The 27 Best Un-Set Commanders in Magic Ranked

Myra the Magnificent | Illustration by Eric Wilkerson

Hello planeswalkers! Let’s get silly here! The Un-sets of Magic are excursions from the grind and serious battles between good and evil for a little fun and silliness. If you’ve never seen one of these sets before, you’re in for a treat. They can take the normal game of MTG and add crazy elements, like throwing objects, playing off words, or even erasing and sticking things onto cards.

You won’t find these Un-set cards in many major tournaments or formats, but they’re Eternal “legal”. In EDH, you can use some of these Un-set legendary creatures to command your troops! I put legal in quotations because you should always adhere to Rule 0 and make sure your friends/opponents want to play with such chaos and buffoonery.

So which of these Un-set commanders are going to be the most fun and actually competitive? Let’s find out!

What Are Un-Set Commanders in MTG?

Magar of the Magic Strings | Illustration by Tomek Larek

Un-set commanders are legendary creatures (and one legendary artifact) that come from a subset of MTG sets known as Un-sets, “joke” sets, or “acorn” sets. Un-sets from Magic’s history include Unglued, Unhinged, Unstable, Unsanctioned, and Unfinity.

With some exceptions, cards from these sets aren’t tournament-legal, don’t adhere to the comprehensive rules, and should be played among players who all agree on the different rules and playstyles of these sets/cards. We won’t worry too much about Commander legality here, as most of these are just for friends.

Un-set cards are distinguished with silver-bordered cards (discontinued), or more recently, a holographic acorn stamp.

Can You Play Un-Set Legends in Commander?

Yes and no. Any commander from Unfinity that doesn’t have an acorn is already legal in Commander. For any Un-set commander with an acorn or a silver border, you won’t be able to play them at sanctioned events, but you may be able to find a playgroup that’s willing to let you try them out.

Just make sure to have a good Rule 0 discussion to ensure that everyone knows what they’re getting into.

#27. The Grand Calcutron

Do you think you can outthink, out strategize, or out math your opponent with all cards visible? The Grand Calcutron turns everyone’s hands and the game into a linear program where order matters. The strategy and mathematical thinking that goes into all of the text of this commander makes it quite interesting to play around with.

#26. Spike, Tournament Grinder

Haha, what a Spike, am I right? Spike, Tournament Grinder is a ridiculous black commander that can grab banned/restricted cards from outside the game. Not only can you grab cards like Griselbrand, Recurring Nightmare, or Paradox Engine, but you can pay life to speed up the process.

#25. Ol’ Buzzbark

Let’s get physical! Ol' Buzzbark is an X-cost commander that lets you drop dice to pump or damage creatures. The more pump, damage, and dice you want, the higher the height from which you have to drop them. Since you can cast a commander multiple times in a game, this can be a ridiculously fun way to play the game!

#24. Johnny, Combo Player

What’s better for the Johnnys out there than to get the exact cards you need in hand? Johnny, Combo Player efficiently finds the cards you need to strike your biggest combos. The mana value and stats don’t match up for a good card, but who cares when you’re just here for the combos?

#23. Richard Garfield, Ph.D.

Well, I couldn’t leave off the creator of MTG, now could I? Richard Garfield, Ph.D. is a blue commander that can transform any of your spells into a copy of a different spell with the same casting cost (mana symbols and color included). This can ensure you always have the right instants and creatures you need, as long as you know your card names and MVs well.

#22. Frankie Peanuts

Frankie Peanuts is an awesome card that takes a little bit of thinking on your part to truly take full advantage of it. You ask a player a yes-or-no question, and they must answer truthfully and abide by the answer for the turn. This is nice for a question like, “Do you have any instants in your hand?”, but you can go even farther with a question like, “When I separate cards into two piles with Epiphany at the Drownyard, will you choose the left one?”

#21. Meet and Greet “Sisay”

Meet and Greet “Sisay” incentivizes builders to look through their whole collection to gather cards from many different expansions. This cheap commander can build quite the collection of Treasure tokens for solid ramp. Throw in some cards with a lot of flavor text, and this commander can also deal some solid damage.

#20. X

Do you have to read X multiple times? Me too. X is a secret agent kind of card who infiltrates an opponent’s hand and lets you steal cards. Seemingly in two turns, you can reveal an opponent’s hand and steal their bomb cards for the quite reasonable cost of 5 mana. X is a commander you should definitely check if your friends are alright playing against.

#19. Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K.

There are a few Voltron-style commanders among Un-set legends, but none as tantalizing as Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K. This commander can’t be blocked by a creature with flavor text (so many, right?) and has a way to become increasingly stronger. Stealing a text box is a fascinating way to stop combos and swing hard yourself.

#18. Grusilda, Monster Masher

Grusilda, Monster Masher is a unique reanimator commander in that it returns two creatures combined. No longer do you have to choose between reanimating a Terror of the Peaks and a Archon of Cruelty; you can combine them! This isn’t as good as mass reanimation with a card like Bringer of the Last Gift, but I guarantee it’ll be fun.

#17. Hardy of Myra’s Marvels

Hardy of Myra's Marvels turns the number of lines of flavor text a card has into a massive pump. You can shoot for consistency with the number 2 and pump creatures Evolution Witness. Or, aim big and choose a number like 4 for creatures like Carnage Tyrant and Llanowar Elves (Foundations printing).

#16. Fluros of Myra’s Marvels

Fluros of Myra's Marvels is a great blue commander to build around numbers, specifically P/T or loyalty points. This can go well with other blue cards that focus on specific numbers like Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, or in a totally unique build that has a number in mind.

#15. Timmy, Power Gamer

Timmy, Power Gamer is a reliable way (in non-legal games) to cheat ridiculous cards onto the battlefield. This commander can throw down huge green creatures for the absurdly easy cost of 4 mana (with no tap, either). Enjoy cheating cards like Craterhoof Behemoth, Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, and Bane of Progress at will!

#14. Jermane, Pride of the Circus

This circus leader pumps your four-legged friends or uses one as the ultimate distraction. Jermane, Pride of the Circus is a cheap commander meant to tap every turn to boost your creature-centric deck. It’s so easy to fill a deck with four-legged creatures and finish with a big attack while one of your creatures is Bloodscent’ed.

#13. Ignacio of Myra’s Marvels

Ignacio of Myra's Marvels is a partner commander with a killer (and interesting) ramp ability. Look carefully at the cards you put in the deck, pick the word of an object that appears in most (or all) of them, and create a ton of Treasure tokens. Partner with another one of Myra’s Marvels, and have a blast!

#12. Acornelia, Fashionable Filcher

Squirrels already have some great typal commanders like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Chatterfang, Squirrel General, but why not add another Unsanctioned one to the list? Acornelia, Fashionable Filcher works as a great removal option or pump based on gathering acorn counters. All you need is squirrel creatures or cards with squirrels in the art to start storing up the potential!

#11. It Came from Planet Glurg

It Came from Planet Glurg is an interesting clone commander, in that it can clone an amalgamation of creatures. With the ramp of Simic colors (), you can up the value of X and make a truly terrifying clone creature. Combining P/T, text, and keywords is an infinitely fun sort of combination game you can play every match.

#10. Katerina of Myra’s Marvels

Katerina of Myra's Marvels is a token-creating commander based on letters. You may choose a letter and create an army of flying cat tokens when you build around that letter. I don’t see a letter that sticks out the most (maybe not Q), so build this commander with a partner and go from there.

#9. Grand Marshal Macie

Grand Marshal Macie is a cool way to extend effects past a single turn. You can extend instants like Angel's Grace, or creature effects like Magus of the Will. You do pay a price of life points to keep this effect going, but there are so many manageable ways to navigate this penalty and reap the benefits.

#8. Captain Rex Nebula

Captain Rex Nebula reminds me of Zapp Brannigan from Futurama. Anyways, have you thought of turning your nonland permanents into a war fleet? This commander does just that, and with a deadly “kamikaze” benefit. As long as you have small creatures to crew high-MV permanents like City on Fire or vehicle cards like Salvation Engine, you can bombard opponents in multiple ways.

#7. Truss, Chief Engineer

Truss, Chief Engineer is a Dimir commander () with some serious upside. Through aristocrat or proliferate strategies, you can add or subtract the cost or number effects of a spell or permanent. The immediate thought is cost reduction, but changing the number on a card like Marionette Apprentice to do more damage off combos is incredible.

#6. Nocturno of Myra’s Marvels

The best of Myra’s Marvels in my opinion, Nocturno of Myra's Marvels provides a solid advantage from an easy trigger. You choose a word with five or more letters, play a card that has that word, build your hand, and drain your opponent’s life points. This is so easy to build around; you can choose an evergreen mechanic like flying, a removal word like exile, or even a typal word like vampire.

#5. Magar of the Magic Strings

Magar of the Magic Strings turns your instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard into face-down creatures that, when they deal damage, can be cast again (and then put into exile). There are a ton of different rules, timing, and wording questions that can arise here, but since this is just for fun, I’ll let your group hash it out (or check out this Reddit rabbit hole).

#4. Solaflora, Intergalactic Icon

Solaflora, Intergalactic Icon is a heck of an aura, equipment, counters, and stickers commander. It works kind of like a Concerted Effort for all of them, granting all of your creatures the abilities that come from those modifications. Commander's Plate and Super State are just some of the wild examples you could give to all of your creatures.

#3. Vorthos, Steward of Myth

How’s your MTG lore knowledge? Vorthos, Steward of Myth lets you choose an MTG character name and helps to reduce the casting cost of any card with that character’s name anywhere on it. So, who do you pick? The two MTG characters that seem to appear the most on cards are Nicol Bolas and Chandra. I’m more of a Bolas kind of player, but choose your favorite character and build!

#2. The Most Dangerous Gamer

If you’re playing an attraction deck, The Most Dangerous Gamer might be the commander to choose! This card has a great way to open attractions, benefits from that opening, and can turn claiming prizes into excellent removal. Nothing wrong with this commander if your friends are on board with one of the more complicated Un-set mechanics.

#1. Myra the Magnificent

We’ve seen all of Myra’s prodigies, and now it’s time for Myra the Magnificent herself. Strap in!

This commander’s activated ability attaches an instant or sorcery from your graveyard to an attraction you’ve opened (this card also has a wonderful ability to open attractions). When you visit the attraction (roll a number equivalent to one of the numbers on that attraction's side panel), you may also cast the spell for free. Benefits and advantages stack up quickly, and so this card has been banned from every Eternal format but Commander.

Commanding Conclusion

Grusilda, Monster Masher | Illustration by Mathias Kollros

That’s a wrap on Un-set commanders, perfect for fans of silliness, mischief, and a bit of craziness. If you’re a serious grinder or tournament player, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But if you enjoy the chaos and mixing it up, I hope you also enjoyed these rankings.

Which of these would you run? Have you played against any of them? Leave a comment below with some of your favorite Un-set shenanigans. If you’re not already, you should be checking out Draftsim’s newsletter and YouTube channel, both named The Daily Upkeep.

Stay safe, and be silly whenever you can!