The 8 Best Outlaw Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on February 13, 2026

Marchesa, Dealer of Death | Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

As you may already know, Outlaws of Thunder Junction is about, well, outlaws. Outlaws in MTG are assassins, rogues, pirates, mercenaries, and warlocks, and with the term come new commanders that care about outlaws and these creature types.

Outlaws in MTG have their time to shine, and whether you lead them with a pirate commander, a rogue commander, or a specific outlaw commander, you’ve got some options. Here are the best options for outlaw commanders we have!

What Are Outlaw Commanders in MTG?

Mari, the Killing Quill | Illustration by Rob Rey

Outlaw commanders are legendary creatures that reward you for building a deck around some or all of the outlaw creature types. Outlaws are assassins, pirates, mercenaries, rogues, and warlocks, and the term was created in Outlaws of Thunder Junction to batch these different creature types mechanically.

There are many warlocks in MTG, but that creature type has almost no typal support. While not directly related to outlaws, committing crimes is another mechanic from the same Magic set, and cards that reward you for committing crimes also tend to be outlaws.

For this list, I’ve considered commanders directly related to outlaws, commanders related to committing crimes, and some typal commanders that could benefit from an outlaw-dedicated build.

#9. Vial Smasher, Gleeful Grenadier

Let’s start small with Vial Smasher, Gleeful Grenadier. Whenever an outlaw enters under your control with this Rakdos commander () in play, you’ll deal 1 damage to target opponent. This goes very well with cards that make several outlaws like Hellspur Posse Boss or cards that care about your opponents taking damage. You can use cards with the spectacle mechanic, bloodthirst, or the lizards from Bloomburrow (most of them are outlaws!).

If you go the damage route, there’s plenty of support for an aristocrats deck sacrificing your outlaws for more damage.

#8. Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor

Hear me out on Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor, it's in the colors that no one expects outlaws from. It makes a mercenary, but more importantly it copies abilities that commit crimes if they target your opponent or their stuff. In Ertha's build Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot and Captivating Crew are your all stars, and you make honorary criminals out of pingers, Spikeshot Goblin, and Humble Defector.

#7. Mari, the Killing Quill

Mari, the Killing Quill cares about assassins, mercenaries and rogues, and they’ll all have deathtouch, so they’re harder to block. If your opponents trade, you’ll get to exile the opposing creature with hit counters. And if your creatures hit, you’ll get to draw cards plus any other bonus you get from your saboteurs getting in.

The biggest downside of this black commander is its color identity: a mono-color commander gives you fewer outlaw options to bring in.

#6. Marchesa, Dealer of Death

Marchesa, Dealer of Death is my choice for a crime-related commander, seeing as many outlaws also care about committing crimes. A Grixis commander () lets you play some of the best outlaw creatures, and committing crimes like killing creatures or countering their spells gives you a nice card advantage engine.

#5. Laughing Jasper Flint

Laughing Jasper Flint cares about the number of outlaws you control, and with a small outlaw army you can steal 2+ cards from your opponent every turn. Also, when you cast creatures from your opponents’ libraries, they’re going to be outlaws (mercenaries), raising your own army.

There’s an interesting intersection between cards that allow you to cast your opponents’ cards and outlaws. Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Rakdos, the Muscle are already good outlaws to play in your Jasper Flint deck, and they’re on theme with what the deck aims to do.

#4. Edward Kenway

Like Anowon, the Ruin Thief, Edward Kenway is a good commander for different types of outlaws, specifically pirates and assassins. Edward cares about getting assassins and pirates in the red zone, and by tapping them to attack you create Treasure tokens. You can also tap them to crew powerful vehicles and get in with those instead.

Cards from the Assassin’s Creed set benefit this commander immensely, but cards in the original Ixalan or The Lost Caverns of Ixalan also support this strategy, and you can find other good vehicles in sets like Kaladesh.

#3. Anowon, the Ruin Thief

Here’s our pick for one of the best rogue commanders, and rogues are the main creature type among the five possible outlaw creatures. Anowon, the Ruin Thief makes your opponents mill cards, you can draw cards based on what they mill. Outside of combos with Mindcrank, this Dimir commander can fill their graveyards to support cards like Reanimate, The Scarab God, or commanders that care about milling.

#2. Vihaan, Goldwaker

Vihaan, Goldwaker makes each card that creates Treasure in your deck a potential Blade Splicer, turning Treasure artifacts into 3/3’s artifact creatures with haste, making Vihaan a great treasure commander. Giving vigilance and haste to all outlaws is very interesting, especially for those that attack and create a Treasure right away or those with evasion and saboteur abilities. 

#1. Olivia, Opulent Outlaw

Olivia, Opulent Outlaw is a little better than Vihaan, Goldwaker, since it has synergies with outlaws and Treasure, but it also creates its own Treasure tokens to begin with. The bonus of sacrificing Treasures to mass-pump all your creatures with two +1/+1 counters is strong, and this Mardu commander combines well with white cards and black cards with +1/+1 counter synergies.

Best Outlaw Commander Payoffs

The most straightforward outlaw commander payoffs are the cards that reward us for having outlaws or for playing outlaw spells.

The best ones are enchantments like Double Down, Discreet Retreat, or Rakish Crew. Spells like Caught in the Crossfire and Back in Town pay you off for filling your deck with outlaws.

You can also play creatures like Charred Graverobber, Graywater's Fixer, and Hellspur Posse Boss as a way to get additional value from outlaws.

If you’re playing outlaws and cards that benefit from them, you’re probably creating Mercenary tokens. These are also outlaws, and there are cards like We Ride at Dawn and Form a Posse that synergize with them.

If you’re aiming for crime, some cards reward you for constantly committing them. Cards like Vadmir, New Blood, Lazav, Familiar Stranger, and At Knifepoint are crime payoffs and outlaws as well. At Knifepoint is even an intersection of both archetypes.

If you’re looking for saboteur abilities, Felix Five-Boots, Descendants' Fury, and Gonti, Canny Acquisitor all benefit you if you’re constantly attacking with assassins, rogues, mercenaries, and the like.

Commanding Conclusion

Anowon, the Ruin Thief | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

That sums up the outlawfulness we can pull off in Commander decks!

I like that outlaw encompasses five different creature types, but so far, there’s been little reason to mix and mash them up in Commander decks, and it makes more sense to go all-in on one creature type like rogues or pirates due to the increased support. But that can change in future sets if the outlaw terminology returns, like we saw with historic permanents.

On the other hand, it’s nice that cards that care about outlaws can go into a rogue deck, or a pirate deck, or an assassin deck, so they’re hybrid typal decks.

If you're looking for more specialized commanders for some of these outlaw types, you can check our rankings for best pirate commanders, best rogue commanders, or best assassin commanders.

Are you playing outlaw-dedicated EDH decks? Which commanders are you using to lead them up to no good? Let me know in the comments section below, or let’s take it to Draftsim Discord.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!