The 55 Best Mono Blue Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on April 17, 2024

Azami, Lady of Scrolls | Illustration by Ittoku

Blue is easily the best color in Magic. You have the best permission, the best card draw, and some of the best planeswalkers in the game. There’s a reason almost all the best cEDH decks play blue: it’s cracked.

Blue also has plenty to offer lower-powered tables. It’s got a host of powerful commanders that include some niche archetypal build-around cards, like flying and targeting your own spells. Blue also has powerful threats that can keep up with the best players in your playgroup.

Today, I’m ranking the 55 best mono-blue commanders!

What Are Blue Commanders in MTG?

Urza, Lord High Artificer | Illustration by Grzegorz Rutkowski

Blue commanders are legendary creature cards with blue as a part of their color identity. This includes mono-blue commanders like Urza, Lord High Artificer as well as multicolored commanders like Niv-Mizzet, Parun or Niv-Mizzet Reborn.

This article focuses on mono-blue commanders without other colors. Adding other colors makes decks stronger because it accounts for the weaknesses of each color and diversifies the tools at your disposal. This list would overrun with multicolored commanders, and I wanted to use this to highlight what blue can do as a stand-alone color.

I’m looking for two things in this ranking: power, and uniqueness. Of course, you want strong commanders, but going for commanders with unique strategies is one of the most interesting choices you can make in Commander. Playing mono-color allows you to build around a unique expression of that color’s mechanics and strengths.

#55. Sun Quan, Lord of Wu

Horsemanship is basically flying, except nobody plays cards with horsemanship in Commander. Sun Quan, Lord of Wu practically says your entire team is unblockable. It’s an interesting option for an aggressive mono-blue commander that wants to play to the board, which isn’t what blue typically does.

That said, six mana for a 4/4 with so little text is expensive and could easily get blown out by a removal spell.

#54. Thyrx, the Sudden Storm

Thyrx, the Sudden Storm gives blue a ramp option in the command zone. At least, for your biggest spells.

Thyrx could be an interesting build-around, but it’s a bit weak. Only reducing the cost of your spells by isn’t a super significant mana advantage, especially since it’s so restrictive. It could be a commander for an X spell deck.

#53. Katsumasa, the Animator

Turning noncreature artifacts into creatures is a surefire way for an artifact-based deck to win the game, and Katsumasa, the Animator lets you repeatedly turn noncreature artifacts into creatures and buff them every turn.

This could be a great commander for mono-blue vehicles. The main drawback is that it’s a costly, repeated mana investment to animate your artifacts each turn, though you can dodge sorcery-speed interaction on your threats.

#52. Kairi, the Swirling Sky

A 6-mana 6/6 with flying and evasion is nothing to sneeze at, but Kairi, the Swirling Sky doesn’t offer much more than stats. The biggest drawback to this commander is that it needs to die to get the value of its abilities, but Kairi is super costly, so killing it and casting it from the command zone time and again adds up.

That said, a massive threat that can draw a few cards or give you a nice tempo boost is an interesting card.

#51. The Watcher in the Water

The Watcher in the Water is a high-powered threat and can put down a wall of tentacles that discourage your opponents from attacking you. It needs instant-speed card draw and combines well with Nadir Kraken for great benefit on minimal mana investment.

#50. Ormos, Archive Keeper

Ormos, Archive Keeper is one of the more standout commanders on the list. It plays a sort of Voltron game, growing huge once your library is out of cards. It’s a bit fragile; if you’re out of cards in your library, one removal spell can kill you, and there are frankly better win conditions with an empty library. The second ability really makes this card; three mana to draw five is fantastic, especially in coordination with cards that want you to fill your graveyard. Ormos is altogether very niche but deeply interesting.

#49. Gadwick, the Wizened

Gadwick, the Wizened could be far higher on this list if it weren’t so slow. It scales incredibly well as you can draw a ton of cards in one go with it, but that also means taking a turn off. And you need another effect to keep all the cards you’re drawing. Tapping opposing permanents makes it an interesting choice for an aggressive commander that fills your hand so you don’t run out of gas.

#48. Gandalf, Friend of the Shire

Commander is a format known for allowing you to play some of your biggest spells. Gandalf, Friend of the Shire might not surprise anyone the turn it comes down, but your big play can now come out of nowhere. A commander with flash is generally strong, and the not-oppressive card draw is what pushed this card onto the list.

#47. Naban, Dean of Iteration

The first tribal card on the list, Naban, Dean of Iteration is the epitome of niche but powerful. Doubling triggers is very strong, as commanders like Brago, King Eternal and Yarok, the Desecrated can attest. Naban is narrow enough that it’s not broken, though. You need to take some care and make deliberate choices to maximize this card's potential. It’s interesting, but it’s ultimately not even the strongest wizard commander on the list.

#46. The Reality Chip

Future Sight is really good, and The Reality Chip chucks it into your command zone. Cheap commanders are strong since you can consistently play them early and cast them again a few times before the commander tax gets unwieldy. This commander gives you a steady stream of card draw that pairs well with blue’s abundant top deck manipulation and is a great outlet for infinite mana.

#45. Iymrith, Desert Doom

Iymrith, Desert Doom is simply an effective card. It’s got great stats for the cost and protects itself. It’s also a strong source of repeated card advantage that asks you to get into combat. This really isn’t something blue does a ton of, so it’s good to see on a body that enables such aggressive shenanigans.

#44. Kami of the Crescent Moon

Who doesn’t love a group hug deck? Kami of the Crescent Moon gives everybody all the cards they could want. It’s a great mill commander since it forces your opponents to draw cards and is often used to help facilitate those strategies. In theory, your opponent can’t get that much card advantage if they’re drawing cards faster than they can cast them! In theory. Which keeps the Kami a little lower.

#43. Akal Pakal, First Among Equals

Historically, blue + artifact strategies tend to work well. The card advantage at no extra cost, being able to dodge card draw punishers, and block decently puts Akal Pakal, First Among Equals but not quite first among the best blue commanders.

#42. Empress Galina

Blue is famously bad at removing resolved permanents, which can include opposing commanders. Empress Galina gives you a way around that by stealing those troublesome permanents. This is especially good as Wizards increasingly puts the legendary supertype on more creatures than ever. It’s also a great way to remove opposing commanders since gaining control of a permanent doesn’t make it change zones, stopping your opponent from putting a key piece back in the command zone.

#41. Artemis, All-Seeing

Alternate win conditions can be intriguing in Commander, adding a lot of texture to games that can go on for hours. Atemsis, All-Seeing is a fantastic alternate wincon that feels deeply blue. This card rewards careful deckbuilding that manages your mana curve and skillful use of cards like Ponder and Brainstorm to sculpt your hand so you can one-shot an unsuspecting player.

#40. Maeve, Insidious Singer

Goad is another way for blue to slip around its struggles with stopping resolved creatures. Maeve, Insidious Singer lets you pit the scariest creatures on the table against your opponents while drawing cards. This could make for a fascinating political commander and is a unique control option.

#39. Kaho, Minamo Historian

Kaho, Minamo Historian begs to be a broken combo commander. The triple tutor in blue is insanely powerful and easily lines up a powerful line. Blue has an abundance of untap effects like Hidden Strings to get multiple activations in a single turn, and you can flicker Kaho to tutor multiple times.

#38. Thada Adel, Acquisitor

Another great commander to steal your opponents’ cards is Thada Adel, Acquisitor. Who said you had to be limited to one Sol Ring per game? This commander can even disrupt artifact-reliant win conditions and combos while ramping you. It can be a little match-up dependent, so make sure your deck doesn't rely on Thada too much.

#37. Nardole, Resourceful Cyborg

Nardole, Resourceful Cyborg represents great ramp for blue when you put two or more of any kind of counter, oil, shield, or maybe just one -1/-1 counter. The resilience from undying and providing colored mana are premium traits of this Doctor’s companion for Commander.

#36. Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam

If you thought one Portal to Phyrexia was good, how do two sound? Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam lets you double all your artifacts. That’s insanely strong. It’s also got all the strengths of a cheap commander and even protects your vital pieces. It gives artifact decks more flair than simply cheating them into play.

#35. Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus

Doubling things is good, and doubling proliferate effects is very good. Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus easily helms a powerful superfriends deck looking to ultimate cards like Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer well ahead of schedule. It also works well with cards like Darksteel Reactor while protecting itself.

#34. Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

Fact or Fiction is one of the coolest cards you can resolve in Commander and Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign repeatedly gives you a miniature version of the effect. It’s also the only Sphinx-tribal commander on the list. It gives your Sphinxes a significant discount, and they all replace themselves. This facilitates graveyard strategies because you’ll be milling yourself fast.

#33. Ioreth of the Healing House

If you’ve gone infinite, or been unable to break an infinite loop, you know that untapping two things basically means Ioreth of the Healing House has affinity for combos. Uncommon and otherwise unthreatening, this human commander can be a key piece to making your deck do the thing.

#32. Jalira, Master Polymorphist

Who pays full price for their Eldrazi? Jalira, Master Polymorphist turns random tokens into world-devouring threats that can’t even be countered. It’s limited since it doesn’t find legends, but that’s part of the fun. It rewards careful deck building with some essential creatures you want to hit and a balance of token makers and haymakers to keep the pressure up.

#31. God-Eternal Kefnet

Who wants to double your spells? God-Eternal Kefnet gives you a great way to copy and cast spells from our hands. It’s a unique effect that helps you impact the board while keeping your hand full, though it is a little awkward with countermagic. The cost reduction works well with cards with X in their cost, like Blue Sun's Zenith.

#30. Muzzio, Visionary Architect

Cheating artifacts into play is a powerful effect. Muzzio, Visionary Architect lets you get killer artifacts, often at a discount. It’s held back by needing a large artifact in play. It easily whiffs if you’re banking on looking at two or three cards. The value it offers is immense though, and it’s the kind of card that only gets better as Wizards prints new busted artifacts like Portal to Phyrexia.

#29. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is a powerful control and stax piece. It easily locks opponents out of the game with cards like Knowledge Pool and provides you with endless counter protection. With a Teferi in play, you have the final say in what resolves and what doesn’t since your opponents can’t respond to your game actions. That’s an advantage hard to overcome.

#28. Talrand, Sky Summoner

You’d think Talrand, Sky Summoner is the best mono-blue commander with how often Wizards reprints it. The frequent reprints may be a meme, but the card is solid. Producing a fleet of 2/2s as you counter everything your opponent plays leads to a quick game. This is another card that’s powerful because it fills out your board in a way blue can struggle with.

#27. Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy

Cheap commanders are great, and cheap planeswalkers are even better. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy fixes your hand early and fills your graveyard for later advantage while flipping into a powerful planeswalker. Jace doesn’t excel at any one thing, but it’s generally a well-rounded card that generates tons of value in a game.

#26. Emperor Mihail II

Merfolk is one of Magic’s oldest tribes, and Emperor Mihail II gives them a cheap commander that generates a ton of card draw. Playing spells off the top of your deck is a superb card advantage engine that gets around effects like Narset, Parter of Veils. The Emperor can also build out your board, which is incredibly useful for a strategy reliant on going wide with lords.

#25. Alandra, Sky Dreamer

Talrand is a classic mono-blue commander, but Alandra, Sky Dreamer takes it a step further by giving your Drakes something akin to an Overrun effect. At least, as close as blue can get. Comparing the two, drawing extra cards each turn isn’t much harder for blue than just casting spells; they really go hand in hand for this color. Alandra’s ability to close the game out edges it a few spots ahead.

#24. Arcanis the Omnipotent

Arcanis the Omnipotent very famously goes infinite with Mind Over Matter to draw your entire deck, which blue has no shortage of ways to exploit (looking at you, Thassa's Oracle). It’s a bit slow for modern Commander, but you must respect part of a two-card combo in the command zone.

#23. Geralf, Visionary Stitcher

Zombie lovers, shamble to attention! Geralf, Visionary Stitcher gives everybody’s favorite rotting corpses a tribal lord that gives your tokens evasion. Blue doesn’t often dabble with sacrifice outlets, which makes Geralf an interesting commander that lets you use blue differently from the typical spell-based strategies.

#22. Charix, the Raging Isle

Charix, the Raging Isle is probably the best mono-blue Voltron commander and pairs incredibly well with a nice compound butter. Blue’s got plenty of evasive auras to give Charix so it can glide through your opponents' blockers uncontested while being protected by both countermagic and spells like Slip Out the Back.

#21. Jacob Hauken, Inspector

Casting spells for free is great. Have you ever played a free Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger? It wraps things up quickly. Jacob Hauken, Inspector is such a lovely little card. It comes down early, starts fixing your draws, and lets you cheat in big spells a few turns later. Jacob is easily one of the better commanders for players looking to cheat big things into play. It also gets a bit of a boost over blue cards that cheat artifacts or creatures into play since it puts whatever you like on the stack for free.

#20. Cosima, God of the Voyage / The Omenkeel

Drawing cards is great, and drawing cards for free is even better. Cosima, God of the Voyage offers plenty of card draw if you have the patience for it. The appeal of this commander is the card advantage, but also the strategy. When do you cash it in? How long can you wait to set up a winning play, or do you need the blocker? These answers vary from game to game in an engaging manner.

#19. Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch / Temple of Cyclical Time

I call Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch big-time card advantage for giving you two instant spells for each one in your hand thanks to rebound. Add in resistance from removal, and this god from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is an exciting and powerful buildaround.

#18. Donal, Herald of Wings

Blue has some of the best flying creatures in the game, and Donal, Herald of Wings gives you a copy of any of them. The tokens it generates aren’t big but generate plenty of board presence that works incredibly well with cards that care about a number of fliers like Tide Skimmer or Favorable Winds.

#17. Svyelun of Sea and Sky

The next and best of the merfolk commanders is Svyelun of Sea and Sky. Commanders with easily accessible indestructible are powerful. The protection it gives your other Merfolk pushes it ahead of the Emperor. The Emperor offers better card advantage, but Svyelun makes it hard for your opponents to pick off key pieces while still drawing you some cards.

#16. Deekah, Fractal Theorist

Another token-producing commander, Deekah, Fractal Theorist takes the cake with Magecraft since it produces tokens when you cast or copy a spell. It also makes much larger tokens and gives them evasion. This is a great card to bury your opponents beneath a mathematical onslaught.

#15. Teferi, Temporal Archmage

Blue isn’t known for its mana production, but Teferi, Temporal Archmage turns that on its head by untapping several lands or artifacts you control. It does other things, but that’s the ability you want. It’s a great option to helm a storm deck that wants to use High Tide to produce a ton of mana or a terrifying stax commander who breaks the symmetry of cards like Stasis and Winter Orb. No matter what you do with Teferi, it won’t be fair.

#14. Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Creatures with enters the battlefield abilities are among the best in the game because of the immediate impact they have on the board. Thassa, Deep-Dwelling gives you steady access to these abilities. A sneaky part of Thassa as a commander is that it can blink creatures you control but don’t own; while most flicker effects return flickered creatures to their owner’s control, Thassa lets you retain them.

#13. Jin-Gitaxias / The Great Synthesis

It’s hard to evaluate a new card, and this might be a bit high on the list, but I think Jin-Gitaxias has what it takes to be a massive hit in the command zone. You’ll draw tons of cards from this just sitting in play, and the Saga becomes an Omniscience for a turn.

The best way to utilize this commander is a Show and Tell style deck focused on cheating big things into play with some of the other cards we’ve looked at, like Jacob Hauken, Inspector and Muzzio, Visionary Architect.

#12. Memnarch

Memnarch is a classic mono-blue artifact commander that doesn’t allow your opponents to use any mana rocks. It just takes them. This is a great control commander who denies your opponent's tools just by taking them. It’s also a fantastic combo piece as an effective infinite mana outlet.

#11. Emry, Lurker of the Loch

Emry, Lurker of the Loch is a great artifact commander that easily comes down on turn two or even one. Commanders with cost reductions that eat into the commander tax are pretty powerful. You don’t really want to run Emry as a value commander but as a combo commander. Blue fills the graveyard easily and has plenty of ways to help untap Emry to cast multiple artifacts each turn.

#10. Lier, Disciple of the Drowned

Speaking of abusing the graveyard, Lier, Disciple of the Drowned kicks off the top ten with another commander that can unleash terrifying combos. It excels as a storm commander that benefits from cast cards like High Tide and Turnabout twice. It’s also an extra turn spell’s best friend and protects you from countermagic on the turn you want to win.

#9. Arcum Dagsson

We’ve looked at several commanders that cheat artifacts into play, and Arcum Dagsson is simply the best of them. Mostly because it doesn’t cost mana, but Arcum can also turn Thopters and other tokens in Portal to Phyrexia. It also works with cards like Liquimetal Coating to turn dangerous creatures into irrelevant mana rocks. If you want to put massive artifacts into play without paying any mana for them, Arcum is the commander for you.

#8. Braids, Conjurer Adept

Braids, Conjurer Adept is another great choice for those uninterested in paying more than four mana for massive threats. It also lets you put any threat you want into play for free. Playing it is an engaging gamble. Do you really think your threats are so much better than your opponents’ that you can get away with giving them a free Show and Tell? Braids pairs well with cards that let you phase out your creatures to break the symmetry.

#7. Minn, Wily Illusionist

Minn, Willy Illusionist strikes an interesting balance between token producers and mana cheaters. Blue has plenty of other illusions like Phantasmal Image to help buff Minn’s tokens. This card forces your opponents into a corner; do they take the damage from a growing army of illusions, or risk letting you cheat something into play? It’s also another blue card that wants you to find ways to sacrifice your creatures for a unique blue effect.

#6. Octavia, Living Thesis

We love a deeply thematic card design, and this lovely octopus is all about the number eight. It doesn’t take much work to turn this into an incredibly cheap 2-mana 8/8. This works really well with some cards we’ve looked at like Deekah, Fractal Theorist, and Minn has the stat buff to make those cards shine. It’s also one of the best options for an aggressive mono-blue commander.

#5. Orvar, the All-Form

Orvar, the All-Form boldly asks a question no commander has dared ask before: how many copies of Agent of Treachery can you make before your opponent concede and your friendship crumble? This is the clone commander, and it provides endless value. Blue has no end of cards that target your permanents and draw a card, so the value is always flowing.

#4. Baral, Chief of Compliance

Can you believe your opponents thought they could resolve spells? Baral, Chief of Compliance is a terrifying control commander. Turning all the 3-mana counterspells like Disallow and Dissipate into Counterspell with upside and discounting your instants and sorceries gives you ultimate control in a game where you decide who resolves, who doesn’t, and whose story is told.

#3. Bruvac the Grandiloquent

No list of blue commanders is complete without a mill option, and Bruvac the Grandiloquent is one of the best options. The biggest weakness of running mill in Commander is that you need to mill through so many cards, and Bruvac lets you do that twice as fast. It’s literally lethal with an abundance of cards that mill half your opponents’ library, like Cut Your Losses and Maddening Cacophony. It’s even an advisor for Persistent Petitioners.

#2. Azami, Lady of Scrolls

The highest-ranked tribal commander on the list is the Wizard tribal commander Azami, Lady of Scrolls. The more value you can get from your commander without paying mana the better, and Azami draws so many cards for free. Wizards are a tribe that often works well with instants and sorceries, making Azami a great choice to helm a Wizard-themed control deck that benefits from drawing six counterspells a turn.

#1. Urza, Lord High Artificer

We’ve looked at commanders that cheat cards into play, we’ve looked at commanders that produce mana, and we’ve looked at stax commanders that break symmetrical effects like Static Orb. Urza comes out on top because it does all these things in one package and does them better.

The value you get from this card is hard to understate. This is the premiere artifact stax combo commander because it does everything you could want. It even comes in with a secondary threat. If you want to combo in blue, there’s nobody better the lead your forces into battle.

Best Blue Commander Payoffs

Once you’ve picked a mono-blue commander, what do you get for your troubles? One of the biggest payoffs is access to the best countermagic in the game. The best thing you can do in a game of Magic is to simply tell your opponent “no.” Removal often does the job, but cards that have an immediate impact when they enter the battlefield can weaken their effectiveness. Countermagic stops problems before they’re even a problem.

You also get incredible card draw and card selection. Cards like Treasure Cruise and Ancestral Vision give you raw card advantage while cantrips including Ponder and Brainstorm set up your future turns for perfect gameplay.

Another benefit to blue is that it works really well with artifacts, which are historically one of the best card types in the game. As you can see from the list above, there’s no end to the blue cards you can use to cheat or replicate massive artifacts.

Is Mono-Blue Good in Commander?

It can be. Blue is considered the best color in Magic for good reason and has some of the strongest cards and strategies in the game. The main drawback is that blue inherently has trouble dealing with resolved permanents. If you try to counter every spell in a game, you’ll just run out of countermagic and annoy your opponents. You need to learn to play a controlling strategy that picks off key pieces.

Another drawback comes from the social aspect. Some players don’t like playing against mono-blue and pressure you extra hard because they think you’ll ruin their fun with a slew of countermagic (which you might be planning to do). But nothing feels more rewarding than coming out on top of a game where everybody is gunning for the mono-blue player.

Commanding Conclusion

Bruvac the Grandiloquent | Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

Like any mono-color in Commander, blue has some weaknesses. It’s also got incredible power and a diverse range of strategies you can run. This list highlights the best mono-blue commanders that offer powerful gameplay but also explore the niches and facets offers as a strategy.

You can still find more controlling commanders, aggressive commanders, and combo-y commanders to name a few. Who’s your favorite mono-blue commander? Do you think there’s a blue commander stronger than Urza? Let me know in the comments or on the Draftsim Twitter.

Stay healthy, and don’t let your opponents resolve spells!