One of these powerful creatures with first strike is a great way to clear potential threats in Magic: The Gathering.

Creatures in Magic: The Gathering are often home to all kinds of keywords that denote common abilities, like trample, hexproof, lifelink, and so forth. Though all of these keywords are useful for creatures to have, one of the arguably better ones among them is first strike. First strike allows a creature to deal combat damage before normal combat damage would be dealt. In other words, a creature with first strike has the chance to take out an opponent's creature in combat before they have the chance to deal their damage back.

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As you can imagine, this makes blocking creatures with first strike very difficult, unless you happen to have a creature that either has first strike itself, or has enough power to tank the damage. That being said, there are lots of stellar first strike creatures you can put to use.

First printed in Magic 2010, Baneslayer Angel has become a card that's near and dear to the hearts of many a Magic player. Baneslayer's power is high enough to close a game in just a couple of turns, and its toughness is high enough to avoid most cheap removal. Furthermore, the combination of flying, first strike, and lifelink make this the perfect creature to stave off aggressive decks.

Baneslayer Angel also has the mostly irrelevant and especially flavorful text of protection from Demons and Dragons, which is incredibly handy the few times it comes up. Speaking of flavor, just take a look at that beautiful art done by Greg Staples. It's no wonder why Baneslayer Angel has become one of the most iconic cards in the game.

Fairly recently introduced to the game in Rivals of Ixalan, Dire Fleet Daredevil saw some play during its time in Standard, as well as in a handful of iterations of Modern Humans decks. While Dire Fleet Daredevil's statistics leave something to be desired, its enter-the-battlefield ability is incredible in the right scenarios.

The Modern format is home to all kinds of cheap removal spells including Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile, and Fatal Push to name a few. Consequently, Dire Fleet Daredevil presented an easy two-for-one trade against any creature-based strategy. Additionally, its ability wasn't completely dead against more controlling decks as it could sometimes cast cheap cantrips (spells that let you draw a card as an added extra). Poor Modern Humans; how titans have fallen.

Drana, Liberator of Malakir provided an incredible flying threat during her entire time in Standard rotation. The combination of Drana's flying and first strike keywords, alongside her ability to pump your entire board with counters was, devastating in many go-wide strategies.

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Furthermore, Drana could end games by herself given enough turns. After all, the counters she places on creatures are also placed on herself. This meant that if she went unblocked for just a couple of turns, you were soon facing down a game-ending flying threat that was near impossible to take out thanks to first strike. You can't ask for much more from a three-mana value creature.

The de facto Commander for Vampire tribal decks, Edgar Markov bears mentioning for his ability to end games of Commander on the spot thanks to the combination of first strike, haste, and adding counters to all Vampires you control.

This Commander makes Vampire tribal especially fun thanks to his eminence ability which generates additional Vampire tokens each time you cast a Vampire spell. To arms, monsters!

This was an absolutely oppressive card during its time in Standard, thanks to its enter the battlefield effect that deals one damage to all creatures your opponent controls. The mere existence of Goblin Chainwhirler made one toughness creatures near unplayable during this card's Standard tenure, which speaks to its extreme power.

First strike is an especially good keyword on red creatures due to the speed of the color. Red decks often force opponents to block in order to maintain their life total, so stacking first strike onto your attackers is one of the best things you can do.

Another popular Commander card, Goblin Spymaster makes it nearly impossible for your opponents to block. Generating Goblin tokens for your opponents might sound like a bad idea, but the fact that these tokens force your opponents to attack with all of their creatures every turn makes them incredibly susceptible to your own board. Furthermore, the Spymaster's first strike ability makes certain that you'll get some value out of blocking with it.

Recently printed in Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Halana and Alena are absolutely devastating to face in an aggressive deck. The counters they place on other creatures are usable the same turn you play the Partners, making blocking an absolute nightmare for the opponent. Furthermore, Halana and Alena give future creatures you play haste on top of the counters.

Suffice to say, there are very few decks that can survive facing Halana and Alena for more than a couple of turns. The card's added reach ability, in addition to first strike, is also a welcome addition, seeing as low-cost flyers typically have low toughness.

Speaking of cards that put first strike to good use, Mirri makes it so that your opponent can only attack or block with one creature as long as she's tapped. One common pitfall of first strike is multiple blockers – since your first strike creature's power likely won't be high enough to kill every card blocking it.

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Mirri makes this negligible, while also giving your opponent a hard time bringing their own offensive. Cards like Mirri are often lightning rods for removal, and that's what will happen a lot of the time when you play her. However, this is ultimately a good thing, as it just clears the way for your bigger, badder threats.

While the front side of this card doesn't have first strike, you'll find yourself in trouble if you end up facing down its Werewolf form. Moonrage Brute is a 3/3 first strike creature that also costs your opponent three life if they target it with removal. While this might not seem like a lot, three damage adds up quickly if you're playing an aggressive or midrange deck.

Furthermore, your opponent will likely be forced to pay the life, as leaving Moonrage Brute on the battlefield usually isn't an option thanks to its first strike keyword, plus the additional incentive they have to get back whatever card you exiled from their side of the battlefield with Brutal Cathar. If they don't have removal, you can double spell on a later turn to flip Moonrage Brute back to its frontside, exiling another creature card when Brutal Cathar transforms back. That's brutal alright.

There's no doubt that Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is the most played first strike creature of all time. This Human's innocuous tax of making your opponents pay one more generic mana for noncreature spells is a lot more backbreaking than it looks at first glance. After all, "curving out" (using all of your mana) is an important part of building a successful deck. Consequently, decks just aren't prepared to pay more mana for their spells, even if it is just one more generic.

Thalia has long been a key card in a Legacy deck known as Death & Taxes, but this deck has also shown up with a Modern iteration more recently. Lastly, Thalia's reprinting in Innistrad: Crimson Vow also led to her being a key component of the resilient Mono-white Aggro deck that has plagued Standard for the better part of a year. No matter how you like to play your Magic, chances are you're familiar with the Guardian of Thraben. In the end, perhaps she's the best proof of all that first strike matters.

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Chris Stomberg is an avid gamer of all kinds. Board games, card games, tabletop games, video games: if its a game, it will pique his interest. Chris has written anchor stories for news broadcasts, modules for his D&D group, and is currently working on his first novel. His hobbies outside of gaming include yoga, reading, bar hopping, and spending time with friends old and new.