The 35 Best 6-Mana Commanders in Magic Ranked

Clive, Ifrit's Dominant | Illustration by Nino Is

If there’s one thing that gaming and collector nerds like to do, it’s ranking things and sorting things. I mean… we’re here, aren’t we? And when it comes to Magic, boy do we like to rank and sort our commanders. We break them down by their color identity, their creature type, their mechanics, the archetypes they support, and even their mana value.

Five-mana commanders are the threshold for when we can dip into full WUBRG commanders, but what happens when we crank things up to 6 mana? Expensive commanders have to do a lot to compete with leaner legends, but you won’t be surprised to find some of the best and most popular commanders ever printed among the top 6-mana commanders.

What Are 6-Mana Commanders in MTG?

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods | Illustration by Matt Stewart

In Magic’s Commander format, 6-mana commanders are cards with a mana value of exactly 6 that you can run in the command zone. They can be legendary creatures, vehicles, or spacecraft, they can be background enchantments, or they can be planeswalkers with rules text that allows them to be your commander.

For this list, I won’t consider X-spells that can be your commander or an alternate casting cost like a prowl, ninjutsu, or more than meets the eye cost. Higher mana values that you can reduce to 6 with abilities like affinity are also off the table, but an affinity commander with a starting MV of 6 is fair game. The only other exceptions are a few double-faced cards that have a 6-mana, castable back side.

#35. Clara Oswald

Clara Oswald’s power comes from the absolute flexibility of it. Forget Faceless One or The Prismatic Piper: This is a colorshifter that’s also a trigger doubler for your doctors, and it allows you to turn any doctor into the 3-color commander you want. Or it turns The Fourteenth Doctor into a 5-color commander, I guess.

#34. Narset, Enlightened Master

There was a time when Narset, Enlightened Master was one of the saltier commanders out there because of how easily you can chain extra turns with it. There’s other paths you can take, though, like using Narset to cheat on the costs of planeswalkers. Khans of Tarkir may be over 10 years old, but you can still have fun with Narset in the command zone.

#33. The Reaper, King No More

One of the many commanders from Lorwyn Eclipsed that revitalized the -1/-1 counter archetype, The Reaper, King No More specifically wants your opponents’ creatures to die with -1/-1 counters on them. It doesn’t care how they get there, so blight abilities work as much as anything else that places -1/-1 counters. The once per turn restriction just means you should kill your opponents’ creatures on anybody’s turn to steal more stuff.

#32. Hamza, Guardian of Arashin

Hamza, Guardian of Arashin mixes go-wide with go-tall, with cost reduction that cares about the number of creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them. The counters themselves are fairly common in each new set, so Hamza often gets new cards to upgrade the deck like Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11. Hamza also has synergy with Mutagen tokens, for that matter.

#31. Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant / Ifrit, Warden of Inferno

Clive, Ifrit's Dominant is all about three Ds: devotion, discard, and damage. The burn comes less from your commander than the types of payoffs it enables: Brallin, Skyshark Rider and Glint-Horn Buccaneer turn discards into damage, while Fanatic of Mogis turns devotion into damage. Feldon of the Third Path creates temporary tokens of the best creatures in your graveyard, which might be an enters trigger you want to reuse or just the Anger you discarded to be your haste enabler.

#30. Raised by Giants

The only 6-mana background is a middle of the road one that turns any commander into a base 10/10 giant. Some choose a background commanders like Sarevok, Deathbringer and Vhal, Candlekeep Researcher have abilities that care about their power/toughness, but the most popular pairings for Raised by Giants are Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer for a Gruul () deck that goads anything smaller than a 10/10, Karlach, Fury of Avernus for a Gruul extra combats deck, and Wilson, Refined Grizzly for a mono-green bear or Voltron deck.

#29. The Extra Combat Tier

I initially had three separate entries for Aurelia, the Warleader, Ozai, the Phoenix King, and Bruce Banner / The Incredible Hulk, but they are of such similar power levels and I want to save space for a few more names.

Aurelia is a known commodity; Ozai mixes firebending with a mana storage ability, and Hulk is my pick to usurp Anzrag, at least for some players. Lures and indestructible enablers will go a long way, like they do with Anzrag, but you have blue’s counterspells to protect your win condition.

#28. The Locust God

Many of the Amonkhet gods are notoriously difficult to kill, and The Locust God is one of the best among them for the sheer board presence it creates. I prefer it as support in the 99 but it’s no slouch in the command zone, either. Its own activated ability loots a card for 4 mana (or less with Training Grounds), but the power comes from wheels. Mass draw means mass board presence, which you can then funnel through impact triggers for burn damage.

#27. Nahiri, Forged in Fury

March of the Machine: The Aftermath was a weird little set with its share of stellar cards. Nahiri, Forged in Fury is among the best equipment commanders you can run since its attack trigger gives you impulse draws and cheats on equipment costs. You can go wide or Voltron, but I think the sweet spot is to have a few beaters to slap your equipment onto so that you see more of your deck and threaten more of your opponents.

#26. Ruric Thar, the Unbowed

I watched 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple the night before writing this, so Iron Maiden is already on my mind.

Ruric Thar, the Unbowed’s noncreature spell trigger is so very punishing. Ramp spells, mana rocks, auras, and planeswalkers all trigger it too, not just instants and sorceries. Ruric Thar is one of the commanders you can use to build around Primal Surge, since it also punishes you if you cast noncreature spells.

#25. Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Tasigur, the Golden Fang is a 6-mana commander with cEDH potential, which comes from how you can use delve to cast it for as cheap as , then sacrifice it to a pod effect to climb the ladder from 6 to… goddamn it. But 7 mana is where threats like Hullbreaker Horror and Nezahal, Primal Tide sit, or you could go for Scholar of the Lost Trove.

For lower power tables, Sultai () self-mill and reanimator are tried and true archetypes you can build on virtually any budget.

#24. Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer is a great commander for creature tokens of all kinds, although you’re in great colors for artifact tokens. Your commander acts as a haste enabler so that you can go wide and get into combat with them, but its mass copy ability is where the power lies. It’ll change your utility artifact tokens into creatures, too, but the real question is, what should you copy? Dragonmaster Outcast is a 1-drop that gives you 5/5 dragon tokens, but let’s not over think this: You need Karnstructs.

#23. Niv-Mizzet, Visionary

What starts off as Spellbook in the command zone becomes stupid when you turn noncombat damage into cards. Izzet () spellslinger decks already use Guttersnipe variants and Harmonic Prodigy when it fits, so imagine those two with Niv-Mizzet, Visionary on the field as you cast your Lightning Bolt. Bolt for 3, Guttersnipe adds 2 to each opponent, and Harmonic Prodigy doubles that. With three opponents, that’s 15 damage dealt, which means 30 cards since the Prodigy doubles your commander’s trigger, too. It slots in nicely among Izzet’s spellslinger options in Brackets 2 through 4.

#22. Prossh, Skyraider of Kher

Dragons have had firebreathing abilities since the earliest days of Magic, but Prossh, Skyraider of Kher makes it Jund (): The cost to activate its firebreathing ability is a sacrificed creature rather than . Its cast trigger (not enters) gives you tokens based on the amount of mana you spent to cast Prossh; commander tax actually becomes a somewhat good thing? The more sacrifice fodder you can get onto the board before you attack, the more you can pump up Prossh before you attack. And since you’re in Jund, you could run the Chatterfang Plunderer combo if you want.

#21. Astarion, the Decadent

Orzhov () lifegain is well-tread ground in Magic design, and yet it never really gets bad because any deck that can run the Exquisite Blood/Sanguine Bond combo has a built-in win condition. In a long, grindy game, Exsanguinate is a possible win condition, too. Astarion, the Decadent has the added benefit of being a familiar face to Baldur’s Gate 3 players out there. Besides, dapper and deadly is a lovely combination at the Commander table.

#20. Thantis, the Warweaver

Jund loves to make opponents do things that they don’t want to, and Thantis, the Warweaver’s forced combat is a particularly fun way to do that. It doesn’t use goad, so you aren’t protected unless you bring along incentives to swing elsewhere other than the threat that you’ll add +1/+1 counters onto your commander. Fogs can save your butt, or you can use Spider-Punk to shut off your opponents’ damage prevention.

#19. Eddie Brock / Venom, Lethal Protector

Forget the reanimation on Eddie Brock for a minute. We care about the 6-mana Venom, Lethal Protector side. It takes a classic Jund sacrifice path, though it pays you off in mana and reanimation based on the sacrificed creature’s mana value, not power or toughness. Menace, trample, and haste help it get into combat quickly. It’s not quite a pod commander without the “mana value plus 1” text, but you can mix and match your favorite enters and death triggers to make the deck your own.

#18. Lumra, Bellow of the Woods

Dungrove Elder in the command zone has to do something interesting to be good, and Lumra, Bellow of the Woods can really pay you off if you set things up right. Its power and toughness depend on the number of lands you have, but it also mills you and returns lands as it comes in. If you’ve already milled or discarded a bunch of lands, that can be a massive mana swing, not to mention a surge of landfall triggers. Just a good green mythic from the cycle that represents the Calamity Beasts in Bloomburrow.

#17. Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale

It’s a weird color combination for the combination of abilities, but Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale makes for a fun knight typal or equipment-based commander. You don’t need to run many other cost reducers when your commander is one itself. You can aim wide for more card draw and more life loss; lifelinkers or lifelink-enabling equipment can help to offset it.

#16. Gargos, Vicious Watcher

The cost reduction ability makes Gargos, Vicious Watcher an obvious hydra commander, but you’ll need some auras or combat tricks to use it as creature removal. The nice thing about Gargos is that with a mana value of , you can use mono-green cost reduction to contribute to your ramp package. Which in turn means you can run more non-hydra X-spells if you feel like it.

#15. Ziatora, the Incinerator

Ziatora, the Incinerator rewards you for running high power creatures by giving you a kind of pod effect. If you run creatures whose power is higher than their mana value, each creature you sacrifice to Ziatora gives you more mana than it took to cast it, which should get you to the next beefy beater. Creatures with strong enters or death triggers like the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty spirit dragons are worthwhile here, and you can slot in abilities that burn opponents based on your creatures’ power as they enter for additional value.

#14. Iroh, Grand Lotus

Iroh, Grand Lotus leads you in a Temur () lessons direction, and it’s the route that fits the spirit of EDH as a home for cards that you don’t play in other formats. It also works well when you surround it mostly with lessons and payoffs from Avatar. The firebending 2 is a nice touch to help you cast more spells, perhaps two cost-reduced, flashback lessons. For more direct power, the flashback also has potential with pure spellslinger and combo builds.

#13. Ramos, Dragon Engine

We’ve seen lots of iterations on multicolor matters themes, like Jenson Carthalion, Druid Exile and Infinite Guideline Station. Ramos, Dragon Engine is a solid support player in those decks, but the mana generation makes it a good, flexible commander in its own right. You can build endless 5-color good stuff piles, you can build around dragons or +1/+1 counters, but my preferred route, at least for now, is mutate. (It also gives me a home for my Chromanticore, one of the first mythics I pulled and a card I’ll love forever as a result.)

#12. Tivit, Seller of Secrets

Low- and mid-powered Commander tables are more fun with interactive mechanics. We usually think of the monarch or the initiative, but voting mechanics bring another strategic element. Tivit, Seller of Secrets sports a council’s dilemma ability that gives you Clues or Treasure based on everyone’s votes, and your commander also gives you an extra vote every time. You’re in fine colors to load up on sphinxes, you have flying payoffs and lords in Esper () and saboteur triggers and enablers, plus stax and combo pieces to consider. You’ll wind up somewhat controlling no matter what you do, but isn’t that just what the Obscura do?

#11. Shelob, Child of Ungoliant

Shelob, Child of Ungoliant gave Ishkanah, Grafwidow a rival for the best spider commander long before Marvel’s Spider-Man came along. It’s definitely niche at the intersection of spiders and Food, two fairly Golgari () themes. Since all your spiders have deathtouch, you can take advantage of punch spells and equipment like Viridian Longbow to take out threats that your opponents aren’t willing to send into combat.

#10. Be’lakor, the Dark Master

The more popular commander from Warhammer’s Ruinous Powers precon, Be'lakor, the Dark Master offers two triggers for value both if it enters early or only once your board is established. You either get a bunch of cards into your greedy Grixis () hands, or your demons burn your opponents as they enter.

#9. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait

The numbers game here is simple: If Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait is on the battlefield, you draw your card at the beginning of your turn, plus two more if you can hit two land drops. That’s three cards per turn without considering fetch lands, Exploration, ramp spells, or Teferi's Ageless Insight.

#8. Niv-Mizzet, Parun

Even though it requires precise mana fixing to cast it, Niv-Mizzet, Parun makes up for it with uncounterable text and raw power. Because each card you draw is considered a distinct action, Niv-Mizzet, Parun works fantastically with wheels, but a pure spellslinger/cantrip build gets the job done, too.

#7. Urza, Chief Artificer

The face commander of arguably the best artifact Commander precon, Urza, Chief Artificer is all about artifacts. Affinity for artifact creatures minimizes the impact of commander tax on your 6-mana commander, then it’s a lord for those creatures that also pumps out construct tokens. What’s not to like?

#6. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic basically gives you a non-templated eminence ability. Two life each of your upkeeps doesn’t sound like much, but it can be all you need to set off lifegain combos. You’ve naturally got all the Exquisite Blood/ Sanguine Bond variants, but you’re also in the right colors to pair Queza, Augur of Agonies with Drogskol Reaver or aim for a Lab-Man victory.

#5. Zhulodok, Void Gorger

Good commanders give you resource advantages, and double cascade triggers in a colorless deck like Zhulodok, Void Gorger acts as a mana advantage (free spells) and card advantage (you see more of your deck). Colorless is plentiful with cards to cascade from or into, but you’ll mainly run chonky Eldrazi creatures and colorless payoffs. Just Echoes of Eternity gets pretty stupid and kind of breaks my brain.

#4. Muldrotha, the Gravetide

Sultai is probably the best 3-color combination for reanimator, and Muldrotha, the Gravetide supports both the self-mill and sacrifice routes. From there, you can adjust the budget and playstyle how you’d like; Muldrotha doesn’t give you a sacrifice outlet, but it does give you a way to reuse your sac fodder if you want to build a Birthing Pod style deck.

#3. Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm

Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm is among the best dragon commanders simply because of that triggered ability. There are plenty of incredible dragons to copy in MTG, especially when you make nonlegendary copies. Temur colors have access to all the classic red dragons, green’s ramp, and blue’s countermagic and card draw, and Miirym’s mana base can be a lot more consistent and budget-friendly than The Ur-Dragon (for example).

#2. Sauron, the Dark Lord

What is there left to say about Sauron, the Dark Lord? It’s powerful enough to reflect the powerful being it represents. You can focus on its abilities or on Lord of the Rings cards depending on the experience you want. You just know that Wizard is going to use the amass mechanic again sometime, so Sauron is just biding its time until the next batch of fresh toys. Kind of like the Necromancer amassing power during the events of The Hobbit….

One thing’s for sure: Let’s be happy that nobody decided to slap eminence onto a Sauron card, even though it would have been peak flavor.

#1. Edgar Markov

Edgar Markov always soars to the top echelon of any commander ranking. Vampire commanders, Mardu commanders (), and now 6-mana commanders. It turns your vampire spells into 2-for-1s in terms of board presence, and that’s without even entering the battlefield. You can play a critical mass of vampires, mess around with token doublers and impact triggers, or focus on a tight infinite life combo build. As with many typal commanders you can focus on the vampires from one particular set or plane if you want to go all-in on flavor over power. There’s just so much you can do here, which is part of why its prints hover in the $30-45 range, even after Innistrad Remastered added a bunch of copies to the market.

Commanding Conclusion

Ramos, Dragon Engine | Illustration by Joseph Meehan

And with that, this beast of a task is done. Six mana may be a little high for the best of the best in cEDH, but there’s still a lot of high-powered (and high-fun!) builds to be had at this mana value. It should be no surprise that card advantage is a recurring theme, as are commanders that are potential combo pieces. I wasn’t expecting to look at this many Jund commanders considering how few I run, but I guess now I’ve got some projects to ponder. And hopefully, so do you!

Which 6-mana commanders do you run? Which ones have I overrated, underrated, or ignored completely? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord. For more from Draftsim, subscribe to our newsletter and come find us on YouTube at The Daily Upkeep.

Until next time, happy brewing!