Outlaws of Thunder Junction felt like the start of a new era of Limited play forMagic: The Gathering. The previous set,Murders at Karlov Manor, introduced players to Play Boosters and the way those amplified the power of Draft and Sealed, but Thunder Junction immediately turned the dial up to 11.
While the power level of the set is juiced across cards of all rarities, the fact that multiple rares show up in boosters really highlights just how powerful cards in the set actually are. Still, even in a sea flooded with princes, there are noteworthy kings that stand (and sometimes fly) above the rest.
10Overwhelming Forces
An Auto-Win, If You Can Cast It
The Breaking News bonus sheet consists of 65 cards, all capable ofcommitting a crimeby targeting your opponent or something they control. This opened the door for some obnoxiously strong reprints that can decide games on their own. Case in point: the eight-mana Overwhelming Forces.
Dug up from a set released in 1999, Overwhelming Forces asks one question: Can you reliably get to eight mana? If yes, and you’re lucky enough to draw it, you probably win the game.A one-sided board wipeis already incredible, but the cards you draw just bury your opponent.
9Calamity, Galloping Inferno
Galloping Your Way To Victory
Calamity has a habit of closing out games instantaneously, often in glorious, combustible fashion. As long as you have basicallyanythingthat can saddle it, Calamitycomes down swingingand brings a few extra friends along for the ride, even better if the copies you create have enter-the-battlefield effects.
Calamity also plays exceptionally well with the plentifulreanimation effectsin the format. Badlands Revival, Back for More, and Rakdos Joins Up put Calamity directly into play, ready to attack, often with extra benefits. If your opponent somehow deals with Calamity the first time, round two should be game over.
You can saddle Calamity with two separate creatures, then make a copy of each of them when Calamity’s attack trigger resolves.
8Rakdos, The Muscle
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
Unlike some more nuanced bomb rares, Rakdos, the Muscle wears his blatantly overpowered statuson his demonicsleeves. That, and the character Rakdos tends to be preserved for hyper-powerfulmythic rare cardsalready.
Part sac outlet, semi-indestructible, and somehow capable ofmilling an opponent out, it’s hard to pass on Rakdos even if you consider red-black to be one of the weaker color pairs in the format. A 6/5 with flying and trample for five mana just gets the job done, and that’s before factoring in all of his abilities.
7Pest Infestation
Gives ‘Bug Bomb’ New Meaning
Pest Infestation doesn’tlooklike a bomb to the uninitiated, but there’s a lot going on below the surface. The important thing to note is that you don’t need any targets to cast this spell. Those magic words ‘up to’ mean you can choose zero targets and still make twice X 1/1 Pest tokens.
Thunder Junction also supports mana-intensive decks quite well. There areviable ramp decksin the format, and there are just enough Big Score artifacts and enchantment-based removal spells that Infestation will often eat up permanents for free on top of flooding your board with 1/1s.
Be careful targeting Treasure tokens with Pest Infestation! If Infestation’s only target is a Treasure token, your opponent can sacrifice it in response and counter the entire spell.
6Terror Of The Peaks
Back InPeakPerformance
Those who playedCore Set 2021already had a taste of just how powerful Terror of the Peaks can be in Limited. Those who didn’t need only to read the card to catch up to speed. It’s a truly monstrous card, asmythic rare Dragonstend to be.
While you may absolutely just run out Terror of the Peaks and be alright, it plays exceptionally wellwith Plot creatures. If you spend your early turns plotting, you can cast Terror and unload your exiled creatures for an immediate, game-breaking impact on the board.
5Oko, Thief Of Crowns
Stealing The Show Once Again
Oko, Thief of Crowns has gone down in history as one of the most powerful Magic cards of all time, and while that’s marginally less true in Limited, you’re going to have a tough time beating this in any normal game.
It invalidates most haymaker cards you play by turning them into 3/3 Elks, so forget trying to go over the top with a huge trampler or value artifact. It also has an absurd amount of loyalty for a three-mana planeswalker, so it’s near-impossible to kill if it comes down in the first few turns.
4Railway Brawler
Kill-On-Sight, If You Can
Just about every green rare or mythic in Thunder Junction is a top-tier bomb. Between Vaultborn Tyrant, Bristly Bill, Ornerry Tumblewagg, and plenty more, there are several incentives to push you into green early. Railway Brawler’s about on par with any of them but with a substantially higher upside.
Curving Railway Brawler into almost anything puts an oppressive amount of power and toughness on the board, made all the easier thanks to plot. Something as simple as a 3/3 now comes down as a 6/6, and the Brawler itself has reachandtrample, sothings like flyingor chump blocking are ineffective.
3Fractured Identity
An Identity Crisis For The Opponent
Fractured Identity is a totally deranged inclusion on the Breaking News bonus sheet, for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a known factor how incredibly powerful the card is in one-on-one formats. Second, it’s a card that was contextuallydesigned for Commander, and its downside is non-existent in heads-up gameplay.
Unlike most enchant- or sorcery-based ‘Control Magic’ effects, Fractured Identity exiles its target, so your opponent never gets their card back, even if they’re able to deal with your copy. You also get the relevant enters-the-battlefield effects from your copy, since it’s a new permanent entering play.
2Gisa, The Hellraiser
Raising Hell As Only Gisa Knows How
Gisa’s a hellaciously strong five-drop, assuming you may commit crimes in any capacity. A pair of 3/3 creature tokens whenever you commit your first crime each turn is jawdropping, tapped or not. Throw insome Ward protection, and you’re off to an easy win in the format.
Gisa loves cheap crimes, preferably the two-color Deserts orone-mana spells. Prioritize those, then wait to cast Gisa on a turn where you can immediately commit a crime. That ensures you get value even if Gisa’s dealt with, which is already a strenuous feat.
1Bonny Pall, Clearcutter
Clear Cut Just How Amazing This Is
Bonny Pall feels like a joke, partly because it’s such an on-the-nose Paul Bunyan & Babe reference, but also because… well, just read the card. A 6/5 with reach and an attack trigger that draws cards and ramps? And that’s only half of the card! Beau’s justanother gigantic creatureyou basically get for free.
Bonny’s only held back by its restrictive mana cost, though green decks have plenty of mana-fixing and often get away with casting cards with greedy mana costs. As long as you’re able to accommodate double-blue, Bonny Pall will reward you handsomely. OrBeautifully, perhaps.
Bonny Pall does not have to be the creature attacking for their attack trigger. You can play Bonny, attacking with something else right away, and trigger their ability.
