In Magic: The Gathering, demons and Black go hand in hand. At this point, whenever a new set is released, it's to be expected that a new and impressive demon will come along with it. While some demons have been ultimately unimpressive duds, other have made huge splashes, going as far as to warp formats and spawn entire decks around themselves.So today we're going to count down the best of the best when it comes to big and bad demons in our top strongest demons in Magic: The Gathering!Updated March 1, 2022 by Paul DiSalvo: With the release of every set, at least one new demon is added to Magic, with the game currently sporting 139 demon cards, While demons come in all shapes and sizes, they are often quite potent black creatures that are able to deal serious damage, often allowing players to draw additional cards or utilize their life total as an alternate resource. Regardless of their functionality, demons are a notably potent creature type that should not be taken lightly.
15 Sire Of Insanity
Sire of Insanity by Peter Mohrbacher
Not all of the most powerful Demons are necessarily Mono-Black, and Sire of Insanity is a perfect example why. Toting a simple yet potent ability, Sire of Insanity causes players to discard their entire hand at the end of each players' respective turn.
This effect will often not hinder those who play the card, as many Rakdos decks would rather play their cards as quickly as possible without caring too much about their hand size. Conversely, Sire of Insanity throws a huge wrench into many of your opponents' plans, causing huge problems for control decks and other strategies that would want to draw numerous cards.
14 Sower Of Discord
Sower of Discord is a potent Mono-Black demon that can allow a player to deal additional damage around the table in a game of Commander. A 6/6 with flying for six mana, upon entering the battlefield, its controller chooses two players. As long as Sower of Discord remains on the battlefield, whenever one of those players is dealt damage, the other player loses that much life as well. This means that even if a player has established incredible defenses, Sower of Discord can allow that player to be dealt damage by simply attacking another opponent!
13 Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire
Printed in Kaldheim, Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire is a legendary demon rogue for three mana that can allow its controller to repeatedly tutor. A 2/3, Varragoth can be somewhat tricky to safely block due to its access to deathtouch. This is great, as through its boast ability that can be activated once per turn for two mana as long as Varragoth had attacked that turn, its controller can search their library for a card, putting it on top of their library. Through this ability, as long as a player is able to attack with Varragoth each turn, they can repeatedly tutor for key cards for their deck's strategy such as combo pieces or much-needed removal spells.
12 Ob Nixilis, The Fallen
The first appearance of the recurring demon and Planeswalker Ob Nixilis, Ob Nixilis, the Fallen is a creature capable of converting one's lands into damage-based value. A 3/3 demon for five mana, Ob Nixilis has a potent landfall trigger, causing target opponent to lose three life and for three +1/+1 counters to be put on Ob Nixilis whenever a land enters the battlefield under its owner's control. When paired with mana ramp, this can get out of hand rather quickly, as opponents' life totals dwindle and Ob Nixilis grows in power.
11 Master Of Cruelties
Master of Cruelties is a Rakdos demon for five mana that truly puts one's opponents in a lose-lose situation. While this demon can only attack alone, its other abilities more than makeup for this drawback. Though only a 1/4, through its combination of first strike and deathtouch, any creature that blocks Master of Cruelties will be destroyed as a result of combat.
While the combination of first strike and deathtouch makes it a pain to block, letting the Master of Cruelties through is even more dangerous. If this creature attacks and isn't blocked, it deals no combat damage, and instead automatically sets the defending player's life total to one!
10 Silent-Blade Oni
Differing greatly from many of the more traditional demons, Silent-Blade Oni is a demonic ninja with a potent Dimir ability. Like many other ninjas, Silent-Blade Oni possesses Ninjitsu, allowing it to be cast for a discount, replacing an unblocked creature you control. This allows you to play all kinds of potential mind games with your opponent when it comes to combat.
When Silent-Blade Oni deals combat damage to a player, you can look at that player's hand, giving you tons of additional information. Then, you can cast any non-land card from that player's hand without paying its mana cost! This is quite deadly, as this is a repeatable effect that can steal many impactful cards from your opponent before they can even cast them!
9 Spawn Of Mayhem
Spawn of Mayhem exemplifies black's capabilities as a quick and aggressive color. A 4/4 with flying and trample with no drawback, while Spawn of Mayhem costs four mana to cast, its costs one less if an opponent had lost life that turn.
As if this wasn't already enough bang for your buck, Spawn of Mayhem deals one damage to each player at the beginning of your upkeep, and in case your life total is ten or lower, it will grow larger through +1/+1 counters.
8 Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
The first legendary demon on our list, Ob Nixilis is a character who has been depicted in numerous cards across Magic's history, both as a creature and as a Planeswalker. This specific incarnation, Ob Nixilis, Unshackled is a physically strong creature with a potent one-sided ability that greatly hinders your opponents.
Though Ob Nixilis receives a +1/+1 counter whenever a creature dies, much of his strength lies in his ability to deal ten damage to your opponents whenever they search their library. This makes all "tutors" extremely risky to cast, with this effect possessing the capability of shutting numerous lands that are sacrificed to find lands of that player's choice.
7 Lord Of The Void
Though Lord of the Void costs a hefty seven mana, the investment for this impressive demon is well worth it. A 7/7 with flying, whenever Lord of the Void deals combat damage to a player, you exile the top seven cards of that player's library, taking a creature of your choice from among those seven and putting it directly into play under your control.
Not only does this relatable effect permanently thin your opponent's library via exile, but it also gives you access to more and more of your opponent's strongest creatures before they'd even drawn them.
6 Vilis, Broker Of Blood
Printed in Core Set 2020, Vilis, Broker of Blood possesses one of the most powerful card drawing effects that black has to offer. While controlling Vilis, whenever you lose life, you draw that many cards. As black is chock-full of effects that deal damage to their controller, Vilis can draw insane amounts of cards for its controller over the course of the game, even serving as a disincentive for opponents to attack you. As if that weren't enough, for the cost of one mana and two life, Vilis can give target creature -1/-1 until the end of the turn, an ability that synergizes perfectly with its card drawing effect.
Just watch out for the enchantment, Underworld Dreams, as it goes infinite with Vilis, causing its controller to draw cards and lose life infinitely.
5 Doom Whisperer
Like the previously mentioned Spawn of Mayhem, Doom Whisperer is a demon that's jam-packed with value. A 6/6 with flying and trample for five mana, Doom Whisperer possesses a stellar activated ability that really pushes it over the edge.
Without requiring the payment of mana, for two life, Doom Whisperer allows for its controller to Surveil 2, looking at the top two cards of their library, reorganizing them, and putting any of them into their graveyard. As this is a repeatable ability that doesn't require Doom Whisperer to become tapped, in formats like Commander in which players have higher life totals, this effect is absolutely terrifying.
4 Rakdos, Lord Of Riots
The second iteration of the namesake demon of the Rakdos Cult, it isn't hard to see how a demon this mighty would influence many of Ravnica's inhabitants. A 6/6 for four mana, Rakdos exemplifies everything that Black/Red decks want to do: deal damage.
Only castable if an opponent had lost life that turn, Rakdos incentivizes dealing as much damage as possible, reducing the costs of all creatures spells by an amount of equal to the amount of life lost by your opponents that turn. This ability can get out of hand quite quickly, as upon dealing enough damage, even Eldrazi Titans can be cast for trivial amounts of mana.
3 Archfiend Of Despair
Only ever printed in Battlebond, Archfiend of Despair is a costly yet incredible dangerous demon that can help a player quickly close out a game. A 6/6 with flying for eight mana, Archfiend of Despair prevents its controller's opponents from gaining life. More importantly, at the beginning of each end step, each opponent loses life equal to the amount of life they'd already lost that turn. This essentially causes each other player to sustain twice as much damage from any source, making even the most minor of threats quite dangerous.
2 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
For an eight-mana legendary demon, Razaketh, the Foulblooded encapsulates black's color identity. Many players describe black as the color of "power at any cost," and with Razaketh, this couldn't be more true.
At the cost of a sacrificed creature and two life, Razaketh can search its controller's library for any card, putting it into their hand. This allows Razaketh's controller to flexibly access the cards they need at a moment's notice as long as they have life and creatures to spare.
1 Griselbrand
It truly says something about the power of a Magic card when it gets banned in the Commander format. Griselbrand remains the only demon to be banned in Commander, and for good reason.
It's been stated that the player who draws and plays the most cards over the course of a game of Magic will often come out victorious. Bearing this in mind, Griselbrand possesses the ability to, at the cost of seven life, draw its controller seven cards. One would be hard-pressed to find a card that can draw as many cards as Griselbrand at instant speed, let alone within a repeatable effect. As if this weren't enough, Griselbrand is a 7/7 with lifelink, meaning it can be used to gain its controller back the life they'd paid to activate his ability, allowing them to safely draw another seven cards.