Last updated on December 19, 2025

Rhystic Study - Illustration by Fuzichoco

Rhystic Study | Illustration by Fuzichoco

Commander is far and away the most popular format in Magic: The Gathering. So much so that each new Magic set usually includes a separate Commander-focused set containing preconstructed Commander decks. WotC uses these precon decks and ancillary Commander products to reprint format staples and introduce new ones. With so many Commander products each year, it's no surprise that the top cards for the format shift so often.

There’s no doubt you’ll recognize many of the cards on this list. The best Commander cards are the best for a reason; they’re the best-in-slot choice or just generally the best version of a certain effect available.

What Are Commander Cards in MTG?

Arcane Signet - Illustration by Dan Frazier

Arcane Signet | Illustration by Dan Frazier

Commander cards, for our purposes, are any of the most popular cards in the Commander format. You’ve definitely seen these cards in your Commander games – some are essential Commander staples that hold the format together, while others are mistakes made by R&D forcing us to deal with the fallout for years to come.

The best Commander cards will have the widest range of applicability in the most decks. They’ll be strong plays throughout the game, and should either generate massive value for yourself or stop your opponents in their tracks. Importantly, we’re ranking the “top” cards and not the absolute best cards, though there's obvious overlap between what's powerful and what's popular.

#43. Arcane Signet

Arcane Signet

The only thing worse than the mana rock you have to include in every Commander deck is the second one. Arcane Signet is a 2-mana rock that instantly fixes your mana, or at least gives you access to all colors in your commander's color identity.

Arcane Signet hit the field in 2019 with the release of the Throne of Eldraine Brawl decks – Wizards' special 60-card Commander format they invented when Dominaria released, which has gone on to be a fan-favorite format on MTG Arena. Since then, it has seen a reprint in every Commander product and precon, getting the new Sol Ring treatment as a staple mana rock in the format.

#42. Beast Within + Generous Gift

Beast WithinGenerous Gift

Beast Within and Generous Gift are two sides of the same permanent removal. Three mana for a no-limits piece of interaction makes Beast Within one of the best green removal spells, and Generous Gift one of the best removal spells in white. We never worry about that creature we’ve just given them either; a vanilla 3/3 is way less of a threat than that Sanguine Bond or Isochron Scepter we just destroyed.

#41. Chaos Warp

Chaos Warp

Chaos Warp can kind of be thought of as red’s Beast Within: one the best removal spells red has access to by way of being one of the best Polymorph effects in MTG. It circumvents the color pie and allows red decks to handle enchantments or other permanents that red cards usually can't handle.

It's 3-mana removal for a Warp World effect on that permanent. Chaos Warp gets better or worse depending on who you’ve cast it on, really. I love to blow up my opponent’s Kess, Dissident Mage since I know they’re favoring non-permanents in that deck, but I’m much more cautious when targeting an Amareth, the Lustrous.

#40. Mana Drain

Mana Drain

Mana Drain was in contention for the most recent wave of Game Changer additions, but the Commander Format Panel agreed that this strictly better Counterspell doesn’t quite break games. It’s still S-tier countermagic, basically only beaten by the other S-tier free counterspells.

#39. Torment of Hailfire

Torment of Hailfire

Back in my day, we dumped our 20 mana into a Fireball and liked it, but the kids these days have been slinging Torment of Hailfires around to a much greater effect. Torment of Hailfire has a leg up on the other game-ending X-mana spells by virtue of being oppressive hand disruption, removal, and life loss all at once. Compared to your traditional Exsanguinate or Rolling Earthquake, Torment of Hailfire is asymmetrical, and has the possibility to damage your foes for three times the amount of mana you paid into it. One of the best black sorceries, a well-timed Torment of Hailfire can accomplish three different goals at once!

#38. Rhythm of the Wild

Rhythm of the Wild

Gruul () decks know what's up with Rhythm of the Wild. Move over Fervor, there’s a better haste anthem in town and it's also stopping our creatures from being countered. As one of the best Gruul cards in the game, Rhythm of the Wild slots into most creature-heavy red-green decks with ease, and makes a great inclusion in +1/+1 counter themes as well.

#37. Swiftfoot Boots

Swiftfoot Boots

Swiftfoot Boots is the slower, cheaper Lightning Greaves. That sounds a bit harsh, but it's still one of the best options in the entire format for protecting your commander. In fact, it has some instances where you’ll actually prefer hexproof rather than shroud. Maybe you’re trying to stack 100 auras on Rafiq of the Many, or you need to reanimate Gonti, Lord of Luxury with an Undying Evil effect.

#36. Lightning Greaves

Lightning Greaves

Lightning Greaves is the best way to keep a commander safe from harm thanks to shroud, and enjoy the immediate benefits from any attack triggers they have. The cheaper equip cost versus Swiftfoot Boots makes the Greaves favorable in almost every situation, minus the ones where you need to target your commander with a lot of spells – think aura and equipment-based Voltron decks – but even then you can always move the Greaves over to another creature at sorcery speed.

#35. Cultivate + Kodama’s Reach

CultivateKodama's Reach

Cultivate and its Kamigawa-themed friend Kodama's Reach are two of the best ramp spells in the format. A turn-3 play (or turn 2, if we ramped already) that guarantees us another land that turn and at least one more on the following turn is more than enough to pull us way ahead on mana. We’re looking at 5 mana on turn 3 on average, suddenly bringing all those prohibitively expensive commanders into a playable range.

#34. Impact Tremors

Impact Tremors

A lot of Commander decks cast a lot of creatures, or generate a lot of tokens, or blink creatures in and out of the battlefield, and Impact Tremors goes with all of them. This is design space that Magic has been exploring a lot more lately, with additions like Shocking Sharpshooter, Molten Gatekeeper, and Agate Instigator all providing the “Impact Tremors” effect. Purphoros, God of the Forge could also very easily be in this slot as well.

#33. Blood Artist

Blood Artist

Every aristocrats deck needs either a Blood Artist or a Zulaport Cutthroat, and usually both. Blood Artist is the original top-tier aristocrat pinger, and as such this black vampire is the lynchpin to any strategy that looks to win by sacrificing creatures over and over for value. There are many imitations (Falkenrath Noble, Cruel Celebrant), but none will beat the symmetrical effect and 2-mana casting cost of Blood Artist. Maybe in a year's time Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER will prove to outclass Blood Artist.

#32. Doubling Season

Doubling Season

I shouldn’t have to go long on why Doubling Season makes the list. Token commanders and +1/+1 counter commanders are rampant in EDH, and often cross over into the same archetype (hello, Ghave, Guru of Spores fans).

Doubling Season has great play outside of just making a ton of 1/1 Saprolings, though: This green enchantment also doubles the number of counters your permanents enter with, whether planeswalker loyalty counters, oil counters, lore counters, and more!

#31. Bolas’s Citadel

Bolas's Citadel

The best black artifact in town, Bolas's Citadel is just generally good in Commander; in a 40-life format, you usually have more than enough to spare by the time you stick this legendary artifact to the field. It plays even better in decks that make a lot of permanents, like token decks, and in decks where you can gain a lot of life and manipulate the top cards of your library.

#30. Blasphemous Act

Blasphemous Act

Blasphemous Act has earned its reputation as the best red board wipe, and one of Magic's best red sorceries overall. Thirteen damage is more than enough to kill everything, and the cost reduction effect gets meaningfully better as you acquire more opponents who, in turn, play more creatures.

#29. Vandalblast

Vandalblast

The go-to artifact board wipe in Commander is Vandalblast. One mana to destroy a target artifact is already the best rate we can hope for, but 5 for a one-sided board wipe that's guaranteed to sink that Mishra, Eminent One deck is just excellent.

#28. Craterhoof Behemoth

Craterhoof Behemoth

Green decks that win games with combat damage employ Craterhoof Behemoth almost religiously as one of the best green overrun effects. This Avacyn Restored mythic rare changed how Magic did mass pumps. Putting a P/T boost and trample anthem on a huge 5/5 with haste for the top end of your creature deck and jumping into combat just makes sense, so much so that Wizards has since printed toned-down versions like End-Raze Forerunners and Decimator of the Provinces.

#27. Deflecting Swat

Deflecting Swat

The Commander 2020 free spell cycle was incredible, with Obscuring Haze in a clear last place and still probably underrated. Deflecting Swat’s in contention for the best, in direct competition with Fierce Guardianship. Hard to argue with a free Negate, but there are times when Deflecting Swat does way more than a counterspell ever could. Mostly you’ll just swat away a removal spell and make an opponent kill their own creature, but sometimes you redirect a Time Warp to yourself or completey rearrange what a Crackle with Power was targeting.

#26. Esper Sentinel

Esper Sentinel

As if Smothering Tithe wasn’t bad enough, now we’re giving white Mystic Remora on a body. Sure, this white artifact creature only triggers on their first noncreature spell and there’s no guarantee its power will be greater than 1, but this is still another punishing stax effect that lets you ask every turn: “Will you pay the 1?” You just can’t beat this effect at only 1 white mana.

#25. Jeska’s Will

Jeska's Will

Jeska's Will is an early-game groan test. It’s become so ubiquitous that someone can ask “how many cards does everyone have in hand?” and you know exactly what’s coming. It doesn’t have the same absurd mana output as Mana Geyser, but you’ll absolutely give up some ritual mana to staple a draw-3 to your Geosurge. It almost feels unfair how far ahead you can get with an early Jeska’s Will, especially if you have a 2-drop commander that curves into it while people’s hands are still full.

#24. Heroic Intervention

Heroic Intervention

Heroic Intervention is green’s best defense against board wipes and targeted removal. For 2 mana we’re looking at a better response to Blasphemous Act than Wrap in Vigor. It’s no Veil of Summer, but the large number of situations where its applicable makes it one of the best “green counterspells,” and one of the best green instants overall.

#23. Sensei’s Divining Top

Sensei's Divining Top

Sensei's Divining Top is banned in Modern and Legacy because it just plain creates too much consistent advantage, and is an absolutely miserable experience to play against in high-power competitive games. In casual games of Commander, it's just a neat way to filter through the top of your library! From enabling miracles to setting up the perfect top deck for Intet, the Dreamer, SDT is the best scrying you can do in Commander, and it isn’t locked into a color identity!

#22. Opposition Agent

Opposition Agent

Opposition Agent is the best response to your opponent’s Demonic Tutor, and the funniest response to their Evolving Wilds. Any time a card lets us take control of an opponent and make any decision for them, the results can be devastating. Opposition Agent just puts a firm stop to all tutoring, and even goes so far as to steal the card they would've tutored. In fact, outside of Aven Mindcensor, this black creature is one of the only instant-speed responses we have to tutor spells, if you don’t count Negates.

Devious reminder that you can look at a player's hand while controlling them with Opposition Agent.

#21. Boseiju, Who Endures

Boseiju, Who Endures

Channeling Boseiju, Who Endures doesn’t have the most profound effect on the game; it’s kind of like casting Nature's Claim with an even worse drawback. But the card is so incredibly free to put into decks that you just see it everywhere. For anyone who still wants to #FreeTheOtter, this is the type of ubiquity you’d see with Lutri, the Spellchaser if it was ever unbanned in Commander.

And it can’t be overstated how useful it is that the naturalize effect comes from a channel ability, not casting a spell. It’s the type of card that can get you out of a stax bind or weird combos like a Drannith Magistrate + Knowledge Pool lock.

#20. Farewell

Farewell

Oh yeah? Well good riddance to you too!

Farewell’s another Game-Changer-in-training that just hasn’t made it on the list yet (mark my words). It’s one of the most miserable sweepers for Commander, resetting just about everything, and you can sometimes use it as an asymmetric sweeper depending on the boardstate, much like Austere Command. The biggest offender here is wiping away graveyards, which cripples a lot of the recursion people would use to build back from a comprehensive board wipe like this.

#19. Land Tax

Land Tax

Land Tax is the number one way white decks can keep up with the aggressive land-ramping green has access to in Commander. While this amazing white enchantment only tutors those lands to your hand, it's a guaranteed way to filter all those basic lands out of your library and never miss a land drop.

#18. Toxic Deluge

Toxic Deluge

At first glance, Toxic Deluge already appears like a great black board wipe. It gets around indestructible, and can be scaled to your needs. However, Toxic Deluge can also enable some of the wonkier life-total combos in Commander. For example, setting up a Near-Death Experience alongside the Deluge lets you set your life total to exactly 1, winning the game. Vilis, Broker of Blood, one of the best mono-black commanders and among Magic's best demons, turns Deluge into a huge draw spell, too.

#17. Swords to Plowshares

Swords to Plowshares

Swords to Plowshares is the original white exile effect, exiling targets from the game ever since 1993’s Alpha. One-mana removal will always be of great value, especially in white decks where mana might be tight. The rate on Swords to Plowshares is truly insane; permanently removing any problematic creature is well worth its power in life in almost every instance.

#16. Broken Mass-Mana Lands

Tolarian Academy is banned for a reason, and Gaea's Cradle/Serra's Sanctum aren’t too far off. They get a sort of pass for scarcity reasons, but they’re unreasonable mana-producers when the decks playing them come together. Cabal Coffers is less threatening, but the combo with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth has ended many games out of nowhere. This sort of mana production fundamentally breaks Magic, even if you have to set these up before they actually start doing broken things.

#15. Mystic Remora

Mystic Remora

One blue mana and no “once-per-turn” restriction on those noncreature spells makes Mystic Remora one of the best draw spells in blue.

There’s a lot of discussion online about the optimal number of turns to pay into Mystic Remora‘s cumulative upkeep, and the answer really depends on the situation. If this comes down early, you’ll definitely see three more cards in the first few turns as everyone casts their Rampant Growths and Arcane Signets. One mana for three cards is already at an Ancestral Recall rate, paying 1 more for another go-around will see us at five or more on average for just 2 mana.

#14. Smothering Tithe

Smothering Tithe

The Magic community collectively lost its mind when white got its own Rhystic Study. Smothering Tithe is a Treasure generator like no other, generating more mana in a Commander game than almost anything else.

Similar to Rhystic Study, Smothering Tithe badgers your foes with: Do you pay? Do you pay?” Which most opponents will flat-out refuse as a general rule. After a 4-mana investment, you’re looking at at least three Treasures by the time the turn comes back around, and even more as the game ramps up and your opponents start drawing cards off their Brainstorms and whatnot. One of the very best white enchantments and almost an auto-include in every white deck, the only prohibiting factor is its real-world cost.

#13. Necropotence

Necropotence

Calling Necropotence anything except broken would be an understatement. Yes, there’s sort of a limiting factor to how much you can draw with Necro in play, but life total is the most expendable resource in Commander, and card draw is one of the most useful. The card advantage potential is absurd, and it only ever costs 3 mana to gain access to it.

#12. Skullclamp

Skullclamp

The phrase “Skullclamp was a mistake” has probably solidly embedded itself in your brain by now, but just in case it hasn’t, take a few moments to repeat that out loud. Ready? Ok.

Skullclamp was an oversight on R&D’s part when it was released, accidentally becoming the best way to draw two cards overnight. One mana to play and 1 mana to equip it to an X/1 creature and suddenly you’re two cards deeper into your library. Now let's take this basic premise and multiply by the 100 Saproling tokens you just made using Doubling Season. You can see how this excellent card-drawing artifact gets out of hand basically immediately.

If you’re interested in learning more, there’s a good article on how the Design team messed up so badly with Skullclamp.

#11. Cyclonic Rift

Cyclonic Rift

Blue’s best board wipe in Commander is Cyclonic Rift. Seven mana is on the expensive end of one-sided board wipes, but being an instant-speed board wipe gives it a leg up over all those other sorcery-speed alternatives.

#10. Roaming Throne

Roaming Throne

We’ve been punished with a deluge of new Panharmonicon effects in premier sets over the past few years, and Roaming Throne might take the cake as the best trigger doubler yet. At first glance, it seems like this golem is meant for a typal deck, and that's definitely an option. However, its real value is that it's a 4/4 with ward for 4 generic mana that’ll double up on any triggered ability from your commander. That means decks of any color identity can make use of Roaming Throne, pushing it into the “Why wouldn’t you run this in every deck” category.

#9. Orcish Bowmasters

Orcish Bowmasters

Orcish Bowmasters graduated from the School of Design Mistakes, a year before Nadu, Winged Wisdom. What could’ve been a perfectly balanced draw-hate piece was instead pushed way too far by triggering on every extra draw your opponents take. It has a stupidly strong baseline to start with, fielding out X/1 creatures like Baleful Strix in formats where it’s legal, and it does patently unfair things when combined with wheel effects.

#8. Ancient Tomb

Ancient Tomb

Fast mana is broken. Always has been. Somehow when you see people posting pics of their awesome, broken starts in EDH, there always seems to be an Ancient Tomb lurking around in the picture somewhere. Much like Necropotence, the trade-off of life for one of the most valuable resources, in this case mana, is well worth it. Unlike Necro, Ancient Tomb can be played in every deck, so it’s a sure-fire way to accelerate just about any strategy that can benefit from colorless mana.

#7. Fierce Guardianship

Fierce Guardianship

Free spells are good. But you know what's even better? Free counterspells. Instant-speed stack interaction that you don’t need to pay for is the ideal way to protect that commander you just tapped out for. Fierce of Negation is fierce indeed, giving Commander its very own Force of Will variant.

#6. The One Ring

The One Ring

Another over-reach from The Lord of the Rings, The One Ring is just eye-rollingly ubiquitous in Commander, even as a Game Changer. It’s been jokingly described as Ancestral Recall and Time Warp rolled into one card, which may be more true than tongue-in-cheek.

Giving a player protection from everything is some pretty expansive coverage, keeping you safe from nearly everything except non-targeting life loss effects and that one line of text on Questing Beast that you forgot about. Games in which The One Ring resolves revolve around the card for the remainder of the match, and once again, one of its biggest offenses is being colorless, and therefore playable everywhere. Sauron would never.

#5. Teferi’s Protection

Teferi's Protection

I can’t tell you how many games I’ve played where Teferi's Protection has been the defining spell. Magic's most powerful phasing card, this white instant not only prevents you from losing to whatever wild play your opponent just threw at you, it also saves all of your permanents, making you virtually untouchable. Teferi's Protection is the UNO! Reverse card of Commander staples, turning that all-out attack from your opponent's 300 Saproling creature tokens into a complete whiff, or allowing you to completely ignore that Worldfire.

#4. Rhystic Study

Rhystic Study

The source for the infamous “Do you pay the 1?” question, Rhystic Study is blue’s best card draw effect in Commander. On average, you’ll see three cards drawn after you play Rhystic Study before it even comes back to your turn. There’s no cumulative upkeep like on Mystic Remora, plus it doesn’t specify noncreature spells. Really, it’s hard to believe this blue enchantment is from a cycle that included Rhystic Cave and Rhystic Lightning. Stick this blue card to the field and there’s no reason you won’t draw into a game-winning hand within a turn or two.

#3. Demonic Tutor +Vampiric Tutor

There are arguments on both sides as to whether Demonic Tutor or Vampiric Tutor is the better card. D-Tutor is immediate and costs no life, whereas Vampiric Tutor is cheaper and instant-speed. Huge advantages to both, which leads me to believe there’s a third option: They’re both equally great, just variable given the situation. Either way, these are collectively the best tutors in Magic, and any deck interested in one is likely just as interested in the other.

#2. Thassa’s Oracle + Laboratory Maniac

Thassa's OracleLaboratory Maniac

Laboratory Maniac and its evil twin Thassa's Oracle are the two most popular ways to win Commander games in blue. Milling yourself out as a win condition is easier than ever in this format, and these two blue creatures are the keys to that strategy. For starters, they both combo with Demonic Consultation and Tainted Pact to win the game instantly. Not good enough? Try Doomsday, or Enter the Infinite, or Hermit Druid.

#1. Sol Ring

Sol Ring

You literally can’t build a Commander deck without Sol Ring. Ok, you literally can but nobody recommends it. This 1-mana rock is net positive on mana the turn you play it, and will continue being the best mana rock on your board for the rest of the game. Sol Ring is so ubiquitous to the format that it's shown up in every Commander preconstructed deck ever released.

Why Are They Called Commander Staples?

“Staple” is a slang term used in card games to note something that should pretty much always be in your deck if you can play it. Sol Ring is considered a staple since pretty much every deck benefits from having one.

A Commander staple is basically a heavily-played card in the format, though a card's status as a Commander staple doesn't mean that it's an excellent card everywhere else. For example, Craterhoof Behemoth is a format-defining card in Commander, but hardly relevant in Standard. Likewise, a non-Commander staple like Thoughtseize isn't all that good in EDH, and therefore isn't a “Commander staple.”

Staples often include bread-and-butter effects like removal, card draw, and board wipes, as opposed to niche or specific cards like typal payoffs or lifegain effects.

What Sets Are Good to Buy for Commander Staples?

Commander Legends

name

The first Commander Legends brought us some of the format’s greatest cards, including Opposition Agent, Jeska's Will, Akroma's Will, and the now-banned Jeweled Lotus and Hullbreacher. It’s also full of partner pairings, which are great for deck diversity. While it’s a fun set to open, it’s at its best when you’re drafting it, and it’s also probably the most notorious set for having curled foils.

Wizards of The Coast Magic: The Gathering Commander Legends Draft Booster Box | 24 Booster Packs (480 Cards) | 2 Legends Per Pack | Factory Sealed
  • COMMANDER DRAFT IS HERE. Draft with the first ever booster packs designed for Commander—a Magic format all about battling your friends in epic multiplayer games.
  • 24 DRAFT BOOSTERS. Grab 3 packs, pick 2 cards at a time, and add in some lands for a 60-card Commander deck—then show it off in exciting free-for-all games with up to 8 friends.
  • 2 LEGENDS PER PACK. Every Commander Legends Draft Booster pack contains 2 legendary cards—enhance your deck with reprints of classic MTG commanders or 1 of the 71 commanders introduced in the set.
  • INTRODUCING FOIL ETCHED CARDS. Commander Legends debuts a special kind of foil—foil etched cards with beautiful metallic frames. In some Commander Legends Draft Boosters you can find a foil etched showcase legend or regular foil borderless planeswalker.
  • CONTENTS: 24 Commander Legends Draft Booster packs—20 Magic cards + 1 ad/token per pack, with 2 legends, at least 1 rare, and 1 foil each.

Double Masters

Double Masters Set

Both Double Masters sets are chock full of goodies, though the first one was very much a Commander set in disguise. There’s a lot to like here, such as staples like Cyclonic Rift, Blightsteel Colossus, and Land Tax, and plenty of in-betweener cards at lower rarities that’ll make your decks like Lightning Greaves, Pongify, Crop Rotation, etc.

Magic: The Gathering Double Masters 2020 Draft Booster Pack | 15 Magic Cards | 2 Rares | 2 Foils
  • WHAT'S INSIDE: 15 Magic cards and 1 token (8 commons, 3 uncommons, 2 rares or mythic rares, 2 foil Magic cards that can be any rarity)
  • THINK YOU'RE SEEING DOUBLE? Look again. Double Masters draft booster packs really do give you all the best parts of an MTG booster—twice.
  • TWO RARES. Each Double Masters Draft Booster Pack contains not 1 but 2 rare or mythic rare Magic cards—at least.
  • TWO FOILS. Every pack has twice the shine, with two foils in each booster.
  • TWO FIRST PICKS. Every pack of Double Masters has two rares—and when you booster draft, you can pick them both..TOO POWERFUL. Full of high-powered reprints and fan favourites, Double Masters contains the some of the most beloved - and feared - Magic: The Gathering cards ever created.

Wilds of Eldraine

name

Wilds of Eldraine is just a normal set as far as Commander staples go, but it’s really the Enchanting Tales bonus sheet I’m suggesting here. The bonus collection features 60+ enchantments, with tons of Commander staples ranging from Doubling Season to Rhystic Study and Smothering Tithe. With a guaranteed bonus sheet card in every pack, you’re bound to take away some Commander goodies with a box of WOE.

Magic: The Gathering Wilds of Eldraine Set Booster Box - 30 Packs (360 Magic Cards)
  • A TALE ONLY YOU CAN TELL—Venture into the untamed Wilds of Eldraine, a fairy tale-inspired world in the Magic multiverse, and free the kingdom from a curse of endless slumber
  • EXPLORE WITH SET BOOSTERS—Set Boosters are specifically designed for a fun pack-opening experience, with at least 1 Rare or Mythic Rare card and at least 1 card with a shining foil treatment in every pack
  • FAIRY-TALE INSPIRED CARDS + ART CARD—Each Set Booster contains 12 cards with art and mechanics inspired by storybook themes plus an Art Card showcasing a piece of art from the set, sometimes featuring a foil signature from the artist
  • BEWITCHING BORDERLESS CARDS—Every pack includes at least 1 Borderless Enchanting Tales card with alt-art that looks right out of a storybook or may even feature special anime-inspired art
  • PLAY A GAME THAT FUSES ART, STORIES & STRATEGY—Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that weaves deep strategy with art and mechanics that explore the themes of a particular world and story—whether you want to play a casual game with friends, collect cool cards, or get competitive, Magic welcomes you to The Gathering

Commanding Conclusion

Sol Ring - Illustration by Kekai Kotaki

Sol Ring | Illustration by Kekai Kotaki

Being an Eternal format, Commander has one of the largest card pools in Magic. Not only are the most powerful (and expensive) cards in the game legal to play, there are also tons of budget alternatives that show up in a majority of Commander decks. The top Commander cards listed here are by no means an exhaustive list, as many hundreds of cards show up across deck archetypes and playstyles in a 100-card singleton format, but these are by far some of the most popular choices from Commander's 10+ year history.

How do you feel about Commander staples? Do you play many of them, or have you found alternate choices that play better with your commander? Let me know in the comments or over on Draftsim’s X.

Thanks for reading, happy deck building!

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2 Comments

  • Shattered July 17, 2021 10:33 pm

    Umm… Fetch lands, maybe? Not only do they allow you to tutor out shock lands, as well as proc landfall abilities, but they thin lands out of your library to ensure you draw gas to spend that mana on.

  • Mike March 14, 2022 5:58 am

    Also what about the og duals and battlebond/commander legends lands. Come into play untapped.

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