The 22 Best Villain Commanders in Magic Ranked

Ultron, Unlimited | Illustration by Nathaniel Himawan

Hello planeswalkers! How do you play the game of Magic? Are you a hero or more of a villain at the table? Well, this one’s for all my villains out there!

With the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel Super Heroes Universe Beyond sets, we have many more iconic villains to choose from. With this influx of this creature type in recent sets, what can villains do for the most popular format, Commander?

Can some of these villains lead your Commander decks to victory? Are they good enough as a typal leader? What might a villain deck even look like? Let’s dive into these questions, look at some of the best legendary villains, and have a little fun while we do it!

What Is a Villain Commander in MTG?

Baron Helmut Zemo | Illustration by Wero Gallo

A villain commander is a legendary creature with the creature type of villain. That’s basically it, with only one caveat for Unstable cards. The villain creature type was introduced in the Unstable set, but these cards aren’t legal in any format. We’ll avoid these cards for the rankings.

The villain creature type that’s legal in the Commander format has been “introduced” in the Marvel sets. We’ll look at the best of these legendary villains that can lead your Commander decks.

Many of the villains of multiple versions (there are five Green Goblins). For the most part, I chose the version I believe would make the best commander, and I may make some comments on the other versions. In some circumstances, though, several versions of a villain are just too good to pass up, such as Loki.

#22. Citizen V, Helmut Zemo

Let’s start with great villain typal commander! Citizen V, Helmut Zemo’s lifegain trigger mass pumps your villains and is a solid new addition to black aggro/midrange. The single color is limiting, but with villains like Boomerang, Blade Flinger and Minotaur, Roxxon CEO, I still think it can be pretty good.

#21. Sauron, Dino Devotee

Sauron’s back? Oh, wrong one.

I’ll be honest that I’ve never heard of the Sauron from the Marvel universe, but Sauron, Dino Devotee is a solid mono-green commander for dino-lovers. The saurian counters can turn your green mana dorks like Llanowar Elves into an army of dinosaurs. The creature-centric ramp of green is what makes this green villain commander work.

#20. Absorbing Man and Titania

I love the simplicity and effectiveness of this Gruul () villain. Absorbing Man and Titania doubles all the damage that your creatures can do. This obviously works well with beastly creatures like Quartzwood Crasher, but it can also work well with pingers like Razorkin Needlehead. Straightforward and stompy, very Gruul!

#19. The Kingpin of Crime

The Kingpin of Crime is a new Orzhov () toughness-matters commander that I dig! Extort is a solid way to use all your mana to the fullest, and it gives you a lifegain cushion to pay for the true value of this card. You also quickly turn cards like Indulging Patrician and Nyx-Fleece Ram into deadly attackers.

#18. Super-Skrull

Super-Skrull looks to be the villainous version of Kenrith, the Returned King. This card can be a 5-color commander that gives you a ton of versatility in what your strategy and interactions need to be. Tokens, removal, self-pump, and card draw don’t seem to make a concise strategy, but they carry value by being so open to your needs in the moment. Whatever strategy you attempt with this commander, you should include cost-reducing cards like Training Grounds and Agatha of the Vile Cauldron.

#17. Red Loki Commanders

Loki is going to be the villain of all villains in these Marvel sets. I had such a hard time ranking each version and not including them all. I decided to break them down into their color categories and include three different ranks of Loki commanders.

The red Loki cards, Loki Laufeyson, Loki, God of Lies, and Lady Loki, Agent of Chaos, are all incredible to build around with noncreature spells. Burn, pump, and spellslinger all work with these mono-red Loki commanders. I especially like Lady Loki, Agent of Chaos for the pure upside of cheating huge spells into the game and dealing direct damage.

#16. Ares, God of War

Ares, God of War keeps up the assault and doesn’t relent. This cheap commander has great stats for its mana value and provides a ton of value for Rakdos () aggressive decks. This card incentivizes you to attack with all the creatures you can each turn. Swing hard and bring back some great value if you can sacrifice something like Lightning Skelemental while it's still attacking.

#15. Kang Prime

Kang Prime is a solid commander for top-decking bomb cards and using time as a resource. Giving a powerhouse like Sphinx of the Second Sun or Omniscience suspend 2 is a price I’m willing to pay every time.

Kang Prime is, well, the prime Kang, but Kang, Temporal Tyrant is a good siphon commander, and Kang the Conqueror slots right into extra turn strategies.

#14. Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic

Can you say “new version of Superior Spider-Man“? Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic is a wonderful clone commander that can target your or your opponents' bomb creatures, and creatures in any graveyard. This versatility makes it better than a straight-up graveyard clone, though you miss out on ETBs. Load up on your self-mill, and see what kind of monsters Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic can become.

#13. Thanos, the Mad Titan

You didn’t think we'd discuss villains without this big guy, right? Thanos, the Mad Titan is a cheap 5-color commander that can create repeatable board wipes. The power-up ability (aptly costing one of every color) works as an Extinction Event (Thanos destroys instead of exiles, though). Power-up isn’t a repeatable mechanic, but with flicker spells and recasting your commander, you can get around this little nuisance.

#12. Baron Helmut Zemo

Baron Helmut Zemo is a commander all about black mana symbols. Who cares if the connive ability only triggers with black spells, when that’s the only color you’ll have with this commander anyway? You can then turn all the value you’ve had from casting black spells into a massive free spell dump once you have 15 black mana symbols in your graveyard. Give me my Phyrexian Obliterator and Pox Plague, and give me all that value!

#11. Molecule Man

Holy smokes, miracle 0 seems like it can be absolutely broken! Molecule Man essentially gives you a free play every turn you don’t draw a land. What’s the downside? Well, this villain is colorless, so you can only use colorless cards (Eldrazi, anyone?). That shouldn’t stop you from casting crazy cards like Galactus, Devourer of Worlds and Ulamog, the Defiler if you’re lucky enough to get a miracle draw.

#10. Loki, the Deceiver

Loki, the Deceiver is probably the best typal commander for villains. This Grixis commander () can strike hard by copying any of the villains you want to play or a solid option like M.O.D.O.K.. Whenever one of your villains gets through, you’ll surely gain some solid card advantage. Grixis is a great color wedge for villains, and the upsides and interactions are great.

#9. Eddie Brock / Venom, Lethal Protector

Some of the transforming cards from Marvel Spider-Man are just awesome versions of our favorite villains. Eddie Brock is a nice reanimator for your valuable 1-drops like Delighted Halfling. But once this commander transforms into Venom, Lethal Protector, it becomes a great sacrifice engine. You can sac a card like Protean Hulk and combo so many creatures onto the battlefield.

Venom, Deadly Devourer works well as a symbiote-typal commander, and Venom, Eddie Brock as a villain-typal one.

#8. Doctor Octopus, Master Planner

Doctor Octopus, Master Planner is a control-style commander that also works well with villains. The 7-mana MV will take some control to get to, but then you get incredible card draw potential. A hand of eight cards at every one of your end steps is an incredible advantage. Control the board with unrelenting removal or counters, or create insane combos with cards like Ominous Seas and Psychic Corrosion.

#7. Namor the Sub-Mariner

Merfolk typal gets some huge benefits from the Marvel villains Attuma, Atlantean Warlord and Namor the Sub-Mariner. I’ll highlight Namor because it has so much upside as a merfolk commander. You can get huge commander damage potential as well as a way to make a ton of merfolk creature tokens. Load up on spells with several blue mana symbols like Archmage's Charm and Future Sight to get the most value out of this villain commander.

#6. Doctor Doom, King of Latveria

Doctor Doom in MTG seems to be all about capitalizing on draw advantage. I believe the best version of the Marvel villain will be Doctor Doom, King of Latveria. This cheap Grixis commander turns discarding lands into damage to every opponent. An easy-to-build-around strategy and a way to discard (and pump your villains) make this Doctor Doom a solid commander choice.

I also think that Doctor Doom and Doctor Doom, Unrivaled will have plenty of Commander value with their Phyrexian Arena abilities.

#5. Norman Osborn / Green Goblin

The transformation of Norman Osborn to Green Goblin flows quite well in this Grixis commander. Norman Osborn is a cheap, unblockable creature that can help cycle through cards quickly. At a quite reasonable transform cost, it turns into a solid graveyard commander. Green Goblin reduces the cost of and creates more graveyard interactions.

All the Green Goblin variants deal with discard strategies. Ultimate Green Goblin and Green Goblin, Nemesis are villain commanders worth consideration for the Treasure ramp they can create.

#4. Blue Loki Commanders

Blue Loki commanders are the cream of the crop (Kid Loki is just alright, though). Loki, God of Mischief is a cheap mono-blue commander with huge draw upsides. Counters work, bounce spells work, Lightning Greaves works, and so many more interactions draw you cards on almost every turn. Loki, Lord of Misrule can turn all your creatures into one of your bomb creatures while ignoring the legendary rule. This could be an Enduring Curiosity or something even more ambitious like creating an army of Cybermen Squadron.

#3. Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor

Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor is a mono-blue way to ramp up your artifact casting incredibly quickly and reliably. Many cards focus on the second card you draw each turn, but this commander triggers both on your firs, and second card drawn each turn! With cheap spells like Brainstorm and Opt, you can gather a ton of ingenuity counters that then help you freerole big artifact spells like Cyberdrive Awakener or Krang, Utrom Warlord.

#2. Ultron, Artificial Malevolence

Every version of Ultron is pretty great for artifact decks, but I believe the most impactful will be Ultron, Artificial Malevolence for sure. This card’s ability turns all your extra mana into copies of your best artifacts. Ultron's fairly cheap, the ability is stellar, and it even gives you more board presence with your noncreature artifact spells. What’s not to love? I say let the machines take over.

I also think Ultron, Machine Overlord, Ultron the Annihilator, and Ultron, Unlimited can all have impacts in artifact Commander decks.

#1. Electro, Assaulting Battery

Electro, Assaulting Battery is a literal and figurative powerhouse! This mono-red villain commander turns your instant and sorcery casts into mana that stays through steps and phases. Brilliantly, this card also gives you a major damage outlet to use that saved mana when it dies. Electro is a villain for mono-red aggressive players, for sure.

Best Villain Commander Payoffs

The villain commanders have such a wide range of strategies that it’s hard to pin down more specific benefits and payoffs. Here are some benefits for villain typal and other archetypes they can support.

Villain typal is going to be a fun addition to the Commander landscape. You’ll need to include villain staples like Tombstone, Career Criminal and Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord to benefit your villainous commanders.

Even if you don’t choose some of these legendary villain creatures as your commander, I think many of them can support other strategies and commanders like Jodah, the Unifier, The Reaper, King no More, or Kamiz, Obscura Oculus.

Bonus Villain Commander Decklist

Green Goblin, Revenant | Illustration by Chris Rahn

Mix a bit of villainry, discard interactions, and a ton of graveyard value, and you get something like this Norman Osborn deck. This transforming Grixis deck uses discard and graveyard interactions to extract a ton of value and ramp ahead of the deck’s expected curve.

You can get Norman Osborn out early, while developing your ramp with cards like Dimir Signet. Quite quickly, you can hopefully transform into the Green Goblin, and that’s when the fun starts.

Through the Green Goblin’s wonderful abilities, you can cast cards as you discard them and at a lovely reduction. Using a card like Shadow of the Goblin, you can throw a Venom, Eddie Brock into the graveyard and get it onto the battlefield ahead of schedule. Once you have the board presence, you can gain advantages through cards like Vanquisher's Banner and fill out your villain deck with cards like Doctor Octopus, Master Planner.

Commanding Conclusion

Super-Skrull | Illustration by Zoltan Boros

The villain creature type fits too perfectly in the Marvel universe and the MTG sets that represent them. I have a feeling the creature type will fit other future sets as well, and it may become a new popular typal build. Even if not, enjoy playing as some of the most infamous and beloved villains in pop culture!

Leave a comment below telling us your favorite villains, and the cards you’re most excited to play. If you’re not already, you should be checking out Draftsim’s newsletter and YouTube channel, both named The Daily Upkeep.

Stay safe, and remember: It’s “a small price for salvation.”