All 4 5-Color Artifact Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on December 29, 2023

Codie, Vociferous Codex | Illustration by Daniel Ljunggren

Picking the best commander for your deck is one of the most exciting and important parts of building an EDH deck. The recent focus on Commander as Magic’s most popular format, which includes an uptick in the number of legendary creatures we’ve seen, makes it a deckbuilder’s wonderland.

No matter how specific you want your deck’s commander to be, there’s an option. What if you want an artifact in the command zone that gives you access to all five colors? There are a few options for that, which range from the specific to the versatile.

What Are 5-Color Artifact Commanders in Magic?

Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch | Illustration by Simon Dominic

5-color artifact commanders are legendary creatures with the artifact type, and their color identity includes all five colors. Only one of these options is five colors itself; the others are colorless creatures with activated abilities that include all colors.

We’re looking for power and uniqueness in this ranking. This is already a specific query, so the commanders boast unique powers to match. Of the four, half represent typal strategies, while the others are powerful engines in the command zone.

#4. Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch

Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch cares about the Myr. Myr are adorable little constructs that littered Mirrodin as servants of Memnarch, though they succumbed to New Phyrexia‘s compleation. Urtet rewards you handsomely for playing Myr, providing you with a massive board state and an activated ability that buffs those Myr.

The activated ability is easy to get to, as many Myr tap to add mana, including a cycle from Mirrodin. Urtet isn’t our only option for buffing our little friends. Chief of the Foundry, Tempered Steel, and Urza, Prince of Kroog are just a few of the diverse options we have access to.

Since we can use all five colors, we can use the best typal support cards. From Kindred Discovery to Shared Animosity, Titan of Littjara to Coat of Arms, we can make excellent use of these Myr tokens – especially once you start factoring in artifact synergies like Reckless Fireweaver and Marionette Master.

#3. Reaper King

Reaper King might be another typal commander, but it plays quite differently than Urtet. Urtet cares about you casting Myr spells, whereas Reaper King only wants your scarecrows to enter the battlefield, making it an incredibly powerful commander for a changeling deck.

While there are some scarecrows you can play, like Scuttlemutt or Pili-Pala, changelings make this deck thrive. Cards like Unsettled Mariner and Irregular Cohort are already fine playables, but get far better when they destroy things on ETB.

It’s natural to reach for your Panharmonicon effects, especially since we have access to all of them, from Yarok, the Desecrated, to Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines. But we can do better. It’s easy to establish a loop of infinite flickering with access to tools like Preston, the Vanisher, or Displacer Kitten, letting us destroy every permanent our opponent controls in a flurry of Halloween fun.

#2. Ramos, Dragon Engine

After the banning of Golos, Tireless Pilgrim, Ramos, Dragon Engine might be our best option for 5-color good stuff piles that want to play all the good cards, though we’re incentivized to play multicolored spells. The reward? A hefty threat in the command zone and a ton of mana.

Door to Nothingness is a slam-dunk include, as Ramos’s ability gives us the 10 mana to activate it. But there are plenty of other payoffs for running multicolored spells. We can utilize Niv-Mizzet Reborn and Niv-Mizzet, Supreme if we want to focus on 2-color cards. Creatures like General Ferrous Rokiric and Fallaji Wayfarer don’t care how many colors they have.

As for good multicolor cards, Magic has no shortage of them. Aragorn, the Uniter, and Omnath, Locus of All are slam-dunks for this deck. All the Commands, especially Prismari Command and Kolaghan's Command do a ton of work as well. Ramos is the most value-oriented commander on the list, and it shows.

#1. Codie, Vociferous Codex

Codie, Vociferous Codex is a fascinating card and is one of the most unique commanders in general. There are plenty of ways to cascade, but making your instants and sorceries cascade with a deckbuilding restriction, access to all five colors, and a bit of ramp? Codie’s not just cool, it’s powerful, even showing up at cEDH tables on occasion.

While spellslinger decks are often regulated to URx decks, as those colors naturally utilize the strategy the best, Codie’s color identity lets us play with potent spells you don’t often see in those strategies. Duneblast stands out as an expensive spell that cascades and protects Codie while destroying everything else, Ruinous Ultimatum doesn’t mind Codie’s ramp, and a cascading Conflux seems like infinite value.

As for your permanents, you’ll likely want access to some mana rocks to play before Codie comes down. Cheap, valuable enchantments like Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study make sense as well, but I’d stay away from anything too expensive to avoid delaying Codie. For creatures, try to pick cards with alternate modes so you can still use them with Codie. Simian Spirit Guide and Elvish Spirit Guide produce mana for Codie's activated ability. We can use cycling on cards like Rampaging War Mammoth and Kogla and Yidaro to get value even with Codie in play.

Best 5-Color Artifact Payoffs

As 5-color decks, these cards have a couple of powerful payoffs. Firstly, since they’re artifacts, you can potentially get a lot of mileage from cards that care about artifacts, like Foundry Inspector.

Depending on how you build your deck, Jegantha, the Wellspring, can provide a boost as a companion. The mana provides acceleration and fixing, both of which benefit 5-color decks. Timeless Lotus provides a similar boon.

A diversity of colors also lets us use cards like Conflux, All Suns' Dawn, and Vivid Revival for potent card advantage. It’s also worth noting that each of these commanders is highly specific, so they have their own unique payoffs.

Commanding Conclusion

Ramos, Dragon Engine | Illustration by Joseph Meehan

There are plenty of value decks in Commander, but sometimes specificity and deck-building restrictions really spice the game up. Narrowing your option to a few hyper-specific cards, like 5-color artifact commanders, is a great way to get your creative juices flowing as you try to maximize the value of these commanders.

5-color decks can be piles of good cards, but there’s plenty of room for creative expression. What’s your favorite 5-color commander? Have you built any of the ones on this list? Let me know in the comments or on the Draftsim Discord!

Keep safe, and stay creative!