When it comes to buying and building the best Commander decks in Magic: The Gathering sure to guarantee a win, turning to the most played and powerful strategies tends to be the best approach. Introduced on June 17, 2011, the mega-popular Commander format, also known as Elder Dragon Highland (EDH), adopts a gameplay mechanic developed by Adam Staley in the 1990s and Sheldon Menery in the 2000s. The format consists of players using 100-card decks, with each card (minus basic lands) appearing only once. Players opt for a legendary creature or Planeswalker to command their army, and enter the battlefield using the Command Zone.

In 2011, five Precon Commander decks were introduced, with each deck built around an MtG Commander and a specific mechanical theme. While these are great entry points into Commander, they are often built suboptimally and require a lot of tweaks to fix. Another option is to simply eschew the Commander Precons and jump right into the most played Commander strategies in the format – we’re using the always great EDHREC.com as our primary source for this data – while also planning out a budget on top of this. Many of these Commanders are available fairly inexpensively, with a number of cheap options also possible.

15

Kaalia of the Vast ($11.69 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Demons, Dragons, Angels & More Unite Under One Commander

Kaalia of the Vast is a popular Commander because she’s a combination of a number of mechanics that players find exciting and interesting. Kaalia is a 1RWB Human Cleric creature with a fairly unimpressive statline of 2/2 and the Flying keyword. Where she really shines is in her ability, which says that whenever she attacks, her controller may put a Angel, Demon, or Dragon creature card from their hand directly onto the battlefield tapped and attacking the same opponent Kaalia was attacking.

That’s an immensely powerful ability given the wildly impactful cards in those Kindred sub-types – Angels, Demons, and Dragons are ubiquitously some of the most game-changing creatures available, especially when they’re expensive. Kaalia let’s her controller cheat on mana and get those creatures into play as early as Turn 4 (without ramp and with a Haste provider, like Lightning Greaves) and even sooner with mana acceleration like Sol Ring. She’s also a great excuse to play a favorite gigantic creature that doesn’t necessarily make sense because it’s too expensive a mana cost – when they’re free, it’s quite different.

Some popular inclusions in a Kaalia deck might be:

• Lightning Greaves
• Swiftfoot Boots
• Angel of Despair
• Rakdos, Patron of Chaos
• Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

14

Esika, God of the Tree // The Prismatic Bridge ($17.59 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Two Commanders In One, With A Powerful Effect On Each

Esika, God of the Tree is a unique commander. Though its 1GG on the front side, it costs WUBRG on its back, which means it has that rare 5-color Commander identity that makes deck-building a joy. Esika, God of the Tree is a Vigilant 1/4 creature on its front side with a mana dork effect that extends to other Legendary creatures its controller has in play. On its back side, Esika becomes The Prismatic Bridge, which allows its controller to flip cards off the top of their library until they hit a creature or planeswalker card and put it into play for free.

Once again, putting cards into play at no cost is an incredibly powerful mechanic. The most popular variant of the Esika, God of the Tree strategy is a 5-color planeswalker deck filled to the brim with both mana acceleration and fixing – 5 colors isn’t free! – and gamestate-warping planeswalkers that can take over a Commander game fast. It’s also a popular strategy because it immediately increases the level of politics at a table, with planeswalkers able to fix most threats. Esika players can operate like a mercenary of sorts before winning the game on their own if left untouched.

Some popular inclusions in an Esika, God of the Tree // The Prismatic Bridge deck might be:

• Oath of Teferi
• Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
• Commodore Guff
• Carth the Lion
• Ripples of Potential

13

Shorikai, Genesis Engine ($1.99 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Crew Gigantic Vehicles While Refilling Your Hand

Shorikai, Genesis Engine is the most popular Commander for the vehicles strategy, which sees decks play the powerful artifacts (and creatures, when crewed) alongside enablers like cheap creatures to crew them and synergistic removal and disruption. Shorikai, Genesis Engine is an 8/8 creature for just 2WU, but it requires 8 power to crew it, so it’s not always able to attack. It’s effect alone is excellent, though – for just 1 mana and tapping it, players can draw 2 cards and create a 1/1 Pilot token that crews as though it had 3 power, accelerating the timeline on attacking with Shorikai.

Shorikai is most popular as a U/W control/combo deck, which means players have access to many options to fill out their curve alongside vehicles. Counter magic complements an aggressive play-to-the-board strategy while some reanimation-style effects that target artifacts specifically give Shorikai a combo finish if players want it. The possibilities vary wildly with Shorikai even though there aren’t as many vehicles in Magic: The Gathering since they’re more recent.

Some popular inclusions in a Shorikai, Genesis Engine deck might be:

• Kotori, Pilot Prodigy
• Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• Katsumasa, the Animator
• Sai, Master Thopterist
• Padeem, Consul of Innovation

12

Gishath, Sun’s Avatar ($3.99 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Swarm The Field With Dinosaur Creatures

Gishath, Sun’s Avatar is a Naya identity Commander with the Dinosaur Avatar sub-type. It has a lot of keywords – Vigiliance, Trample, and Haste – and it has an aggressive 7/6 statline, though it does cost an expensive 5RGW. The key to a Gishath deck is in its ability, which states that whenever it deals combat damage to a player, its controller reveals that many cards from the top of their library and may put any number of Dinosaur creatures revealed into play.

Once again, cheating big creatures into play is a winning strategy for any deck. Dinosaurs are often aggressive, high power/toughness creatures with combat on the mind. This type of deck benefits immensely from removal spells that help its creatures get into the red zone and deal damage to opponents to trigger their abilities, but with a lot of tramplers, dealing that damage might not even need blockers out of the way beforehand.

Some popular inclusions in a Gishath, Sun’s Avatar Deck might be:

• Regisaur Alpha
• Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• Temple Altisaur
• Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
• Etali, Primal Storm

11

Jodah, the Unifier ($3.30 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Cascade Into An Endless Flow of Legendary Permanents

Jodah, the Unifier is another 5-color Commander that allows for extensive options while deckbuilding. As a 5/5 creature for 5 mana cost, Jodah’s stats themselves aren’t as bad as some of the others on this list, though they’re largely irrelevant for his strategy. Jodah states that all Legendary creatures controlled by its owner get +X/+X, where X is the number of Legendary creatures controlled by that player. Jodah also “cascades” – when casting a Legendary spell with Jodah in play, the player then exiles cards from the top of their library until revealing a Legendary spell of a lower mana cost and casts it for free.

Another mana reduction strategy, and another excellent reason to build around a Commander. Legendary cards in Magic: The Gathering are powerful – the Legendary sub-type means only one of them can exist on a side of the battlefield at a time, which generally means they’re too powerful to have multiples in play. Jodah assembles a critical mass of Legendary permanents very quickly if left unchecked, swarming the Commander battlefield with a slew of effective creatures and other nonland permanents like planeswalkers, artifacts, and enchantments.

Some popular inclusions in a Jodah, the Unifier deck might be:

• Urza’s Ruinous Blast
• Shanid, Sleepers’ Scourge
• Primevals’ Glorious Rebirth
• Sisay, Weatherlight Captain
• Reki, the History of Kamigawa

10

Krenko, Mob Boss ($1.50 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Swarm the Battlefield With One of MTG’s Most Endearing Typals

Krenko, Mob Boss is a Commander for players who want good, clean fun with one of the most popular creature sub-types in Magic: The Gathering history – Goblins. Krenko is a 2RR creature with a 3/3 statline, and an ability as simple as it is dangerous: tapping Krenko creates X 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens, where X is the number of Goblins that player controls. It’s so straightforward compared to many other complicated Commander strategies that it might seem underpowered as a result, but that’s simply untrue.

Krenko, Mob Boss decks excel at putting pressure on the battlefield and maintaining it. Once the swarm gets rolling, it takes a sweeper on the other side to stem the tide. Protecting Krenko, Mob Boss is paramount to this deck’s strategy, as is filling out the rest of the deck with cheap Goblin threats and payoffs that make them much more than 1/1 threats. It’s a rewarding strategy and a refreshing difference from some of the over-the-top ones we’ve featured in this list thus far.

Some popular cards in a Krenko, Mob Boss deck might be:

• Goblin Warchief
• Goblin Chieftain
• Skirk Prospector
• Goblin Matron
• Goblin Trashmaster

9

Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver ($3 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Swarm the Battlefield With An Undead Menace

Shockingly, the Zombie warrior Wilhelt is, in fact, a Zombie typal Commander card, and a good one at that. Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver is a 2UB Commander creature with a 3/3 statline and some powerful abilities for Zombie enthusiasts. Wilthelt states that whenever another Zombie its player controls dies, as long as it didn’t have decayed, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token with decayed. At the beginning of its controller’s end step, Wilhelt also lets them sacrifice a Zombie they control to draw a card.

Wilhelt produces an endless stream of zombies and also card draw with his secondary ability, which means he’s entirely self-sustaining as a Commander. Just like their best B-movie horror counterparts, MTG zombies are at their best in a group, slowly ammassing a lethal horde. Cheap Zombie threats that can then be turned into fuel for card draw and decay Zombie tokens make Wilhelt a persistent threat, and one that needs to be addressed early in a Commander game lest things get out of control.

Some popular cards in a Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver deck might be:

• Diregraf Captain
• Rooftop Storm
• Death Baron
• Gravecrawler
• Lord of the Accursed

8

Edgar Markov ($109.42 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

A Powerful Vampire Lord Who Doesn’t Even Need To Be In Play

Edgar Markov is the king of the Vampires typal Commander deck. It’s easy to see why – he has the powerful Eminence ability, which triggers even when he’s in the Command Zone to pressure board states. Edgar Markov is a 3RWB Vampire Knight creature with Eminence, which states that whenever its controller casts another Vampire spell, as long as Edgar Markov is either on the battlefield or in the Command Zone, create a 1/1 black Vampire creature token. As if that weren’t enough, Edgar Markov also has First Strike, Haste and the effect that when it attacks, its controller puts a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire they control.

Edgar Markov decks are flexible because of its Eminence ability, so protecting the Vampire Knight isn’t necessarily as vital as with other Commander strategies. While Edgar Markov’s other ability definitely makes attacking with it successfully valuable, just casting Vampire spells in general will amass a board state that’s favorable. For that reason, having a deck filled with cheap, effective Vampires that then help chain into bigger threats – or become them themselves once Edgar attacks once or twice – is vital.

Some popular cards in an Edgar Markov deck might be:

• Stormkirk Captain
• Captivating Vampire
• Legion Lieutenant
• Blood Artist
• Welcoming Vampire

7

Kenrith, the Returned King ($1.41 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

A Flexible Commander That Complements Nearly Any Strategy

A card that once terrorized Standard as part of an extremely efficient ramp strategy has now come to Commander for an equally impressive reign of terror. Kenrith the Returned King is a 5/5 Human Noble creature for 4W, and has a slew of abilities that make him flexible for any strategy – and provides a 5-color option, too. For R, all creatures gain trample and haste until end of turn. For 1G, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. For 2W, target player gains 5 life. For 3U, target player draws a card. For 4B, reaminate a creature card onto the battlefield under its owner’s control. It’s absurd how much text this card has.

Kenrith is most popular as a Pod-style commander – which means strategies that sacrifice smaller creatures to bring more powerful ones onto the battlefield for free, or for a discount. Kenrith also has a 5-color mana identity which means players can add pretty much whatever they want to their strategy. While Pod is the most popular iteration, it isn’t the only one, and there’s plenty other options too, including Lands and even Humans typal decks that can function the same way.

Some popular cards in a Kenrith, the Returned King deck might be:

• Neoform
• Eldritch Evolution
• Noble Hierarch
• Deathrite Shaman
• Orcish Bowmasters

6

Isshin, Two Heavens As One ($1.57 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Channel the Strength of the Samurai Typal or Stack Powerful Equipment Triggers

Isshin, Two Heavens as One is a powerful Mardu samurai Commander who features prominently in two different themes: samurai typal or equipment. Isshin, Two Heavens as One is a RWB Human Samurai with a 3/4 statline and a deceptively simple textbox: if a creature attacking causes a triggered ability of a permament you control to trigger, that ability then triggers an additional time. Stacking triggers is a strong strategy in a format as wide and powerful as Commander, and Isshin rewards players who are willing to get into the red zone often with some impressive turns.

Both the Samurai and Equipment strategies take advantage of his incredibly strong static ability. While there are differences in his two most popular strategies, they do tend to share a similar blend of the best equipment and creatures for Isshin’s static, seeking to create advantageous combat situations, whether it’s stacking a huge number of counters onto creatures, getting powerful equipment triggers twice, or even taking multiple extra combat steps. Isshin has a lot of variety to its play and is a fascinating Commander to build around.

Some popular cards in Isshin, Two Heavens as One decks might be:

• Asari Captain
• Selfless Samurai
• Heiko Yamazaki, the General
• Raiyuu, Storm’s Edge
• Peerless Samurai

5

Yuriko, The Tiger’s Shadow ($1.21 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Use Sneaky Unblockable Combat Steps To Manipulate The Battlefield With Ninjutsu

Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow embraces one of MTG’s most exciting mechanics: ninjutsu. Yuriko is a 1/3 Human Ninja creature with a 1UB cost, though that will rarely be paid – it also has Commander ninjutsu for UB, which allows it to be placed onto the battlefield tapped and attacking in place of an unblocked creature. On top of this, Yuriko has another ability, stating that whenever a Ninja you control deals combat damage to a player, you then reveal the top card of your library, put it into your hand, and each opponent loses life equal to that card’s mana value.

Yuriko triggers a draw effect that also damages each opponent every time any ninja deals damage to a player, and it’s important to note it is a loss of life ability, not damage. That means damage prevention doesn’t work and it can really add up quickly depending on the contents of a Yuriko deck. Although Yuriko decks will employ a healthy amount of zero, one, and two mana creatures to enable the fastest starts possible, slotting in a few extremely expensive cards to flip off the top of a library – potentially with the aid of Brainstorm or other similar effects – can create a combo feel to the deck.

Some popular cards in a Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow deck might include:

• Ingenious Infiltrator
• Thousand-Faced Shadow
• Mistblade Shinobi
• Ninja of the Deep Hours
• Silver-Fur Master

4

Lathril, Blade of the Elves ($2.89 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Another Popular Typal Deck Enabled By Its Powerful Commander

Lathril, Blade of the Elves is a fairly new Commander that totally reinvigorated elf typal strategies. Lathril, Blade of the Elves is a 2/3 Elf Noble creature for 2BG and the Menace keyword. It also has two powerful abilities: whenever Lathril deals combat damage to a player, you create that many 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature tokens; and tapping Lathril alongside ten other untapped Elves you control makes each opponent lose 10 life and you gain 10 life.

Lathril needs lots of small Elves and synergies to protect them from sweepers to fully realize its potential, but when it’s firing on all cylinders, the deck can be blistering fast and close games quickly. Cards that untap creatures are important here to help speed up kill turns and prevent opponents from interacting too much in the interim, but even without a combo finish, Lathril accrues a lot of value simply by attacking and dealing damage, and there are a number of Elf lords in Magic: The Gathering to help increase that damage and thus increase the amount of Elf tokens being made, too.

Some popular cards in Lathril, Blade of the Elves decks might include:

• Elvish Archdruid
• Marwyn, the Nurturer
• Beast Whisperer
• Elvish Promenade
• Shaman of the Pack

3

Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm ($1.28 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

Make Opponents See Double Of Your Most Powerful Dragon Spells

Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm is one of two dragon Commanders who will grace this list of the most popular, competitive Commander strategies. Miirym is a 3GUR 6/6 Dragon Spirit creature with the Flying and Ward 2 keywords. It also has one of the most powerful abilities on this list: when another nontoken Dragon enters the battlefield under your control, create a token that’s a copy of it, except it isn’t legendary if that Dragon is legendary.

Having two of the same legendary Dragon in play isn’t just sweet from a lore perspective, it’s also backbreaking for opponents. So many Dragons have powerful ETB effects, too, so creating a token that then essentially triggers that ETB a second time can swing games quickly. Miirym is a bit costly at 6 mana, but Dragon decks want a lot of mana acceleration anyways to cast their expensive giant creatures, so she slots nicely into the Temur shell that would already be playing those accelerants naturally.

Some popular cards in a Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm deck might include:

• Ganax, Astral Hunter
• Thrakkus the Butcher
• Dragonspeaker Shaman
• Atarka, World Render
• Korlessa, Scale Singer

2

The Ur-Dragon ($20.25 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

The Lord of Dragons Reduces All Of Their Costs

The Ur-Dragon is a 5-color Commander with the Eminence keyword, which reduces the cost of all dragon spells by 1. It is a 4WUBRG Dragon Avatar creature with 10/10 and Flying, and whenever one or more dragons attack, the Ur-Dragon’s controller draws that many cards and then can put a permanent card into play from their hand. As a 5 color Commander, The Ur-Dragon benefits from having access to every Dragon in Magic: The Gathering history, which increases its customizable deck construction and helps tune whatever strategy a player wants to use it for.

Cost reduction is always powerful in the context of Magic: The Gathering, but in a Typal like Dragons, that’s especially true, as they’re often extremely expensive – their most prohibitive trait. The Ur-Dragon’s attack trigger can apply to any permanent, too, so it doesn’t have to be drawn from the effect, and can cheat into play another gigantic Dragon. There really isn’t another Dragon better-suited to the archetype than The Ur-Dragon, which can also just play Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm in its own decklist and effectively showcase two Commander-level powers in one deck.

Some popular cards in a The Ur-Dragon deck might include:

• Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm
• Dragon Tempest
• Crux of Fate
• Tiamat
• Lathliss, Dragon Queen

1

Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice ($13.72 Market Price on TCGPlayer)

The Best of The Best, Atraxa Enables Multiple Game-Winning Strategies

Atraxa is arguably the most powerful Commander in Magic: The Gathering outside of a pure cEDH setting. Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice is a GWUB Angel Horror creature with Flying, Vigilance, Deathtouch, and Lifelink keywords. That’s already an aggressive amount of abilities on a single card, and that’s before getting to its truly powerful part: at the beginning of your end step, proliferate. Proliferate enables players to give an additional counter a permanent or player already has to them, which can mean buffing planeswalker loyalty totals or, much more sinisterly, increasing Poison.

Poison is a divisive mechanic that can often be a sticking point for certain Commander playgroups, so be careful to make sure everyone at a table is cool with it being the strategy of choice. In Magic: The Gathering, getting a player’s Poison count to 10 results in them losing the game. In Commander, where the life total is a whopping 40, making the amount of damage needed to wipe out a player only 25% of the usual amount is an absurd buff. Atraxa has dominated tables for a long time and likely won’t stop anytime soon.

Some popular cards in an Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice deck might include:

• Ichor Rats
• Blighted Agent
• Venerated Rotpriest
• Bloated Contaminator
• Prologue to Phyresis

Source: EDHREC.com, TCGPlayer.com