The Magus Circle Upgrade Tier List
Rank the types you can actually see — not 250 fake item names.
By Witchlight’s store page promises over 250 unique upgrades in The Magus Circle. This wiki will not invent 250 names. An upgrade tier list that fabricates “S-tier Moon Tea +12%” is a lie. What we can rank is types, plus the named cards and prestiges that appeared in screenshots and designer talk.
Steam lists 24 September 2026. Demo context: Next Fest build that opened on 23 February 2026, HUD shots labeled 0.4.6, tarot UI labeled 0.4.1. Every letter is a preview.
If you still fail circles, stop reading and open how to draw spells. Upgrades do not draw for you.
Preview S types
Mana (regen, efficiency, on-evade refunds). Drawing is the combat verb. No mana means no Ice Spear. Milk’s Nimble already pays mana on a near-miss; cards that add regen stack with that loop. Priestess and Hierophant showed +0.5 Mana Regen. Empress Reversed showed +10% Mana Efficiency.
Movement and size. Empress Upright +10% Speed. Milk’s Bunny Form is +25% speed and −50% size for 3 seconds. Anything that lets you finish a glyph while the Tide closes is S. Standing still for a pretty pentagram is how Leviathans win — how to beat bosses.
On-kit persistence. For Rum, blades that do not shatter on crit and Lonlight Chakras (blades do not break) are the identity. For Riptide, Wattatsumi (sea dragon, stackable, vertical) and Quazar (center beam, dual push) are the identity. Take the upgrade that names your spell.
Preview A types
Duration. Emperor tarot: +10% Duration at T1. Longer waves, longer spears, longer riptides. A for every mage.
Crit (Rum first). Designer: Rum is built around crit damage. Crit chance/damage is A on Rum, B on a mage with no crit text.
Coverage damage. Meteor swarm, chain lightning, magic missile upgrades that make a second job spell actually clear packs. A if you can draw that second glyph. See the spell tier list.
Parry (Rum). Mentioned on the Spellblade short. A if you practice it. F if you take it and never press it.
Preview B types
Off-kit prestige. Drenal’s greatsword dump on a Milk run that never saw Spellblade. Wattatsumi when you never took Riptide. B because the chest looked shiny.
Tarot that names another mage’s trick. Magus card listing Bunny Form is Milk-shaped. On Rum or Matcha, read the tooltip. If it does nothing for you, it is a skip.
Unknown of 250. Most of the pool is undocumented. B means “take it if it obviously helps the glyph you already cast.” Do not save a slot for a wiki name that does not exist.
Tarot versus in-run chests
Two shops, two timings.
In-run chests happen in the Tide. They mutate the current hand. This is where Quazar, Wattatsumi, no-shatter blades, and anonymous +damage mods live. You must adapt; store copy says so.
Tarot in the Magus Mansion happens between runs. Screenshot of a spread showed The Magus (Bunny Form), The Priestess (+0.5 Mana Regen), The Empress (Upright +10% Speed / Reversed +10% Mana Efficiency), The Emperor (+10% Duration, T1), The Hierophant (+0.5 Mana Regen, T1). A Reverse button sat on the UI. Currency was a purple droplet (77 in that shot).
Buy tarot for the hole in your last death. Speed if you got clipped while drawing. Regen if you aborted glyphs. Duration if your waves died early. How to play is the mansion loop. Odds the bookie is a wager NPC, not an upgrade vendor with a fake catalog.
A simple priority for one extract
- Make the first spell cheaper or faster to finish.
- Add one defensive job (Riptide or speed).
- Only then stack damage.
- Prestige when the base spell is already a habit.
- After death, one tarot that matches the death, not three random majors.
Demo extracts often sat around 10–15 minutes. You do not have time to theorycraft 250 nodes. The Guides Hub and Getting Started beat a spreadsheet.
Mage notes
- Milk: S on mana and speed. Bunny Form already is a size upgrade. Magus tarot is on-theme.
- Rum: S on crit and blade persistence. A on mana because blades cost mana.
- Matcha / Coffee / Chicha / Anchan: use types, not fake signatures. Character tier list and mages hub.
What we will add after launch
Named modifiers, exact percentages, challenge interactions (10+ unique challenges you pick after a win), and anything Curio’s extra hub sass turns into a shop. Until Steam’s 24 September 2026 client exists, this page stays a type chart. Festival footage: demo, Next Fest. Calendar: release date. Hardware: system requirements. Drawing: spell sigils.
If an upgrade cannot be quoted from a card, a screenshot, or a designer sentence, it does not get a cute name here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
Why don't you list all 250 upgrades?
Most names are not public. Ranking fiction would break this wiki. We rank types and quoted cards only.
Which tarot should I buy first?
Speed or mana regen if you fail drawings. Empress and Priestess/Hierophant match that. See how to play.
Are Quazar and Wattatsumi upgrades or spells?
They showed up as Riptide upgrades in demo commentary. You need Riptide in the book first. Spell tier list.
Does Milk need crit upgrades?
Will this list change at launch?
Yes. Follow the release date page after Steam's 24 September 2026 listing.