Top 10 Worst God Cards in Magic: The Gathering

While they don't contain many members, gods are some of Magic's strongest creatures. Many carry indestructible or return themselves to your deck if killed, making them difficult to permanently remove. Most require a substantial amount of mana but carry impressive abilities and battle stats, though some can't fight until your devotion to a color (the number of its mana symbols in permanents you control) reaches a certain threshold.

Gods are generally pretty competitive, but they're not all-powerful; which deities fall short? These are the ten worst god cards in Magic: The Gathering!

CMC (Converted Mana Cost): 5

Here, five mana nets a solid 5/5, and The Scarab God automatically scries X cards and has opponents lose X life (where X is the number of zombies you control) during your upkeep. He can also spend four mana to exile a creature from a graveyard and place a 4/4 zombie copy of it onto the field, and like Scorpion, he returns to your hand at the turn's end when killed.

Unfortunately, Scarab himself lacks the zombie subtype, so his passives depend on other units (though his revival can help field more zombies). Like many of today's spells, Scarab is far from bad, just not as helpful as other gods.

CMC: 5

Scorpion offers a sturdy 6/5 who lets you draw whenever any creature with a -1/-1 counter dies. You can also spend three mana to place a -1/-1 counter on a target creature, both weakening foes and preparing a draw.

Additionally, when Scorpion himself dies, he returns to your hand at the start of the next end step. All are nice if modest abilities, but note you only draw once if multiple -1/-1 creatures are hit with a field wipe.

CMC: 5

Bontu arrives as an impressive 5/6, and unlike many of his peers, there aren't any limits on when he can attack or block. He also has menace, meaning it takes at least two creatures to block him, and his secondary zombie subtype offers numerous synergies.

But his abilities fall short. When he arrives, Bontu lets you sacrifice any number of permanents to draw as many cards. This can be a nice way to spend excess tokens or leftover lands, but generally, you're not gaining much more than you're losing. And if Bontu dies or enters exile, you can instead move him into your deck third from the top. Helpful, but not as much as the other Eternal gods.

CMC: 4

Since Oketra has the rare double strike trait, he essentially swings as a daunting 6/6, and he's also indestructible—an excellent bargain for four mana. However, he can't attack or block unless you control at least three other creatures, which can really limit his potential against removal-filled decks.

Oketra can also spend four mana to create a 1/1 with vigilance. This is really just a tool to enable Oketra's own attacks, as that's an expensive price for such a weak unit.

CMC: 3

Like Oketra, Bontu carries formidable stats (4/6) for his price, especially when loaded with menace and indestructible. However, he can't attack or block unless one of your creatures has already died that round. Sadly, your units are most likely to die during battle—too late to trigger the effect.

Bontu can spend two mana and sacrifice a creature to scry one, drain a life from each opponent, and grant you one. This also enables him to strike, but losing units is a big drawback just to swing, even in token-swarming builds.

CMC: 5

Kruphix requires two colors and doesn't count as a creature until your green/blue devotion reaches seven. Additionally, his power is rather low for a god, and his impressive toughness is usually redundant thanks to indestructible.

That said, he lets you keep unspent mana between phases and turns (though it becomes colorless) and grants you an infinite hand size, both neat benefits. However, you can obtain similar effects with cheaper cards; three-cost "Omnath, Locus of Mana" works better for stockpiling green mana and colorless land "Reliquary Tower" offers an unlimited hand size.

CMC: 4

A 6/5 indestructible beatstick is especially appreciated in blue's generally monster-weak themes, but Ephara doesn't count as a creature until your blue/white devotion reaches seven. Including her own symbols, you'll need five more to meet condition.

Whether she's a creature or still just an enchantment, Ephara lets you draw an additional card at your upkeep if another creature entered your field since your last turn. Thus, she dabbles in both battle prowess and draw support but excels at neither since both depend on other conditions.

CMC: 5

Like Kruphix, Phenax's 4/7 stats are disappointing for his price, as indestructible should sufficiently shield him. He requires your blue/black devotion to reach seven before counting as a creature, but he grants all creatures you control (possibly including himself) the ability to tap and have a player mill cards into their graveyard equal to that creature's toughness.

This can be handy in mill decks (which seek to win via deck-out), but outside the theme, the ability isn't particularly useful.

CMC: 3

Three mana is a bargain for an indestructible 5/5 god, but once again, Pharika needs seven green/black devotion before she can attack or block. Unfortunately, her ability isn't great, spending two mana to exile a creature from a graveyard and grants its owner a 1/1 snake token with deathtouch.

The problem here is you're either exiling your own cards (generally not desirable) if you want the token, or handing foes insta-kill troops if you target opposing graveyards.

CMC: 5

Karametra provides a 6/7 giant on top of being indestructible, so what's her problem? Well, like the other multi-color enchantment gods, her devotion to green/white must be at least seven before she can engage in combat. And her ability simply isn't very useful, placing a plains or forest land from your deck tapped when you cast a creature.

This doesn't trigger when you play Karametra herself, and by the time you can take advantage of it, you'll probably already be able to afford most spells anyway, making it an often-redundant boost.

While today's units have their place in certain decks, they generally lag behind more-impressive entities like "Athreos, God of Passage" and "God-Eternal Rhonas." Still, you can have your devotion-based entities quickly become creatures by playing symbol-loaded cards (like "Oversoul of Dusk"), and you can even have a god serve as your leader in commander format.

Good or bad, gods are a rare set, so count yourself fortunate when you find them in packs. But for now, as we eagerly await Wizards of the Coast's next expansion of omnipotent deities, vote for your favorite card, and I'll see you at our next MTG countdown!