In lithium-ion batteries, the critical need for high-energy-density, low-cost storage for applications ranging from wearable computing to megawatt-scale stationary storage has created an unmet need for facile methods to produce high-density, low-tortuosity, kinetically accessible storage electrodes. Here we show that magnetic control of sacrificial features enables the creation of directional pore arrays in lithium-ion electrodes. The directional pores result in faster charge transport kinetics and enable electrodes with more than threefold higher area capacity (for example, >12 mAh cm−2 versus <4 mAh cm−2 in conventional electrodes) at practical charge–discharge rates. We demonstrate these capabilities in laboratory cells under various test conditions, including an electric vehicle model drive cycle.