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Outlaws Of Thunder Junction is the second Standard set release of 2024, featuring many characters from across Magic: The Gathering’s history coming to the plane of Thunder Junction via Omenpaths that have appeared all over the multiverse. The set features plenty of powerful cards, and is loaded with extra cards thanks to the “Breaking News” bonus sheets and “The Big Score” included in OoTJ packs. Many of the cards found in this set will cause shakeups across multiple formats, from Standard to Commander to Pioneer, so here are the best Outlaws Of Thunder Junction cards.
11. Lotus Ring
Lotus Ring is an Eqiupment that gives a solid stat boost but also turns any creature into a way to generate three mana if you can sacrifice it. The card itself has indestructible to make it harder to actually remove off of the field.
Infinite In Pioneer:
In the Pioneer format, you can perform the Lotus Ring combo with Fervent Champion and Koll, the Forgemaster. Fervent Champion can equip itself with Lotus Ring for free, and Koll will return Fervent Champion to the hand when it dies while equipped. This generates two excess mana each loop, letting you kill with any burn spell you can dump mana into (or use Mask of Immolation to make it easier to find all your combo pieces with Equipment tutors).
The strength of Lotus Ring comes from its ability to generate infinite mana. If you have any way to either reduce the equip cost or generate more mana from a creature, you can keep attaching Lotus Ring to creatures and sacrificing them for excess mana. You do need a way for a creature to have haste and be able to constantly revive themselves, but are rewarded with infinite mana, creature deaths, and enter-the-battlefield triggers.
10. Obeka, Splitter Of Seconds
While nothing too special for constructed formats, Obeka, Splitter Of Seconds is one of the best new Commander cards. Extra upkeeps are something that are hard to come by, and Obeka can give you multiple with just one attack.
Obeka, Splitter Of Seconds works both as a commander or in the 99 of a Commander deck. Its menace ability makes it harder to block, and if you have stat-boosting effects, this makes it easier to take a ton of extra untap steps at once.
9. Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
If you are playing any deck that is putting multiple lands on the battlefield, you will want space for Bristly Bill in it. It turns all lands into +1/+1 counters on a creature, so if you’re dumping multiple lands on the battlefield in one turn your creatures will grow greatly.
Since Bristly Bill is best used in ramp decks, you will have a ton of excess mana to work with. This mana can be used to activate Bristly Bill’s activated ability to double all the +1/+1 counters on a creature, which when mixed with other +1/+1 counter support, can grow your creatures to massive sizes.
8. Another Round
In any blink deck, Another Round is one of the best cards you can play. At bare minimum, it’s a three mana spell to blink any number of creatures you control. However, if you have a ton of mana to dump into it, you can keep blinking cards for whatever you pay for the “X.”
Many blink spells don’t cause the creatures exiled to come back until the end step. However, Another Round makes them come back right away, letting you take advantage of enter-the-battlefield triggers happen during your main phase to use them on your turn.
7. Goldvein Hydra
Golvein Hydra is a great addition to Mono Green Stompy decks (decks that primarily play mana dorks and green creature decks). Thanks to having all of trample, vigilance, and haste, Goldvein Hydra is an immediate threat for both offense and defense.
Unlike other similar cards, Goldvein Hydra leaves behind tapped Treasure tokens equal to its power when it dies, letting you regain the mana you used to cast it in the first place.
6. Sword Of Wealth And Power
A new card in the “Sword Of X and Y” cycle, Sword Of Wealth and Power gives your creature protection from most forms of interaction. Its +2/+2 stat boost is great as well, giving your creature better stats for offense and defense.
You’ll want to put Sword Of Wealth and Power on a creature that can deal combat damage consistently, as it will let you copy the next instant or sorcery you cast. If you’re playing any kind of deck that cares about specific spells resolving, Sword Of Wealth and Power slots in perfectly.
5. Railway Brawler
Railway Brawler costs a bit of mana to get onto the battlefield, but once it hits it, all your creatures come in with double stats. You can plot it even earlier to cast it for free the turn after you plot it, which lets you immediately chain a cast of another creature to it.
It works best in Mono Green Stompy decks, as this can ramp up to Railway Brawler’s plot cost as early as turn three, making it easy to hit the battlefield and start getting threats down onto the battlefield.
4. Jace Reawakened
Jace Reawakened joins the ranks of the very few two-mana planeswalkers, and is a great one at that. While you can’t cast it during the first three turns of the game, there are other ways to put it directly onto the battlefield to start taking advantage of it earlier.
The power of Jace Reawakened comes from its ability to plot a nonland card with mana value three or less. Notably, it only looks at the front side of the card or the permanent part on a card with adventure, which lets you cheat around mana costs for cards like Tibalt, Cosmic Imposter or Bramble Familiar’s adventure side that normally costs seven mana.
3. Pest Control
Pest Control is one of the best board wipes for decks playing a low mana curve. There are many notable decks that create a ton of nonland permanents with mana value one or less such as Boros Convoke in Standard and Pioneer and Bant Toxic in Standard.
It only costs two mana for Pest Control, making it easy to cast while still having mana up for other spells. Even if you’re not casting it because the board state doesn’t call for it, you can cycle it away for a different card.
2. Geralf, The Fleshwright
Geralf, The Fleshwright is one of the best support cards in spellslinger decks. For every spell after the first cast a turn, you get a Zombie token. These tokens rapidly grow in stats if you’re creating more than one Zombie each turn.
Since Geralf, The Fleshwright is blue, you have access to a ton of powerful blue cantrips that cost one mana and draw a card, letting you keep your hand refreshed while amassing a huge army of Zombie tokens.
1. Final Showdown
Dress Down is an enchantment that causes all creatures to lose abilities until the end step, and is only legal in Modern formats onward. Final Showdown introduces that same effect to Standard and Pioneer, and is fantastic in both those formats.
Unlike Dress Down, Final Showdown can also be used as a protection spell for a creature or a board wipe in the grind game. It’s great in matchups where creature abilities are very relevant, such as Amalia Combo in Pioneer that need their creature abilities to combo off.
That’s all of our thoughts on the best MTG Outlaws of Thunder Junction cards, though we’re going to have to wait and see for the paper launch before we commit fully to this list.
Best Outlaws of Thunder Junction cards – FAQs
What is the best new mechanic in Outlaws of Thunder Junction?
The Spree mechanic, which Final Showdown makes fantastic use of, is one of the most interesting new keywords introduced into MTG – with the ability to stack multiple abilities in one turn.
Are Outlaws of Thunder Junction good for Commander?
There’s already loads of decent Outlaws Commander decks, and the cards themselves are totally suitable for EDH and even cEDH. You’d be advised to upgrade the precons, though if you’re building out a cube from scratch the set has so many options.
