MtG: 15 Best Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Cards for Historic

Historic is a wild format that tends to get powerful cards from the Magic: The Gathering's history that were banned for balance.

The new D&D set Adventures in the Forgotten Realms doesn't feel like your typical standard summer set. It has a lot of odd mechanics and brings back the dice rolling, which is not something many MtG players look forward to due to the RNG element.

However, we have chosen the 15 best Adventures in the Forgotten Realms cards that will most likely influence the historic format in a big way without the need to be banned, and only one of them has the dice rolling element.

Demilich

Izzet and Jeskai decks in historic are already super powerful, including lists that run Arclight Phoenix. With the addition of Demilich they will get even stronger and more resilient to board wipes.

The second ability on Demilich echoes the infamous Snapcaster Mage and Dreadhorde Arcanist. Additionally, if it gets countered after casting four spells in a row, you can immediately recast it from your graveyard.

If this doesn't convince you that Demilich is the most broken card in the Forgotten Realms set, then nothing will.

Grim Wanderer

The fact that this goblin has Flash and enters the battlefield untapped for just two mana is absurd.

It won't survive the Lightning Helix or Abrade, but it doesn't have to. If it dies, you can immediately cast the second copy of Grim Wanderer and act like nothing happened.

You can easily cast it on turn two with the help of either Stonecoil Serpent played for zero mana, or using Liliana's Steward that sacrifices itself.

Bruenor Battlehammer

Bruenor was designed for one thing: equipping Colossus Hammer!

Now players will have a new quick way of getting their massive tool onto the battlefield and slam their opponents for a lot of damage.

Of course, there are many other weapons it can benefit, such as Embercleave, Maul of the Skyclaves, and Shadowspear. But Colossus Hammer deals the most damage and players will find a way to make these two work like a well-oiled machine.

Fighter Class

Here is a supplementary enchantment to the Colossus Hammer deck that can tutor for an equipment at play for just two mana, which is similar to Stoneforge Mystic effect.

The second level is also very good and stackable. If you have several copies on board leveled up, then your weapons can be equipped for free. This is a possible alternative to Bruenor Battlehammer.

The third ability is also interesting but not necessary, although it does let you pick how your creatures get blocked.

Iymrith, Desert Doom

This dragon is every control player's dream!

First, it has Ward 4, which is a powerful protection against targeted removal spells. Second, it draws you cards. Finally, it motivates you to play your entire hand.

It effectively blocks all the nasty threats of the format, such as Sprite Dragon, Arclight Phoenix, and Stormwing Entity.

Thus, Iymrith, Desert Doom will surely see play in historic as the guardian protector against all the flying enemy creatures.

Minion of the Mighty

Attacking for six damage in aggressive Mono-Red or Gruul lists is easy due to the swarm nature of these decks. Then, you may attack with Minion of the Mighty and put Terror of the Peaks or Goldspan Dragon on board a turn or two earlier than usual.

There is also a neat lethal combo with this card on turn two that goes like this:

1. Play a Mountain and Minion of the Mighty
2. Play another Mountain and cast 2x Infuriate on Minion of the Mighty
3. Attack for six damage and put Terror of Mount Velus on board
4. Deal 22 damage to your opponent

Paladin Class

What we have here is the combination of all the best white effects on one card. That's why this enchantment would be an excellent addition to Selesnya Company and Lurrus decks in historic.

It can tax the opponents and at the same time buff your own threats. You don't even need the third level unless you're really looking to get that double strike attack.

This is just a great tool against control decks that protects your creatures from board wipes.

Sorcerer Class

Izzet decks that run The Locust God and Sage of the Falls will want at least a couple of copies of Sorcerer Class due to its second ability that can turn all those Insect tokens into mana producers.

The third level can be easily turned into a lethal tool that can blast your opponents at a crucial moment.

Another great companion to Sorcerer Class is Young Pyromancer that can also produce tons of tokens and use it to cast even more spells.

Vorpal Sword

It's easy to cast Vorpal Sword and it's easy to attach it to a creature, but activating the win condition ability can be pretty tough.

Too bad that Dark Ritual and Wilderness Reclamation got banned in historic, but players will still find a way to activate Vorpal Sword. Free wins are just too delicious!

It may not be the main win condition in any black deck, but it will be an additional one, especially in the late game.

Werewolf Pack Leader

A 3/3 creature for two mana is already a great deal. Every green deck will want to play this.

On top of that, it has card draw and buff mechanics, which are both great and easy to activate.

This could be a great addition to Selesnya Company and Gruul Aggro decks, where creatures like this matter the most.

Also, it looks like this is a light tie-in to the next MtG set, which returns to the Innistrad plane, a home of werewolves.

Wish

There are many wishing cards in the history of Magic. They are all different in one way or another, and Wish from the Forgotten Realms is another interesting iteration of this class of spells.

First, it's important to note that Wish can tutor for lands, which can be really nice when you're looking for a specific type of land.

Second, Wish, unlike other wishing spells, does not exile itself at the end of the turn. It goes straight to your graveyard and you may cast it again using recursion effects.

Last but not least, is that Wish requires you to play the tutored card the same turn, while other wishing spells usually put it into your hand.

You Find the Villains' Lair

Flexibility is the key here!

Many players would rather play this than stack their deck with extra copies of counterspells and draw cards. You Find the Villains' Lair frees space in your deck for other cards that may be more beneficial rather than sitting in your hand uselessly.

This is a good choice for Izzet Phoenix decks in historic, where this kind of flexibility plays an important role.

Treasure Chest

Decks that value treasure tokens and artifacts will have a blast playing Treasure Chest, even if it involves dice rolling.

Rolling a D20 between 2 and 19 is the most common outcome, and both of those abilities that fall in that frame are very good.

This will most likely end up in some kind of control shell that wants to ramp and draw many cards, as well, as sustain a high life total. But it can also be good in some combo archetypes.

Lair of the Hydra

The new land cycle in the Forgotten Realms set is really strong, like the Den of the Bugbear and Lair of the Hydra.

This green land may be especially interesting to historic players that run Selesnya Company and Gruul Aggro decks.

You can dump all your free mana into the Hydra creature ability and attack for a lot of damage even if your entire board has been wiped the turn before.

Skeletal Swarming

Currently, Mono-Black Aggro with zombies and skeletons is one of the top-tier decks in historic.

Wizards of the Coast really want to push this archetype forward with the introduction of the new skeleton lord Death-Priest of Myrkul and Skeletal Swarming enchantment in the Forgotten Realms.

As of now, there are 11 skeleton creature cards in historic, and many of them can be played in a competitive frame. So let's hope that skeleton tribal deck will actually happen this season.

Those are the best 15 cards in MtG's Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set. In addition to this list of the best Adventures in the Forgotten Realms cards for historic, be sure to check out our other MtG guides and card lists here.