Magic: The Gathering is an ever-changing and massive card game, currently boasting over 20,000 playable cards, with brand-new cards regularly printed every few months as new sets are released. Throughout Magic's history, the game's various sets have fluctuated greatly in their potency and impact on various formats.
While some lower-powered sets have a minimal impact on eternal formats like Commander, some of the most potent Magic sets not only introduced many iconic cards into various formats, but in some cases, they've fundamentally warped the Standard format. While sets like Modern Horizons 2 are inherently designed to have a high power level, pushing power levels is not always the goal of Standard-legal sets, so we're going to examine the standard sets of Magic's past
7 Throne Of Eldraine
The most recently printed set on this list, Throne of Eldrain was released in 2019, toting a distinct fairy-tale-inspired aesthetic.
While the set may be one filled with whimsy, it is also rife with notably potent cards that impacted several formats and led to the cards Oko, Thief of Crowns and Once Upon a Time being banned in formats such as Standard, Brawl, and Pioneer. In addition to these banned cards, the set is home to potent options like the Great Henge, Brazen Borrower, Embercleave, and Fabled Passage.
6 Worldwake
Printed in 2010, Worldwake was a notably powerful set that was the second chapter of the original Zendikar block. While some remember the Zendikar block for its introduction of Eldrazi, Worldwake is a set that brought several deck-defining cards into the game, leaving an impact that can still be felt to this day in formats like Modern.
In addition to being the source of the notorious Mono-Blue Planeswalker menace, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, a card that would be banned in the Modern format for many years, Worldwake included iconic cards such as Stoneforge Mystic, Death's Shadow, Avenger of Zendikar, Omnath, Locus of Mana, and even the Commander staple, Bojuka Bog.
5 Exodus
Magic's fourteenth set and the third part of the Tempest Block, Exodus is an impressive set that is home to a wide variety of cards that see play in various eternal formats such as Commander.
While some Standard sets may feature a card or two that have impacted various formats, Exodus is chock-full of noteworthy cards such as CIty of Traitors, Survival of the Fittest, Hatred, Recurring Nightmare, Mind over Matter, and Reconnaissance.
4 Mirrodin
Released in 2003, Mirrodin is a set based around an artifact-themed Plane of the same name. Due to the set's significant emphasis on artifacts, Mirrodin notably introduced a wide swath of powerful cards of the type to the game, including cards that feature the notoriously powerful Affinity mechanic.
At the time of its release, Mirrodin unfortunately caused a significant overhaul to the Standard format, leading to a sizable number of bans. In the context of modern Magic, this set is home to several all-stars including Skullclamp, Chrom Mox, Chalice of the Void, Tooth and Nail, and Extraplanar Lens.
3 Urza's Saga
When discussing the most powerful Standard sets in Magic's History, it's hard not to bring up Urza's Saga. A set that led to numerous noteworthy bans in Standard such as Tolarian Academy, the over-powered nature of several cards within the set notoriously led to a conversation in which several designers of the set were told they'd lose their jobs if this problem persisted in the following set.
Urza's Saga is home to several iconic cards such as the aforementioned Tolarian Academy, Gaea's Cradle, Serra's Sanctum, Gilded Drake, Exploration, and Yawgmoth's Will.
2 Arabian Nights
The first official expansion released for Magic, Arabian Nights was printed in 1993, depicting characters and artifacts found within One Thousand and One Nights.
As a set, Arabian Nights is among the most powerful in the game's history, While players of Magic's Pauper format would feel the effects of Arabian Nights due to its inclusion of the incredible removal spell, Oubliette, some of the strongest and most sought after cards from the set include Bazaar of Baghdad, Library of Alexandria, and Drop of Honey, each of which demand staggeringly high price tags.
1 Alpha
Released in 1993, Alpha is the very first Magic: The Gathering set and is easily the most impressive collection of cards in the game's history. In addition to being home to the Power Nine, the nine most potent cards in the game, the set features the original dual lands. These lands are without question the strongest dual-lands to ever see print due to their ability to tap for two colors with no strings attached while maintaining the ability to be found through the use of Fetch Land.
Furthermore, Alpha is home to a litany of cards that fundamentally shaped Magic as we know it, setting the bar for what players can expect from various types of effects, with standouts including the likes of Wheel of Fortune, Balance, Copy Artifact, Braingeyser, Fork, Mana Vault, Demonic Tutor, and countless other great cards.