Magic: The Gathering
The best way to build a powerful Commander deck in Magic: The Gathering is to stick to the most played and powerful strategies. 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 Commanders, 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. Plus, many of these are very affordable!
20 Nekusar, The Mindrazer ($1.02 Market Price on TCGPlayer)
Reinventing The Wheel
Named after the classic Wheel of Fortune card, so-called Wheel decks are designed to make your opponents discard and redraw their decks entirely, stymieing any strategy they might try to construct. Nekusar can function as an excellent Commander for a Wheel deck.
Although relatively weak on his own, Nekusar's ability causes each opponent to take damage each time they draw a card. It also forces them to draw an extra card during their draw phase, which means an extra point of damage each turn.
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Over time, this will also force opponents to discard during their cleanup phases. With the singleton decks required by the Commander format, they'll eventually have to get rid of certain cards central to their strategies, leaving them unable to play how they want. Nekusar is a powerful commander, which makes him unpopular, so be prepared to deal with some frustration.
Some popular inclusions in a Nekusar, The Mindrazer Deck might be:
- Underworld Dreams
- Fate Unraveler
- Jace's Archivist
- Teferi's Puzzle Box
- Magus of the Wheel
19 Esika, God of the Tree // The Prismatic Bridge ($16.77 Market Price on TCGPlayer)
Two Commanders In One, With A Powerful Effect On Each
Although Esika, God of the Tree is 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. The commander 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. This 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.
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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 mercenaries 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
18 Shorikai, Genesis Engine ($4.64 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.
Its effect alone is excellent, though—for just 1 mana and tapping it, players can draw 2 cards and create a 1/1 Pilot token. This token works as though it has 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.
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
17 Sauron, The Dark Lord ($14.55 Market Price on TCGPlayer)
Building An Army Worthy Of Mordor
Released as part of the Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings expansion, Sauron, the Dark Lord is one of two Sauron Commander cards in its set. This version is far superior, though. For one thing, it's much cheaper to cast and can deal a fair bit of damage with his 7/6 statline. Perhaps more important is his ability to Ward, which prevents opponents from targeting him without first sacrificing legendary artifacts or creatures. This exorbitant cost means he'll stay in play almost constantly.
Most importantly, though, whenever an opponent casts any spell, Sauron can take the time to amass an Orc army. The power of his army will grow over time, eventually flooding the battlefield with hordes of Uruk-hai. He can also discard and draw his hands whenever the Ring tempts him, including when his army deals damage to a player.
Some popular inclusions in a Sauron, the Dark Lord Deck might be:
- Saruman, the White Hand
- Barad-dur
- Nazgul
- Ringsight
- Call of the Ring
16 Kaalia of the Vast ($13.81 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 several exciting mechanics. 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 an 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 some of the most game-changing creatures available, especially when they're expensive.
Kaalia lets 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 for free that normally might not make sense to waste mana on.
Some popular inclusions in a Kaalia deck might be:
- Lightning Greaves
- Swiftfoot Boots
- Angel of Despair
- Rakdos, Patron of Chaos
- Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
15 Gishath, Sun's Avatar ($4.90 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.
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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
14 Jodah, the Unifier ($2.40 Market Price on TCGPlayer)
Cascade Into An Endless Flow of Legendary Permanents
As a 5/5 creature for 5 mana cost, Jodah, the Unifier's stats aren't as bad as others on this list, but 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 exiles cards from the top of their library until revealing a Legendary spell of a lower mana cost and casts it for free.
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 non-land 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
13 Krenko, Mob Boss ($1.22 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 the 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.
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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
12 Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver ($14.66 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 that 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, 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
11 Edgar Markov ($40.79 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. 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, it creates 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 favorable board state. 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
