What are your favorite card cycles in MTG?

[Captain Hammer]

I absolutely love 5 card cycles (ex: Lightning Bolt, Dark Ritual, Ancestral Recall, Healing Salve, Giant Growth, all instants that cost 1 mana, have 2 words in the name, and have a 3 in the text box). If they ever printed a set that consisted entirely of cycles, I would draft that set like crazy.

So what are your favorite cycles in MTG and which ones would you like to see make a comeback?


I would love to see a fixed, fair, balanced version of the original cycle see print in an upcoming product...
Lightning Bolt
Inquisition Kozilek
Taxing Salve - Counter target noncreature spell unless player pays 3 mana.
Great Growth - Target creature gets +3/+3, trample and reach until end of turn.
Ancestral Storm - Reveal the top 3 cards, then put one in your hand, another on top of your library and a third at the bottom of your library.

[pettdan]

I like durdly creatures and the guildmages and battlemages come first to mind.

Nightscape Battlemage
Stormscape Battlemage
SunscapeBattlemage
Thornscape Battlemage
Thunderscape Battlemage

There are new ones with tap effects and this late addition with kicker effects:
Ana Battlemage

And here's one of the battlemages: Granger Guildmage

[Captain Hammer]

Great picks. I had forgotten about those.

[Barook]

The unofficial megacyle of 2 mana creatures that are way above the rest:

SFM - Snappy - Bob - YP - Goyf

Other than that, the Volrath's Stronghold cycle (unfinished, but still), the Urza Legendary Lands and the Titan cycle.

[itslarryyo]

In draft i absolutely LOVED the shrines from Kamigawa (heck i really liked drafting that whole set). The way they worked together was just fun for me.

Here is an OLD article about cycles
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sets-five-2002-12-25-0#:~:text=Here's%20the%20definition%20I%20use,the%20color%20wheel%20and%20flavor.

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

In draft i absolutely LOVED the shrines from Kamigawa (heck i really liked drafting that whole set).

I built Shrines.dec when I first started playing magic and I loved it.

[Mr. Safety]

I always liked the Charm cycles they do. I crammed Esper Charm and Naya Charm in more decks than I care to admit. Once Khans came out, Mardu Charm and Sultai Charm took a turn.

I also really liked the Retrace cycle of cards. I just love the idea of cards that have incrementally better value the longer the game goes, like Raven's Crime, Syphon Life, Worm Harvest, and Flame Jab. Cenn's Enlistment and Oona's Grace are only one mana off playable.

[Megadeus]

Maybe it's just because Deus of Calamity is my favorite card, but those gods from Shadowmoor are fucking sick