Sometimes the best or most helpful creatures in Magic: the Gathering don’t cost 4 or 5 mana; sometimes, all you need is a one-drop creature with a surprisingly great ability. One-mana creatures are often overlooked, but if you use them wisely, they can help underpin a deck, or even make it sing!
To kick off this series of posts, I’ll profile many of the one-mana creatures in White that I find useful, alphabetized by title. (By the way, if your favorite isn’t in this list, please add it in the comments!)
 1/1 Exalted is always a nice boost for your early game! |
 Gaining 3 life for one mana, plus you get a blocker? Woot! |
 I love that this can defend against life loss as well as damage! |
 This is a nice, subtle Bluish control move for White, making the opponent pay a mana to make sure this creature stays gone. |
 Bushido makes this little guy worth playing–able to block a 2/2 for the kill! |
 2/1 for 1? Awesome! Soldier creature type? Even better! |
 Play him for 1 mana, and then ramp him up–FUN! |
 Either gain 2 life pretty reliably every turn, or gain 4 life for one shot. Very handy! |
 GREAT little guy for getting around big stompy creatures! |
 For one mana, you get the ability to control one of your opponent’s creatures. |
 You can either get a 1/1 creature with lifelink for 1 mana, or pay more for enchanting another creature with +1/+1 and lifelink. And you can get this creature back after the enchantment falls off–options, ahoy! |
 A classic–shoot down a creature or deal a damage to a player, all for one mana. |
 ROAR! 2/2 for 1! Even though it’s Legendary, this dog is awesome! |
 Just add Accorder’s Shield, Bone Saw, Kite Shield, Paradise Mantle, or Spidersilk Net and you have yourself a 1-mana double-strike machine! |
 1/1 flying Spirit–yay! |
 Kird Ape in White! |
 Potential to gain 21 life off one creature? SURE WHY NOT?! LOL |
 Giving pro-any color is great for breaking through somebody’s mono-color creature defenses, or for defending against someone’s assault! |
 0/4 for 1 white mana, AND when he blocks, you gain 2 life. (Even funnier if you have a whole deck full of defenders!) |
 BIG kitty goes ROAR for 1 white–a classic staple for White Weenie decks. |
 1/1 shadow…don’t see that very often at all, and it’s deadlier than you think! |
 Another classic for Life-Gain decks and creature decks <3 |
 Like Figure of Destiny, this can level up, but it starts out at one mana–very handy for playing quickly. |
 1/1 flying Bird–whether you choose this or Lantern Kami only depends on what creature type you need. |
 Just make sure you have an enchantment on the board, and this 2/3 flying for 1 white stays around! |
 1/1 first strike for 1–I’ve always liked this one. |
 0/3 for 1, AND it’s a Soldier, which makes it both a good early-game defender AND a good synergy piece for a Soldier deck. |
 A classic favorite for my Life-Gain decks–block and gain life according to however much damage is dealt to it, even if it’s destroyed! |
 Great for quick land-fetch when your opponent has got an early mana lead. |
 0/4 for ONE mana? WOW…who cares that it’s a random Ox? It doesn’t die to Lightning Bolt like most one-mana creatures! |
 This one is great for surprising your opponent with a blocker! |
Where in the world are Doomed Traveler and Champion of the Parish?!
Good points! I didn’t know about either of those cards, but they are worth adding to this article.
God Pharaoh’s Faithful is a new hour of devastation card… 0/4 with some life gaining for red, blue, and black for W.
Soul’s Attendant is basically a soul warden.
Wow, that God Pharaoh’s Faithful card sounds great! Will definitely have to look into that for some of my decks!
Glittering Lynx is a 1/1 cat that requires opponent to pay 2 mana for it to take damage. It is a little better than Clergy of the Holy Nimbus, depending on the situation.
Awesome! That’s a great suggestion!
Here’s a few more suggestions, all good cards in their own right: Glint Hawk, Anointer of Champions, Champion of the Pantheon, Serra Ascendant, and Mardu Woe-Reaper.
Hada Freeblade. although limited in use, but such an awesome card for an ally deck.