Summary
The Mirran Swords were first introduced inMagic: The Gatheringback in the Mirrodin block, all the way back in 2004. These powerful equipment cards provide protection from two colors as well as abilities that reflect those two powers. Known as the Mirran Swords, since they originate from the plane of Mirrodin, these Swords are among the strongest in the game.
Even while following the same general design pattern, some of the Mirran Swords are stronger than others. Whether it’s because of their color pairing or because of their powerful abilities, these are all the Mirran Swords ranked by their strength.
12Honorable Mention: Sword Of Dungeons & Dragons
It’s Real To Me
First up, we have to cover the Sword of Dungeons & Dragons. It has all the makings of a Mirran Sword, gives +2/+2 and protection from two things (though those things are not colors), and it does something when the equipped creature deals damage to a player.
However, this Sword was originally released as a promo card for Hascon before releasing in the silver-bordered Unstable set which is meant for more casual play. That’s not to say you may’t use Sword of Dungeons & Dragons. You just have to clear it with your friends before you do.
11Sword Of Sinew And Steel
Blood Runs Hot
The black and red sword of the Mirran set arguably provides the most protection of the cycle, but has a fairly narrow set of abilities that match it. Giving a creature protection from black and red helps them dodge a good amount of targeted removal as well as giving you a way to put a hold on aggro decks.
Being able to completely destroy a planeswalker is a powerful ability, but more often than not won’t be relevant in a game. Unless your opponents are playing a planeswalker heavy deck, it might not do much.
10Sword Of War And Peace
You Can’t Have Both
Giving a creature protection from red and white is another great way to avoid your creature being the target of a good chunk of removal in Magic. Sword of War and Peace also comes with one of the most synergistic abilities among the Mirran Swords.
When the equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, the Sword deals even more damage to them equal to the cards in their hand, while you gain one life for each card in yours. Sword of War and Peace’s abilities are very much dependent on the number of cards in each player’s hand, so the longer the game goes, the less its effect is likely to make an impact.
8Sword Of Body And Mind
Inside You There Is At Least One Wolf
The Sword of Body and Mind does a lot but can feel a little disjointed when it comes to its abilities. Its blue abilitymills your opponent ten cardswhen it deals combat damage to your opponent, which can be pretty devastating after only a few hits.
The green side of the sword makes a 2/2 Wolf token, which doesn’t really synergize with the blue ability but is great for creating new creatures to equip the Sword to incase your original creature is destroyed in some way.
7Sword Of Hearth And Home
You Always Come Back
Giving your creatures protection from green and white means you’ll be the bane of many popular creature-themed decks with this sword in play. The real power of this sword, however, comes from its abilities.
When Sword of Hearth and Home connects with a player, you get to exile a creature you control,find a basic land from your deck, and then put both back into play at the same time. Even a moderately powerful enter the battlefield effect or landfall trigger can repeatedly trigger their abilities during each successful combat step.
6Sword Of Light And Shadow
Two Sides Of The Same Coin
One of the two original Mirran Swords, Sword of Light and Shadow helps you stabilize against counterattacks while keeping your hand filled with creatures you might have lost earlier in the game. Your equipped creature gains protection from white and black, another removal-heavy combination of colors that helps to keep your creature around longer.
Being able tobring back a creaturefrom your graveyard and back to your hand can be very helpful in drawn-out games, while the lifegain can keep you healthy in the face of your opponents.
4Sword Of Forge And Frontier
Ramp’s Best Friend
The red and green sword from Phyrexia: All Will Be One brings with it some interesting approaches to the cycle’s design along with some of the coolest art in the series. This Sword features the hex-like design that the few survivors of the fallen plane of Mirrodin have armored themselves in their last attempts to reclaim their home.
For the red element of the card, you get a red draw effect. Exiling two cards from the top of your library and letting you play those cards this turn is very powerful. With its second ability, you can burn through land pockets or even the lands you exile with the Sword by playing extra lands if you can deal combat damage to an opponent.
3Sword Of Truth And Justice
You Can’t Hide Forever
Another example of a Mirran Sword with two great pairing abilities is the Sword of Truth and Justice. Aside from giving your equipped creature protection from white and blue, this sword adds a +1/+1 counter to any creature you control and then proliferates.
Not only can you pump up a creature with tons of +1/+1 counters, but you can tick up other counters, like loyalty counters on planeswalkers. In Commander, you can even use this Sword to manipulate counters that your opponents don’t want, like -1/-1 counters or even poison counters.
