Top 10 Must-have Commanders for Your Deck

Collectable card games offer thrills when you build a deck and strategize to win. One of the key elements in creating a powerful and engaging deck is the selection of a commander. Commanders are not just the leaders of your deck; they are the very core of your strategy. In this guide, we’ll explore the top 10 commanders for your deck. Each commander has unique strengths and gameplay styles. If you’re new or experienced, these commanders will improve your deck building.

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher

Prossh is a powerhouse commander known for his ability to generate an army of tokens. Discover how to make a Prossh deck and boost its power with effective strategies.

Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice

Atraxa combines the power of multiple planeswalkers and is a favourite for those who enjoy controlling the battlefield with powerful planeswalker abilities.

Edgar Markov

If you like vampires, Edgar Markov is the perfect commander for your vampire deck. Dive into the world of Edgar’s bloodline and learn to dominate the board.

Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow

Yuriko brings a new way to play the game by attacking from the shadows. Discover how to use her evasive abilities to keep your opponents on their toes.

Meren of Clan Nel Toth

Meren is all about exploiting the graveyard. Learn how to build a deck that leverages the dead to fuel your game-winning strategies.

Kaalia of the Vast

Kaalia has a reputation for bringing massive, game-changing creatures into play. Explore the strategies behind assembling your army of titans.

Muldrotha, the Gravetide

Muldrotha grants you the ability to play multiple card types from your graveyard. Unearth the potential of this commander for endless value.

Kess, Dissident Mage

Kess is the ideal commander for those who enjoy the intricacies of spellcasting. Learn how to wield her abilities to make every spell count.

Tymna the Weaver & Thrasios, Triton Hero

Tymna and Thrasios make for a powerful combination. Discover how these two commanders can provide you with a steady stream of cards and mana.

Animar, Soul of Elements

Animar is a unique commander focused on playing creatures with reduced costs. Dive into the elemental world and learn how to exploit Animar’s abilities.

Now that we’ve explored the top 10 must-have commanders for your deck, it’s time to delve deeper into each of these choices and understand their strengths, weaknesses, and how to build an effective deck around them.

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher – The Dragonlord of Tokens

Prossh is a Jund commander, representing red, green, and black colours. His abilities are as follows:

Flying: Prossh has a flying ability, making him a formidable threat in the air.

X Token Generation: Prossh’s most iconic ability is his token generation. He creates several 0/1 red Kobold creature tokens equal to the amount of mana spent to cast him.

When attacking, he gets +1/+0 for each creature sacrificed: “Sacrifice for Power.”.

Building a Prossh Deck

The core of a Prossh deck lies in token generation. To maximize this aspect, consider the following:

• Invest in mana ramp cards such as Sakura-Tribe Elder and Farseek. This will help you cast Prossh early and frequently.
• Token Doublers: Cards like [[Parallel Lives]] and [[Anointed Procession]] double the number of tokens you generate, increasing Prossh’s power.
• Use cards like Ashnod’s Altar to sacrifice tokens for mana or effects.
• To protect Prossh, use cards like Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots. 9 words]. .[.

Token Synergy

Your tokens can be more than mere cannon fodder. Utilize cards that take advantage of the tokens you generate:

• With [Beastmaster Ascension]], your tokens become a powerful force with +5/+5. .[.
• Whenever you put a creature on the battlefield, your opponents will lose 1 life.
• [[Ogre Battledriver]]: Your tokens gain haste and +2/+0 when they enter the battlefield.

Sacrifice for Value

Don’t let your tokens go to waste. Consider these cards for added value:

• [[Blood Artist]]: Gain life when creatures die, and opponents lose life.
• [[Dictate of Erebos]]: Sacrifice a creature to make your opponents sacrifice theirs.
• [[Zulaport Cutthroat]]: Another way to drain your opponents’ life when creatures die.

Win Conditions

Prossh can win in a variety of ways:

• Prossh’s flying and power-boosting can lead to commander damage wins.
• Token Overrun: Overwhelm your opponents with an army of tokens and pump spells.
• Combo Finish: Some Prossh decks incorporate infinite combos for a sudden win.

Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice – The Queen of Superfriends

Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice is a commander with four colours: white, blue, black, and green. 9 words]. .[ Her abilities are:

• Atraxa can fly and has vigilance, which makes her great at attacking and blocking.
• Lifelink: She also has Lifelink, allowing you to regain life when she deals damage.
• Proliferate: Atraxa’s most defining ability is proliferate, which lets you add a counter to any number of permanents that already have one. This includes loyalty counters on planeswalkers.

Building an Atraxa Deck

Atraxa is renowned for her compatibility with planeswalkers. Here’s how to build around this synergy:

• Planeswalker Selection: Choose planeswalkers with a variety of abilities, from removal and card draw to token generation and board control.
• Counters Matter: Cards like [[Doubling Season]] and [[Contagion Engine]] amplify the power of your planeswalkers by doubling the counters they receive.
• Ultimate Abilities: Planeswalker ultimates can be game-changing. Prioritize planeswalkers with ultimates that can lead you to victory.

+1/+1 Counters

Proliferation isn’t just for planeswalkers. It can enhance other aspects of your deck as well:

Add creatures that benefit from +1/+1 counters (e.g., [Hardened Scales]], [[Winding Constrictor]]).

Atraxa is great with infected creatures. Proliferate boosts the poison counters your opponents get.

Protection and Control

While planeswalkers are powerful, they need protection:

• Counterspells: Include blue counterspells to protect your planeswalkers from removal.
• Board Wipes: Cards such as [Wrath of God]] can clear the board and keep your planeswalkers safe.
• Make your planeswalkers harder to remove by giving them hexproof or indestructible. They won’t be easily taken down.

Win Conditions

Atraxa offers multiple paths to victory:

• Ultimate Abilities: Many planeswalkers have game-ending ultimate abilities that can secure your win.
• To defeat your opponents, create a powerful army of big creatures with +1/+1 counters.
• Stax Strategy: Use control elements and grind your opponents slowly to win the game.

Edgar Markov – The Vampire Lord

Edgar Markov is a three-color commander, featuring white, black, and red in his mana costume. His abilities are:

• All vampire creatures you control gain first strike, making them great in combat.
• Token Generation: Whenever Edgar attacks, he creates a 1/1 red Vampire creature token.
• Eminence: This ability activates whenever he’s in the command zone. It also works when he’s on the battlefield, boosting your vampires.

Building an Edgar Markov Deck

Edgar Markov excels in leading a vampire tribal deck:

• Choose vampires with different abilities to build a strong vampire army.
• Token Aggro: Maximize token generation to swarm your opponents with vampires.
• Anthem Effects make your vampires more powerful. Cards like Shared Animosity and Cathars’ Crusade help boost their power.

Aggro Strategy

With a focus on aggro, you can overwhelm your opponents:

• Haste: Give your vampires haste to attack immediately and apply pressure.
• Double Strike: Double strikes can be devastating with the first strike Edgar provides.
• Buffs and Counters: Use cards that increase the power of your vampires to deal even more damage.

Lifegain Synergy

Vampires often have a lifeline, which can lead to life strategies:

• Use cards like [Ajani’s Pridemate]] and [[Well of Lost Dreams]] that trigger when you gain life.
• Drain Effects: Drain your opponents with cards like [[Sanguine Bond]] and [[Blood Artist]].

Win Conditions

Edgar Markov can win in several ways:

• Aggro Overwhelm: Swarm your opponents with vampires and overrun them.
• Lifegain Victory: Accumulate an insurmountable life total and drain your opponents.
• Combo Finish: Some decks incorporate combos for a surprise win.

Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow – The Ninja Assassin

Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow is a commander that uses blue and black colors. She focuses on the Dimir colour combination. Her abilities are:

• Use Ninjutsu: Bounce attacker to summon tapped Yuriko as a blocker.
• Evasion: Yuriko has evasion with both flying and unblockable.
• Her ability triggers when you deal combat damage to an opponent. It reveals the top card of your library and makes each opponent lose life equal to its converted mana cost.

Building a Yuriko Deck

Yuriko’s strength lies in her ninja companions:

• Ninjutsu: Build a ninja squad to facilitate commander ninjutsu and surprise attacks.
• Focus on using unblockable creatures and evasion to help Yuriko connect with opponents.
• Improve your library using cards like Sensei’s Divining Top and Scroll Rack.

High-CMC Cards

Yuriko’s ability rewards you for playing high-converted mana cost (CMC) cards:

• Creatures: Include high-CMC creatures with game-changing abilities that can hurt your opponents.
• Spells: High-CMC spells like extra turn cards can be devastating with Yuriko’s ability.

Extra Turn Spells

Yuriko decks often incorporate extra turn spells:

• Extra turn spells like [Time Warp]] and [[Temporal Manipulation]] let you take multiple turns in a row.[.
• Cards like “Brainstorm” and “Mystical Tutor” help prepare your deck for more damage.

Win Conditions

Yuriko excels at winning through alternate victory conditions:

• Yuriko can steadily reduce your opponent’s life total with her ability.
• Commander Damage: Use unblockable creatures to achieve commander damage victories.
• Infinite Combos: Some Yuriko decks incorporate infinite combos to secure a win.

Meren of Clan Nel Toth – The Graveyard Master

Meren of Clan Nel Toth is a Golgari commander, featuring green and black in her color identity. Her abilities are:

• Experience Counters: Meren enters with two experience counters, which are integral to her abilities.
• Reanimate from Graveyard: During your end step, you can return a creature from your graveyard to the battlefield with a converted mana cost (CMC) less than or equal to the number of experience counters you have.
• Meren wants you to sacrifice creatures to gain experience counters.

Building a Meren Deck

Meren thrives on manipulating the graveyard:

• Sacrifice Outlets: Cards like [[Carrion Feeder]] and [[Ashnod’s Altar]] allow you to sacrifice creatures and fuel Meren’s ability.
• Recursion: Include cards that return creatures from the graveyard to your hand, like [[Eternal Witness]].
• Meren can bring back many creatures at once. Find cards that allow mass sacrifice, such as Dictate of Erebos.

Stax and Control

Meren decks often employ control elements:

• Slow down opponents using stax effects like Grave Pact to hinder their plays.
• To protect your graveyard from being exiled by opponents, use cards like [Bojuka Bog]].
• Board Wipes: Consider board wipes to clear the field of opposing creatures.

Graveyard Combos

• Meren decks can incorporate combos for added power:
• [[Mikaeus, the Unhallowed]] Combo: Mikaeus can provide infinite loops with persistent creatures and sacrifice outlets.
• [[Triskelion]] Combo: Pair Triskelion with Mikaeus for a lethal combo.

Win Conditions

• Meren offers various paths to victory:
• Attrition: Slowly grind your opponents out of resources with control elements.
• Reanimation Army: Overwhelm your opponents with a resurrected army of creatures.
• Infinite Combos: Some Meren decks incorporate infinite combos for a sudden win.

Kaalia of the Vast – The Commander of Big Creatures

Kaalia of the Vast is a Mardu commander, featuring white, black, and red. Her abilities are:

• Flying: Kaalia herself has flown, allowing her to bypass ground-based defences.
• Kaalia attacks an opponent. Put an Angel, Demon, or Dragon card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacked.
• Creatures summoned by Kaalia can’t be countered and enter the battlefield tapped.

Building a Kaalia Deck

Kaalia excels at summoning fearsome creatures to the battlefield:

• Include legendary creatures such as Avacyn, Rakdos, and Scourge of the Throne.
• Varied Threats: Choose creatures that offer different abilities and threats to cover various situations.
• Tutors: Use creature tutors to fetch the perfect creature for each situation.

Protection and Haste

Kaalia can be a target, so providing her with protection and haste is crucial:

• Haste: Give Kaalia haste so she can attack and trigger her ability immediately.
• Protection: Consider cards like [[Swiftfoot Boots]] and [[Mother of Runes]] to keep Kaalia safe.

Mana Ramp

To ensure you can cast your high-CMC creatures, include mana ramp options:

• Rocks and Dorks speed up your mana production: [Sol Ring]] and [[Birds of Paradise]] help you make more mana.[.
• To access Kaalia’s colours, use land tutors like Command Tower and Mana Confluence.

Win Conditions

Kaalia decks typically win through combat, with massive, evasive creatures: .

• Commander Damage: Use Kaalia and her summoned creatures to deal with commander damage.
• Board Dominance: Overwhelm your opponents with powerful creatures they can’t easily deal with.
• Combo Finish: Some Kaalia decks incorporate combo finishes for surprise wins.

Muldrotha, the Gravetide – The Eternal Recycler

Muldrotha, the Gravetide is a three-colour commander, featuring green, blue, and black. Her abilities are:

• Muldrotha lets you play cards from your graveyard during your turn. You can play a land, artefact, enchantment, creature, and planeswalker from your graveyard.
• Muldrotha is a helpful value engine. It lets you bring back important cards from your graveyard every turn.
• To protect Commander Muldrotha, whose power and toughness are low, is crucial.

Building a Muldrotha Deck

Use Muldrotha’s power to play all permanents from your graveyard:

• Lands: Play lands from your graveyard to ensure consistent land drops.
• Artefacts and Enchantments: Use artefacts and enchantments for utility and recursion.
• Creatures: Use creatures that can control the board or draw cards repeatedly.
• Planeswalkers: Deploy planeswalkers for their powerful abilities.

Related Article: What is the Difference Between Commander and Standard?

Sacrifice Outlets

To maximize Muldrotha’s potential, include sacrifice outlets: .

• Artefact Sacrifice: Utilize cards like [[Krark-Clan Ironworks]] to sacrifice artefacts and generate mana.
• Creature Sacrifice is possible with cards like [Phyrexian Altar]]. You can sacrifice creatures to gain extra advantages.[.
• Value Sacrifice: Recur creatures that provide value upon entering or leaving the battlefield.

Protection and Control

Muldrotha decks often incorporate control elements:

• Counterspells: Include blue counterspells to protect your combo pieces and important permanents.
• Removal: Use removal spells to handle threats and maintain control of the board.
• Graveyard Hate: Protect your graveyard with cards that prevent opponents from exiling it.

Win Conditions

Muldrotha offers various paths to victory:

• Value Grind: Control the game through value generation, attrition, and recursion.
• Combo Finish: Some Muldrotha decks incorporate combos for a sudden win.
• Board Dominance: Overwhelm your opponents with a diverse array of permanent types.

Kess, Dissident Mage – The Spellcasting Savant

Kess, Dissident Mage is a Grixis commander, featuring blue, black, and red. Her abilities are:

• Kess lets you cast spells from your graveyard during your turn.
• Control Focus: Kess excels in controlling the game through spellcasting and manipulation.
• Commander Vulnerability: Kess is relatively fragile, so consider protection options.

Building a Kess Deck

Kess revolves around instant and sorcery spells:

• Removal: Include a variety of removal spells to control the board and deal with threats.
• Counterspells: Protect yourself and your spells with counterspells.
• Card Draw: Utilize card draw spells to maintain your hand and find your combo pieces.

Spellslinger Strategy

Kess is the ideal commander for a spell slinger strategy:

• Spell Doublers are cards that copy your spells for greater impact.
• Consider storm spells that replicate when cast, like [Tendrils of Agony]]. .[.
• Infinite Combos: Some Kess decks incorporate infinite combos for a surprise win.

Protection and Control

Kess can be a target, so providing her with protection is vital:

• Counterspells: Include blue counterspells to protect your spells and your combo pieces.
• To make Kess tougher to remove, give her hexproof or indestructible. This will protect her from being targeted or destroyed.
• Removal: Use removal spells to handle threats and maintain control of the board.

Win Conditions

Kess offers multiple paths to victory:

• Control and Attrition: Control the game through spellcasting, counterspells, and removal.
• Combo Finish: Some Kess decks incorporate combos for a sudden win.
• Spell Overload: Overwhelm your opponents with a barrage of powerful spells.

Tymna the Weaver & Thrasios, Triton Hero

Tymna and Thrasios are partners, great for drawing cards and ramping up. Their abilities are:

• Card Draw: Tymna allows you to draw a card whenever you deal combat damage to a player.
• Ramp: Thrasios allows you to scry 1 and then reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a land, you can put it onto the battlefield.

Building a Tymna and Thrasios Deck

Tymna and Thrasios provide an excellent card advantage engine:

• Combat: Maximize your opportunities to deal combat damage with evasive creatures.
• Use control elements to keep your creatures safe and deal consistent combat damage.
• Card Draw: Include additional card draw engines to further bolster your card advantage.

Ramp and Mana Fixing

Thrasios’s ability to ramp and fix your mana is invaluable:

• Include landfall and land abilities to fully use Thrasios’s scrying power.
• Mana Sinks: Make use of mana sinks to ensure you can utilize all the mana generated.
• Thrasios’s ability helps create unlimited mana combos for a fast victory.

Protection and Control

With a focus on control, you can ensure your engines stay protected:

• Counterspells: Include blue counterspells to protect your creatures and combo pieces.
• Use spells like [Swan Song]] and [[Heroic Intervention]] to protect your board. .[.
• Board Wipes: Consider board wipes to handle opponents’ threats and maintain control.

Win Conditions

Tymna and Thrasios decks can win through various means:

• Combo Finish: Some decks incorporate infinite combos for a surprise win.
• Use evasive creatures to deal combat damage and exhaust your opponents’ resources.
• Card Advantage Grind: Control the game through card draw, countermagic, and attrition.

Animar, Soul of Elements – The Elemental Champion

Animar, Soul of Elements is a three-color commander, featuring blue, red, and green. His abilities are:

• Creature Counters: Animar gets a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast a creature spell.
• Animar lowers the mana cost of your creatures by one colourless mana for each +1/+1 counter on him.
• Animar is naturally safe from white and black spells and abilities.

Building an Animar Deck

Animar excels at leading a creature-centric deck:

• +1/+1 Counters: Focus on cards that add +1/+1 counters to creatures, such as [[Hardened Scales]] and [[Doubling Season]].
• Choose creatures with different skills like a ramp, card draw, removal, and win conditions.
• Combo Potential: Some Animar decks incorporate creature-based infinite combos.

Cost Reduction Strategy

animar’s cost reduction ability is a central theme:

• Ramp Spells: Use mana ramp spells to ensure you can cast Animar early and often.
• Include cards that lower creature costs or let you play creatures for free.
• Big Creatures: Take advantage of the reduced costs to play massive, game-changing creatures.

Protection and Control

Animar can be a target, so protecting him is essential:

• Counterspells: Include blue counterspells to protect Animar and your combo pieces.
• To protect Animar, give him hexproof or indestructible. This will make him more difficult to get rid of.
• To handle threats and control the board, use removal spells.

Win Conditions

Animar decks can win through multiple avenues:

• Creature Overwhelm: Beat your opponents with huge creatures that cost less.
• Infinite Combos: Some Animar decks incorporate creature-based infinite combos for a sudden win.
• Animar’s abilities in protecting and reducing costs can result in commander damage wins.