Cartas de Magic: The Gathering esenciales para mazos de control

Discover the most influential and strategic cards for building control decks in Magic: The Gathering. This selection includes key interactions like counterspells and removals, as well as card draw engines and decisive threats. Ideal for players looking to dominate the battlefield and limit opponent options. Explore the essential options to optimize your control strategy in the popular collectible card game.

258100% verified
  1. 1

    Lightning Bolt

    83 Global Votes
    • Deals 3 damage for 1 mana

      (+4)

    Lightning Bolt is an essential card for control decks due to its ability to remove early threats or deal direct damage to an opponent with minimal mana cost. Its efficiency allows players to maintain board control from the early turns, proactively responding to opponent's plays and maintaining tempo advantage.

  2. 2

    Black Lotus

    66 Global Votes
    • Powerful in gameplay

      (+2)

    Black Lotus is a cornerstone card for control decks due to its unparalleled ability to generate a significant amount of mana instantly. This acceleration allows players to cast high-cost spells much earlier than usual, establishing early game control. Its explosive effect can drastically alter the pace of the game, facilitating board dominance and disrupting opponent strategies.

  3. 3

    Ancestral Recall

    56 Global Votes
    • Blue's most powerful card

      (+2)

    Ancestral Recall provides unparalleled card advantage, allowing a player to draw three cards for just one blue mana. This extreme efficiency makes it a fundamental tool for control decks, which aim to out-resource the opponent. Its ability to quickly refill a hand and find key answers is crucial for maintaining game dominance.

  4. 4

    Time Walk

    53 Global Votes
    • Great for decks with many triggers

      (+2)

    Time Walk is a fundamental card for control decks due to its ability to grant an extra turn for a very low mana cost. This tempo advantage allows control players to consolidate their board state, draw more cards, or deploy key threats without immediate opponent interaction. Its inclusion in the Power Nine highlights its strategic impact and invaluable role in manipulating the game's flow.

  5. 5

    Sea Gate Restoration

    0 Global Votes
    • Beneficial in control or combo decks

      (+3)

    Sea Gate Restoration provides control decks with unparalleled flexibility, functioning as a land that avoids land destruction spells or as a powerful late-game card draw engine. Its ability to refill a hand and remove maximum hand size ensures control players maintain card advantage as the game progresses.

  6. All the rankings you can imagine

    Thousands of verified votes to discover the best. Your vote here counts

  7. 6

    Alrund's Epiphany

    0 Global Votes
    • Can win the game by itself if it resolves

      (+2)

    This card is essential for control decks due to its ability to generate an extra turn, allowing the player to consolidate their advantage or find crucial answers. Furthermore, creating two 1/1 flying Bird tokens provides aerial defense and a way to apply pressure, making it versatile in control strategies.

  8. 7

    Kiora Bests the Sea God

    0 Global Votes
    • Creates an 8/8 Kraken with hexproof

      (+2)

    This card provides a devastating combination of board presence and permanent control, making it ideal for control decks. Its ability to create an 8/8 hexproof creature and subsequently lock down an opponent's board offers immense strategic advantage. Furthermore, its third chapter allows for stealing a key permanent, solidifying game dominance.

  9. 8

    Swords to Plowshares

    0 Global Votes
    • Best removal spell of all time

      (+2)

    This card provides unconditional, low-cost creature removal, making it an indispensable tool for control decks. Its ability to exile any target creature, regardless of its size or abilities, offers an efficient answer to the opponent's most dangerous threats. The life gain for the creature's controller is a minor drawback compared to the strategic advantage of permanently removing a key threat.

  10. 9

    Smothering Tithe

    0 Global Votes
    • Incredibly powerful effect

      (+3)

    Smothering Tithe is an essential card for control decks due to its unparalleled ability to generate mana advantage and resources. It forces opponents into difficult decisions, either paying mana to prevent Treasure tokens from being created or allowing the controller to accelerate their own game. This constant pressure on the opponent's resources and the mana ramp it provides make it a powerful tool for maintaining board control and executing high-cost plays.

  11. 10

    Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

    0 Global Votes
    • Provides crucial card advantage

      (+4)

    Teferi, Hero of Dominaria offers an exceptional combination of card advantage, board control, and protection, making it a cornerstone for control decks. Its +1 ability allows for keeping mana open for interactions, while its -3 provides card draw and temporary threat removal, solidifying its role as a versatile and powerful tool.

Frequently asked questions

This ranking evaluates cards essential for building effective control decks in Magic: The Gathering, focusing on their ability to slow down opponents, answer threats, and prolong the game to a decisive victory. It includes interaction cards like counterspells and removal, as well as card advantage engines.
Cards are selected based on their proven utility in control strategies, including their ability to enable 'stax', 'blink', 'superfriends', or 'pillowfort' effects, as well as their effectiveness as counterspells, creature removal, or card draw sources. Both old-school and new-school techniques are considered.
The results of this ranking should be interpreted as a guide to identify key cards that can strengthen a control deck. It is not an exhaustive list, but a selection of cards that have proven fundamental in controlling the game and thwarting an opponent's plans, allowing the control player to reach the late game.
Yes, the ranking's context mentions viable control strategies in formats like EDH (Commander) and relevant cards in Standard, indicating that different formats are considered to offer a broad perspective on essential control cards.

How we built this ranking and what to consider when choosing

The methodology for selecting essential Magic: The Gathering cards for control decks is based on an evaluation of their strategic impact and proven effectiveness in gameplay. We prioritize cards that allow the control player to manipulate the pace of the game and out-value their opponents.

  • Cards offering strong interaction, such as counterspells, spot removal, and board wipes, which are fundamental for stopping opponent's threats, are considered.
  • The ability of cards to generate card advantage or recur control elements is valued, as this is crucial for maintaining relevance throughout a long game.
  • Cards that fit into popular control archetypes like 'stax', 'blink', 'superfriends', and 'pillowfort', which aim to limit opponent's options, are included.
  • Versatility and effectiveness across different stages of the game, from early to late game, are important factors for a card's inclusion.
  • The relevance of cards in the current metagame and their historical impact on control deck strategy are taken into account.
  • Effective Interaction: The card must provide a powerful way to interact with opponent's threats, whether by negating spells, removing permanents, or clearing the board.
  • Value Advantage: The card must offer significant value advantage, such as card draw, recursion, or the ability to generate multiple effects for a single cost.
  • Synergy with Control Archetypes: The card must integrate well with or empower recognized control strategies such as 'stax', 'blink', 'superfriends', or 'pillowfort'.
  • Late Game Impact: The card must contribute to the control deck's ability to dominate the game in later stages, either as a game-ending threat or a persistence tool.
  • Versatility and Flexibility: Cards that are useful in a variety of situations or can adapt to different types of opponent threats are preferred.