The 28 Best Aliens in Magic Ranked

Jenova, Ancient Calamity | Illustration by Ignatius Budi

With the release of Edge of Eternities, it’s hard not to think about one thing—aliens. The funny part? None of the creatures in the set actually have the alien creature type, and what’s even more surprising is that other sets do feature their fair share of official aliens. Curious to see which ones are the best ever printed?

Let’s dive into the list!

What Are Aliens in MTG?

PuPu UFO | Illustration by Racrufi

Aliens in Magic: The Gathering are creatures from outer space or strange dimensions, often tied to sci-fi themes like time travel, technology, and exile. They first became common in sets like Doctor Who and use unique mechanics like suspend, paradox, and emerge. If you like weird, powerful effects that feel out of this world, these cards might be right up your alley.

Honorable Mentions

Some alien cards appeared in Unfinity, Magic’s space-themed Un-set filled with wild mechanics and silver-bordered humor. While they definitely fit the alien type and vibe, we’re leaving them out of this list since many Unfinity cards aren’t legal in regular formats and play by different rules (about half the list below is actually legal). Still, they’re a fun part of alien history in MTG and worth checking out if you enjoy the wacky side of the game.

The Unfinity aliens include:

• Ambassador Blorpityblorpboop
• A Real Handful
• Blorbian Buddy
• Carnival Carnivore
• It Came from Planet Glurg
• _____-o-saurus
• Spelling Bee
• Xenosquirrels

#28. PuPu UFO

PuPu UFO is a neat artifact creature that flies and lets you sneak in lands from your hand by tapping it. While its power is usually 0, you can pay 3 mana to make its power equal to the number of towns you control, making it potentially grow big in the right deck.

#27. Atraxi Warden

Flying into the skies, Atraxi Warden enters the battlefield and exiles a tapped creature, clearing threats immediately. It has suspend 5, so you can pay a reduced cost to cast it later with haste. With a solid 6/6 body, Atraxi Warden works well in white decks that want to control the board during the late game.

#26. Iraxxa, Empress of Mars

Iraxxa, Empress of Mars comes out swinging with trample and battle cry, buffing your other attacking creatures with +1/+0. The paradox ability creates 2/2 red Alien Warrior tokens whenever you cast spells from outside your hand, making Iraxxa great for decks that cast spells from exile or graveyards and want to flood the board quickly.

#25. Memory Worm

Memory Worm is a small 1/1 alien worm with a paradox ability that deals 2 damage and causes an opponent to discard and then draw a card whenever you cast spells from anywhere other than your hand. It also grows bigger by getting +1/+1 counters each time this triggers, making it a nice tempo tool in decks that like to cast spells from exile or the graveyard and want to slowly wear down opponents.

#24. The Meep

The Meep brings a unique twist with a ward cost of 3 life, protecting it from cheap removal. When it attacks, you can sacrifice another creature to give all your creatures base power and toughness equal to the sacrificed one’s mana value. This makes The Meep a fun card for decks that want to sacrifice creatures for a big power boost across the board.

#23. Osgood, Operation Double

Casting this legendary shapeshifter gives you two copies right away—one legendary, one not—which already feels like a fun trick. It taps for colorless mana that can only be used on artifacts or their abilities, making it a great fit for decks packed with machines and synergies. On top of that, Osgood, Operation Double’s paradox ability lets you investigate whenever you cast spells from outside your hand, giving you a steady stream of Clues and card advantage.

#22. Weeping Angel

Weeping Angel is a tricky artifact creature with flash, first strike, and vigilance. It temporarily stops being a creature whenever an opponent casts another creature spell, which can mess with combat tricks. Plus, if it deals combat damage to another creature, that creature is shuffled back into its owner's library instead of dying, which can be very frustrating for opponents.

#21. Sycorax Commander

Sycorax Commander makes opponents choose between discarding their entire hand then drawing one less card or taking damage equal to the cards in their hand, and with first strike and haste, it can quickly punish opponents early on.

#20. Strax, Sontaran Nurse

Strax, Sontaran Nurse is a big 5/5 with vigilance and trample, and it’s packed with ways to cause chaos. You can sacrifice artifacts to randomly fight your opponent's creatures, and every time Strax deals damage to a creature, it grows bigger with +1/+1 counters. It rewards aggressive board play and artifact synergy, making it a solid choice for red-green midrange decks.

#19. Lunar Hatchling

Lunar Hatchling is a flying, trampling alien beast that’s also great for fixing mana thanks to basic landcycling. If you can't cast it normally, you can escape it from your graveyard by paying a hefty cost and exiling some cards. This makes Lunar Hatchling flexible and strong in late-game scenarios, especially in green-blue decks that want big finishers and land-based recursion.

#18. Judoon Enforcers

As a huge 8/8 trampler with the ability to limit attacks to just one creature each combat, Judoon Enforcers controls the battlefield while threatening serious damage. Its suspend ability means you can play it later with haste, catching opponents off guard. Judoon Enforcers fits well in decks that want to slow enemy aggression while applying their own pressure.

#17. Thijarian Witness

This one’s kind of sneaky—Thijarian Witness has flash, so you can drop it in mid-combat or right before something dies. The cool part is, whenever another creature dies while attacking or blocking alone, it gets exiled and you investigate, giving you a Clue token. It’s a great way to pick up value during combat trades, especially in decks that care about sacrifice or one-on-one fights.

#16. Karvanista, Loyal Lupari

If you’re running a human tribal deck, Karvanista, Loyal Lupari is a total powerhouse. It comes in swinging with vigilance, trample, and haste, and every time it attacks, it hands out +1/+1 counters to all your humans. The adventure, Lupari Shield, is perfect for keeping your squad alive—it gives your humans indestructible until your next turn, which is clutch after a big swing or before a board wipe. It has a nice balance of aggression and protection all in one card.

#15. The Foretold Soldier

This one’s a real problem for your opponents—The Foretold Soldier is a 6/6 that has to be blocked, but only by one creature. So it’s tough to trade with, and it puts your opponent in awkward blocking situations. Then, when it hits something, it exiles itself face down and turns into a foretold card, letting you cast it later for cheaper.

#14. Sontaran General

With trample, haste, and a battalion ability, Sontaran General pressures opponents quickly. When attacking with at least two other creatures, it goads an opponent’s creatures—forcing them to attack someone else next turn and preventing them from blocking this turn. It’s a great card for aggressive red decks that want to break through blockers and mess with opponents’ plans.

#13. The Flood of Mars

Unblockable against anyone with an Island, The Flood of Mars uses islandwalk to slip through defenses, and every time it attacks, it puts a flood counter on something—turning another creature into a copy of itself or changing a land into an island.

#12. Auton Soldier

Auton Soldier is a cool artifact alien soldier that enters as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it’s not legendary and gains the artifact type plus myriad. This means when it attacks, it creates tapped token copies attacking other opponents, flooding the board fast.

#11. Vashta Nerada

Vashta Nerada is one of those creepy little creatures that just refuses to go away—with indestructible and shadow, it’s basically unblockable outside of niche matchups, and with its morbid ability triggering whenever something dies, it just keeps growing turn after turn, making it perfect for black decks that are already trading off creatures or forcing sacrifices and want a sneaky, scaling threat that’s hard to interact with.

#10. Time Reaper

Time Reaper has flying and haste, so it can swing in fast before most blockers are ready, and when it hits a player, you get to take one of their face-up exiled cards—like a suspended spell—and put it on the bottom of their library while gaining 3 life. It’s a great way to throw off their plans, especially if they’re setting up something big in exile, and it fits right into black decks that like to stay aggressive while keeping control.

#9. Zygon Infiltrator

Zygon Infiltrator is a sneaky shapeshifter that lets you tap down another creature and put a stun counter on it so it stays tapped longer. And while that creature’s tapped, this one becomes a copy of it—same stats, same abilities, everything. You can only use that ability as a sorcery, so it’s more of a slow, careful play, but if you enjoy messing with your opponent’s board and copying their best stuff, this card has a lot of cool tricks.

#8. Star Whale

Big and hard to deal with, Star Whale comes with flying and vigilance, making it a solid 8/8 blocker that can still attack without leaving you open. It also gives your other creatures ward , which makes it harder for opponents to mess with your board, and thanks to suspend 6, you can set it up to drop in later with haste and surprise them with a massive threat.

#7. Renegade Silent

Hard to pin down, Renegade Silent phases out at the end of your turn, which means it basically vanishes until your next one and can’t be touched in the meantime. Before it slips away, it goads one of your opponent’s creatures—forcing it to attack next turn—and puts a +1/+1 counter on itself, letting you mess with combat while staying completely out of danger.

#6. Time Beetle

Small but slippery, Time Beetle has skulk, so bigger creatures can’t block it, making it easy to sneak in for damage. And when it does, its Parallel Universe ability lets you add or remove time counters from your suspended cards or anything else with time counters, which is great if your deck is built around messing with those kinds of effects.

#5. Adipose Offspring

Great for sacrifice decks, Adipose Offspring uses emerge to let you cast it cheaper by sacrificing another creature, and when it hits the battlefield, it makes a 2/2 white Alien token—or if you used emerge, it makes a number of tokens equal to the toughness of the creature you sacrificed. That makes it awesome for token-focused strategies that want to turn one big body into a full squad.

#4. The Face of Boe

The Face of Boe is a legendary alien advisor that lets you cast suspend spells from your hand by paying their suspend cost instead of their mana cost. This can save a lot of mana, even though you can only activate this ability as a sorcery. If you like suspend mechanics or want to play with delayed big spells, this card is a unique helper.

#3. Vrestin, Menoptra Leader

Flying into battle, Vrestin, Menoptra Leader arrives with X +1/+1 counters and creates that many 1/1 green and white Alien Insect tokens with flying. On top of that, whenever you attack with insects, Vrestin buffs them all with more +1/+1 counters, growing your army quickly, making it perfect for insect tribal decks or token decks that want to go wide and tall in the air.

#2. Jenova, Ancient Calamity

From the Final Fantasy franchise, Jenova, Ancient Calamity is a legendary alien that can boost your other creatures by putting +1/+1 counters on them at the start of your combat. Plus, it turns them into mutants, which can be great if you have a mutant tribal deck. When any of those mutants die, Jenova rewards you by drawing cards equal to the fallen creature’s power, making it a strong value engine for aggressive or midrange decks.

#1. Davros, Dalek Creator

At your end step, if any opponents lost 3 or more life that turn, this menacing alien lets you create a 3/3 black Dalek artifact token with menace and makes those opponents choose between you drawing a card or them discarding, making Davros, Dalek Creator a strong card for aggressive decks focused on dealing damage and grinding opponents down.

Best Alien Payoffs in MTG

When it comes to alien synergies, suspend is where things really take off. The Face of Boe is a standout, letting you cast suspend spells directly from your hand using their suspend cost, which helps cheat out big threats like Star Whale or Judoon Enforcers way ahead of schedule. Time Beetle adds even more depth by manipulating time counters every time it hits, giving you control over when those suspended bombs land. If you’re building around aliens, leaning into suspend gives you the most explosive payoffs.

Outside of that, generic typal support like +1/+1 counters or tribal buffs work fine since aliens are creatures like any other—but if you're chasing true synergy, mechanics like paradox, suspend, and even exile interaction are where aliens really shine.

Are There Any Alien Commanders?

Yes, there are several alien commanders—especially from the Universes Beyond: Doctor Who set. Davros, Dalek Creator is a strong option, generating artifact creature tokens and forcing discard or draw effects when opponents take damage, perfect for aggressive or artifact-focused strategies.

Meanwhile, cards like Jenova, Ancient Calamity offer powerful payoffs by turning your creatures into mutants and drawing tons of cards when they die, making it great for +1/+1 counters or sacrifice decks.

While alien tribal isn’t fully fleshed out yet, many of these commanders work best when you build around their core mechanics, but as you can see, there are a couple of outside-the-box ways to build a typal deck for them.

Can You Build an Alien Commander Deck?

Absolutely! You can build an alien-themed Commander deck, though as I’ve mentioned before, it’s less about typal synergies and more about leaning into the mechanics that aliens tend to play with.

Why Aren’t There Any Aliens in Edge of Eternities?

Even though Edge of Eternities is packed with alien-looking creatures and cosmic themes, none of the cards actually use the alien creature type. The set focuses on the flavor of space and sci-fi, not the mechanics—so while the characters feel extraterrestrial, they don’t count as aliens in gameplay. That’s because each faction was designed to have its own unique creature type, and while they’d seem alien to the rest of the Multiverse, they aren’t considered aliens within their context. As a result, there’s no tribal support or synergy with alien cards from sets like Doctor Who.

Wrap Up

Judoon Enforcers | Illustration by Alexandr Leskinen

As you can see, there are plenty of aliens out there—even if Edge of Eternities didn’t include any by type. Some of them are flavorful build-arounds; others are just solid cards with wild abilities, but they all bring something unique to the table.

Which was your favorite? Were you as surprised as I am to not see at least one alien in Edge of Eternities? Let us know in the comments!

Also, if you liked this list and want to see similar ones, remember to follow us on social media to never miss a thing!

Take care, and we will meet again in my next article.