Zendikar is fresh in the world of MTG and people want to know; what are the good cards? This list will show what I feel are the best ten cards of Zendikar. These encompass all the cards in Zendikar. Let’s see what this set has to offer!

#10 Luminarch Ascension

This card is insane. As long as you can keep a good defense up, you’ll soon have an army of angels ready to decimate your opponent. This card is a lot easier to get going than you may think, as many of the white cards of Zendikar can deal with creatures coming at you (Journey To Nowhere, Kor Hookmaster, Pitfall Trap, and Shieldmate’s Blessing). This card, though tricky to use, will win you the game once you start using it.

#9 Goblin Guide

This is the first 2/2 with haste for one mana that has ever been printed in MTG. This will card will leave a huge impact on MTG for years to come. It’s incredible. Not only that, but this card should bring monored decks in standard to a powerful high. Think about a deck running these cards: Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Burst Lightning, Quest For Pure Flame, Pyromancer Ascension, Chandra Ablaze, Elemental Appeal, Punishing Fire, Unstable Footing, Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle, Ball Lightning, Raging Goblin, and Goblin Guide to top it all off. Ridiculous.

#8 Bloodchief Ascension

This card is the best of the ascension cards. It works well in any black deck and costs only one mana. I don’t have much more to say about this one other than it’s awesome.

#7 Warren Instigator

This is some mythic! At first, I thought it was a little silly to have this be a mythic rare. Of course, then I realized that this card is Goblin Lackey on roids. It will be great to see a card that works like Goblin Lackey in standard again. It will certainly change the game as I remember many people who played during Urza’s Saga talking about how they needed to plan on ways to deal with Goblin Lackey. Now people will be planning on how to deal with Warren Instigator.

One of the reasons why this card is mythic and not just a normal rare is because of the double strike. This card allows you to put two goblins from your hand into play if you deal combat damage to an opponent. Not only that, but you aren’t restricted to only using this ability with combat damage. It’s just regular damage! Of course, this is the same as with Goblin Lackey, but it’s great that they didn’t change that. I wonder who people will use this card in the future… Either way, this is an amazing card and one that certainly will spark a lot of discussion in the MTG community. Good to have you back Goblin Lackey!

#6 Sorin Markov

This card is the favorite of the Zendikar planeswalkers. It works strongly right away and has a really great final ability. This card has a lot of potential and will likely make an appearance in many EDH decks. Besides being good, this card is just cool. It’s just a card that begs to be played with.

#5 Explorer’s Scope

What? How’d a common get this high on the list? Well, that’s because this card is amazing. It allows you to get free lands! That means you can get double  landfall in a turn. Also, this card costs only one mana to play and one to equip. It’s out of control and I’d wager that almost no Zendikar decks will run without at least one. It’s the best common of the set.

#4 Ob Nixilis, The Fallen

This card is an amazing paly at only five mana. It grows more powerful every time you play and land and also makes your opponent lose life. It really is demonic… Sorry there’s not more to say on this card, but when a card’s just this good you can’t say much.

#3 Mindbreak Trap

This card serves two purposes. This card can get rid of cards that can’t be countered and also stops the ability storm dead in its tracks. It removes spells rather than countering them. This card may mean the end for storm’s overwhelming power in vintage.  If you don’t play vintage, this card can be traded/sold for quite a bit, so keep that in mind.

#2 Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Misty Rainforest, Scalding Tarn, & Verdant Catacombs

Fetch lands always work well. One life is a small price to pay for the land you need. Not only that, but these cards mean double landfall in a turn (or landfall on an opponent’s turn). These cards, like Mindbreak Trap, sell for a lot so if you aren’t playing competitively you may want to ditch these for some cash so you can get what you want. Either way, these are an awesome pull from a Zendikar pack.

#1 Lotus Cobra

This card is great. It accelerates your mana prodcution and comes out on the second turn. There are going to be insane combos with this card, though I won’t pretend to know any. This card is the best card of Zendikar and is also in the running for one of the best two drops ever printed. This is a card that if you pull from a pack you’ll have a good day. Oh, and just like the last two, this one sells for a lot. This card is very popular right now, but only time will tell if it has the power to reach the notoriety of cards like Tarmogoyf.

Thanks for reading!