The 66 Best Mono Blue Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on December 16, 2025

Baral, Chief of Compliance | Illustration by Wesley Burt

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. Blue also has powerful threats that can keep up with the best players in your playgroup.

Today, I rank the best mono-blue commanders!

What Are Blue Commanders in MTG?

Urza, Lord High Artificer | Illustration by Grzegorz Rutkowski

Blue commanders are legendary creature cards (sometimes other permanent types) with blue as a part of their color identity. This includes mono-blue commanders like Urza, Lord High Artificer, but excludes multicolored commanders like Niv-Mizzet, Parun or Niv-Mizzet Reborn.

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 be overrun with multicolored commanders so I'm using this to highlight what blue can do as a stand-alone color.

I look for two things in this ranking: power, and uniqueness. You of course 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.

#66. 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 draw. Tapping opposing permanents makes it an interesting choice for an aggressive commander that fills your hand so you don’t run out of gas.

#65. 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, 6 mana for a 4/4 with so little text is expensive and could easily get blown out by a removal spell.

#64. Thryx, the Sudden Storm

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

Thryx is an interesting build-around, but it’s a bit weak. Reducing the cost of your spells by only isn’t a super significant mana advantage, especially since it’s so restrictive. It does make me want to build an X-spell deck, though.

#63. 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 animate artifacts 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.

#62. Kairi, the Swirling Sky

A 6-mana 6/6 with 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.

#61. Senator Peacock

Senator Peacock gives your artifacts a way out. Contact your local senator and Clue commander for some easy card advantage if you've got an artifact or artifact creature that is locked down by stun counters, stopped by a Pacifism effect, or you just want to trigger Su-Chi Cave Guard, Malcator's Watcher, or Triplicate Titan.

#60. Hraesvelgr of the First Brood

Hraesvelgr of the First Brood gets an honorary ranking because it is an elder dragon. But here's the thing about old things in Magic, they're often really good. Hraesvelgr takes this to heart with a prowess trigger that makes any one of your creatures unblockable. Veteran players know the power of a Serra Angel; this dude just picked up more stats and ward 2 along the way.

#59. 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 with minimal mana investment.

#58. 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.

#57. Edgar, King of Figaro

When your battlefield is full of artifacts, Edgar, King of Figaro comes down and refuels your hand immediately, making sure you never slow down. Because your first coin flip each turn is guaranteed to land heads, cards like Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom become major value engines. Add artifact producers like Sai, Master Thopterist, and you get a deck that mixes solid strategy with chaotic, coin-flip fun, while still drawing a ton of cards.

#56. Krang, Master Mind

Krang, Master Mind is perfect for a blue artifact strategy that wants a ton of permanents on the board. Affinity for artifacts makes it cheap to cast, and cards like Thought Monitor and Myr Retriever help flood the battlefield and boost its power. When Krang enters, it refills your hand up to four cards, so you always stay in the game. Extra artifacts like Treasure or Clue keep this commander huge and deadly.

#55. Geralf, the Fleshwright

Zombies keep coming back, and Geralf, the Fleshwright keeps them fresh as well as anyone can keep zombies fresh. This time, the tokens are blue-black and rogues. Bring the zombies into play all at once for maximum effect as a great culmination of a storm of spells.

#54. Naban, Dean of Iteration

One of the first typal cards 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.

#53. Jin-Gitaxias / The Great Synthesis

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 help from other blue legends like Jacob Hauken, Inspector and Muzzio, Visionary Architect.

#52. The Mechanist, Aerial Artisan

Casting non-creature spells with The Mechanist, Aerial Artisan builds a stash of Clue that turn into card draw or temporary 3/1 flying constructs. It fits perfectly in a spellslinger shell with cards like Sai, Master Thopterist and Tamiyo's Journal to fuel its artifact synergies. The more spells you chain, the more tokens you create; pretty soon you’re taking over the skies while digging through your deck.

#51. 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. 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.

#50. Jill, Shiva’s Dominant // Shiva, Warden of Ice

Jill, Shiva's Dominant lets you bounce a problematic permanent, then later transforms into a saga that opens up combat with unblockable effects and even locks down all opposing lands for a turn. Combine this with blink cards like Conjurer's Closet or Teleportation Circle to repeatedly reset the bounce and transformation triggers. This gives you a flexible control tool that keeps opponents slowed while you take over the board.

#49. 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 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.

#48. Mm'menon, the Right Hand

Mm'menon, the Right Hand fishes for more action by letting you look at the top card of your library and cast artifacts from there. Artifacts also generate mana for casting spells from outside your hand, powering up strategies with Mystic Forge, flashback spells, or casting your commander repeatedly. Token makers like Mirrodin Besieged or Etherium Spinner keep the artifact count high so your engine never stalls.

#47. 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.

#46. Lulu, Stern Guardian

Lulu, Stern Guardian looks underwhelming at first. That stun counter makes this commander sort of a rattlesnake card that discourages anyone from attacking you. The mana sink for proliferate is especially strong when you pepper the battlefield with poison and -1/-1 counters on your opponents' stuff, and +1/+1 counters, shield counters, and planeswalkers on your side.

#45. 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 play pattern. 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.

#44. 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.

#43. Nardole, Resourceful Cyborg

Nardole, Resourceful Cyborg represents great ramp for blue when you place 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.

#42. Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam

If you thought one Portal to Phyrexia was good, how does 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.

#41. 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.

#40. 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 mill yourself fast.

#39. The Mindskinner

The Mindskinner is my kind of mill card, and the statline is really unique and makes for an odd balance in your play. If you deal 40 to one opponent, other players might remain but it sure gives them a short clock. Especially if you stack up other unblockable creatures or fliers.

The Mindskinner really begs for hexproof and needs to be keenly aware of pingers.

#38. Neerdiv, Devious Diver

Call me a sucker for the inspired and survival mechanics, but I love ways to safely tap a creature without attacking. Neerdiv, Devious Diver so happens to be one of the coolest synergistic pieces to such strategies.

Then there's blue's connection to delve, flashback, and harmonize, all of which get cast or activated from the graveyard, so much that you might call this Diver a Driver because it's a key piece of mill and card advantage engines.

#37. Hermes, Overseer of Elpis

Hermes, Overseer of Elpis rewards every noncreature spell by creating 1/1 bird tokens with flying and vigilance. Attacking with them lets you scry 2 and fix your future draws. Pair it with cheap spells like Opt and Consider, then power up the team with cards like Favorable Winds or card draw from Coastal Piracy. You’ll quickly swarm the board with evasive attackers that never tap down on defense.

#36. Matoya, Archon Elder

Matoya, Archon Elder turns scrying and surveiling into real card draw, giving you constant value just for smoothing your top deck. Cards like Consider, Serum Visions, and Lunatic Pandora trigger this ability over and over. With Matoya leading your deck, you always stay stocked up on answers and never run out of gas.

#35. 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.

#34. God-Eternal Kefnet

God-Eternal Kefnet gives you a great way to copy a spell each turn. 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.

#33. Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor

With Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor, every turn you draw extra cards means gaining ingenuity counters and casting artifacts for free. Blue card draw engines like Bident of Thassa and other artifacts like Mazemind Tome help build counters fast. Once you start dropping huge pieces like Portal to Phyrexia without paying for them, you snowball aggressively and overwhelm the table with value.

#32. Taigam, Master Opportunist

Taigam, Master Opportunist loves that second spell you cast on a given turn, so much that you get a free copy suspended for later. You don't need to be an expert at coordinating suspend cards, you just need to bathe in abundance because any spell you cast has the capability of getting doubled for free. Excellent enablers are 1-mana cantrips and cheerios.

#31. Y'shtola Rhul

Y'shtola Rhul requires you pick something to put into Conjurer's Closet every turn. Then you finish your turns and get a double-blink on your end step. It's pricey, but it's a way to effectively triple up on any individual ETB creature for a turn.

#30. 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.

#29. 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.

#28. 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 blue 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.

#27. Thada Adel, Acquisitor

Thada Adel, Acquisitor is a great commander for stealing your opponents' cards. 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.

#26. 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.

#25. 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.

#24. Geralf, Visionary Stitcher

Zombie lovers, shamble to attention! Geralf, Visionary Stitcher commands everybody’s favorite rotting corpses as 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.

#23. Wan Shi Tong, Librarian

Wan Shi Tong, Librarian is a scaling threat that can flash in and surprise opponents. It enters with X counters and draws half X cards, which is already strong — but the real danger comes when opponents search their libraries. Cards like Ghost Quarter force more searches and give you extra cards and counters. Wan Shi Tong quickly turns every fetch land into a major problem for the table.

#22. 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 bypass mana costs. 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.

#21. Eluge, the Shoreless Sea

Eluge, the Shoreless Sea is a slick cost reducer that drops those single cantrips down to free-spell status immediately, Opt for 0 mana is great, even if it's restricted to the first spell of the turn. Eluge can get large and play with the rare flood counter cards, so go Simic and you can splash in Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood, and Bounty of the Luxa.

This fish does a great job of encouraging you to do what blue decks want: Draw cards and cast spells. If I told you the blue player got free instants or sorceries, would you say they stand a good a chance?

#20. Donatello, the Brains

Donatello, the Brains makes token strategies even more explosive by creating an additional Mutagen token whenever you would make tokens. Cards like Talrand, Sky Summoner or Sai, Master Thopterist suddenly double their output, overwhelming opponents with resources. Thanks to Partner—Character Select, you can pair Donatello with another commander that supports combos, artifact value, or massive token floods.

#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 build-around.

#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. The Reality Chip

Future Sight is really good, and The Reality Chip chucks it into your command zone. This strange reconfiguring commander gives you a steady stream of card draw that pairs well with blue’s abundant top deck manipulation, and it's a great outlet for infinite mana.

#12. Memnarch

Memnarch is a classic mono-blue artifact commander that punishes opponents for relying to heavily on mana rocks. This is a great control commander who denies your opponent's tools just by stealing them, and it’s also a fantastic combo piece as an effective infinite mana outlet.

#11. Emry, Lurker of the Loch

One of the best affinity commanders, Emry, Lurker of the Loch is a great artifact commander that easily comes down on turns 1-2. Commanders with cost reduction that eat into the commander tax are pretty powerful. You don’t really want to run Emry as a value commander but instead 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 using the graveyard, Lier, Disciple of the Drowned kicks off the top 10 with another commander that can unleash terrifying combos. It excels as a storm commander that benefits from rituals 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 4 mana for massive threats. 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, Wily 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 opponents concede and your friendship crumbles? This is the clone commander that provides endless value. Blue has no shortage 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. 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 an opponent's 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 leader 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, making it the best artifact commander in Magic.

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 pick 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. Among the best things 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 a problem.

You also get incredible card draw and card selection. Cards like Treasure Cruise and Ancestral Vision give you raw card advantage while blue 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. Mono-blue certainly has access to the best blue artifacts too. 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.

Mono-blue also offers strong devotion synergies, letting you turn blue pips on the battlefield into serious power. Master of Waves can flood your board with a full army of elementals, especially in a deck full of high-pip blue permanents. Thassa, God of the Sea brings consistent value by making your best creatures unblockable while scrying keeps your game plan smooth. And Gadwick, the Wizened draws a full grip of cards when it enters, then taps down key opposing creatures so your forces can get through. Blue may have the reputation of being reactive, but devotion strategies prove it can also be an explosive threat on board.

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 control strategy and pick off key pieces.

Another drawback comes from the social aspect. Some players don’t like to play 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). 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 blue offers as a strategy.

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!