formats except for Standard, Alchemy, Brawl, and obviously Pauper since they are a rare. They would make an excellent addition to any tempo or aggro deck that runs black, since every removal that you cast will buff Yahenni. A green-black deck that focuses on token creation could also make good use of them, since they would always have targets for their sacrifice effect in order to become indestructible.
6 Restoration Angel
The best friend that a Thragtusk could ever have, Restoration Angel is a 3/4 flying creature that costs three generic and one white mana. It has flash, and whenever it enters the battlefield you get to flicker one of your non-Angel creatures. While the strongest effect is obviously the flicker, it wouldn't be as strong without having flash. Saving one of your creatures from removal while also getting their "enter the battlefield" effect again feels great whenever you manage to pull it off.
As already mentioned, Restoration Angel worked great in the past alongside Thragtusk. Their simple combo dominated Standard decks for a while. But that isn't the case in formats such as Modern, Legacy, or Vintage where the overall power level that decks have is way above Standard.
5 Dragonlord Dromoka
This Elder Dragon is a 5/7 legendary creature that costs four generic, one green and one white mana. It cannot be countered and has flying and lifeline with the added effect that your opponents can't cast spells during your turn. Dromoka is quite the threat simply due to the fact that she has flying and lifelink. She is the perfect creature to have if your opponent has whittled your life total, and you need to balance things out.
Dromoka is legal in the Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander formats. Since she is a legendary, most decks won't run more than one or two copies in any given deck, with more waiting in the sideboard for those pesky control matchups.
4 Hostage Taker
A Human Pirate creature, Hostage Taker is a 2/3 that costs two generic, one black and one blue mana. When it enters the battlefield you get to exile target creature or artifact, with the option of playing it yourself afterward. As an added bonus, you can pay their cost with mana of any type. Hostage Taker shows his true strength when dealing with creature-heavy decks that lack removal. As long as they can't kill your Hostage Taker, you have plenty of time to cast even the biggest of creatures or artifacts that you've stolen with him.
Hostage Taker is legal in most formats except for Standard, Alchemy, Brawl and Pauper. Over the years it has seen competitive play since his effect is extremely strong, and you also get a 2/3 in play. It can combo pretty well with flicker effects since as long as you've already cast whatever you exiled with him, when it is flickered, it can exile a new target.
3 Hydroid Krasis
This weird looking Jellyfish Hydra Beast is a true powerhouse of a creature. With a cost of X and one green and one blue mana, it allows you to draw cards and gain life equal to half the value of the X that you paid. His power and toughness are also equal to that X, and it has flying and trample.
Even though it might look like a pretty expensive creature to cast effectively, it still does a lot of things for the mana that is paid. Paying a total of six mana to have a 4/4 with flying and trample while also drawing two cards and gaining two life is a good deal in any Magic player's book.
Hydroid Krasis legal in most formats except for Standard, Alchemy, Brawl, and Pauper. In the past, it has seen widespread success while it was legal in Standard, appearing in multiple decks that made excellent use of his abilities. It found a home in everything ranging from control decks that loved the card draw up to ramp decks that reveled in casting an 8/8 Hydroid Krasis that would trample their enemies to death.
2 Animar, Soul of Elements
An Elemental legendary creature, Animar costs one red, one green and one blue mana. It is a 1/1 with protection from white and black. Animar will receive a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast a creature spell and your other creatures will cost one generic mana less for each counter that it has.
Even though it can be quite easily killed thanks to its one toughness, if left unchecked Animar can turn into quite the threat. Keep in mind that the keyword you should pay attention to regarding his counter ability is "cast", meaning that even if you're hit with a counterspell, will still give Animar a +1/+1 counter.
Given his power level, it should come as no surprise that Animar is only legal in Vintage, Legacy and Commander formats. But even in these incredibly powerful formats, it finds a niche for itself.
If you can protect it through various other effects, Animar can turn into a big threat in just a couple of turns. And on top of all that it can enable you to cast other expensive creatures solely with their colored mana requirements, since it can only reduce generic costs.
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Coming out on top of our list we have one of the scariest creatures around, Emrakul himself. Costing a monstrous fifteen generic mana, Emrakul can't be countered, has flying, protection from multicolored spells and annihilator six.
You also get an extra turn after casting her, and whenever she dies you get to shuffle her back into your library. After this laundry list of incredibly powerful abilities, it's pretty clear that once Emrakul enters the game, your opponent doesn't have much time left.
Emrakul is only legal in Modern, Legacy, and Vintage formats, being banned even in Commander. Even though she is still viable in various Vintage or Legacy decks, she is a bit too expensive for those formats. By the time you get the mana to cast her your opponent will probably be able to finish his combo and end the game.
This is why she will probably see more play in Modern, where the overall speed that decks have is lower, and you still have plenty of ways to ramp your mana in order to cast him, by using things like the Urza lands.