The 20 Best New Deck Ideas in Magic Ranked

Last updated on April 7, 2026

Glarb, Calamity's Augur | Illustration by Bram Sels

Magic has a truly dizzying number of cards with more interactions than anybody can track. You can build virtually any strategy to some degree of success, but what are you meant to do when you can do anything? Decision paralysis is a real issue.

With that in mind, I’ve brought plenty of new deck ideas—mostly for Commander, but there’s a few lists for Brawl and Standard—to get the creative juices flowing and inspire your next trip to Moxfield. These work at a range of power levels and budgets, so there should be a deck for you!

#20. Mu Yanling, Master Pirate – Brawl

Mu Yanling, Wind Rider | Illustration by Justyna Dura

It might seem strange to call Mu Yanling, Wind Rider out as a pirate commander, but I’m not thinking of the creature type. Mu Yanling lets you play every Coastal Piracy variant in blue, including one in the command zone! Blue has plenty of cheap evasive and unblockable creatures to exploit this with, and who doesn’t love generating tons of card draw from the command zone? I won’t lie: This one’s pretty meme-y, but it’s funny.

#19. Araumi Enters – Commander

Araumi of the Dead Tide | Illustration by Daarken

Flicker decks traditionally employ white for access to cards like Brago, King Eternal and Ephemerate to flicker cards once they’re in play, but what if you could extract similar value from a different angle?

That’s where Araumi of the Dead Tide comes in, providing an enters commander that cares less about creatures in play than creatures in the graveyard. Tripling down on enters abilities from cards like Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Peregrine Drake, and Noxious Gearhulk provides an explosive advantage—especially if you toss in a Virtue of Knowledge or similar effect.

#18. Falco Spara Slimes – Commander

Slime Against Humanity | Illustration Brent Hollowell

Slime Against Humanity might be a meme, but it’s a good one. But who should be your commander? You can make a firm argument for something like Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider or Sovereign Okinec Ahau that make your slimes stronger, or perhaps The Wise Mothman to fill the graveyard.

But slimes don’t have trouble becoming large enough to win, and Magic has ample self-mill enablers. Falco Spara, Pactweaver strikes me as an excellent commander because it provides card advantage with the Slime Against Humanity tokens providing ample fodder. Additionally, Bant () is the sweet spot for counters decks that reaps the rewards of years of counter support within Simic () and Selesnya (), so it seems like the ideal choice.

#17. Kenrith Oops All Combos – Commander

Kenrith, the Returned King | Illustration by Kieran Yanner

Kenrith, the Returned King might be the blankest canvas available in Commander; you have no color restrictions and hardly any thematic restrictions. It asks you to do nothing more than make some mana, which is the most basic thing you can do in Magic.

Those mana sinks make it particularly fine for an ‘oops all combos’ build. You can construct combos with Kenrith, many of which use cards like Zirda, the Dawnwaker, which has plenty of non-Kenrith combos, or you can simply use Kenrith as an outlet for the infinite mana you can make… however you like, actually.

#16. Nissa, Land Shaker – Brawl

Nissa, Who Shakes the World | Illustration by Chris Rallis

Nissa is no stranger to Arena's Brawl but if you haven't tried a planeswalker for a commander, this is one of the sweetest ways to do it. There are strong land synergies you can employ when you have a mana doubler in the command zone. I'd lean more on the fair side and go for land animation with lots of earthbending. Older forms of land animation are fine, but leave the land vulnerable to removal as a creature. This also subjects you to potentially lose your mana sources to combat damage, so earthbending like with Earthbender Ascension naturally brings them back after destruction or exile as a tapped land so you're not screwed.

Of course, along with land animation, your mana-providing permanents are great for wearing +1/+1 counters. Any animation spells that change base power and toughness work especially well. So a +1/+1 counter on a land that is targeted by the +1 ability on Wrenn and Realmbreaker actually becomes a 4/4. One of the last card categories to make this deck work is to power up your lands for victory and The Legend of Kyoshi/Avatar Kyoshi works on multiple levels with card draw, a big earthbend, then the gift of trample and hexproof, along with more mana!

#15. Azlask Experience – Commander

Azlask, the Swelling Scourge | Illustration by Alexander Mokhov

Azlask, the Swelling Scourge was designed for Eldrazi decks, but it’s also the first 5-color commander that rewards you for bundling all the experience counter commanders under one roof. Given the heavy color requirements, you won’t count on Azlask to get the experience counters, but the activated ability provides a convincing finisher once cards like Ezuri, Claw of Progress and Otharri, Suns' Glory have trained you up.

#14. Unhallowed Combo Control – Commander

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed | Illustration by Chris Rahn

When most players think of Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, it’s in conjunction with Ashnod's Altar and similar cards for infinite mana. But there are far better ways to extract value. For example, did you know that you can remove all creatures forever by combining Mikaeus, Blood Pet, and Retribution of the Ancients?

This deck focuses on these lesser-known combos, eschewing the typically high-powered combos in favor of generating tons of value. You want to find ways to force Noxious Gearhulk to enter every turn, or to win the game off five Gray Merchant of Asphodel triggers. This is combo-control in its jankiest form.

#13. Rielle Voltron – Commander

Rielle, the Everwise | Illustration by Yongjae Choi

You often see Rielle, the Everwise as a card draw engine for spellslinger decks interested in casting Wheel of Fortune to draw 14 cards, but the immense power boost offered makes it a tantalizing Voltron commander. Rielle gains power incredibly fast, and red has no shortage of double strike tricks like Temur Battle Rage and Assault Strobe for unexpected wins.

#12. UR Discard – Standard

Marauding Mako | Illustration by Alix Branwyn

Marauding Mako caught my eye during Aetherdrift spoiler season, and I’ve been chipping away at various discard-centric builds in Standard. The Mako sees play in Jeskai () Oculus decks, but this UR discard brew focuses on the one-two punch of a 1-drop into either Inti, Seneschal of the Sun or Proft's Eidetic Memory. Removing white cuts the deck’s strongest peaks, but it also increases the consistency and makes the deck much more resilient to graveyard hate. The key cards here will be in Standard for at least another year, so there’s plenty of time to refine the decklist.

#11. Thalia/Gitrog Undercity – Commander

Thalia and The Gitrog Monster | Illustration by Howard Lyon

If you wanted to replicate the success that the initiative has had in Legacy, which commander should you choose? My money is on Thalia and The Gitrog Monster. Abzan () has the best initiative cards, but no Abzan commander screams “play me” for the archetype. TATGM’s appeal comes from the utterly cruel combination of first strike and deathtouch that makes it impossible to interact with in combat, so it’s a great card to protect and reclaim the initiative.

Even the sacrifice ability works; you can toss your White Plume Adventurer into the bin and reanimate it for an extra trigger, and white’s flicker effects are similarly valuable. Green’s mana production is essential to play these cards fast enough that your opponents can’t challenge you for the right to The Undercity.

#10. Narset Theft – Commander

Narset, Enlightened Exile | Illustration by Marie Magny

Narset, Enlightened Exile provides both an engine and a payoff for spellslinger decks, converting token producers like Third Path Iconoclast and Monastery Mentor into lethal board states in a flash.

But I think there’s a secret build here, facilitated by Narset casting noncreature spells from any graveyard: Narset theft! Filling the deck with mill cards like Court of Cunning and Mesmeric Orb grants access to plenty of your opponents’ juiciest spells and allows you to attack on a very different angle than the average Narset deck.

#9. Glarb-Keruga – Commander

Keruga, the Macrosage | Illustration by Dan Scott

The companion mechanic might have broken a format or two, but I’m a fan. Companion explores new design space and poses an interesting deckbuilding challenge, especially when applied to Commander. Keruga, the Macrosage might be one of the easiest companions to utilize given Commander’s relatively slow pace (outside of cEDH and similarly high-powered pods).

Though Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty sees lots of play, Glarb, Calamity's Augur looks stronger than everybody’s favorite cascade snake. Glarb encourages you to fulfill Keruga’s requirement, and that large, deathtouching body deters early aggression to keep your life total high. Adding black to the mix gives you access to real, honest removal like Murderous Cut and Toxic Deluge, which seems invaluable in today’s meta.

#8. Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph Goblins – Commander

Pashalik Mons | Illustration by Dave Kendall

Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph has risen through the ranks of Izzet commanders () thanks to its synergy with spellslinger payoffs like Firebrand Archer and Kessig Flamebreather.

But pingers aren’t the only thing that deals damage in increments of 1. Goblin decks flood the board with an army of 1/1s, and Starn serves as an excellent “lord” effect that amplifies their damage—as well as damage from support pieces like Impact Tremors and Pashalik Mons.

#7. Omnath Duplication – Commander

Omnath, Locus of Creation | Illustration by Chris Rahn

This deck has one purpose: Copy Anointed Procession with Mythos of Illuna. Winning the game after that is optional, though the deck has excellent tools like an exponentially growing army of Ocelot Prides or Nesting Dovehawks.

Omnath, Locus of Creation leads the deck because it has the colors necessary for the core concept, but it’s also a great creature to copy with Quantum Misalignment and similar spells. This deck often wins by making thirty billion Omnaths.

#6. Basim Voltron – Commander

Basim Ibn Ishaq | Illustration by JB Casacop

Voltron and equipment decks often live in the Naya shard () since those are Magic’s most aggressive colors with good cards to facilitate the strategy. But Basim Ibn Ishaq makes a reasonable case for trying your hand at Dimir () Voltron.

Sure, it’s only a 2/2, but it comes with built-in evasion and card advantage, and it grows all by itself! This deck wants to exploit powerful equipment like Vorpal Sword, Blackblade Reforged, and Swords of Whatever and Stuff to give Basim the power to take out its target while drawing more cards.

#5. Niv-Mizzet Enchantress – Commander

Niv Mizzet, Parun | Illustration by Svetlin Velinov

I might be meme-ing too close to the sun here, but has anybody tried building Niv-Mizzet, Parun as an enchantress commander? It sounds crazy (and kind of is), but hear me out.

Niv-Mizzet just wants to draw cards. Enchantments like Artist's Talent and Teferi's Ageless Insight already support that, so why not go deeper with Sanctum of Calm Waters and Aggressive Mining?

While we’re at it, cards like Propaganda and Blood Moon slow your opponents down, and you can amplify Niv-Mizzet’s damage with cards like Furnace of Rath. It might not be the most efficient way to use the Parun, but what’s the point of Commander if we don’t go a little wild?

#4. Rakdos Lord of Riots Eldrazi – Commander

Rakdos, Lord of Riots | Illustration by Yigit Koroglu

Eldrazi decks require hefty mana generation or cost reduction to make casting a slew of 8+ mana spells reasonable. This is often achieved thanks to green or colorless fast mana, but there’s another option: Rakdos, Lord of Riots!

You can enter cool loops where you cast something like Warstorm Surge, which triggers of your first Eldrazi to make subsequent titans cheaper. Since the game plan focuses on dealing early damage to play the commander and enable the Eldrazi, you rely on them as powerful finishers once the table’s at half-health.

#3. Kenrith, the Game Changer – Commander

Kenrith, the Returned King | Illustration by Aaron Miller

Throwing all of X card class into a single deck for the heck of it generates meme decks, but what if the meme was more than a dream? This deck packs all the Game Changers into a single list. Some of them fit in smoothly, like Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy to pour mana into Kenrith’s abilities, or The One Ring for being… well, The One Ring.

But others will be more challenging. How will you exploit Winota, Joiner of Forces? Does Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow function outside the command zone? What will we do to really use Tergrid, God of Fright? These hurdles make the deckbuilding and tuning an interesting puzzle and prevent it from being a straight cEDH deck (though it will still be Bracket 4).

#2. Haunt the Network Control – Standard

Haunt the Network | Illustration by Jeff Carpenter

Standard has a surprising number of artifacts that kill things, and this deck exploits that for a control strategy. You can play Grim Bauble and Tithing Blade early, with Demonic Junker cleaning up big threats later.

Mephitic Draught and Tarrian's Journal provide card advantage, with everything getting wrapped up by the namesake card Haunt the Network to close things out. The best part of this deck? All these core cards will survive all Standard rotations until The Lost Caverns of Ixalan leaves in 2027!

#1. Hashaton-Lurrus – Commander

Lurrus of the Dream-Den | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist was hailed as the new face of Esper () reanimation, or at least a contender. But it’s also the first Esper commander that allows us to companion Lurrus of the Dream-Den.

Lurrus is the strongest companion and exploiting it provides tons of value. I’m especially interested in the interaction between Lurrus and Hashaton: You can discard cards like Orcish Bowmasters and Esper Sentinel to copy with Hashaton, then cast them with Lurrus. This might be the shell that breaks the fact that Hashaton leaves the cards it copies in the graveyard, and I can’t wait to tinker with it.

Wrap Up

Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph | Illustration by Aaron J. Riley

These 19 decks try to do something a little different with known commanders or find a home for exciting or memey cards. Hopefully these deckbuilding prompts and lists give you that spark of creativity to begin your next Magic adventure!

Do you have any decks like these? Which idea is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!