The 46 Best 4-Mana Commanders in Magic Ranked

Jodah, Archmage Eternal | Illustration by Yongjae Choi

Four mana might be the perfect mana cost for a commander. Commander is largely defined by ramp, and 2-mana options like Talismans and Signets reign supreme. These curve beautifully into 4-mana commanders and let you land them a turn early.

Additionally, 4 mana seems to be the threshold where Wizards feels comfortable printing powerful mana or card draw engines. This isn't to say that commanders that cost less than 4 are bad, but 4-mana commanders just have a noticeable power bump over their cheaper cousins. But which are the best?

What Are 4-Mana Commander in MTG?

Jetmir, Nexus of Revels | Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

Four-mana commanders are legendary creatures, vehicles, and spacecraft with a power/toughness box, as well as a few planeswalkers that can be commanders. All colors have 4-mana commanders, and they cover a wide range of abilities. The best provide something steady and consistent, like card draw and mana, or powerful abilities worth building around.

#46. Preston, the Vanisher

Preston, the Vanisher mostly sees play as a combo commander. It goes infinite ludicrously fast with cards like Felidar Guardian and Restoration Angel to turn a simple flicker deck into a combo engine that makes opposing life totals disappear.

#45. Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

Discard decks have received a lot of toys recently, with cards like Inti, Seneschal of the Sun and Monument to Endurance that give you a real reason to loot and rummage.

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge takes that to its natural conclusion as a commander that rewards you for discarding. This commander works best when you pair it with individual discard outlets like Ghostly Pilferer rather than wheels.

#44. Satya, Aetherflux Genius

Energy has made a triumphant return to Magic since Fallout‘s Science! precon started printing Commander-worthy cards and shifted the archetype towards the Jeskai () colors. Though Fallout got the ball rolling, the best energy commander has to be Modern Horizons 3‘s Satya, Aetherflux Genius, a creature-copying machine that hits hard and fast and leaves your opponents in the dust.

#43. Jodah, Archmage Eternal

Jodah, Archmage Eternal puts Fist of Suns on a legendary stick, which is pretty interesting. Casting a spell for sounds daunting, but mana fixing is excellent these days and 5 mana is a great discount compared to the 10 or more mana that Eldrazi or cards like Omniscience cost.

#42. Talrand, Sky Summoner

Talrand, Sky Summoner is a little vanilla by modern EDH standards, but it holds up well. Every coffee shop has vanilla in stock for a reason, and the simple joy that springs from watching the light leave your opponents' eyes as you resolve your eighth counterspell and attack for lethal always sweetens a game night.

#41. Halana and Alena, Partners

Halana and Alena, Partners gives counter decks an extra aggressive spin. Dumping counters on creatures and giving them haste lets you attack quickly and often. It even helps with mana production thanks to cards like Incubation Druid and Gyre Sage!

#40. Rashmi, Eternities Crafter

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter needs you to build around it with an instant-speed gameplan and ramp like Seedborn Muse, but it's worth the effort for a powerful card draw engine that draws up to four extra cards a turn cycle. Pair it with topdeck manipulation for the best value.

#39. Solphim, Mayhem Dominus

Aggro decks need to be cheesy to work in Commander. Solphim, Mayhem Dominus amplifies all your burn to incinerate the table faster than they can build value engines. If you find that your pod constantly stalls out with midrange mirrors, Solphim might be the key to spice things up.

#38. Kona, Rescue Beastie

Green is no stranger to Elvish Piper effects that dump creatures directly into play, but Kona, Rescue Beastie might be the best. Firstly, you can enable survival the turn you cast Kona with a vehicle or Springleaf Drum effect; more importantly, you aren't restricted to just creatures. Kona can drop Portal to Phyrexia or Zendikar Resurgent into play, so it’s much more flexible than the average Elvish Piper.

#37. Adrix and Nev, Twincasters

Adrix and Nev, Twincasters has lost some prominence as it's no longer the only legendary token doubler, but it's still a fine choice for players interested in flooding the board with an unstoppable army.

#36. Shalai and Hallar

While many commanders are flexible in terms of strategy, Shalai and Hallar is flexible in terms of power level. You're always building around +1/+1 counters, but how? Do you keep things casual and use this commander as a source of burn, or do you jack up the power level with infinite combos that utilize All Will Be One and The Red Terror?

#35. Y'shtola, Night's Blessed

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed has proven itself a strong spellslinger/control commander. The combination of pressure and card draw gives you plenty to work with. Make sure you include some spells like Will of the Abzan that burn your opponents to hit the 4-life threshold easier, and don't forget that you can pay life to cards like Dismember and Snuff Out to draw a card.

#34. Neyali, Suns' Vanguard

Aggro decks in EDH need consistent sources of card advantage so that they can apply pressure throughout the game and dig for protection before the inevitable wrath. Neyali, Suns' Vanguard doesn't just offer the token deck card advantage, but pressure via double strike. It even opens the door to cast from exile synergies.

#33. Captain Sisay

Every toolbox deck needs tutors to find your silver bullets, and Captain Sisay does it better than most because it's so repeatable. Selesnya legends () have plenty of disruptive tools to grab, like Dosan the Falling Leaf and Gaddock Teeg.

#32. Massacre Girl, Known Killer

Killing creatures by reducing their toughness to or below 0 with -X/-X is a uniquely black effect, and I'm surprised it took so long to get a commander that embodies it. Massacre Girl, Known Killer is a charming commander because of how well it uses a uniquely black mechanic; you can't build a commander like this in any other color or combination. This isn't just a great commander for novelty, however; it's a powerful card draw engine and control card.

#31. Jetmir, Nexus of Revels

Wizards probably won't come closer to Craterhoof Behemoth in the command zone than Jetmir, Nexus of Revels. You can drop it on turn 4 to apply early pressure or play it as a lethal Overrun in the late game. All you need is plenty of tokens, and it wins!

#30. Kykar, Wind's Fury

Prospective storm players should consider Kykar, Wind's Fury for their combo needs. Even if you want to keep things fairer with a simple spellslinger-token brew, you can't go wrong with this choice. The board presence and mana production take over games in short order, and Jeskai excels at protecting threats like this.

#29. Atla Palani, Nest Tender

Cheating creatures into play always excites players, and Atla Palani, Nest Tender does it better than most. Because you have to sacrifice its Egg tokens, you can use a host of powerful cards like Skullclamp and Ashnod's Altar to cheat your battlecruisers into play.

#28. Omnath, Locus of Creation

If you want to build a generic midrange pile, Omnath, Locus of Creation is an excellent option. It has an incredible floor as a commander that cantrips and generally produces mana; it’s a cinch to make two land drops with fetch lands and Crucible of Worlds effects. Omnath asks so little of you that you can build it however you like.

#27. Brago, King Eternal

Brago, King Eternal has reigned over Azorius () blink decks for an eternity, and will for another. Flickering your entire board, from Aether Channeler to Spirited Companion, puts you super far ahead. It only takes one or two Brago triggers to overwhelm your opponents.

#26. The Wise Mothman

The best 3-color commanders weave multiple themes from their wedge or shard together; they let you pick which ideas you want to build around and offer plenty of support. The Wise Mothman exemplifies this since it combines black's love with self-mill with green's counter support and blue's proliferate effects. You can build this any number of ways, whether you combine all those themes or focus on one specifically.

#25. Lathril, Blade of the Elves

Lathril, Blade of the Elves has become the dominant elf commander for two reasons. First, it's just epic to connect with it and make a ton of elf tokens. More importantly, a win condition in the command zone with access to black for proper removal and tutors that green doesn't have makes it much more exciting than, say, Marwyn, the Nurturer.

#24. Ellivere of the Wild Court

Enchantress decks generally fall into two camps: pillow fort control and aura aggro. Ellivere of the Wild Court bucks both trends as a go-wide commander that wants many creatures to be enchanted rather than one 10 times over. That innovation alone makes it an intriguing commander, but the card draw and role tokens are also pretty powerful.

#23. Ezuri, Claw of Progress

Ezuri, Claw of Progress offers lots of power to +1/+1 counter decks. Its strength comes from how hard it is to interact with. Once you get that first experience counter, you can start to proliferate them, even if Ezuri dies. Since you retain the experience, your opponents can't stop Ezuri; they just slow it down.

#22. Storm, Force of Nature

Storm, Force of Nature might have the most literal interpretation of any Universes Beyond commander, but boy is it fun to give random spells storm, whether that's a game-winning Lightning Bolt or a setup piece like Growth Spiral or Escape to the Wilds.

#21. Teval, the Balanced Scale

Sultai () loves its graveyard decks, and Teval, the Balanced Scale is one of the greatest commanders for the archetype. Wizards has printed many payoffs that care about cards that leave your graveyard recently, like Tormod, the Desecrator and Insidious Roots, and Teval bakes that synergy in with its attack trigger.

#20. Zur the Enchanter

Zur the Enchanter decks go one of two ways: Voltron decks and pillow fort piles, both of which rely on Zur's busted attack trigger. Whether you go tall with All That Glitters or stall the game with Propaganda, you can't go wrong with a commander that tutors enchantments and puts them into play for free.

#19. Talion, the Kindly Lord

Talion, the Kindly Lord offers incredible card draw, if you beat the pick-a-number mini-game. Cards that accrue value whenever your opponent takes a game action excel in Commander because you have three opponents that cast spells into Talion. It only needs to stick around for a turn cycle or two to pull its weight.

#18. Rakdos, Lord of Riots

If you want to ramp without green, look no further than Rakdos, Lord of Riots. All it asks is that you damage your opponents, probably with cards like Creeping Bloodsucker and Firebrand Archer. Rakdos has some of the best cost reduction you can find in the command zone.

#17. Kess, Dissident Mage

Kess, Dissident Mage offers a stream of powerful card advantage. It's one of the best Grixis spellslingers due to how many extra spells it lets you cast, and it even facilitates storm lines with Displacer Kitten.

#16. Teysa Karlov

If you want to build an aristocrats deck, Teysa Karlov should be near the top of your consideration list. Doubling up on triggers from Blood Artist and Grave Pact offers such immense value that you almost need a reason not to run Teysa.

#15. Urza, Lord High Artificer

If you want to break Magic's strongest card type, Urza, Lord High Artificer should be on your radar. Urza is one of the strongest mono-colored commanders in the game since it turns every artifact you control into a potential mana source while it serves as an excellent mana sink and infinite mana outlet. Toss in stax pieces like Winter Orb and Static Orb, and you approach cEDH territory.

#14. Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin

Have you ever looked at Thermo-Alchemist and thought that it should draw three cards when you activate it? If that sounds broken, it's because Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin is a busted card. It's reminiscent of Korvold, Fae-Cursed King as a commander that draws an obscene number of cards while it grows into a significant threat.

#13. Meren of Clan Nel Toth

Meren of Clan Nel Toth has endured as one of the best Golgari commanders () for years. It's the perfect grindy, graveyard commander for players who love to sacrifice permanents for incremental gains, like a land off Sakura-Tribe Elder or card draw from Fell Stinger.

#12. Deadpool, Trading Card

Deadpool, Trading Card might be the most innovative Universes Beyond commander, with a powerful ability that looks like it came from an Un-set. You can combine Deadpool with clones to make it a bizarre control commander that flavorfully fits the chaos of Rakdos and Deadpool's character.

#11. Prosper, Tome-Bound

Any commander that combines mana production and card advantage is at least solid, with a high floor, but that recipe can create incredibly broken commanders like Prosper, Tome-Bound.

Cast-from-exile decks are already powerful because they're built around card draw; throw in Treasure synergy from Xorn and stuff, and you have one of the strongest Rakdos legends ().

#10. Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain

Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain excels as an artifact storm commander. Though the historic draw trigger sees more than artifacts, nothing else is as efficient as throwing down Mox Opal and Etherium Sculptor to rip through your deck and blast the table with Aetherflux Reservoir.

#9. Caesar, Legion's Emperor

Caesar, Legion's Emperor does everything you could want from an aristocrat commander: It's a sacrifice outlet that produces sacrifice fodder, and the generally aggressive game plan excels in Mardu (). Between tokens, sacrifice, and aggro, Caesar does almost everything Mardu wants, so it’s an excellent commander to experiment with the wedge.

#8. Kaalia of the Vast

When I think of Commander, I think of cards like Kaalia of the Vast: incredibly powerful cards that, for one reason or another, are too slow for traditional 1v1 formats. This has been one of the most popular commanders for a very long time, and its powerful attack trigger deserves the recognition. It only gets better as power creep introduces stronger cards, like Valgavoth, Terror Eater.

#7. Krenko, Mob Boss

Krenko, Mob Boss might be the scariest goblin commander in the format. It takes over the game in no time and propagates Goblin tokens like a swarm of locusts. Between Impact Tremors effects and goblin lords, those tokens win within heartbeats. This is one of the kill-on-sight commanders.

#6. Aragorn, the Uniter

Aragorn, the Uniter excels as a multicolored-matters commander. The blue ability is rather underwhelming, but it feels great to tack a scry onto your gold spells. Aragorn provides oodles of value, and the right draw can one-shot a player thanks to Aragorn's pump ability.

#5. Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls

Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls exemplifies the group slug archetype, a midrange subcategory that thrives off pinging opponents with cards like Gleeful Arsonist and Rug of Smothering. This iteration of Valgavoth hits hard and draws a dizzying number of cards considering how much damage it deals.

#4. Atraxa, Praetors' Voice

Atraxa, Praetors' Voice has long reigned towards the top of EDHREC's most-built commanders because everybody loves value piles that make numbers go up. Proliferate is also a very broad, flexible ability. You could play infect, or +1/+1 counters, or planeswalkers, or even something niche like modular. That flexibility makes it king.

#3. Shorikai, Genesis Engine

Shorikai, Genesis Engine players can go down one of two paths: a vehicle-themed build that uses Shorikai's Pilot tokens to animate their waiting armies, and powerful combo-control decks that use Dramatic Reversal and other infinite combos to feed mana through Shorikai to draw your deck. Either way, it's pretty busted due to the card selection.

#2. Alela, Artful Provocateur

Alela, Artful Provocateur is incredibly flexible. You can build it as an artifact deck, an enchantress deck, a faerie or flying deck, or some combination therein. The range of play styles makes it an interesting card to begin to build around and tinker with until Wizards stops printing cards.

#1. Winota, Joiner of Forces

Playing aggro in Commander is hard because you have three opponents with high life totals, so you need to do something unfair to overcome those barriers. In the case of Winota, Joiner of Forces, that's cheating staxy threats like Magus of the Moon and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben into play just for attacking. This is one of the few commanders that are so overwhelmingly powerful that they don't fit well in casual play.

Commanding Conclusion

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

Four-mana commanders do a little of everything, from card draw to mana production to synergy engines. Whether you want to combo, grind, or burn, you can find something in the 4-mana range—and they're pretty easy to ramp out.

What's your favorite 4-mana commander? Which one would you add to the list? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!