Top 10 Most Broken Red Cards of All Time

[@Finngrinder]

What is more broken? The completely fair Fireblast or a 2/1 Monkey?

[@chapmanandchapmanproductio974]

Yoooo this dude rocks !!!!! Socks!!!! BIG TIMEEEEEEE!!!!

[@ukaszmozejko9984]

Ragavan dies to Fireblast so...

[@adamwee382]

@@ukaszmozejko9984 yeah but are you more likely to sleeve up 4 ragavans or 4 fireblasts?

[@NarutoGeek411]

At this point I'm pretty convinced he pronounces names wrong on purpose to get a reaction and build engagement, just like SaffronOlive. Eldraine being pronounced Elaydrin sealed it Edit: I didn't mean to spark a debate in the replies. All I meant to do was point out an observation about a KZbinr that I like

[@lachlank.8270]

Read the description

[@Jacobthejewela]

He says it correctly when speaking about fervent champion in the top ten knights video. Around 11:07 in that video. I think you're right.

[@Bacon574]

@@lachlank.8270 who cares if he’s a newbie. As a supposed MTG content creator, you have a responsibility to do your due diligence in at least pronouncing the names correctly. It takes away from the rest of the video. And makes him look like he actually doesn’t know what he’s talking about. How can you trust the rest of his info on the game is correct? If his script writers are so knowledgeable, why don’t they help him review the video first before releasing to the public? I feel like thats the bare minimum

[@anannoyedpanda]

​@@Bacon574 Bruh it's KZbin content. He's not going for a Nobel prize. You need to fucking relax and get your priorities straight lmfao. Second comment you've made I have had to call you out on for being a jerk about pronunciation in a KZbin video.

[@pitmaster226]

@@Bacon574 over time his pronunciation gets better. It’s not on purpose, look at the video on the guilds vs when he mentions them in the future.

[@fernandobanda5734]

Some suggestions in the comments are questionable, but I think Ragavan very clearly should've been here.

[@groundswelllegitcoffeeandb3810]

I guess this isn’t a commander video, because dockside extortionist would’ve made this list also.

[@latonpfeiferhicks768]

@@groundswelllegitcoffeeandb3810Dockside would suck in literally every format other than commander

[@BR4IN1N4J4R]

Dockside is one of those "fair outside of EDH, busted in EDH"

[@FalseOracle617]

@@groundswelllegitcoffeeandb3810 Ragavan is seen in Vintage, Legacy, Modern...barely sees play in Commander. This is a bad comment.

[@colemanholth3740]

I feel like I would've put ragavan and blood moon on this list rather than including Twin and Fires. I'd argue that while Moon isn't banned anywhere, it historically tends to be a pillar in higher power formats where you have access to things like Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors.

[@colemanholth3740]

I also think that the more egregious modern-banned red card is Punishing Fires rather than Twin, which I could also see.

[@Moshladaan]

110% agree with Blood Moon on this list. It outright wins games on its own against certain matchups.

[@superbaas8822]

@@Moshladaan Only if those decks are playing such greedy mana based that they can't play under a Blood Moon. Where decks aren't so greedy and know how to properly function without an obscene mana base, Blood Moon is nearly blanked.

[@lucamachadomendonca3676]

While it definetly is a pillar on high power formats, it technically os the opposite of broken, as it's more about punishing pushed mana bases than being powerful by itself

[@jsum33]

All Blood Moon does is punish greedy mana bases. It keeps people honest. It's in no way, shape, or form broken.

[@epthopper]

Price of Progress is a more broken burn spell than Fireblast. Also in terms of pure power, Lightning Bolt should probably be like #3 on this list lol

[@Moshladaan]

PoP is amazing, but by that logic anything that is hyper efficient should be on here. And this is reserved for broken cards. PoP isn't broken in the formats it is legal in IMO

[@darthparallax5207]

Shock or Lightning Bolt: one of these must be the definition of fair, and in their existence go a long way towards defining unfair as "all else that is better than this"

[@elijahjohnson1952]

Play basics

[@mattmichael3310]

​@@darthparallax5207 both are fair. Doesn't exile, doesn't kill many important targets, but can go face.

[@danlorett2184]

Lightning Bolt should not be on this list. It's very strong, it's a staple, it's nowhere near the top 10 strongest red cards. By far the most egregious omission is Blood Moon.

[@coreyroberson4550]

Splinter Twin and Simian Spirit Guide aren't broken by themselves and were both dirt cheap for a good while after printing. I remember buying Spirit Guides for $0.10 each and Splinter Twins at 3-for-$1. They sat in my decks and collection for some time before massively spiking to $20 each. I was quite happy to unload 13 Spirit Guides and 4 Splinter Twins once that happened.

[@fernandobanda5734]

Spirit Guide is a pretty broken card. Out of all the free mana, it's instant speed an uncounterable, it asks nothing so it can always be a starter, it can be used before your first turn. When I'm playing Red Prison, SSG is THE card I want to open, especially on the draw.

[@coreyroberson4550]

@@fernandobanda5734 It's a great card, and there's a reason why people love it and why it spiked. But by itself, it doesn't win the game. Answering the question "Is it worth a whole card to get one more mana?" will be entirely dependant on the deck/meta/format. If you pitch Spirit Guide to ramp a spell out sooner, only to have that spell countered (or your creature killed if it was a creature spell), your opponent gets a 2-for-1, and you may or may not be able to recover. Not every deck can afford to spend a card for a one-time mana boost. But when it works, it can be crazy good and help you outrace your opponent.

[@fernandobanda5734]

@@coreyroberson4550 Obviously a fast mana card that gives you card disadvantage is going to be entirely dependent on where it's used. I'm just saying... as a fast mana that gives you card disadvantage, it's one of the better ones.

[@nanya524]

Fork, Ragavan, Jeska's Will, Dockside Extortionist all should be on the list or at least "honorable mentions"

[@roguebanshee]

Those who doubt that Fork belongs have never tried casting it on something that just made their opponent flip the table like a Shahrazad.

[@AcedSama]

Dockside and jeskas will are only potent in Commander. While Ragavan is a MONSTER. unlogical to see fires of invention and other stuff on the list (no doubt, strong card) but no Ragavan.

[@baconsir1159]

A lot of those are just/mostly commander, Ragavan should 100% be here

[@iankane3732]

Jeskas and dockside are only good in commander so nah, but ragavan for sure.

[@Metallicity]

Reverberate has been Modern legal for a decade and has done literally nothing in all that time. Even in Standard it barely did anything, because it had one specific niche that it was never very good at. In the early years of the game, Fork was restricted for the same reason Regrowth was: it gave you more access to the actually good restricted cards in your deck. But even back then it did so far worse than Regrowth, and it's been quiet a few years since Regrowth itself has been even remotely seen as dangerous, so there are literally dozens of other red cards more worthy of mention over it.

[@supermassivi1995]

Dude, I started watching your WoW Channel than years later I found your D&D and now I saw the title on my KZbin page and when I clicked it insta reconize your voice. Great work as always

[@michaelcollins4534]

Red gets one single piece of card or mana advantage: it gets banned

[@danlorett2184]

Wow, the color filled to the brim with fast, efficient threats and burn spells would be OP if it also drew cards and made extra mana? No way man!

[@Icameron259]

It still regularly gets treasure generators, and even some actual ritual effects like Irencrag Feat. Then for card advantage, after the release of MOM there will be Reckless Impulse and a functional reprint (Wrenn's Resolve) legal in the same standard, which if your deck is low curve is very often a straight up 2-CMC Draw 2. So I don't see your point. Most of the bans are just OP combo pieces, which is the same shit that always gets banned for every colour.

[@Dj87887]

2:09 "Throne of Elaydrin."

[@Vulpixon732]

I remember as a still novice magic player seeing Fires of Invention with other veteran MTG player on spoiler season and we both thought that card would be pretty niche and not that much powerful as we thought. We did not took into account being able to use activated abilities and then Kenrith decks started to dominate the standard. Oh how wrong we are when we evaluated this card.

[@gnkstudios6138]

This list has to be wrong. No blood moon or ragavan is definitely a mistake. I do agree with all the cards that are on this list being broken but there’s no way blood moon isn’t too 3 broken red cards. There’s just no way.

[@darthparallax5207]

Blood Moon used to be maybe actually broken. Chaos Warp answers it fair and square when you're in a very rough position forced to beat it while under it and not completely prepared. There aren't many enchantment answers from only red mana that are good besides the specific case of Blood Moon, and there definitely used to be only 0 that met the criteria. But 1 is all it takes to turn Blood Moon from broken to just very good. There are reasonable ways to get out from Blood Moon under unfortunate circumstances, and Chaos Warp will basically never be bad because it will always be a fair Blood Moon answer.

[@gnkstudios6138]

@@darthparallax5207 imo blood moon is still more broken than a few of these cards. Period. Chaos warp is another red card meaning your opponent has to be playing red to answer. And with this video being top 10 with no specifics to how the cards are broken (format, time period, relevance) it’s safe to say blood moon is definitely in the top 10 most broken red cards ever printed. Fires of invention is not nearly as punishing as blood moon is.

[@EKennethsanders]

​@@darthparallax5207 chaos warp lmfao have you considered playing a real format?

[@ukaszmozejko9984]

Another strong contender is Sneak Attack

[@gnkstudios6138]

@@ukaszmozejko9984 omg how can I forget Sneak Attack. My first deck playing magic was sneak attack way back when it was in standard lol that card now is super busted. Broken is the word for that card

[@maxscherzer9521]

The blue video should be like 50 cards

[@sagacious03]

Okay analysis video! Thanks for uploading!

[@7deuc2e38]

No blood moon? No stupid monkey? Kinda wild that you have a random mid enchantment on the list that was only good in weak formats over those 2

[@mattblom3990]

I still remember when Ebay was filled with $1.20 x4 playsets of Splinter Twin. So, so many. I got one of them but if I could see the coming combo I'd have bought them all.

[@Posesso]

ah, all those Lamborghinis you could have bought :)

[@marcellachine5718]

I remember 4 dollar wheels, 12 dollar duals. 5 dollar LEDs, 1 dollar fows, 9 dollar sliver queen, and 6 dollar intuition. Man I wish I had the intuition to buy more of them.

[@Xhadp]

I feel like this list would change a lot if red also contained ways of cheating out instants and sorcery spells Can you imagine if Worldfire saw a lot of play similar to grislebrand because of it being cheated out?

[@BorysBajer]

Sad Aggro Noises

[@TheJum]

Maybe this just opens up the lists: “Top 10 best (Color) Aggro Creatures” Which would also be a good opportunity to show off the best aggro creatures in colors like Blue or even Artifacts.

[@mountainwalk]

Goblin Recruiter is better than most of the cards on this list by a lot and about as good as Breach but worse than Wheel. It's nowhere near fair. It's broken as a fair card and a combo card.

[@danlorett2184]

IMO I would go 1) wheel, 2) breach, 3) blood moon 4) recruiter/welder

[@michisauer]

I still have an old red burn-deck here using fireblast. Combined with furnace of Rath and seal of fire as well as lightning bolt, it was more than capable of ruining a good list of other decks. Whenever you had 4 mountains and furnace in hand, the game was essentially over....

[@andykapsar4667]

you forgot to toss in seismic assault for the land draws

[@1uplink169]

Ball lightning

[@ukaszmozejko9984]

How about Sneak Attack - it both completed Show and Tell + created it's own archetype in legacy. Ragavan and Fury changed Modern - for better or worse.

[@sammywurtman6302]

What about Rituals and DRC / Ragavan?

[@jerimenolan4809]

Love the videos always have but I wonder what's the stronger pull the voice or the information. 😊

[@LivinTheLifeOfRiley]

Wtf did he just call eldraine? Eladrin?

[@JacksonDuncanDesigns]

Yeah, if you watch more of his videos you’ll see him mispronouncing words that already have well-established pronunciations in the community (for example, “Eldraine”), likely to drum up more comments in the comment section

[@mattyryon]

I have a mint DCI promo fireblast I got in a local FNM tournament when I was like 11 or 12 years old. I'm 35 now lol

[@gabrielesquaratti5709]

why why WHY using the new print of Wheel of Fortune? WHY

[@corey2232]

I hate the art choices picked on a lot of these videos, especially when the classic ones are often so iconic

[@chapmanandchapmanproductio974]

This dude rocks

[@damiang888]

Fireblast made me remember of the oldie "thunderclap" card, which costs exactly half but does 1 less damage. If I understand correctly Fireblast is better because when you are burning your mountains you rather have that 1 extra damage per card, also 4 lightning bolts and 2 fireblast wins you the game with only 4 mountains.

[@mysticexarch1796]

I'm really surprised that brand didn't make this list (in the number one spot of course). Gaining control of all permanents you own for one measly mana is one of the most broken things I've seen in any game ever, not just TCGs. Its extremely fascinating to think about why this card wasn't more widely used. Was it because of a logistics issue? If so, why wasn't it banned like chaos orb or divining top?

[@7Alberto7]

Amazing!

[@randomperson5579]

The first red card to ever annoy me was runaway steam-kin, sure it's probably not good in most formats, but when it was in standard, it was the bane of my elemental tribal deck.

[@joshuacarder5690]

There are a lot of wild and wacky suggestions in the comments here, but a lack of Ragavan and Dockside, and choosing Fireblast (?!) instead seems like a wildly missed opportunity.

[@GunnarWahl]

I'm very surprised Sneak Attack wasn't on the list.

[@darthparallax5207]

If it were broken it would be bought out in original copies more. Reprints would be tanked either way but originals would more desired if it were actually busted like Ancient Tomb is. It's really good but for pre Modern formats 3 mana is a lot. There are a few different ways to get similar effects, like Show and Tell, Aluren, Birthing Pod, Survival of the Fittest, Tinker......Sneak Attack is very good but not very unique. That makes it less obviously broken: 1: there are better 2: even in color, some Goblin abilities can cheat costs 3: because it's not unique it's not absolutely must have 4: it's most famous deck, Sneak and Show, involves one of the other options you can play instead. 5: it is quite beatable and it's slow enough to cast that destroy answers are reasonable to cite as viable. It's not as bad as Survival which is awful because it races very well against answers because 2cmc is so harsh.

[@JadenDay-s8e]

I know it’s probably not top ten, but Mizzix’s Mastery is certainly up there in power level.

[@theflintabletc]

I think the Splinter Twin ban was more because of Deceiver Exarch than Pestermite. They have the same ability that you want with Splinter Twin, but a 1/4 body compared to a 2/1 flyer removes Lightning Bolt as an answer/removal for the combo, which at the time was one of three premier removal spells (the others being Path and Abrupt Decay).

[@christianroot6287]

its both, the infinite combo is why it got banned

[@madbr3991]

Fear the wheel.

[@emanym]

Splinter Twin did nothing wrong and should be restored to Modern 🎉

[@anannoyedpanda]

To be fair, we have it in explorer/pioneer through izzet creativity so I think youre right.

[@sirrobot7784]

Twin wouldn’t see play if unbanned

[@emanym]

@@sirrobot7784 all the more reason to unban it.

[@andykapsar4667]

this may sound pretty troupe, but id like a top 10 broken blue or black list

[@brunobar8506]

You should do video essays on top decks

[@hugowurtz708]

Goblin Grenade.

[@ReaperSaga-3713]

I know it's been over a year now so my comment doesn't matter anymore however I feel as though Obliterate, while being expensive should've had at least an honorable mention. It can win you the game on the spot by itself if you can still play other cards. Also if you protect your permanents with abilities of other cards alongside it then it can be somewhat broken in my opinion. I've won countless games with the simple combination of Obliterate and Heroe's Intervention and it can get even better with cards that help me cheat them out such as Omniscience. It's even more consistent with tutors but I like combing off with Diabolic Revelations as with it I can get every combo piece that I need at once. Or I can use Omniscience and the card Enter the Infinite to basically win regardless. I do this all the time and my friend hates it so much

[@Zephyrt3mp3st]

@themanalogs 10 infinite loops for the next video? Edit: (example) Exquisite Blood & Sanguine Bond with any of their "mimics"

[@MrSaverio97]

Gee I wonder where the mana from Simian spirit guide comes from

[@JesterLaughAtU]

Flanking, didn’t like flanking. Banding was annoying but not unmanageable. Landwalk, fear, regen feh all decent

[@nathannjh]

IMO twin isn’t strong enough for the list. Infamous for sure, but not top 10 most powerful.

[@GarlicReturns]

Lightning bolt should have been given an honorable mention. I know it does not break the game on its own, and was just a bit above the balance curve But I mean, it's literally the card behind the 4 cards per deck limitation.

[@GildedPoo]

Okay, I can't. This whole list is just completely absurd. ALL CARDS in MTG are either situationally good or situationally bad, that doesn't make x card in that situation "broken." A card isn't "broken" unless it ON IT'S OWN is winning matches. If "Fires of Invention" (for example) was "broken" it would need to be at LEAST a two mana omniscience, and it would be in basically every red deck. THAT is what a broken card looks like. A more real example would be Uro, Uro by itself made every deck with Green or Blue in them 10 TIMES better. It BY ITSELF won games, it didn't require one or more other cards (let alone an entire deck architype) to do so. Mono-red is the single most balanced color in MTG. Period.

[@TheCubicalGuy]

I'm surprised pyroblast wasn't in here.

[@danielfchen8895]

And they say Blue can’t make friends, hello red lol

[@Moshladaan]

Limiting this list to 10 red cards with no honorable mentions feels wrong... especially with red cards like Ragavan, Blood Moon, Sneak Attack, Final Fortune, and Grape Shot not making the cut. Yeah yeah, I know... Grape Shot...

[@Moshladaan]

Also just thinking about Manamorphose... I know it isn't PURE red, but it's effects are about as red (and amazing) as it gets!

[@danlorett2184]

Ragavan should be #9 or 10, Blood Moon should be top 5, the rest of those cards are bad

[@samhenderson1699]

sorry throne if what

[@kellybrian6495]

I have Dwarven recruiter in my Magda Commander deck. I abuse it using Maskwood Nexus. 😂 6:47

[@adamwee382]

Not entirely sure I agree that wheel is more broken than breach, but either way it's pretty close.

[@TrumpLester]

19:10 In Wizard Poker culture, this is widely considered to be a dick move.

[@fernandobanda5734]

It's a very common play (not with Wheel) in Legacy

[@hunterstrong3318]

Feels wierd seeing few cards on this list but not ragavan or fury.

[@j-lohome-slice7425]

Good vid

[@martinmespiespinosa7218]

I thought Blood Moon was gonna be in the top... Guess is not as broken as I believed...

[@superbaas8822]

Fair decks blank the card entirely. It's only punishing to those who deserve to be punished.

[@batatac4mil86]

No ragavan? I'm surprised

[@mbarker_lng]

Dockside Extortionist should have gotten a mention. Its particularly lethal in commander and even moreso when the person flickers/copies it on the same turn as it appears (perhaps more than once too), unloads their whole hand and often has mana to spare to activate abilities, perhaps draw more cards and dump them too, etc. The Extortionist might even win the game on the spot with Hasted creatures or copied burn spells.

[@danlorett2184]

Counterpoint: it's commander so nobody cares lmao

[@mbarker_lng]

@@danlorett2184 Yeah, its only MTGs most popular format.

[@danlorett2184]

@@mbarker_lng It's monopoly negotiations and politics disguised as bad, RNG filled magic. If you like it, great, good for you, but it's a garbage format, the "competitive" scene is laughable, and frankly actual MTG players are getting tired of having their ACTUAL formats ruined with stupid commander only BS.

[@Merlewhitefire]

Throne of a Laydrin? What the hell is a Laydrin?

[@diogeneticist3585]

They've gotta slip in a mispronunciation somewhere!

[@Merlewhitefire]

@@diogeneticist3585 Who does, the Laydrins? Are the Laydrins the ones responsible?

[@VillrUlfr]

Wait, Are you the same guy that does the Duel Logs for Yugioh? Or is your voice just some generic AI voice. No hate, Just legit curious. If you are, I watch your other stuff too.

[@josephwodarczyk977]

He is indeed.

[@Rorschachqp]

Of the five colors, red has the least broken power.

[@legochickenguy4938]

i still don't think faithless looting should've been banned in modern. Hogaak and Golgari Grave Troll are the problem cards in graveyard decks not faithless looting. Also Ragavan should be at least #3 on this list.

[@Pfisiar22]

I think we're being too loose with the word 'broken' if Fireblast is considered broken.

[@Its109TheGamer]

No Lightning Bolt?

[@joshscallorn6104]

I am spelling this wrong but Devrils disc was no joke.

[@deeterful]

Didn’t mention the reason Goblin Recruiter got banned, Goblin Charbelcher.

[@zirilan3398]

Thought it was Food Chain

[@אביעדמזוז-פ5ע]

Top 10 keyword in magic (what is the most pawerfull)

[@jmandelli]

Dockside not being mentioned is criminal

[@MekanikKommandoh88]

Dockside is not relevant in competitive Magic.

[@hurnn1543]

No cathartic reunion? Also Twin isn't that broken, it was literally everything else in Twin decks that made it broken.

[@hurnn1543]

Also all the greedy unfair decks crying about blood moon, your tears are delicious.

[@fernandobanda5734]

Cathartic Reunion? Why would you think that's broken?

[@Bluequaz]

no way you said throne of "elaydrin" instead of eldraine lol caught me way off guard

[@throwaway7425]

alot of ragavan comments but darcy might be even more unfair. Enabling delve for 1 mana is crazy

[@thomasthemtman]

No dockside ?

[@alexanderl187]

Goblin welder background was making me nauseous

[@aquapucci]

What about bloodmoon?

[@NightfallShadow]

Umm....wtf are you talking about? lol. Goblin Engineer is WAY more powerful than goblin Welder? Goblin Welder has almost no use what so ever dude. First off, you need that artifact in your graveyard and if its not then it's useless. Engineer literally forces the artifact you need out of your library and then switches it with the one you need. I have won dozens of games like this by using engineer to fetch the artifact I need for my infinite combos. I could never do that with welder since it only cares about graveyard but engineer literally takes it from the library and puts it into the graveyard AND returns it. Welder only puts it from the graveyard into play so it does one half of what engineer does.

[@spooky_zen]

8:55 huh of all time come on no way

[@Alikaoz]

Arcanist is a funny card. What's broken, the 1/3 without haste or the entire pile of 1MV cards, many of which would have been banned if they weren't grandfathered in?

[@iankane3732]

The 1/3 that draws and plays you card every turn lol. Arcanist gave delver decks too much card advantage and grind ability. It's the same reason expressive iteration was just banned.

[@anannoyedpanda]

I mean it's dreadhordes ability that does it, so yes dreadhorde. He was correct lol.

[@randommaster06]

We need an April 1st video of top 10 mispronunciations.

[@NateBullock-ow6on]

Were is ragavan at😮

[@X_XD]

This is why i love red :D

[@chazzanschutz6096]

No love for Price of Progress? There's a reason it hasn't been reprinted into modern.

[@tomasvalerio6043]

No Ragavan ?

[@captainpeen9880]

Ragavan or lightning bolt?

[@biorage6670]

Sneak Attack is incredibly broken!

[@lucylightbringer]

Blood Moon

[@Crossark1]

Wheel of Fortune + Sheoldred = dead opponent and 14 life gain.

[@joshscallorn6104]

Slivers with Sliver Queen, was sorta bullshit but cool as well.

[@CC-oi9mc]

Splinter Twin doesn't deserve to be on the list - no blood moon or ragavan is crazy

[@logatt]

no sneak attack?

[@Leevodevo]

jeskas will 100% belongs somewhere on this list id argue top 5 easy. Dockside could even see a spot here.

[@jonathancalabrese]

Where is ragavan?

[@pigtaku4276]

Great vid, the set for fires of Invention is pronounced El-Drain

[@shanewroe18]

I did not see many great cards like sneak attack in this list.... That is a very broken overpowered card that has won me many many games.... You forgot combo burn with sneak attack.....

[@kyleharmon853]

trickery is the most broken card ever regardless of format

[@charlesfarley28]

Obviously, we know VO dude doesn't play the game. I did NOT know that he's a "Take one & done" type on line readings in the booth, so I have to ask: Correct pronunciation of proper nouns just aren't a priority, huh? Or did I miss the Thrans of Allaydrin block?

[@josephwodarczyk977]

It's an intentional thing to troll people into commenting. You've been played.

[@natebullock6555]

No ragavan or lightning bolt huh😮

[@joshrobinson2409]

Necropotence isnt on here? We all know that card was pretty broken

[@jorgelazarini4499]

Not the best choices, the mere fact that ragavan isn't there already makes it a bad list.

[@jonathantl7553]

Bonecrusher giant 😓😢