All 36 Esper Mythics in Magic Ranked

Sen Triplets | Illustration by Greg Staples

Mythic rares and Esper () share something in common: Both concepts debuted in Shards of Alara, back in 2009. Almost 20 years later, we still regularly see tri-color mythics in Standard sets, though most were designed for Commander precons.

Esper colors naturally lend themselves to value, card advantage, and a control game, elements that are highly valued in EDH, so today we’ll take a look at all the mythic rare cards with the WUB color identity and rank them. We'll focus more on EDH than other formats, but some of these have been Constructed playables, too.

What Are Esper Mythics in MTG?

Raffine, Scheming Seer | Illustration by Johannes Voss

Esper mythics in MTG are cards with the Esper () color identity that have been printed at least once as a mythic rare, even as a reprint.

Most of these cards were printed in Commander precons as the face of a deck or an alternate commander, and precon commanders tend to be printed as mythic rares. As such, I’ll analyze these with Commander eyes, even though cards like Raffine, Scheming Seer and Zur, Eternal Schemer are notable for their Constructed appearances.

Honorable Mention: Diviner of Fates

Diviner of Fates is a powerful Esper mythic that saw some play in Historic and in Alchemy Standard, and I’m mentioning it here first because it’s a digital-only card. This creature gives you a free connive, and each time you discard a card, you’ll seek a card with the same card type. Discarding a noncreature spell to connive isn’t always a big cost anymore.

#36. Sphinx Sovereign

Sphinx Sovereign was flashy when it was first released, and it’s kind of a bomb in Limited, but that’s about it. No one’s that excited to pay 8 mana for a card that’s essentially a big vanilla flier. I don’t think it would be that good at 5-6 mana either. It’s just kinda cute that it damages all players if it’s tapped at the end of your turn.

#35. Sphinx of the Steel Wind

Sphinx of the Steel Wind is kind of an improved version of Sphinx Sovereign as a big Baneslayer-type card. It’s also an interesting reanimation target for artifact decks, and the protection against red and green helps it survive Naturalize or Abrade.

#34. Chromium, the Mutable

Chromium, the Mutable saw a little play in formats like Standard and Pioneer as a control finisher, and it’s actually a strong enough dragon for various Commander decks. Too bad its colors don’t help in EDH, because dragon decks usually have green and red, and flash decks tend to be Azorius ().

#33. Nihiloor

Nihiloor is a nice theft commander, giving you the means to steal cards from your opponents and rewarding you for using their creatures against them. Of course, you’ll have to support it with more blue and black theft cards, but it’s nice to have an enabler and payoff for the strategy. There’s an interesting puzzle to be solved because you need to tap your own creatures, and they need to have high power, which isn’t something you often find in Esper colors.

#32. Saruman of Many Colors

I think Saruman of Many Colors is an interesting midrange value threat, but I hate its unelegant design. It’s basically a good creature with relevant protection that lets you copy instants, sorceries, or enchantments from your opponents’ graveyards. It’s a strong payoff for casting two spells in a turn, and you can easily build around that with some cantrips, especially in Esper colors. Plus, white and blue supports the flurry theme as well.

#31. Soundwave, Sonic Spy / Soundwave, Superior Captain

The Transformer cards are a bit weird, and you can cast Soundwave, Sonic Spy or Soundwave, Superior Captain directly via the more than meets the eye mechanic. It’s easier to add this card to a Commander deck that already produces creature tokens, like Alela, Artful Provocateur or Marneus Calgar, but it’s nice that both sides of this card complement each other well.

#30. Tawnos, Solemn Survivor

Tawnos, Solemn Survivor is a very Johnny artifact commander, allowing you to make copies of artifacts and unleash some pretty powerful combos. The idea is that you’ll use the Esper ability to make a token copy of an artifact and use the first ability to make copies of those. You can also build around Treasure or Food tokens, and it’s super open-ended. Either way, you’ll probably want ways to untap permanents so you can reuse its tap ability, or ways to copy activated abilities.

#29. Dakkon, Shadow Slayer

I like that Dakkon, Shadow Slayer is elegant for a planeswalker, and that it scales with the game. The first time you cast it, it’s probably going to enter the battlefield with 3 loyalty, then 5 the second time, and so on. Later in the game, you’ll cast your commander with 11 lands in play or something like that, allowing you to “ultimate” right away. The three abilities are essentially: self-mill, a removal spell, or cheating an artifact into play – very relevant when your planeswalker enters with a lot of loyalty.

#28. Inquisitor Greyfax

Inquisitor Greyfax is a solid card that you can used to investigate while tapping other creatures. It’s nice to include in a deck that focuses on card draw and cracking Clue tokens, and you can find some additional tapping synergies in blue and white. It’s also an anthem, and +1/+0 helps if you’re playing some fliers or tokens. That said, I don’t love this card as a build-around, and it's overshadowed by Marneus Calgar in its own precon.

#27. Elenda and Azor

Elenda and Azor is just value all around, and it’s a card you don’t even need to build around. You get a nice flying body with ward , and when you attack, you can pay a lot of mana to draw more cards. E&A rewards you for drawing cards in the form of 1/1 lifelink vampires, and it can give you a lot of cards, too, so there’s rarely a moment in the game when the card is bad.

#26. Sen Triplets

Sen Triplets is an interesting Commander card, because on your turn, you get to play with another player’s cards. It’s a little fragile for 1v1 as a 3/3 with no combat abilities for 5 mana, but much better in EDH. The fact that your goal is to mess with a given player lends this commander to a prison/stax style deck, or a group hug deck. The main problem you’ll have is that players will actively want to kill it so they aren’t manipulated by your actions.

#25. Ethersworn Adjudicator

Ethersworn Adjudicator is a solid piece of repeatable removal, slow but excellent in a format like EDH. Having a Mortify at your disposal is good, and this card is also an artifact flying knight creature, so it checks a lot of synergy boxes in different Esper decks.

#24. Sydri, Galvanic Genius

Sydri, Galvanic Genius has a nice blue ability that can cause all sorts of trouble for your opponents, especially if they have artifact lands or tokens. You can also turn your small artifact creatures into excellent blockers with deathtouch and lifelink, and that has all kinds of synergies with other artifacts like mana rocks and ways to grant your artifacts indestructible. It’s an interesting and versatile commander that’s not a busted powerhouse by any means.

#23. Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign

Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign is a solid value machine that just needs to attack to do its thing, and having flying plus menace means it’s hard to block. Getting to play a card for free with card draw as a default is good, and as your commander, you have reasons to run some nasty 7- or 9-mana value cards to cast for free, not to mention the shenanigans you’ll enjoy with Brainstorm or scrying. Most good sphinxes cost 5 or 7 mana, so you can also build a bit of sphinx typal.

#22. Sefris of the Hidden Ways

Although I don’t love the venture into the dungeon mechanic, it can be pretty powerful, and Sefris of the Hidden Ways is a popular commander for it. You can gather all the main “venture” cards in Esper colors, and venturing every turn will gives you a lot of benefits, empowers your venture cards, and reanimates something powerful you just sacrificed or looted away. The key here is that you can venture once per player's turn with Sefris, which stacks up across a full turn cycle.

#21. Kamiz, Obscura Oculus

Kamiz, Obscura Oculus is an aggressive beatdown Esper commander, which is a bit rare. You’ll make a creature unblockable and another creature will gain double strike. So, you can get in with a powerful creature, possibly your commander, while giving the double strike to a saboteur creature. You can also consider ninjutsu cards, since it’s a mechanic that thrives with unblockable creatures.

#20. Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima

Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima puts an interesting spin on the “attack alone” decks, incentivizing attacking each player with only one creature. Jin gives a creature that’s attacking alone either unblockable or double strike, and it’s nice that you can use it to deal damage twice with double strike and draw two cards. Or a guaranteed hit with a card.

#19. Alela, Artful Provocateur

Alela, Artful Provocateur is fragile as a 3-toughness flier that costs 4 mana, and it was designed for Brawl, mainly a 1v1 format. In Brawl, players usually have a narrow window to answer this card before having to deal with a bunch of 2/1 tokens. It’s not the most exciting commander, but if you can play this card in a deck filled with enchantments and artifacts, you’re getting a lot of value.

#18. The Master of Keys

The Master of Keys has a few things going on for it. It’s an X-cost commander that can make you mill twice X cards, while also being a flying beatstick. Plus, your enchantments have escape, which means you can cast them a second time. That’s very interesting with enchantment creatures or sagas, cards that naturally go to the graveyard. Look out for enchantments that enter and do something good, especially ones you can sacrifice for value later on.

#17. Aminatou, the Fateshifter

Aminatou, the Fateshifter is an interesting planeswalker commander. You can blink a permanent with the -1, and manipulate the top of your library with the +1. Considering that enters effects are continuously getting stronger, the power of this commander only grows over time. You can blink cards like Overlord of the Mistmoors, get a combo going with Felidar Guardian, or get more mana with Peregrine Drake.

#16. Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain

Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain is a powerful commander from Modern Horizons 3, a pushed set. It wants you to attack with modified creatures, so auras, equipment, and +1/+1 counters are equally valid. And no matter which modification your creature has, it gets one more if it’s attacking. It can be a powerful Voltron commander, or lead go-wide +1/+1 counters. You can also fill your deck with job select cards so you’ll naturally have a lot of modified creatures right away, and duplicating those equipment can be quite powerful.

#15. Temmet, Naktamun’s Will

Temmet, Naktamun's Will is very similar to Varina, Lich Queen, but I believe they complement each other well. Both are Esper zombie commanders, and you’d rather have both in play. Temmet gives your zombies +1/+1 whenever you draw a card, but it only draws one card on its own; if you also have Varina in play, you’ll draw a lot of cards and head into a powerful attack.

#14. Varina, Lich Queen

Varina, Lich Queen’s best ability is that you can loot like crazy in a zombie deck, keeping the cards flowing. Later, you can use those cards in your graveyard to make 2/2 zombies. Plus, you’re gaining some life to stay alive a little bit longer while filling your graveyard. That graveyard can be used for a lot of stuff, including reanimation, delve, eternalize, you name it.

#13. G’raha Tia, Scion Reborn

G'raha Tia, Scion Reborn gives you life via lifelink, and a payoff for gaining life. If you cast a 3-mana spell, you can also pay 3 life to get a 1/1 with three counters. This can pair nicely with cheap instants that gain you life, and G’raha Tia comes early, so you can play a creature-light deck and focus on its ability to get more troops.

#12. Zur, Eternal Schemer

Turning expensive enchantments into giant lifelink beaters is a nice strategy, and its own Standard format gave Zur, Eternal Schemer some tools, like Leyline Binding and Overlord of the Mistmoors. Here, you’ll want a traditional enchantress deck to draw a bunch of cards, and rule the long game by animating your big noncreature enchantments.

#11. Sharuum the Hegemon

Reanimate on entering, you say? Sharuum the Hegemon is a reanimator that comes from the command zone, and one that can open the door for a lot of combos. It’s also a lot of value, so each time you cast your commander, you’re getting something great back. Play this card alongside big artifacts like Bolas's Citadel or Myr Battlesphere.

#10. Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir

A commander that’s in the top #100 of EDHREC, Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir takes the Esper colors into a more focused beatdown plan with knights. The eminence mechanic is powerful, and you'll loot each time you attack with a knight, including changelings. And later, when Sidar Jabari is on the battlefield, you can reanimate some knights for more value. The fact that Summon: Knights of Round is a knight card, or that Moonshaker Cavalry exists, gives this deck a lot of reach.

#9. Aminatou, Veil Piercer

Aminatou, Veil Piercer is also around the top #100 of EDHREC, and for good reasons. Giving miracle to enchantments you draw is pretty strong, and you also have a surveil 2 ability to manipulate your draws. The difference between paying 8 and 4 on a card like One with the Multiverse is massive. Or consider the ability to cast a card like Shark Typhoon for a fraction of its normal cost, which is pretty absurd.

#8. Urza, Chief Artificer

Affinity for artifact creatures already tells you what you need to be doing. Urza, Chief Artificer will be a 4-drop or less most of the time, and you’ll pay a lot less commander tax over the course of the game. Just remember that many “free” artifact creatures exist, and you can make a lot of artifact tokens, too. On top of the 4/5 that gives artifact creatures menace, you also get a free Karnstruct every turn.

#7. Raffine, Scheming Seer

Raffine, Scheming Seer is one of the few Esper mythics that isn’t exclusive to Commander. The ability to draw and discard multiple cards on attacking is very powerful and versatile, feeding a lot of engines. You can play reanimate, self-mill, madness, threshold, and all of that while conniving a lot and producing a giant beater. It’s not hard to connive like 5-6 times on each attack.

#6. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

The most powerful aspect of Oloro, Ageless Ascetic as a commander is that you’ll gain life every single turn, regardless of whether Oloro is alive on the battlefield or not. From there, you just fill your decks with cards that synergize with lifegain. Payoffs like Sanguine Bond are a true win condition once lifegain is guaranteed, and you can have giant “Ajani's Pridemate” beatsticks, too. You’ll also draw many cards once it's on the battlefield, because you can pay 1 mana to draw whenever you gain life.

#5. Tivit, Seller of Secrets

Tivit, Seller of Secrets is a voting commander that nets you some combination of Clue or Treasure tokens. Also, you’ll always get two votes instead of one. Getting extra votes when you play powerful cards like Expropriate is very strong. The synergies with Time Sieve are real, and it’s fairly easy to sacrifice five artifacts and take infinite turns in a four-player game.

#4. Marneus Calgar

Getting to draw a card each time a token comes into play is an ability that can sustain a deck, and Marneus Calgar can even turn mana into creatures and cards. Many powerful cards in MTG make tokens nowadays, and it’s easy to fill your deck with token cards without diluting the deck’s power. There's no shortage of payoffs for playing tokens, and you can easily double the amount of tokens produced.

#3. Hashaton, Scarab’s Fist

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist quickly became a very popular Esper commander due to its copy ability. It’s a 2-drop, so you can start your reanimation engine very early in the game. The key here is to find small creatures with powerful abilities, prime candidates to get a benefit from augmented stats. Discard a Baleful Strix; it comes back as a 4/4 flying deathtoucher that draws you a card. Playing blue loot cards or cycling will give you access to strong discard abilities, while white and black give you premium reanimation.

#2. Zur the Enchanter

Zur the Enchanter is awesome if you build around it correctly. Each time you attack, you can grab an enchantment that costs 3 or less from your library and put it straight onto the battlefield. It can’t be countered since you didn’t cast it. This is useful to find combo pieces, removal spells, or ways to lock the game, like Ghostly Prison and Propaganda. Using your deck as a toolbox is nice, so you can get hate cards like Rest in Peace, and if you want to attack, find aggressive-oriented auras.

#1. Y’shtola, Night’s Blessed

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed is currently the #1 commander on EDHREC, and not just in Esper. It's incredibly powerful and versatile, and it can draw you a card whenever any player loses 4 life. It’s a hit among casuals and competitors alike. This gives you cards, life, and damage, and all you have to do is play powerful 3-mana+ spells, which can even be cheated on (Dismember, Snuff Out).

What Are the Most Expensive Esper Mythics?

• Tivit, Seller of Secrets – $4
• Y'shtola, Night's Blessed – $6
• Sen Triplets – $9
• Marneus Calgar – $12
• Oloro, Ageless Ascetic – $18
• Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima – $100

Note: These prices were taken from TCGPlayer in August, 2026 and are subject to changes.

Overall, Esper mythics aren’t that expensive, but the most expensive cards haven’t seen that many reprints. For example, Sen Triplets was initially printed in Alara Reborn, and once in Double Masters as a mythic rare. Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima was printed once in a Secret Lair drop, and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic has very few printings, too.

Wrap Up

Inquisitor Greyfax | Illustration by Lie Setiawan

And that’s about it for mythic Esper cards, guys. These are some of the most powerful commanders available in the game, with many in the top ranks of EDHREC. And most of them give you a lot of value, either by drawing a bunch of cards or by using your graveyard as a resource, being outstanding cards in the late game.

What do you think about Esper’s mythics, guys? Would you have these rankings any other way? Let me know in the comments section below, or let’s discuss it further in the Draftsim Discord. For more from us, check out our newsletter, The Daily Upkeep.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.