The Best 32 Pirate Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 24, 2026

Admiral Beckett Brass | Illustration by Jason Rainville

Are ya ready kids?

I can’t hear you!

Nah, I’m not talking about the SpongeBob Secret Lair, but it felt like a fitting way to get things started. I’ve set my looking glass on high seas, as I’m diving into all the pirate commanders we have in Magic’s most popular format. EDH has often been the home of casual play and pet cards, but I must say that pirates offer a lot at both ends of the power spectrum.

But which of these pirates commanders thrive, and which ones drop on the deck and flop like fish? Grab your fiddle and your concertina, ‘cause I’ve got me some sea shanties to sing!

What Are Pirate Commanders in MTG?

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator | Illustration by Eric Deschamps

Pirate commanders are legendary creatures that are also pirates, or other eligible commanders that mention pirates in their rules text or otherwise synergize with pirates. Outlaws of Thunder Junction introduced the typal coupling of rogues, warlocks, pirates, mercenaries, and assassins as outlaws, so outlaw commanders can be pirate commanders, too. I’ll include outlaw commanders in this list and specifically evaluate them as pirate commanders.

Note that while Throne of the Grim Captain has a legendary pirate on its back face, The Grim Captain can’t be a commander because it isn’t a legendary creature on its front face.

There are roughly 30 legendary pirates as of Foundations, along with some outlaw commanders and some non-pirates that fit from a flavor or mechanical perspective.

Unranked: Crucias, Titan of the Waves

Crucias, Titan of the Waves is an Alchemy exclusive (Alchemy: The Brothers’ War, to be precise), which means you can’t run it in paper Magic. It has an end step trigger that costs a discarded card to create a Treasure and seek another card, depending on your choice of ambitious or expedient. I won’t pretend to be hyper-familiar with Brawl as a format because I’m more of a magpie/physical collector type, but Crucias is here if you want it.

#32. Vaan, Street Thief

Vaan, Street Thief has become a bit of a competitive staple in cEDH with Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator and Vial Smasher the Fierce in the command zone.He's not too strong a commander himself, though. But if you're in the market for a casual pirate commander with a penchant for card thievery, you can certainly do worse!

#31. Westley, Dread Pirate Roberts

Westley, Dread Pirate Roberts is a Princess Bride x Secret Lair card that’s just a reprint of Fynn, the Fangbearer. It isn’t actually a pirate, and there are no green pirates in Magic as of Foundations. But I’m a completionist and I like round numbers, so here ya go!

#30. Ramirez DePietro

Ramirez DePietro is a 6-mana 4/3 with first strike from Legends. It’s been power-crept into oblivion, and the character has two other cards to choose from. It may be our first pirate commander chronologically thanks to some errata, but that often doesn’t mean “best.”

#29. Kari Zev, Skyship Raider + Baral and Kari Zev

Kari Zev, Skyship Raider gives you a temporary Ragavan token when it attacks, but you’ll rely entirely on the rest of your deck to build any power into this red commander. Not for me.

Baral and Kari Zev is just a human in its type line, but First Mate Ragavan is a pirate. This commander wants to be a spellslinger, so making a pirate deck here is a square pegs situation. It’s a better commander than I’m ranking it, just not as a pirate-specific commander.

#28. Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains

Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains is at its best when you can cheat it from your hand to the battlefield, then use your vehicles to bring it back to your hand from your graveyard and start all over. That’s a lot going on for this deck, but this slots in nicely with Edward Kenway.

#27. Breeches, Eager Pillager

Breeches, Eager Pillager’s trigger only goes off three times each turn, but each mode is very valuable to a pirate deck. Still only first mate material.

#26. Captain Lannery Storm

We have so many good pirates in all three individual Grixis colors () that mono-color pirate commanders need to do something really special to stand out. Captain Lannery Storm gives you Treasure tokens and benefits when you use them, so it’s fine. It just doesn’t blow me away in mono-red potential.

#25. Malcolm, the Eyes

Malcolm, the Eyes wants you to be spellslinging, and it’s a pirate that gives you Clues rather than Treasure. If you want the pirate theme here, Academy Manufactor will pull yeoman’s duty. Kappa Cannoneer is a good top-end if your deck generates lots of artifact tokens but lacks a payoff for them.

#24. Ghost of Ramirez DePietro

Ghost of Ramirez DePietro is probably one of the weaker partner commanders, at least for a pirate build. The saboteur effect really wants you to have looted or rummaged so it can give you back what you discarded. There’s just a lot more “ifs” than I want here.

#23. Vial Smasher, Gleeful Grenadier

Vial Smasher, Gleeful Grenadier is essentially an outlaw-specific Impact Tremors, which is great to have in a pirate deck. In, not leading.

#22. Captain Vargus Wrath

Fine at the helm, but this captain works better as support. Captain Vargus Wrath’s attack trigger buffs all your pirates, and it’s a cheap enough commander that you’ll easily cast it multiple times. And hey! You can play it in a Breeches + Malcolm partner deck if you want. It’s fine, but I’m by no means impressed.

#21. Marchesa, the Black Rose

Marchesa, the Black Rose is the reason I mentioned other non-typal commanders as possible pirate commanders. You’re in a Grixis color identity, and all you have to do to take advantage for Marchesa’s reanimation is have your pirates swing at and dethrone whoever has the most life. The only issue comes when you’re the player with the most life, but you can burn that bridge when you get to it.

#20. Captain Ripley Vance

Captain Ripley Vance is less of a pirate commander than a spellslinger commander to my taste, and in mono-red, too. Its ability only triggers the third time you cast a spell each turn, so you’ll want plenty of 1-mana and 2-mana spells. Cards that replace themselves in your hand or give you Treasure as part of their abilities are good to consider, since you’ll need some form of ramp to keep casting three spells per turn.

#19. Mary Read and Anne Bonny

There are enough Izzet () pirates to make a pure pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny deck, but I like the idea of mixing pirates and vehicles. There are enough vehicles that either represent pirate ships or that synergize with Treasure tokens, so it’s a fairly natural fit. This is definitely a flavor over power move, but sometimes that’s what you need.

#18. Breeches, the Blastmaker

Spell copying and coin flips in the same text box make Breeches, the Blastmaker a somewhat chaotic commander. You might not care about losing coin flips with it, given the potential damage you get from spells with higher mana values.

#17. Olivia, Opulent Outlaw

White has no pirates among its creatures as of Foundations, so a Mardu () pirate deck is a bit of a stretch. But Olivia, Opulent Outlaw has an ability that triggers with the same timing as the partner pirates (Breeches, Malcolm, Francisco), so you could basically run a Breeches + Francisco deck with access to white’s cheap removal. Olivia would also give you a sac outlet for your extra Treasures.

#16. Zara, Renegade Recruiter + Ramirez DePietro, Pillager

The back half of this list is really a who’s-who of some of the legendary creatures you can have in support of the better pirate commanders. Zara, Renegade Recruiter recruits your opponents’ creatures, at least temporarily. You also gain a lot of information when you look at your opponent’s hand, and you can choose to reveal it to the table if you wish.

Ramirez DePietro, Pillager is on a very similar power level, though it cares about any of your pirates dealing combat damage, and you need to cast the cards you want to steal. But you’re a pirate deck, so you’ve got Treasure galore, right?

#15. Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge is among the best discard commanders in Magic (notice that you can target any creature, including your opponents', leading to interesting political decisions…).  But this Izzet commander from Aetherdrift is a pirate just in name, without too much of a synergy with actual pirates, which is why it's not higher on this ranking.

#14. Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider

“Artifact” and “Pirate” are both in Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider’s rules text, and being uncommon means it can also be your Pauper commander if you’re into that format. It certainly rewards your Treasure production, but you can go for flavor and roleplaying by having Captain Storm guide a deck of investigating detectives or Thopter generating artificers through stormy seas.

#13. Laughing Jasper Flint

What’s neat about Laughing Jasper Flint is that it doesn’t really need Treasure for color fixing. Of course, I’ll never turn down extra mana. The Rakdos () pirates you can access still have some heavy hitters, and you can use Conspiracy and similar effects to make your stolen creatures into pirates to improve your returns from Breeches, Brazen Plunderer.

#12. Vihaan, Goldwaker

What’s really appealing about Vihaan, Goldwaker as a pirate commander is granting haste and vigilance to all your pirates and other outlaws. It also gives you something interesting to do with your Treasure tokens, and since they’re animated as assassins, they don’t tap when they attack. You’re left with attackers that you can still sacrifice for mana during combat or your second main phase, which has me imitating that “Not Bad” meme.

#11. Dargo, the Shipwrecker

Sacrificing more permanents lessens the impact commander tax has on Dargo, the Shipwrecker. You can pair it with Malcolm or Francisco for a pirate pairing in the command zone, but Dargo really wants to be in a sacrifice build.

#10. Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel

Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel is one of Magic’s best sirens. Bide your time or use proliferate effects to amass some chorus counters on Malcolm, and you’ll be on your way to casting free spells whenever you connect for damage. Make your commander unblockable with Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive or Rogue's Passage and give it double strike, and you’ll be controlling the game in no time. A salty idea for this pirate commander is to build it around casting extra turn spells for free.

#9. Francisco, Fowl Marauder

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan’s Commander precons gave us another pirate with partner, and Francisco, Fowl Marauder doesn’t disappoint. You already get Treasure to help ramp you, but exploring can also help to grow Francisco and filter the top of your deck.

#8. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

Call me a hater (maybe I am; this thing was released when I was on an extended Magic hiatus), but I don’t see much for Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer to do as a pirate commander. Treasure commander? Absolutely. I dunno. I think that I’ve just read enough about how good Ragavan is at this point that I’m just… bored.

#7. Xavier Sal, Infested Captain

You can play Xavier Sal, Infested Captain as a token commander, a +1/+1 counters commander, a planeswalker commander, a saga commander, a proliferate commander… it’s incredibly flexible. Pitiless Plunderer is a natural fit, whether you’re going tokens or pirates.

Apart from that… Sultai’s (’s) pirates tend to care about entering, attacking, and dealing combat damage. There’s a few pirates with “dies” triggers, so Xavier Sal may be miscast as a pirate typal commander.

#6. Breeches, Brazen Plunderer

Breeches, Brazen Plunderer pairs up with Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator for a solid pirate partner deck. They both have evasive combat abilities that help them to connect with opposing players for damage, and Malcolm’s Treasure helps to pay for the cards that Breeches plunders. Synergy!

#5. Don Andres, the Renegade

Pirates do love a spell theft theme, and Don Andres, the Renegade is one of the better commanders and enablers for it. Tasha, the Witch Queen is the perfect planeswalker for this deck, but you can lean more into Treasure and pirates if that’s more your style.

#4. Edward Kenway

Edward Kenway gives you a lot of Treasure tokens for having a tapped out board of assassins, pirates, and vehicles, which leads to using your assassins and pirates to crew your vehicles. It also rewards you by stealing cards from your opponents’ decks when your vehicles connect for combat damage. Talk about a fleet commander!

#3. Admiral Beckett Brass + Admiral Brass, Unsinkable

I’m not really interested in splitting hairs between two cards of the same character, even though Admiral Beckett Brass and Admiral Brass, Unsinkable do very different things. Admiral Beckett Brass is a typal lord that steals your opponents’ permanents, while Brass’s Unsinkable printing returns pirates from your graveyard to the battlefield, although with finality counters. Do you want more of a theft build or a reanimator build?

If you want to build around either one, I’d recommend springing for an Ahoy Mateys Commander precon from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander. Both cards are in that deck, as are Black Market Connections and a bunch of useful pirates.

#2. Captain N’ghathrod

The typal build here is horrors, not pirates, but that’s very fitting for a pirate that looks a lot like Davy Jones. Its card theft mechanic is also very pirate-y, and it’s no surprise how popular Captain N'ghathrod has been since it helmed a Baldur’s Gate Commander precon.

#1. Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

Individually, it’s hard not to give the crown to Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator. You can partner it with other pirate commanders that have the ability, or you can use either Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar to get three Treasure tokens each time Malcolm connects in combat or Vial Smasher the Fierce for a Grixis pirate deck. Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator isn’t my pick for the best typal pirate commander, but it’s incredibly flexible out of the command zone and the best pirate that can be your commander overall.

Best Pirate Commander Payoffs

Many pirates, legendary and non-legendary alike, have abilities that care about your other pirates. Corsair Captain and Admiral Beckett Brass each give you a quick and easy lordly buff, while a few other pirates care about when your pirates deal combat damage. Dire Fleet Neckbreaker gives your attacking pirates a power buff, and you certainly want your pirates to be attacking.

Daring Piracy helps during combat by giving you Pirate tokens with both menace and haste, and your Dire Fleet Captain will appreciate that.

Walk the Plank can be some efficient removal for you, especially if you have Treasure tokens to help with mana fixing. Buccaneer's Bravado is a combat trick that gets better when you run pirates. March of the Drowned is a recursive spell that’s twice as effective in a pirate deck. Fiery Cannonade won’t hit your pirates and can help to clear away some ankle biters.

Otherwise, I’d look for treasure payoffs, artifact payoffs, and token payoffs. Revel in Riches is the most obvious and most powerful as an alternate win condition. Xorn and Academy Manufactor are nontypal creatures if you’re looking for additional artifact tokens, while Mirkwood Bats and Reckless Fireweaver give you different abilities that’ll burn your opponents as you make Treasure.

For flavor, equipment like Pirate's Cutlass and Pirate Hat fit the bill, but I won’t pretend that they’re game winners or anything.

Swashbuckling Sendoff

Vihaan, Goldwaker | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we review the ranks of our pirate commanders. Corsair Captain is in Foundations, meaning it’ll be Standard legal longer than The Lost Caverns of Ixalan will be. Is another Ixalan visit in the works? Or perhaps we’re getting space pirates? Regardless, it’ll be fun to see what Magic’s designers throw our way!

Which pirates do you like running in your command zone? Which ones do you prefer in support? And what do you want to see from future Ixalan pirates, or pirate commanders in general? Let me know in the comments below, or submit your captain’s log to the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, stay safe, and keep up your Vitamin C! You scurvy dog….