With 302 cards, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is a diverse, fantastical addition to Standard. The wide array of card types and useful mechanics have piqued the excitement of collectors and players alike. This series is refreshingly impressive, with planeswalkers that are actually valuable, exciting new legendary commanders and more narrative flavor than a Standard set has seen in some time.
We previously covered the 10 most valuable cards in Kamigawa: Neo Dynasty. For this list, the best rares and mythics aren’t limited to price range. Instead, we’re featuring some of the most powerful new cards in the game. With 10 Limited archetypes and a whole lot of synergy, here are the best rares and mythics of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty in no particular order.
Blade of the Oni
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty introduced multiple new mechanics, including reconfigure. This new mechanic became necessary with the creation of creature-Equipment hybrids, such as this card. Blade of the Oni is, arguably, the most powerful of these new cards. Read Martin Juza talk about why he’ll be deck-building with Blade of the Oni.
The Kami War
The Kami War is a beastly card for five-color decks. Once transformed, O-Kagachi Made Manifest is 6/6 Dragon Spirit with flying and trample and an ability with the potential to do massive damage. When O-Kagachi Made Manifest attacks, the defending player chooses a nonland card from your graveyard to return to your hand. Additionally, O-Kagachi Made Manifest’s attack is buffed by the mana value of that card. That’s just rude, and I love it.
Isshin, Two Heavens as One
Riley Knight ranked Isshin second the in the Top 10 Best NEO Commanders. He discusses the combos he expects player’s to include in Isshin decks that will be hard to contend with. Which is going to be a lot of cards since Isshin, Two Heavens as One simply allows abilities triggered when a creature is attacking to trigger again. I already hate playing against this deck.
Boseiju, Who Endures
It’s rare for a card to be so universally good that it becomes a staple for its color, but I dare say Boseiju, Who Ensures is just that. Green decks can often afford to spare a land, so discarding Boseiju for its effect isn’t a problem. In return, it offers removal for an artifact, enchantment or even a nonbasic land. Your opponent grabbing a basic land is an easy trade-off.
Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant
This big bad Phyrexian Praetor is highly expected to become a popular EDH commander. Both Riley Knight and Eric Levine mentioned the difficulties of facing this creature at the table. Meanwhile, I hear control players cackling with excitement.
Otawara, Soaring City
Otawara, Soaring City is another land with channel, meaning it can be discarded in exchange for an ability. In this case, that ability is to bounce an artifact, enchantment or planeswalker back to its owner’s hand. With the potential to use this ability to simply tap the land for blue mana, it’s another card that I expect will become a staple in many decks running blue mana.
Kairi, the Swirling Sky
Legacy players will find an infinite combo in Kairi, the Swirling Sky. This 6/6 Dragon Spirit with flying and ward 3 will be hard to target for removal. Even if an opponent is able to kill Kairi, they’ll only be allowing the player to choose one of its two fantastic abilities. Frank Karsten considers it one of the best mythics in the set.
Atsushi, the Blazing Sky
Luis Scott-Vargas discusses the powerful options Atsushi, the Blazing Sky provides a player. To start, the Dragon Spirit is a four mana, 4/4 flyer with trample. Yet it’s the option to choose mana or cards when Atsushi dies that makes it a dynamic card to include in a variety of decks.
Kura, the Boundless Sky
On its face, Kura, the Boundless Sky may not appear that impressive. For five mana, this Dragon Spirit is a 4/4 flyer with deathtouch. When it dies, however, the options available make Kura a force to be reckoned with. The player can create a creature with power and toughness equal to their land base. Or, they can find three lands. Not basic lands – any lands.
Invoke Despair
The entire Invoke series offers a multitude of useful sorcery spells. Invoke Despair, however, is the most delightfully rude of the set. While it requires five mana, four of which must be black, Invoke Despair forces an opponent to discard a creature, an enchantment and a planeswalker. This isn’t just helpful removal – even your opponent has nothing to sacrifice, they will lose life while you draw cards. However, Eric Levine is less impressed by this card than I am.
Kodama of the West Tree
Riley Knight ranked Kodama of the West Tree in the top 10 commanders from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Players willing to restrict their deck to mono-green will be rewarded when building with Kodama of the West Tree. This Spirit would also make a powerful addition to any counter-heavy deck or any deck that includes the ability to modify creatures.
Satoru Umezawa
Satoru Umezawa is a comically powerful commander. Riley Knight remarks that Satoru Umezawa is still unable to beat Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow in competitiveness but will certainly give the card a run for its money. With the ability to give every creature in your hand ninjutsu, Satoru Umezawa allows players to set up massive, unblockable hits with creatures outside the balanced realm of Ninjas.
Nashi, Moon Sage’s Scion
It’s always fun to use your opponent’s resources to win. Nashi, Moon Sage’s Scion utilizes ninjutsu to ensure its main ability can go off when played. Plus, the player doesn’t use mana to cast the spells; instead, they must pay life. In commander where life is an abundant resource, Nashi, Moon Sage’s Scion has a lot of power to direct the course of a game.
Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh
Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh is an insanely powerful planeswalker for artifact-heavy decks. Tezzeret’s stagnant ability is helpful enough on its own that I expect plenty of blue commander decks to include the planeswalker in the greater 99 as well. For only four mana and the ability to immediately draw two cards and potentially keep one, Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh is more dynamic than he may first appear.
Tamiyo, Compleated Sage
The most sought-after planeswalker in the set, Tamiyo, Compleated Sage is a great addition to nearly any blue and green deck. Even adding a loyalty counter to Tamiyo provides only upsides to a player by tapping an opponent’s creature or artifact for their next turn. If a player is able to secure Tamiyo’s Notebook, all spells they cast will cost two less mana until an opponent can remove this colorless artifact.
What card did I miss? Tell us your favorites from NEO below!
