Category: Blog

The Kamigawa block — Champions of Kamigawa (2004), Betrayers of Kamigawa (2005), and Saviors of Kamigawa (2005) — had a complicated competitive reception. Standard players at the time found the mechanics parasitic and the power level inconsistent. But in hindsight, the block shipped several cards that are format-defining staples, highly valued Commander pieces, and some of the most iconic cards in Magic history.

Below are the best cards from the Kamigawa block, across competitive formats and Commander. For the full lore, set history, and mechanics breakdown, see our complete Kamigawa guide.

1. Sensei’s Divining Top (Champions of Kamigawa)

The most impactful card from the block. A 1-mana artifact that lets you look at the top three cards of your library and rearrange them, or draw a card while returning Top to the top of your library. In combination with shuffle effects and Counterbalance, Top enabled the most dominant control strategy in Legacy for over a decade. Banned in Legacy and Modern. Still a Commander staple in combo and control decks.

2. Umezawa’s Jitte (Betrayers of Kamigawa)

A 2-mana Equipment that generates two charge counters whenever the equipped creature deals combat damage. Counters can be spent to give +2/+2, reduce a creature’s power and toughness by 1/1 (removing it), or gain 2 life. Jitte dominated every format it touched. Banned in Modern and Legacy. One of the most powerful Equipment cards ever printed.

3. Goryo’s Vengeance (Betrayers of Kamigawa)

A 2-mana instant (Splice onto Arcane) that returns a legendary creature card from any graveyard to play until end of turn. The card that enables the “Goryo’s Vengeance” combo deck in Modern — typically pairing with Through the Breach to reanimate Griselbrand or Emrakul, the Aeons Torn on turn two. Still a pillar of Modern reanimator strategies.

4. Ninja of the Deep Hours (Betrayers of Kamigawa)

A 2-mana Ninja with Ninjutsu that draws a card whenever it deals combat damage. The defining budget Ninja card and a backbone of Legacy Ninjas and Pauper Ninjas. The perfect Ninjutsu enabler — cheap, reliable, and reward-generating every combat.

5. Kira, Great Glass-Spinner (Champions of Kamigawa)

A 2/2 flying Spirit that gives all your creatures a built-in counter to the first spell or ability that targets them each turn. Still played in Legacy to protect creature-based strategies from targeted removal. A cheap, recurring protection effect that has aged remarkably well.

6. Azami, Lady of Scrolls (Champions of Kamigawa)

A legendary Merfolk Wizard that taps untapped Wizards you control to draw a card. The cornerstone of Wizard tribal Commander decks and blue combo strategies. Enables powerful card advantage engines in formats that allow it.

7. Oboro, Palace in the Clouds (Saviors of Kamigawa)

A legendary island that can return itself to your hand for 1 mana. Enables land-drop loops, works with landfall triggers, and powers up land-matters strategies in Modern and Legacy. A quietly powerful utility land used across many formats.

8. Kodama’s Reach (Champions of Kamigawa)

A 3-mana Arcane sorcery that searches for two basic lands — one enters the battlefield tapped, one goes to hand. One of Magic’s most beloved green ramp spells and an absolute Commander staple. It has been in nearly every green Commander deck ever built.

9. The Five Legendary Dragon Spirits (Champions of Kamigawa)

Yosei the Morning Star (white), Keiga the Tide Star (blue), Kokusho the Evening Star (black), Ryusei the Falling Star (red), and Jugan the Rising Star (green). Each is a 5/5 flying Spirit with a powerful “when this creature dies” effect. Kokusho was banned in Commander for years for its ability to drain opponents. All five remain popular Commander threats.

10. Forbidden Orchard (Champions of Kamigawa)

A land that taps for any color of mana but gives your opponent a 1/1 Spirit token. Enables powerful combo strategies in decks that benefit from giving opponents creatures — including Oath of Druids in Legacy/Vintage and various “spirits matter” strategies in Commander.

Honorable Mentions

• Blazing Shoal (Betrayers) — banned in Modern for one-shot Infect kills
• Through the Breach (Champions) — puts a creature into play for a turn; core of Modern Breach/Titan combo
• Erayo, Soratami Ascendant (Saviors) — banned in Commander for creating hard locks
• Ghostly Prison (Champions) — a Commander staple that taxes attacking

Champions of Kamigawa (set code: CHK, released October 2004) was the most divisive large set of its era. For full lore, the Kami War story, and block mechanics, see our Kamigawa guide. At 306 cards, it had the highest density of legendary permanents ever printed in a single set. Competitive players at the time found its mechanics parasitic and its non-legendary cards underpowered. But several CHK cards proved to be among the most impactful ever printed — two ended up banned in multiple formats.

Here are the best Champions of Kamigawa cards for competitive play and Commander.

1. Sensei’s Divining Top

The defining card of the set and one of the most influential artifacts in Magic history. A 1-mana artifact: tap to look at the top 3 cards and rearrange them; or 1 mana to draw a card and return Top to the top of your library. Combined with Counterbalance in Legacy, this created an oppressive “Miracles” control strategy that locked opponents from casting spells. Banned in Legacy (2017) and Modern. Still a Commander staple in combo, control, and anything that shuffles its library.

2. Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

A 2/2 flying Spirit for 2U with a passive ability: all creatures you control counter the first spell or ability that targets them each turn. Cheap, reliable protection at instant speed with no activation required. Played in Legacy Merfolk and Death and Taxes strategies to protect key creatures from spot removal and bounce spells.

3. Azami, Lady of Scrolls

A 0/2 legendary Merfolk Wizard for 3UU that taps untapped Wizards you control to draw a card. In Commander, Azami is the quintessential Wizard tribal commander — in a deck full of Wizards, she draws an enormous number of cards per turn, enabling easy combos with Laboratory Maniac or Mind Over Matter.

4. Kodama’s Reach

A 3-mana Arcane sorcery: search for two basic lands — one enters tapped, one goes to hand. Near-identical to Cultivate (from Magic 2011). Kodama’s Reach is a Commander staple that has appeared in virtually every green Commander deck for two decades. The Arcane subtype also enables Splice interactions.

5. The Legendary Dragon Spirits

Champions introduced five legendary 5/5 flying Dragon Spirits, one per color, each with a powerful death trigger:

• Yosei, the Morning Star (white) — tap up to 5 permanents, skip target player’s next untap step
• Keiga, the Tide Star (blue) — gain control of target creature
• Kokusho, the Evening Star (black) — each opponent loses 5 life, you gain that much. Banned in Commander from 2008–2016
• Ryusei, the Falling Star (red) — deals 5 damage to each non-flying creature
• Jugan, the Rising Star (green) — distribute 5 +1/+1 counters among target creatures

All five remain popular Commander threats. Yosei and Kokusho are particularly powerful in reanimation strategies.

6. Forbidden Orchard

A land that taps for any color but gives your opponent a 1/1 colorless Spirit token. Enables Oath of Druids in Legacy and Vintage (you need an opponent to have a creature), and appears in various “give opponents creatures to use against them” Commander strategies.

7. Through the Breach

A 5-mana instant (Splice onto Arcane) that puts a creature from hand into play until end of turn, then sacrifices it. Combined with Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or Griselbrand, this enables a one-card “win on the spot” turn in Modern combo decks. A core piece of the Scapeshift/Breach and Goryo’s Breach archetypes.

8. Ghostly Prison

A 3-mana white enchantment: creatures can’t attack you unless the attacking player pays 2 mana per creature. A Commander staple in “pillowfort” strategies that deter opponents from attacking. Reprinted many times and still widely used in white control and enchantment decks.

9. Horobi, Death’s Wail

A 2/2 flying legendary Spirit for 2BB: whenever a creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, destroy it. Creates a lethal combo with any cheap, repeatable targeting effect. A niche but powerful black Commander piece for control-minded builds.

10. Sakura-Tribe Elder

A 1/1 Snake Shaman for 1G: sacrifice it to search for a basic land and put it into play tapped. Two-mana ramp that also blocks. One of the most played green ramp creatures in Commander history — it ramps while potentially trading in combat, and is fetchable off green creature tutors.