With recent changes announced to Magic: The Gathering's Standard format, the game is going through a substantial shakeup. Rotation, initially put in place to periodically refresh the meta and eliminate dominant strategies, is being delayed, meaning these overpowered cards still have some time in the sun - unless they get banned, that is.

Currently, the Magic Standard meta is dominated by midrange decks, which use mana-efficient cards - "goodstuff" in player lingo - to defeat both fast-playing Aggro decks and slower Control decks. Some of these cards have been in Standard for a while and players were looking forward to their disappearance. Now they're sticking around.

MTG Standard: Most Overpowered Cards

1. Bloodtithe Harvester

This seemingly-innocuous Uncommon vampire from Crimson Vow forms the Creature backbone of most Standard Midrange decks. It offers a solid 3/2 body suitable for attack and defense as well as removal and card selection via its Blood token - all for two mana.

2. Fable of the Mirror Breaker

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is Standard "public enemy #1." It's nearly impossible to deal with favorably as an opponent: If the Goblin token is not killed within a turn, it will produce a Treasure, and even if it is the other two effects on the Saga produce even more advantage for its controller, providing impressive value at very little cost.

3. Reckoner Bankbuster

Reckoner Bankbuster is another efficient threat: Its activated ability provides card advantage, and the Vehicle can be crewed by a Bloodithe Harvester, providing a potent blocker or attacker. According to Wargamer, the card appears in 88% of top MTG decks.

4. Sheoldred, The Apocalypse

Released in Dominaria United, Sheoldred wasn't going to rotate out in 2023 like the other cards in this list, but this Phyrexian Praetor has been a plague in Standard since her release. Her simple effects are quite powerful, slowly
(or quickly, if they draw more cards) killing opponents and boosting her controller's life total. Sheoldred's five toughness also make her difficult to remove or get past in combat.

5. Invoke Despair

This expensive sorcery does exactly what it says on the tin - totally demoralize opponents. No matter what way you slice it, Invoke Despair is an incredible pain to be the target of. On an empty board, it does six damage and allows its controller to draw three cards - potentially into another copy of Invoke Despair. Otherwise it removes precious cards from the field and is brutal in succession.

These are some of the top cards in MTG Standard right now - and for the foreseeable future. It's possible one or more of them gets banned with the recent changes to Standard, but for now they will continue to dominate.

This article was originally published on dbltap as MTG Standard: Most Overpowered Cards.