There’s a lot of pressure that goes into selecting the Commander of your deck in Magic: The Gathering.
As a Constructed format, Commander requires players to make a 100-card deck with no repeat cards. The deck has a legendary creature dubbed its “Commander” and can be played from outside of the game without it being in your hand.
Additionally, every card in your deck must share its color or colors with whatever colors the commander has.
Starting out your deck construction by picking a powerful commander that can provide ample utility and also lets you play whatever variety of colors you enjoy playing is crucial.
While there’s no one way to play Commander, there are a few standout legendary cards that creatively give players access to colors and also provide a massive amount of multifaceted utility.
Powerful decks can be crafted around practically any legendary creature card, but some can be used in particularly overpowering ways. Here are some of the best Commanders you can build a deck around in MTG.
Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
Golos is one of the top-ranked Commanders in MTG. Not only does the card allow you to play any color you want, it can also be used to search your deck for land cards, giving you the ability to fix your mana as you need.
While the card’s cost is colorless, its activated ability requires all five colors, making it so you can legally put any color card you want in your deck. This is highly sought-after in Commander where you can’t put more than one of the same card in your deck.
Effectively, the strongest Golos decks are just “Five Color Good Stuff” with Golos serving as a way to fix your mana. Then once you’ve done that, Golos’ activated ability lets you play cards from the top of your library without paying their cost.
Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice
Boasting four different colors in its mana cost, Atraxa is a powerful supporting Commander as well.
Along with giving you access to every color in the game except Red, Atraxa’s proliferate ability can be used in decks that rely heavily on counters or planeswalkers.
There are many cards in MTG that have triggers whenever a card proliferates or whenever counters are added or removed from cards.
Using Atraxa as your Commander can ensure you’re making the most of cards with those mechanics. Oftentimes, players will find ways to turn proliferate combos into lethal plays.
Muldrotha, the Gravetide
Muldrotha only gives players access to three colors, but with a powerful ability, you’ll only need those three.
The Black, Green, and Blue Commander lets you play and cast spells from your graveyard each turn, making things like self-milling a viable strategy.
If you enjoy decks that allow you to effectively use your graveyard as an extension of your hand, this is the Commander for you. By being able to play cards from your graveyard, Muldrotha can help players gain card advantage over their opponents that can turn the tide of a match.
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
Korvold is a notorious Commander that has a plethora of ways to win very early in matches.
The Red, Black, and Green Commander is typically played in decks that have token generators and sacrifice engines that allow you to draw a bunch of cards and put counters on Korvold.
Meanwhile, you surround Korvold with permanents that give payoffs for your creatures being sacrificed, amplifying the power and synergy of all the tokens you make and sacrifice.
Korvold is known for being played in decks that have a variety of infinite combos that can win games in one turn.
Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow
This aggressive Blue and Black Commander is the only one on our list that gives access to less than three colors. But with a powerful ability, it doesn’t need access to a lot.
Costing only three mana (or two if you use its Commander ninjutsu ability), you can pop off significantly faster than a large percentage of decks.
Additionally, Yuriko’s triggered ability of drawing a card and dealing damage to all other players can put pressure on your opponents and make for extremely short games.
Published: Mar 27, 2021 06:31 pm