Modern Horizons 3 is getting released very soon, and as you might expect, a ton of extremely powerful cards will be joining the Modern format. Interestingly, many of the best cards clearly draw from ideas of previous designs. For example, Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury is a new Giant with Escape, obviously following in the footsteps of Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath and Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger.
Phlage is undoubtedly a strong card, but its printing got us thinking: how does Phlage match up against the other Escape Titans? Further, how strong is Phlage when compared to some of MTG’s all-time best Giants? Well, today, we decided it would be fun to rank what we think are the best Giants in Magic’s history. There are a decent number of worthy inclusions, so some powerhouses are bound to fall short. Without further ado, here are the best MTG Giants of all time!
#5 Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury
Speaking of Phlage, the new Elder Giant comes in at number five on the list. Phlage may not be quite on par with Uro, but there’s a lot to like here. First of all, paying three mana for a Sorcery speed Lightning Helix isn’t the most efficient play, but it is absolutely serviceable. As we’ve seen with Uro, the life gain can be extremely important at buying you time to Escape it and take over the game.
Unlike Kroxa, Phlage directly impacts the board the turn you play it. Kroxa is a potent threat in attrition battles, and sometimes appears as a one-of in Rakdos Scam decklists as a result. Phlage is great in grindy games, too, but due to its ability to remove an opposing threat when it enters, is also a much better threat against aggro decks. For this reason, we gave Phlage the nod over Kroxa in our best MTG Giants rankings. It’ll be interesting to see what shells best utilize Phlage in Modern and beyond moving forward.
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#4 Bonecrusher Giant
Up next, we have Bonecrusher Giant. Bonecrusher Giant dominated its Standard format and has been a strong card in Pioneer for a long time, even if it has faltered a little in recent months. While neither half of the card is all that exciting, being able to cast both of them over the course of a game makes the card extremely valuable. Bonecrusher is excellent against aggressive decks, but unlike typical removal spells, isn’t a dead card against control.
This Giant gets some additional luxury from the “damage can’t be prevented” clause, too. Decks like Prowess in Modern can make good use of the card out of the sideboard to help fight against The One Ring. On top of that, if the opponent blocks one of your red Prowess Creatures with Sanctifier en-Vec, you can force the Sanctifier to die in combat by pointing “Stomp” at the opponent’s face. Altogether, Bonecrusher is worth more than the sum of its parts.
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#3 Undermountain Adventurer
Undermountain Adventurer is an exceptionally powerful card. It may not see as much play as Seasoned Dungeoneer or White Plume Adventurer, but that mostly stems from how well the white Initiative cards pair with Solitude.
In Legacy, Adventurer makes its presence felt in Gruul Initiative decklists alongside other excellent four-drops like Minsc and Boo, Timeless Heroes. It’s also a reasonable target for Green Sun’s Zenith decks to tutor up. The reality is, Adventurer’s lack of competitive play overall is more a symptom of it being legal in very few formats. If Adventurer were Modern legal, it would almost certainly be a force to be reckoned with, so the card deserves a spot high on this list.
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#2 Primeval Titan
Primeval Titan is one of the strongest big-mana toolbox Creatures ever printed. There are simply so many amazing Lands to search for with this card. In Modern, Primeval Titan is most famous for its role alongside Amulet of Vigor. In conjunction with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, grabbing two copies of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle can win the game on the spot.
Meanwhile, over in Legacy, Primeval Titan is a staple in mono-green Cloudpost shells. It’s amazing just how versatile Primeval Titan is and how easy it is to win with it if the card goes unchecked. There’s a reason the card remains banned in Commander, and it rightfully earns a spot as one of the best MTG Giants ever.
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#1 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Lastly, we have the ultimate Escape Titan: Uro. Seeing Uro at the top of our rankings shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. From Standard down to Legacy, this card has been a dominant threat nearly everywhere it’s been legal. Of course, the card quickly met the banhammer in a multitude of different formats.
Uro was a mainstay in Standard Temur Reclamation years ago, which was one of the strongest Standard decks of all time. Players easily abused Uro as a ramp element and haymaker in Modern for a while with Mystic Sanctuary in the mix. Now that the card is banned in Pioneer and Modern, the card primarily sees play in Legacy control decks. Uro hits hard, gains life, generates card advantage, and ramps you to help you relish the extra cards you draw. What more could you want?
At the end of the day, Uro has become infamous as one of the strongest cards to come out of any premier set in the last decade. Phlage does look good, but I’m glad Wizards of the Coast dialed things back a little with its design. It will take a lot for Uro to be dethroned as the top card in our best MTG Giants rankings.
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