The 30 Best Aura Commanders  in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 5, 2024

Eriette of the Charmed Apple | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

For each of Magic’s many types and subtypes of cards, there are usually some commanders built to specifically interact with those cards. These commanders give you a clear roadmap on what to build your deck around, and are usually, but not always, in a good color combination for the type of card they focus on.

Today I’m going to be highlighting commanders that make use of aura enchantments. While it might initially seem like commanders all focused on a specific subtype might be very similar to one another, there is actually a decent variety in how these legendary creatures and planeswalkers interact with auras.

Though I have ranked these commanders in the order I think is best, that doesn’t mean the commanders at the bottom of the list aren’t powerful. With any Commander deck, what you put in the 99 also plays a big role, so a commander near the bottom of this list could be more powerful than one at the top if it just has a better build. I would encourage you to take a look at each creature on this list and decide which is most appealing to you and your specific playstyle, instead of assuming that the one at the top will automatically be the best for you personally.

What Are Aura Commanders in MTG?

Norika Yamazaki, the Poet | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

Aura commanders are legendary creatures, or planeswalkers that are allowed to be commanders, that focus on supporting auras. Auras are enchantments that enchant specific permanents or players as opposed to just having a static effect. Some of these commanders also just focus on enchantments as a whole as opposed to specifically auras, but still work well for an aura deck.

#30. Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh and Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh is a fun commander to build a Voltron deck around. It has a lot of great keywords and is very easy to cast, so as long as you have enough auras and equipment to buff it up, they can be a very powerful attacker. Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist makes it easier to attach equipment to Rograkh, or swap an aura from a different permanent onto them. For these partner commanders you’ll probably want a mixture of both equipment and auras.

#29. Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

Valduk, Keeper of the Flame is an aura commander that gives you value from your auras beside their inherent effects. The tokens it creates work well in mono-red decks and synergize with cards like Purphoros, God of the Forge or Impact Tremors. While this deck can be a little risky, and your game could slow down a lot if Valduk’s constantly removed, when it works it can be very powerful.

#28. Norika Yamazaki, the Poet

Norika Yamazaki, the Poet, like many samurai creatures, is all about attacking with a single creature, which works very well with auras because you can buff that single creature a lot. Norika’s ability specifically is nice for an aura theme because it can get some of your auras back from the graveyard. This means you won’t be set back as far if the creature you’re buffing gets removed.

#27. Sram, Senior Edificer

Gaining card advantage is always an important part of winning a game of Commander. Sram, Senior Edificer will make any mono-white aura deck more consistent by replacing each aura you play with a fresh card. Sram is also cheap to cast, making it easy to keep them on the field. They’re also unlikely to be a huge target for removal, despite providing a good amount of value.

#26. Danitha Capashen, Paragon

Danitha Capashen, Paragon makes casting auras easier. While this isn’t the flashiest ability, it can speed your game up in a meaningful way and allow you to cast more spells on a given turn. Danitha also has a lot of good keyword abilities, making them a good target for the auras you’re playing.

#25. Kosei, Penitent Warlord

Kosei, Penitent Warlord’s ability to deal damage to all opponents when you deal damage to one can be very powerful. This means you can target the player with the worst defensive board state and still damage the other more well-defended players. Stacking auras on Kosei will make this more effective and help you draw a lot of cards.

#24. Chishiro, the Shattered Blade

Chishiro, the Shattered Blade gives you a good payoff for casting auras while also creating new creatures you can target with them. This commander will also buff any of your enchanted creatures each turn, ensuring that your creatures are continuing to grow in strength throughout the game. The spirits it creates having menace also makes them effective attackers, especially if you’re giving them powerful auras.

#23. Siona, Captain of the Pyleas

Siona, Captain of the Pyleas is somewhat similar to Chishiro, the Shattered Blade, as they’ll also make creatures when you cast auras. While Siona doesn’t give you buffs or as powerful creatures, I do think they get the slight edge by being in Selesnya () colors. Selesyna has a lot of enchantment support, meaning the rest of your deck can be more powerful even if your commander isn’t quite as good.

#22. Tatsunari, Toad Rider

Tatsunari, Toad Rider will punish all your opponents each time you cast an aura, which can help payoff triggered abilities that care about players losing life. You can also give Tatsunari and a frog creature a form of evasion, so if you’re buffing them with auras you can end up doing some serious damage without being blocked.

#21. Xenk, Paladin Unbroken

Xenk, Paladin Unbroken can very quickly become a powerful attacker when you attach auras to them. Not only will the auras grant whatever buffs they usually do, but each one is another +1/+1 for any creature that attacks alone. This combined with double strike can be very powerful, and your opponents may have trouble fending Xenk off. Commander damage is a good way to take out your opponents with this kind of build.

#20. Gylwain, Casting Director

Gylwain, Casting Director is a commander built around using the newest type of aura in Magic: roles. Giving each creature you play a role not only makes them all stronger, but it also allows you to benefit from abilities that care about the number of auras you control or when enchantments enter the battlefield. Gylwain is also cheap enough that you can play it early on and get roles for most of the creatures you play in the game.

#19. Estrid, the Masked

Estrid, the Masked’s first ability can be very powerful, allowing you to untap creatures after attacking, or use their activated abilities multiple times. If you’re running a lot of mana dorks, this can help you cast big cards more quickly. Even if you don’t have an enchantment on a given turn, you can always create one with Estrid’s -1, which is also a great way to keep a creature safe from removal. Estrid’s ultimate ability is also powerful, and it’s nice that it goes in waves. This way, if you’re running a lot of enchantment creatures, they’ll hit the battlefield first, giving you creatures to attach your auras to when they return.

#18. Kaima, the Fractured Calm

Kaima, the Fractured Calm is an interesting build, because it’s all about putting auras on your opponents’ creatures instead of your own. You can choose some of the most powerful creatures from around the board and force them to attack your opponents. This can either remove them when they get blocked, or just do damage to another opponent; either way it works out pretty well for you. If you goad enough creatures, it can also open up your opponents and allow you to attack them with Kaima, possibly eliminating them with commander damage if Kaima’s big enough.

#17. Killian, Ink Duelist

Killian, Ink Duelist’s cost reduction for auras is pretty significant, helping speed up your game and outpace your opponents. On top of that, Killian can also reduce the cost of targeted removal spells, allowing you to establish a powerful board state while dismantling your opponents’ all at a significant discount.

#16. Zur the Enchanter

Zur the Enchanter makes it easy for you to find cheap auras and immediately attach them to a creature. Zur’s a good target for these auras, especially protective ones like Shielded by Faith. You can also search up powerful enchantments like Solemnity which can be used with cards like Nine Lives or Phyrexian Unlife to keep you in the game longer than you might be otherwise.

#15. Stangg, Echo Warrior

Stangg, Echo Warrior presents an interesting angle for an aura commander. By creating a copy of each aura attached to itself, Stangg basically gives you double the value for any aura you might play on them. There are also some auras with triggered abilities when they leave the battlefield which you’ll get to cash in on each turn when you sacrifice the Stangg Twin.

#14. Sythis, Harvest’s Hand

Sythis, Harvest’s Hand isn’t just an aura commander, but a general enchantment commander. That being said, they’re a very good one in one of the best color combinations for an enchantment-heavy deck. If you’re looking to play a Selesnya aura deck, you’ll still get a lot of value out of Sythis even though they don’t name the card subtype specifically.

#13. Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor

Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor focuses on a very specific type of aura: curses. Curses are auras you use to enchant other players, giving them some negative effect or creating an incentive for other players to attack them. Players with curses on them will often try to remove them as quickly as possible, so Lynde makes it easier to keep curses on the battlefield more consistently.

#12. Tuvasa the Sunlit

Tuvasa the Sunlit will already get buffed each time you play an aura. You can grant Tuvasa powerful abilities with auras like Aqueous Form while also making this card more powerful. Tuvasa’s card draw will also help keep your hand full, and Bant () is a good color combination for auras.

#11. Thrun, Breaker of Silence

Thrun, Breaker of Silence is hard for your opponents to remove or interact with. This makes it the perfect creature to stack a lot of auras on, knowing you aren’t likely to waste your time or mana doing so. Thrun can also be a powerful attacker, making this deck a good choice for an aggro deck built around winning with commander damage.

#10. Bruna, Light of Alabaster

Bruna, Light of Alabaster is a little pricey for an aura commander, but it does make up for that with its ability. It doesn’t matter if you’ve already used your auras before on other creatures, or if they’re in your graveyard, because you can easily transfer them over to Bruna. Having vigilance means that you can attack with Bruna and then still get the opportunity to block, giving you multiple chances to trigger Bruna’s ability.

#9. Galea, Kindler of Hope

Galea, Kindler of Hope makes equipment- and aura-based decks more consistent. Having access to the top card of your deck gives you significant card advantage. Galea is also in one of the best color combinations for aura decks.

#8. Mazzy, Truesworn Paladin

Mazzy, Truesword Paladin is an aggressive aura build, focused on attacking with your enchanted creatures. While this would usually risk your enchantments, Mazzy gives you some insurance by allowing you to recast any auras you lose until the end of your following turn.

#7. Yenna, Redtooth Regent

Yenna, Redtooth Regent allows you to copy any of your enchantments for a pretty low price. If these enchantments are auras, you also get another chance to use Yenna’s ability another time that turn, or just have them untapped for other purposes. Plenty of auras are going to have more restrictive costs than 2 generic mana, meaning you’ll be getting the copies at a great deal.

#6. Calix, Guided by Fate

Calix, Guided by Fate is able to consistently beef up your creatures as you play auras, both from the enchantments themselves and their first ability. Being able to copy your auras gives you yet another way to make your creatures stronger, and won’t cost you any mana so you can still be playing a full turn while continuing to grow your board state.

#5. Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief

Aura builds can sometimes feel like putting all your eggs in one basket. Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief allows you to spread your auras out across the board while also stacking all these abilities onto your commander. Ivy will likely become a target for removal once they become too powerful, but thanks to the low casting cost you can easily get them back onto the battlefield, and you’ll still have your other enchanted creatures to back you up.

#4. Uril, the Miststalker

Uril, the Miststalker may be a pretty simple commander, but it’s a powerful one. This card is hard to remove and will quickly become very powerful. Having auras that grant indestructible will severely limit your opponents’ options for removing Uril, and will allow you to safely swing each turn with your commander.

#3. Ellivere of the Wild Court

All That Glitters is one of the stronger auras to include in any enchantment build. Ellivere of the Wild Court easily grants a very similar enchantment to a creature whenever it attacks. This means you’re not only making that specific creature stronger, but you’re also making all of your creatures with a Virtuous role more powerful over time.

#2. Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice

Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice makes it easy to get a lot of auras attached to your commander quickly. This commander’s also very inexpensive, so it’s easy to get Light-Paws out fast and start enchanting it. White has good auras to keep your commander safe, and you won’t have to worry about finding them.

#1. Eriette of the Charmed Apple

It could be recency bias, but the aura commander that stands out the most to me is Eriette of the Charmed Apple. They make enchanting your opponents’ creatures just as good an option as enchanting your own, giving you a lot of flexibility when playing. The second ability works just as well regardless of which permanents you enchant, and it’ll put pressure on your opponents while building up your own defense.

Best Aura Commander Payoffs

One of the best payoffs for aura commanders are cards that care about the number of enchantments you control since you’ll likely be playing a lot of them. All That Glitters is a great example as it’s both an aura itself and a great payoff for playing a lot of them. This is also why I like Eriette of the Charmed Apple so much because they’re their own payoff for playing auras.

Sigil of the Empty Throne is a really good aura payoff because it’ll give you more creatures to enchant once you cast your auras. This is also why aura commanders with white in their color identities can be stronger than ones like Valduk, Keeper of the Flame.

Commanding Conclusion

Yenna, Redtooth Regent | Illustration by Justyna Dura

All aura commanders obviously care about playing a lot of these enchantments, but beyond that there are a fair amount of different play styles you can choose from. A lot of these commanders have unique and interesting ways to interact with auras or reward you for playing them. Your decks will also vary based on the type of auras you choose to put in them, making this a pretty dynamic style of deck to play around with.

Which aura commanders are your favorite? Are there any aura commanders you enjoy that aren’t on this list? Do you think general enchantment commanders work better than aura specific ones? Let me know in the comments or on Draftsim’s Twitter/X.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing you on the next article!