The 18 Best Shadow Creatures in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 2, 2026

Dauthi Voidwalker | Illustration by Sidharth Chaturvedi

Shadow decks were the next weenie/fliers deck when the Tempest block was released. The idea of attacking each turn with nigh-unblockable creatures and tempo-ing your opponent out of the game isn’t novel these days, and it’s usually an Azorius () strategy with fliers and bounce.

The Tempest block was released in 1997, so let’s keep in mind that these creatures have suffered from serious power creep. But they slotted naturally into several white weenie/unblockable creature strategy. Not to mention that mono-black/suicide aggro was a thing, and those decks greatly benefitted from shadow creatures.

Today we’re going to check the shadow mechanic out and see what it has to offer. Ready, set, go!

What Is Shadow in MTG?

Looter il-Kor | Illustration by Mike Dringenberg

Creatures with shadow can only block or be blocked by other creatures with shadow. Shadow is similar to cards like Welkin Tern and Changeling Outcast.

Shadow is one of the main mechanics from the Tempest block which is comprised of Tempest, Stronghold, and Exodus. It later appeared in the Time Spiral block, and it has been printed in white, black, and blue. There are few cards in red and green that can block creatures as though they have shadow, like reach for flying creatures, so it fell on Gruul's () shoulders to hate the mechanic.

Modern Horizons 2 released one particularly powerful creature with shadow, and the only instance of a “shadow” keyword counter was printed on Minas Morgul, Dark Fortress. With that in mind let’s take a look at the best cards in the game with the shadow mechanic.

#18. Dauthi Trapper

Dauthi Trapper can grant other creatures shadow just like Dauthi Embrace, which is a form of evasion, but it needs to tap and it's easily removable.

#17. Soltari Monk

Protection is a weird ability to tack onto a shadow creature, but at least Soltari Monk is safe from black removal spells.

#16. Dauthi Horror

Dauthi Horror was good in aggressive shadow decks for two reasons. It's a 2/1 evasive creature for 2 which is good even by today's standards. It also can't be blocked by white creatures, which was one of the shadow strategies (white shadow decks and black shadow decks).

#15. Dauthi Mercenary

Dauthi Mercenary without shadow is pretty unplayable due to high costs for what you get. But when you combine evasion with pump-ability you can steal games out of nowhere.

#14. Dauthi Mindripper

A 2/1 for 4 isn't the best of bodies, but you might be able to make your opponent discard three cards with Dauthi Mindripper, which is awesome.

#13. Drifter il-Dal

Drifter il-Dal is a 2/1 evasive body for 1 mana even though it charges you a blue mana every turn, which aggro decks usually need a ton of. Just don't rely on having two or more Drifters at once.

#12. Thalakos Seer

Thalakos Seer benefits from the many cards that care about self-bouncing, flickering, and web-slinging to provide a key leaves the battlefield piece to a card draw engine. Being a nearly unblockable creature is the bonus for this underused, yet useful creature.

#11. Nether Traitor

A reference from Nether Shadow, Nether Traitor is a 1/1 unblockable creature that keeps on returning, which is good in attrition matchups.

#10. Shadow Sliver

Shadow Sliver is a 1/1 shadow that grants slivers this ability. Granted, it's very bad if you're playing against enemy slivers or changelings, but this 1-drop can grant your sliver squadron an alpha strike.

#9. Soltari Guerrillas

You can redirect the 3 damage if Soltari Guerrillas attacks and isn’t blocked, which can be a form of repeatable removal.

#8. Stronghold Overseer

A 5/5 flier for 6 mana hasn’t made the cut in a long time, but hey, Stronghold Overseer is one of the few shadow lords available. You can at least defend yourself by giving -X/-0 to your opponent’s creatures if you have enough black mana.

#7. Soltari Champion

A lord for your creatures, a 2/2 unblockable for 3 is like a Wind Drake. But Soltari Champion granting all your other creatures +1/+1 is very nice, and it even stacks in multiples. Another white lord for a tokens deck.

#6. Looter il-Kor

Looter il-Kor used to be a Cube staple until the printing of Suspicious Stowaway and similarly pushed looters like Duelist of the Mind and Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel. Looting is already a good ability to have, and this loots on attacking. Just remember that Looter is nigh unblockable when attacking, but can't chump block.

#5. Stronghold Rats

Stronghold Rats at least does a decent Hypnotic Specter impression. You may want to include this in a rat typal deck or something similar.

#4. Thalakos Deceiver

Thalakos Deceiver is very fragile as a 1/1 for 4 mana, but it's a kind of Control Magic if it survives. And while this is a good effect, a lot of things need to happen for it to work.

#3. Soltari Visionary

Soltari Visionary has the Trygon Predator feel in that it’s evasive and can be repeatable enchantment removal (no artifacts this time, sorry)..

#2. Vashta Nerada

This Doctor Who creature is exceptionally hard to deal with, being virtually unblockable in any normal game, and also waving away tons of removal with indestructible. And it gradually grows over time with its morbid ability, becoming more of a problem as other creatures die.

#1. Dauthi Voidwalker

This Modern staple from MH2 is very good. Dauthi Voidwalker is an almost unblockable 3/2 for 2 which is already good. It's graveyard hate against lots of decks in the format and you can even use a spell from your opponent against them like card draw or a dead planeswalker.

Best Shadow Payoffs

Look, it’s very common to have gold cards in each set nowadays, especially at rare and mythic rarities that incentivize you to build a deck with the mechanic in mind or synergize with said mechanic. But there wasn’t a clear incentive to the shadow mechanic back then. That said, shadow can be used in scenarios where dealing damage to your opponents is important.

Cards like Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Toski, Bearer of Secrets, and Marisi, Breaker of the Coil can greatly benefit from creatures with shadow since they’re really hard to block.

Auras like Curiosity and enchantments such as Coastal Piracy will also do the trick. Cards like Dauthi Embrace and Shadow Riftcan work wonders with saboteur creatures, considering that shadow creatures are usually unblockable. The ninjutsu mechanic is also perfect since you need a creature to go unblocked to activate it. So pairing ninjas that have good ninjutsu abilities like Fallen Shinobi with shadow is an awesome idea.

Can Creatures with Shadow Block?

Creatures with shadow can only block other creatures with shadow. So it’s better to know that in advance if your shadow creature is on block duty. Basically, if your shadow creature is the only thing around with shadow, it can’t block but also can’t be blocked.

Wrap Up

Nether Traitor | Illustration Vance Kovacs

I remember shadow fondly from my early times in Magic. Even now shadow has its uses, especially cards that grant it to other creatures. The thing is that there’s a high probability you’re the only one playing shadow creatures at a given time, which means they can be considered truly unblockable.

The plane of Dominaria was the birthplace of the shadow mechanic, so maybe we’ll see shadow again on a return visit, but it’s a fairly small possibility because R&D avoids putting parasitic mechanics (i.e., mechanics that only work with themselves) in modern sets. Shadow is also hard to interact with, just like intimidate and fear, which were removed from MTG sets altogether.

What shadow card are you most willing to add to your Commander decks? Let me know in the comments or join the discussion in the Draftsim Discord.

That’s all from me for now. Stay safe, turn off unused lights, and have a great night!