Ranking the factions of Magic The Gathering's Lost Caverns of Ixalan

It's a shame Halloween's been and gone, because Magic The Gathering's next set, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, features pretty much every fancy dress inspiration I had in my younger years.

Between vampires, pirates, dinosaurs, and huge fungal hive minds (OK, maybe not that one), that was my Halloween school disco lineup covered. It feels like this new set (the game's 98th, if you can believe it), offers a whole heap of childlike enthusiasm for treasure hunting - and as I mentioned in my preview, it's pretty intoxicating.

What of these factions, though? Between all of the above, we're going to be making plenty of friends in this set - so it's time to do what we do with any friend and rank them by how cool they are.

Lost Caverns of Ixalans factions ranked

As you can probably tell since the set isn't out yet, this is just for fun and doesn't take into account how each faction plays. With that covered, let's go cave-diving.

5 - Vampires

Look, vampires are cool, that's undeniable. Some people like the sparkly kind, but I like mine more violent - the Blade 2-style ones.

That's not to say the Legion of Dusk doesn't have teeth (get it?) but they're all about bringing forth their big scary vampire gods, meaning they're pretty much just trying to be d*cks about it - and that's less cool for me than secret vampire nightclub parties, or even just love triangles with werewolves with washboard abs.

4 - Merfolk

"Life it is better, down where it's wetter, take it from me", Sebastian the crab famously crooned in both his animated and CGI forms, but it's not been great for the Merfolk in Lost Caverns of Ixalan.

The River Heralds, to use their official title, are searching for a new home beneath the surface of Ixalan, and with the ability to control the tides, they sneak into this spot on our list.

3 - Mycoids

An army of fungal creatures in the caverns of Ixalan? Can't be mush-room for them (sorry).

The Mycoids get in there because they're a bit scary in truth, and also because they give me flashbacks to fighting The Flood in Halo. I mean, just look at this thing:

Just need that Halo crossover so I can summon a shotgun, eh?

2 - Pirates

Pirates certainly fit The Lost Caverns of Ixalan thematically, hunting for treasure, but also, pirates are never not cool.

Offering the freedom of the seas, with wide open possibilities for trouble and adventure in equal measure, Pirates will likely be popular with MTG players as they rack up treasure tokens - or in Admiral Brass' case, summon cards from beyond the grave. Spooky seafaring? Love it.

1 - Dinosaurs

OK, they're known as the 'Sun Empire' and they're technically a mix of humans and dinosaurs, but come on - it's dinosaurs.

We've had dinosaurs in Magic before, but this set also introduces the Jurassic World crossover. Does it make sense in the context of the Lost Caverns of Ixalan? No, not really, but do I care? Not one jot, because dinosaurs, as any four-year-old will tell you, are badass.

Magic The Gathering's Lost Caverns of Ixalan set launches this Friday, November 17, but is already available in Magic The Gathering: Arena.