Fantasy magic systems ranked! 

It's just best novel I have ever read. Starts off slow but you won't regret it. Praise the Fool!

Warlock of the magus world?

The way I was about to comment this.

But there`s no magic? And magic system of course

​@@JustAsmr1nah lotm on another level when it comes to magic system in light novels

To be fair early on there are some contradictions but I get the sense they were still solidifying the magic system in the first couple books.

And there are actual consequences! Love it.

I don't know my tier list but im sure lord of the mysteries is s tier shit and no one's gonna convince me otherwise

ASOIAF magic I feel is more abstract and ambiguous than HP. With harry potter, the magic system is more clearly defined and structured, making it easier to understand. Plus, the consistency of spellcasting adds a layer of logic and reliability to the magical world

Holy moly I remember reading this series like 4 years ago

I absolutely love the magic in Eragon ❤️

It’s basically a ripoff of Earthsea’s magic system, and I hate when people call it ‘original’

⁠@@Jon-Rimmernothing is truly original in writing lol. Earthsea was largely inspired by Native American folklore as well as Norse mythology and same goes for basically every series in existence. So the magic systems are somewhat similar, so what?

@@bengreene4972 It’s that the magic system is almost the exact same as Earthsea, just less original. Dragons are important? Earthsea did it. True names? Earthsea did it, the list goes on. I’m okay with some books taking INSPIRATION from others or folklore, but outright copying it is another thing. And the whole book is unoriginal. It’s basically A New Hope with LOTR paint on it.

Chronicle of Narnia is above everything because the power of "Jesus lion", magic shrooms, and magic swords that is useless unless you put all of them together and they summon a God. That can't do much but barely does anything but is a plot device that is a counter to the other magic, and a magic that is fair trade, but you need the attunement and be pure of heart to use without getting tempted by any of the 10 commandments and with enough usage you get decent proficient and bows still are powerful and swords still work but you can be healed from most wounds by magic potion that only needs a drop or a fragment to full heal like orihime from bleach or jjk the only good winning strategy isn't magic but tactics because everyone can use magic but not everyone can channel it into a spell and random portals like be backrooms can spawn and for the smallest of spells to be casted if your not a God can take like a lifetime of work and a rodent could have more magic than you and interacting with magic or any ritual could make you adept or anyone else and over time it will fragment off of you like 50 years could ruin you if you aren't near an adept user that was near a God and there is one God that created another one of the same power because he is medium adept and a lot of capacity and the person he poured into was a high level adept user with not to much in store and was boosted and got the power to 1 shot if it's channeled and power to convince and manipulate anyone who is decently against the God or "king" that appears and they are barely together for some reason and is direct counter to each other and can die from weak users strong users but the strongest magic is offensive and support magic so revive magic can make you a leader or at least a general except when the king doesn't want to king and leaves like the jedi because you can get hallucinations of a strong user if you have allied or fought an image of them if they are alive with combat experience or with just attachments like being close to them when they use magic like restoration magic or inspiration boost and everything has magic from rivers to the oceans and yes throw random plot device activate causes actual changes its between battle Shonen and studio ghibli and is just poorly displayed

Surprised there’s no mention of the Mistborn books by Brandon Sanderson.

@@randomclick2826 I actually avoided him on purpose, because picking between the systems was annoying. 😬

Soft and hard magic systems is what the OP is talking about. A soft magic system is where there isn't hard and clear rules around the magic system that the reader knows about. As you say yourself there's so much to speculate, which makes it a soft magic system in song of ice and fire

Soft magic system is when the reader and/or the characters don't know much about how the magic works.

I left Brandon Sanderson off on purpose 🫣😂 he’d take up too much space on top of

Putting Eragon and stormlight on the same level is heresy

It seems like this creator like hard magic systems better with consistency as a factor. That might be why asoiaf is low.

I excluded Brandon Sanderson because I wanted 1 per tier and Allomancy is for sure S tier.

Daggerspell is the start of an amazing ride :) I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thanks 🔥

I should really do one of these just for Brandon Sanderson's magic systems. :)

@@JustInTimeWorlds Then they would all be S tier, from what I've heard at least.

@@LunakSocioAnthroLinguist they are very well thought out. Allomancy is probably the GOAT, but I like biochroma a lot as well

You have a great ride ahead of you!

Hahaha, but he would have made it work! That man was just the GOAT

That exists in Discworld, it's being The Lady's chosen player, Rincewind

So, I actually excluded Sanderson on purpose, especially Mistborn. It's too easy a win :P I have a plan for a tier video just on Sanderson's systems, but I haven't gotten around to settling the rank in my head. I love chromatic breaths, but is it actually better than allomancy? I don't know....

I do like the Farseer Trilogy (and all of the Elderling Realm books). If I was putting just the Skill in a tier list though, I'd put it around High C or Low B. It's a very interesting magic, being able to cloud someone else's mind. I especially like the multiple applications of the Skill: healing, illusion, dream etc. But, even after reading everything except the latest book, I'm a little unsure what the cost of casting is. Except for healing, they seem to just be able to use the skill at will (It has been a while since I've read the books, so I might be mis-remembering!). Even healing, the limitation is in the body of the one being healed, not the person using the Skill. So while I like it, I'd personally rank it below systems with stronger limits.

I just checked in the books (because I’m weird). In chapter 24, Olivander says that when a wand has been won, its allegiance will change (he does preface by saying in general, but still, you’d think this would have come up during the duel club or the DA training). I enjoyed a lot about the potter books, but world building consistency is not something JKR is good at 😂 edit: chapter 24 of deathly hallows.

@@JustInTimeWorlds huh that is really weird.

​@@JustInTimeWorlds I think the phrase "a wand is won" means "when the wielder of a wand is overpowered and loses it to their opponent in combat." So in Dueling Class, it is practice, a spar, and thus not true combat. The wand was lost for a moment, but not taken and kept. Whereas Harry overpowering Draco and taking his wand is a full victory from combat, so Draco's wand recognizes this and accepts Harry as its new master.

​@@justinalicea1590the whole concept of wand allegiance should've had more foreshadowing imo. Like it's funny to think that Snape was the true master of Lupin's wand just because he disarmed him that one time in the third book.

@@CougheePls It definitely could have used more worldbuilding around the idea before the final book of the series, I will agree on that.

Nope. The black Thorne wand and Malfoy’s wand in the later books changed.

The Elder Wand sure, but what about the blackthorn wand that changed hands because of duel but in their second year, they dueled like crazy people and no one lost a wand? I honestly think she added it in later because she needed it :P

@@JustInTimeWorlds Some speculation on my part, but I reason it out to intent. The wands are, through whatever magical means to some degree, sentient. They have their own distinct personalities, which is what leads them to select their wizards based on compatibility. Blackthorn's are said to be for warriors. They are kind of like the Elder wand in that sense (in terms of personality). That's not to say every wizard gets a perfectly complimentary wand, like Harry and Voldemort very much have. Additionally, some wands are more loyal than others, which can impact whether or not they abandon their masters. Think to Harry asking Ollivander about Bellatrix and Draco's wands. Bellatrix's wand remained loyal, but Ollivander sensed that Draco's loyalty was shifting. Some spells, like the Avada Kedavra curse, specifically require intent to be placed into the wand for the spell to work. It's not too far a leap to suggest that this intent can be received by the wand that is struck. If the intent is dueling practice, there is no reason for a wand to want to leave its master. In life or death duels, both killing and disarming would absolutely have to have a strong intent behind them. Which the wands could feel whenever they received a blow. In any case, success could mean that a wand is left with no master and so joins the one who killed them, or they can be touched by the merciful nature of a spell by someone who is stronger, or they might think their wizard is weak if they are disarmed by a weaker opponent. All would explain why a wand might choose or have no choice but to accept a new master. It's long-winded and complicated, but that's how I understood that magic system to work from the first time I read the books. Though I do understand it's most likely a convenient change she thought of later.

So, when I was making the list, I realized that if I included one of Brandon Sanderson, he'd just be the whole top tier and possibly all the rest. I excluded him just because well, too good and therefor a little boring on a list like this :D

Savage. Love it.

If you know, you know! 😆

One of my favorite authors. I love the Deverry books.

It’s my tier list and therefore my opinion. You’re welcome to make your own tier list.

You seem a little mad that you're favourite brand of magic is not liked by this person (from what we know), so just make you're own and you can agree to that.

So I cannot agree with that. It smells like author retcon. Malfoy's wand switched to Harry in the later books, but not in the earlier ones. Unless it's completely arbitrary and it's because the wand wants it in that moment, in which case it would push the magic system lower for me because it's just outright deus ex then. For plot reasons, the wand switches allegiance now. And now because the author needs it not, the wand doesn't wanna. Either way, it's bleh. I like the idea of wands in the early books, but the later books... no. Too much "Oh no, it was always like this see"

I actually agree. Hard magic definitely has its downside. But soft magic systems are so often done so poorly and Deux ex-Machina grinds my gears so wrong.