If you want to win in Magic, but in a way that’ll confound your friends, then we’ve got the best alternate win conditions for just that purpose.
The best alternate win conditions in Magic: The Gathering will let you win in unique and unusual ways and seemingly out of nowhere. After all, while it’s always nice to beat down your friends and foes alike, there’s something satisfying about messing around with the rules of Magic and finding a different way to win. That’s especially true if you’ve treated yourself to the 20 Ways to Win Secret Lair Commander Precon.
We’re not talking about Poison counters or Mill here either, although you could make the case that these are alternate win conditions. We’re focusing on the cards that let you change up your Magic in fun and interesting ways, whether they’re great to build around or just fun to have in your deck in general.
Best Alternate Win Conditions in MTG
Market Price: $12.16
We’ve ranked these in terms of not only how strong they are but also how unexpected they are. While win conditions can be good even if you do see them coming, the ones that sneak in are the ones that are the most likely to succeed a lot of the time. With that in mind, let’s go ahead and get into the list.
#11 Helix Pinnacle
Helix Pinnacle
Eventide, Rare
Helix Pinnacle is an intensely fun way to win that puts a huge counter on the game, and will definitely make you a target. All you need to do is put a whopping 100 counters on it, and it only costs one-mana to add one counter to it. While you can make it viable without pure nonsense, it really comes into its own if you’ve got an instant-speed way to make infinite mana. That’s not an especially hard thing to do in green, thankfully, but make sure you’ve got ways to double counters (such as Doubling Season) if you’re not going down that route.
#10 Hellkite Tyrant
Hellkite Tyrant
Ravnica Remastered, Rare
Hellkite Tyrant is a card that a bunch of artifact decks run as standard, and while it’s strong in those, it’s often stronger against those decks. This six-mana dragon lets you win the game if you control twenty or more artifacts in your upkeep, and it enables you to steal all the artifacts a player controls when it deals combat damage to them. It’s that last ability that really helps it shine, so if someone in your group loves playing artifacts (perhaps with a Mycosynth Lattice in tow), make sure you’re running this to keep them in check.
#9 Mayael’s Aria
Mayael’s Aria
Double Masters 2022, Rare
Next is Mayael’s Aria, a three-mana red, green, and white enchantment. This one triggers on your upkeep based on your strongest creature. If you’ve got a creature in play with five (or more) power, you can put a +1/+1 counter on all your creatures. Ten or more nets you ten life, and twenty or more lets you win the game. This one’s a lot of fun because it offers a buff even when it’s not letting you win the game outright.
#8 Mechanized Production
Mechanized Production
Commander: Murders at Karlov Manor, Mythic
This four-mana blue aura enchants an artifact you control, then makes a copy of it in your upkeep. Then, you win the game if you control eight or more artifacts with the same name. The win condition doesn’t have to come from the one you’re enchanting though, which means you can make copies of a powerful creature like Platinum Angel or Wurmcoil Engine and then win the game via Treasure tokens or similar.
#7 Lilana’s Contract
Liliana’s Contract
Core Set 2019, Rare
Liliana’s Contract is a five-mana black enchantment that lets you draw four and lose four life as it enters. That’s already not bad for a bunch of black decks, but that’s not the win condition. If you control four or more demons with different names in your upkeep, then you win the game. You can combine this with creature-changing effects like Maskwood Nexus for an effortless win.
#6 Revel in Riches
Revel in Riches
Secret Lair Drop Series, Rare
Treasure tokens are absurdly strong, so anything that uses them to win can only be good. Revel in Riches was once a fairly niche way to win a game when it was first printed in Ixalan, but with how many ways there are to generate Treasure tokens now, it’s become more powerful. For five-mana, this black enchantment lets you create a Treasure token whenever a creature an opponent control dies – you then win the game if you control ten or more Treasure tokens in your upkeep.
#5 Halo Fountain
Halo Fountain
Streets of New Capenna, Mythic
Halo Fountain from Streets of New Capenna is a three-mana white enchantment that can do a fair amount of work in the right strategy. You can pay one mana and tap it to create a 1/1 green and white Citizen creature token. You can pay two mana, tap it and then untap two tapped creatures you control to draw a card. Finally, you win the game if you pay five white mana and untap fifteen tapped creatures you control. This is often pretty easy if you’re using cards that generate a ton of tokens, or anything that lets you tap your creature for mana.
#4 Coalition Victory
Coalition Victory
Timeshifted, Special
Coalition Victory is an eight-mana sorcery that’s every color. That’s a big ask, but it also lets you win the game as long as you control a Baisc Land of each type and a creature of each color. This is not especially hard to do in any five-color deck, but it’s even easier if you’re also playing Leyline of the Guildpact, which you probably should be doing in a five-color deck anyway (unless it’s Commander, where it is very banned).
#3 Approach of the Second Sun
Approach of the Second Sun
Secret Lair Drop Series, Rare
If you like casting spells and having silly fun, then you’ll love Approach of the Second Sun. This seven-mana white sorcery has a lot of text, but basically, the first time it’s cast you gain seven life and put it seventh from the top in your library. The second time you cast it you win the game. It’s a little odd to have to do this twice, but you have to do literally nothing else to make this a winner.
#2 Felidar Sovereign
Felidar Sovereign
Secret Lair Drop Series, Rare
Felidar Sovereign is a six-mana white creature with vigilance and lifelink. It also lets you win the game if you have 40 or more life in your upkeep. You’ll note that in Commander you start the game with 40 life, so this really isn’t a big ask. The only trouble is keeping this thing alive until your upkeep if you cast it.
#1 Thassa’s Oracle and Laboratory Maniac
Market Price: $16.72
While not technically the same, Thassa’s Oracle and Laboratory Maniac do feel very similar and are some of the best win conditions you can play in MTG. Thassa’s Oracle is a two-mana creature that allows you to see the top X cards of your library, where X is the devotion to blue. And if X is greater than (or equal to) the number of cards in your library, you win the game. Laboratory Maniac is a three-mana blue creature that lets you win the game if you try to draw a card when you have no cards in your library. They’re both very strong and just mean you want to self-mill or just draw a lot of cards. We also think they’re best when working together, too.