Magic: The Gathering offers many different formats, ranging from Standard to Modern to Legacy, and the popular Commander format now stands out as a fan favorite. Commander is a multiplayer format that requires each player to have a legendary creature to lead their deck, and those commanders define the deck’s color identity and strategy.
Hundreds of legendary creatures exist all throughout MTG, each of them capable of defining a powerful Commander Deck. These top-rated Commander decks host exceptional leaders that inspire exciting gameplay in all five colors and with strategies ranging from Dragon creatures to artifacts and the graveyard.
Zaxara, the Exemplary Is a Commander Deck Built Around Hydra Tokens
Hydras are almost exclusively in green, but Zaxara, the Exemplary extends the Hydra fun to Sultai colors to make this deck more flexible than what a mono-green build could do. This deck all about X costs in cards, and Hydras happen to be the best Magic creatures in these colors for X. Zaxara may be a modest 2/3, but it’s not meant to be a beater. The real appeal is its powerful abilities, starting with its ability to tap for two mana of one color to cast those expensive Hydras sooner.
Casting X spells of any kind, will make 0/0 Hydra creature tokens, and that’s the real value here. To push even more damage, Zaxara’s deck can give the Hydra tokens flying with Combine Chrysalis or make them simply unblockable with Herald of Secret Streams. As for the X spells themselves, that includes a rich variety of Hydras such as Hydroid Krasis, which is overwhelmingly strong even without Zaxara there to generate additional value on the side, along with other staple Hydras like Lifeblood Hydra, Protean Hydra, and the mighty Genesis Hydra.
Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Is an Amazing Dinosaur Commander Deck
This Naya-colored Magic: The Gathering deck focuses on one of Commander’s most basic yet effective strategies: build up a board state of hard-hitting creatures and overwhelm each opponent with repeated assaults. Pantlaza, Sun-Favored does this from a Dinosaur kindred angle, using some mild kindred effects but mostly focusing on creatures that are powerful in a vacuum. Dinosaurs and the spells that support them are found all over the mana curve so it doesn’t take too long for a discover trigger to find and cast a spell.
The Pantlaza Commander deck also includes a few cards to help protect the board state. Spells like Heroic Intervention, Boros Charm, and Teferi’s Protection will spare the Dinosaur horde a miserable fate at the hands of board wipes, though the deck must remain cautious of counterspells that may interfere. The deck’s support spells also include the likes of Garruk’s Uprising to push damage even more easily while also drawing cards to keep the value flowing at a generous rate, with or without Pantlaza’s discover triggers.
WeaknessFx2
Retreat Cost4
ResistanceP-20
HP280
StageBasic
[1DDDD] Greedy Crush (210)
If your opponent’s Pokémon-GX or Pokémon-EX is Knocked Out by damage from this attack, take 1 more Prize card.
[1DDDD+] Gigafall GX
If this Pokémon has at least 5 extra Energy attached to it (in addition to this attack’s cost), discard the top 15 cards of your opponent’s deck (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)
Karador, Ghost Chieftain Can Draw From Two Decks at Once
Reanimation is a fairly popular Magic strategy in Commander, and reanimation decks like Karador, Ghost Chieftain can bounce back from board wipes and removal spells so easily, except exile effects. In Karador’s case, this deck aims to either slowly drain away every opponent’s life total to 0 or mill them with Altar of Dementia. In either case, the deck needs tricky defenses to get to that point, since its creatures can’t stand up to the format’s biggest beaters.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain needs to rapidly stock up its graveyard, and aside from assigning chump blockers, the Magic deck can fuel its graveyard with self-mill effects ranging from Skull Prophet and Nyx Weaver to dredge creatures like Stinkweed Imp and Golgari Grave-Troll. Spells like Grisly Salvage and Mulch can also help as one-off mill effects that add cards to the hand in the meantime.
Karador also needs some tutor effects to get key creatures into the graveyard or on the battlefield, such as Spore Frog to keep buying time or combo pieces. This Magic deck can also use “aristocrats” to eat a chump blocker and derive value while fueling the graveyard.
Isshin, Two Heavens as One Is One of the Best Aggro Commander Decks
Commander players for Magic: The Gathering know that the red-white color pair is associated a little too closely with pure aggro, to the point it almost feels like a cliche. Boros decks tend to feel same-y as a result, but if black mana is added, then players get one of the best Commander decks for aggro: Isshin, Two Heavens as One. It’s the aggro of Boros combined with efficient triggers and the removal and life drain of black mana.
Isshin’s excellent Commander deck is loaded with creatures, enchantments, and even equipment cards with triggered abilities that go off when creatures attack, and with Isshin himself around, those triggers will double. That turns any decent Boros aggro archetype into an overwhelming combat machine that accrues rapid value with just a few attacks. The deck uses red and black mana to deal extra damage or make opponents lose life, ensuring the opponents get closer to losing even if the attacking creatures are blocked.
The deck also uses effects to protect the attacking creatures or shut down blockers to make sure those attacking creatures aren’t just charging to their death every time. Attacking with such creatures once is good, but attacking many times is better, so damage prevention and evasion are a must for Isshin’s Mardu-colored aggro deck.
Jodah, the Unifier Is a Commander Deck With Evasion and Tutors
Jodah, the Unifier is one of the most popular five-color Magic: The Gathering decks in the entire Commander format, according to the stats on EDHrec.com. Because Jodah’s deck has access to all colors and thus all effects and a variety of spells, can find the card and effect for any situation. Traditional tutors like Demonic Tutor work alongside Captain Sisay and Captain Sisay to find much-needed effects such as K-9’s evasion or the trample effects on Surrak Dragonclaw or Kenrith, the Returned King.
Since Jodah grants creatures cascade for legendary spells, the card generates immense value. That’s already impressive, but Outlaws of Thunder Junction will make that effect even stronger with Annie Joins Up, doubling Jodah’s trigger. This deck also lets the player draw cards for playing and resolving legendary spells, such as Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, and Shanid, Sleeper’s Scourge. The main win-con, meanwhile, is usually midrange-style assaults, with Jodah hugely pumping all the creatures and attacking.
Krenko, Mob Boss Floods the Board With Endless Goblin Tokens
The goblin creature type has always been known in Magic: The Gathering for reckless aggression with lots of small creatures, and Krenko, Mob Boss pushes it to the next level. Krenko’s popular Commander deck is a good example of how flexible an army of creature tokens can be because all those Goblin creature tokens aren’t just combat units. Plan A for the deck is to amass a legion of Goblin creatures and give them combat-oriented buffs such as haste, menace, and power/toughness boosts to overwhelm any opponent who isn’t ready for such an assault.
This Magic deck’s plan B involves using powerful effects based on those Goblin tokens both entering and leaving the battlefield. Cards like Purphoros, God of the Forge can burn opponents to death even without attacking, which is vital if the board state is stalled. This deck can also tap into its “aristocrats” side, sacrificing Goblins to make extra mana, deal damage, and more.
Some cards, like Massive Raid, can unleash powerful effects just by having enough creatures on the board. Finally, cards like Illusionist’s Bracers and Sting, the Glinting Dagger make Krenko’s activated ability easier to use, creating an astonishing number of Goblin tokens in just one turn.
Kaalia of the Vast Is a Commander Deck With Flying Beaters
Kaalia of the Vast has the distinction of being one of the first legendary creature cards ever printed for the Commander Magic decks back in the early 2010s. Even today, it ranks among the best Commander decks because of its simple yet brutal effect. Kaalia is an aggro deck that wants to attack frequently so it can cheat massive flying beaters into play, along with a few strong Demon creatures on the ground.
Typically, these incoming threats are enough to finish off any opponent with straightforward attacks, though the deck still needs to support them with cool effects, such as Mithril Coat to protect an essential attacker. This Magic deck also rewards the player for attacking and may even get extra combat steps, usually with red mana, so Kaalia can trigger more than once in a given turn.
It can also protect its attackers with effects like Boros Charm, and on defense, cards like Teferi’s Protection ensure the Kaalia player doesn’t lose to a counterattack. This deck’s main weakness is running out of cards in hand, so the deck uses black mana to draw more, such as from Painful Truths. Even tutor effects can be used to cheat essential creatures into play, such as Avacyn, Angel of Hope.
Arcades, the Strategist Takes Advantage of Cheap MTG Defenders
Defenders can prevent creatures from attacking, but since a creature with stats like 0/5 will never finish off an opponent, they’re rarely used. That changes with Arcades, the Strategist, a highly unconventional Elder Dragon that turns defenders in Magic: The Gathering into offensive juggernauts. Arcades isn’t the only card that lets creatures assign combat damage with toughness, but it’s the best of its kind. In some ways, Arcades is the new Doran, except in Bant colors instead of Abzan.
Arcades’ deck is packed with cheap defender creatures that hit hard with their draconic boss around, making them far more efficient than they would ever be on their own. In case Arcades is removed, his Commander deck has cards like Assault Formation to keep the defenders online, and the deck can even “flicker” its defenders so ETB effects like Arcades’ own can be used all over again. Cards like Eerie Interlude let the player draw lots of cards with Arcades’ trigger to keep the hand full, and they can protect the defenders from effects like board wipes, too.
WeaknessLx2
Retreat Cost1
ResistanceF-30
HP80
StageBasic
[C] Deceit
Search your deck for a Supporter card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
[DC] Torment (30)
Choose 1 of your opponent’s Active Pokémon’s attacks. During your opponent’s next turn, that Pokémon can’t use that attack.
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King Wins MTG Games With Treasure Tokens
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King is a popular Jund-colored commander whose Magic: The Gathering deck is all about Treasure tokens, a token type that first appeared in the Ixalan block. Korvold’s deck is primarily meant to pump Korvold itself into a massive flying threat as its plan A, but the deck also has a powerful plan B.
In case Korvold can’t finish the job with aerial attacks, the deck should either draw or tutor for Revel in Riches as a powerful alternate win condition. However, the player must be careful about enchantment destruction or cards like Generous Gift destroying it first.
The deck can rapidly generate tokens with cards like Bootleggers’ Stash and the famously powerful Dockside Extortionist. Notably, Korvold will benefit from any Magic card type being sacrificed, not just Treasures, so the deck can also use sacrifice-related cards like Sakura-Tribe Elder. Cards like Mayhem Devil make all this sacrifice even more lucrative. Overall, Korvold’s deck is fairly powerful, but it lacks the complex nuance of other top-tier commander decks and can feel a bit repetitive.
Lathril, Blade of the Elves Is a Powerful Commander Elf Deck
Elf decks are powerful in various Magic: The Gathering formats, including Commander, since the Elf creature type has so much support from “lord” creatures and other effects. Lathil, Blade of the Elves rose to prominence in Commander not just because of building large board states, but its activated ability to end games with massive life loss. That’s crucial if any board state becomes stalled out, ensuring an Elf army isn’t rendered useless.
Lathril’s Magic deck can use Rogue’s Passage to push damage with its commander to make more Elf creature tokens, but Lathril isn’t the only token maker. Cards like Elvish Promenade and Imperious Perfect can churn out many Elf creature tokens, too. Meanwhile, lords like Elvish Archdruid are essential for making those Elves big enough to attack, and Tyvar Kell is a must-have because its +1 loyalty ability can untap Lathril, allowing Lathril to use its powerful ability again. Demonic Tutor can seek out powerhouse cards on demand, like Tyvar Kell and Shaman of the Pack.