Numa, Joraga Chieftain (Illustration by Kieran Yanner) + Miara, Thorn of the Glade (Illustration by Johannes Voss)
Many mechanics have impacted Commander in a big way, but the partner mechanic is one of the greatest. When partner debuted with the 4-color legends in Commander 2016, they shook up the format as the first mechanic that allowed you to have multiple commanders.
Frequent fliers at cEDH tables, partner commanders are immensely powerful due to the card advantage they generate, but they're also incredibly fun. There’s a reason Wizards has riffed on this idea so many times. But today’s not about the riffs: It’s about the classic partner mechanic, so let’s uncover the best partner pairs to put in your command zone!
What Are Partner Commanders in MTG?
Tymna the Weaver | Illustration by Winona Nelson
Partner commanders are legendary creatures with the partner mechanic, so they let you have two commanders if both have partner. You’re still restricted to 100 total cards for your deck, so you’ll have 98 cards in the deck rather than 99.
This list ranks partner pairings based on what makes them powerful or interesting picks. It only uses cards with the true partner mechanic—no partner with, backgrounds, or any of the other partner offshoots.
A good partner pair typically involves synergy. Maybe both partners care about a similar mechanic, like +1/+1 counters. Maybe one creates a resource the other cares about. Sometimes the best reason is to give a commander you really like some added power or spice with additional colors.
#35. Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist + Anara, Wolvid Familiar
Why would you ever pair Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist with Anara, Wolvid Familiar?
If mass land destruction isn't your thing, Lure effects are interesting. You can slap tons of equipment and auras on one of these commanders, then kill multiple creatures by forcing your opponents to block a massive, indestructible creature.
#34. Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood + Brinelin, the Moon Kraken
Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood and Brinelin, the Moon Kraken is a rather vanilla pairing, but there’s a reason vanilla’s an offering in every ice cream parlor and coffeehouse.
Play all the Birds of Paradise variants you can for Gilanra on turn 2, which powers out your big creatures sooner. These commanders are uncommon, so you can even use this pairing in pEDH.
#33. Glacian, Powerstone Engineer + Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith
Card that cares about artifacts, meet a card that creates artifacts. That simple synergy justifies the Glacian, Powerstone Engineer and Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith partnership.
Glacian is a little expensive for the ability, but it digs deep to find powerful finishers like Rise and Shine and Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer to turn Toggo’s Rocks into a genuine win condition. Not that it’s bad to chuck them at your opponents with cards like Reckless Fireweaver, mind you.
#32. Breeches, Brazen Plunderer + Francisco, Fowl Marauder
Pirate decks have a few options for partner pairs, with Breeches, Brazen Plunderer and Francisco, Fowl Marauder being one of the less popular. But that doesn’t make it bad.
Digging into Rakdos () cast-from-exile synergies alongside black stuff that cares about the cards Francisco mills feels much more midrange-oriented than the pirate partner decks using Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator, which often trend towards combo builds.
#31. Ghost of Ramirez DePietro + Tormod, the Desecrator
Ghost of Ramirez DePietro and Tormod, the Desecrator have been synergistic partners since their printing, and they offer card advantage and board presence. Notably, this “when cards leave your graveyard” archetype is design space Wizards has explored often. Every set seems to print something new, like Teval's Judgment or Fang, Fearless l'Cie, so expect the archetype to deepen with time.
#30. Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful + Keleth, Sunmane Familiar
The White Weenie pairing of Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful and Keleth, Sunmane Familiar breaks out of the gates faster than your opponents can cast their Cultivate. Yoshimaru always attacks for at least 3 on turn 2—potentially more if you make a legendary land drop or cast Mox Amber. Toss in white’s ample protection to keep your good boy safe and efficient legends like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Adeline, Resplendent Cathar to keep the pressure up.
#29. Numa, Joraga Chieftain + Miara, Thorn of the Glade
Another relatively basic pair, Numa, Joraga Chieftain and Miara, Thorn of the Glade exploit Golgari () elf synergies, and they have plenty of support to do so with cards like Lathril, Blade of the Elves and Shaman of the Pack.
Given Miara’s death trigger, the deck wants to lean into an aristocrat shell that sacrifices the elf tokens produced by cards like Lys Alana Huntmaster to Deadly Dispute to reap all the grisly rewards a Golgari deck entails.
#28. Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa + Tana, the Bloodsower
The combination of Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa and Tana, the Bloodsower has a notable weakness: They have the same mana cost, so you can’t curve into them neatly.
But the partnership still has potential as a Naya () token deck that makes vast quantities of small tokens that gain unblockable thanks to Sidar Kondo.
Mass double strike enablers like Blade Historian and Blast-Furnace Hellkite are critical to provide Tana and your tokens a damage buff that doesn’t turn off Sidar Kondo.
#27. Silas Renn, Seeker Adept + Halana, Kessig Ranger
Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and Halana, Kessig Ranger come together for the rare deathtouch-centric deck. Halana’s ability makes the other creature deal damage, so it applies deathtouch. Fill the deck with cheap deathtouch creatures like Baleful Strix and Kappa Tech-Wrecker that kill something when they come into play for a controlling midrange brew.
This pairing is an excellent example of using a partner to add colors to a deck’s identity; Halana’s punch ability is the star of the show, and Silas Renn plays support because it adds cards like Servant of the Stinger.
#26. Tymna the Weaver + Ravos, Soultender
Tymna the Weaver and Ravos, Soultender often come together to lead a temple of clerics into a war at the LGS, and they do it well thanks to the excellent card advantage straight from the command zone.
Tymna hits the field early and draws cards as you attack your opponents, whether with clerics or just generally good creatures like Ocelot Pride. Once you hit the mid game and everybody’s traded off some creatures in combat or dealt with a board wipe, Ravos recurs creatures to keep resources flowing into the late game.
#25. Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh + Keleth, Sunmane Familiar
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh loves getting buffed due to its keywords, so why not use a partner like Keleth, Sunmane Familiar that buffs it? This is another flavor of aggro with cheap partners, and its access to red and white gives it an edge over mono-colored pairs.
Combine counter doublers like Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion with extra combats from cards like Raiyuu, Storm's Edge to make Rograkh a threat your opponents can't keep up with.
Akiri, Line-Slinger and Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator come together under a similar logic to the Glacian + Toggo pairing, except these are both better cards. Malcolm’s Treasure production is just better than Toggo’s Rocks, and Akiri converts them into a sleek, aggressive threat that chips away at opposing life totals while protecting your own.
Add in Jeskai’s () ample artifact synergies like Thousand Moons Smithy and Thought Monitor, and you have the start of a powerful midrange deck.
#23. Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar + Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar and Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker work well together due to how Kediss wants your commander to deal lots of damage and how Ishai becomes huge.
This pairing offers incredible flexibility, as these partners are self-contained: They’re good with each other, so they need relatively little support in the 98. A Violent Urge is probably advisable, but you can really do whatever you like.
#22. Keskit, the Flesh Sculptor + Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith
Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith can’t provide all the artifacts Keskit, the Flesh Sculptor needs, but it takes the edge off. This combo functions similarly to Glacian and Toggo, except Keskit is a cheaper option that draws more cards. You lose blue’s rich trove of artifact synergies, but black’s a good replacement; more and more sacrifice cards reference creatures or artifacts, like Deadly Dispute and its many variations, or Al Bhed Salvagers.
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator and Breeches, Brazen Plunderer are a popular partner pairing for pirates due in part to their popularity from the Ixalan stories. But it’s also much stronger than Breeches/Francisco.
Firstly, you have the infamous combo with Glint-Horn Buccaneer that makes Malcolm win the game on the spot. Then you have the big picture of what you get when you pair Malcolm’s Treasure creation with Breeches’s sticky fingers: that ever-potent combination of card draw and mana production in the command zone. Additionally, how can your pirates commander get more flavorful than a crew that generates Treasure and theft?
#20. Jeska, Thrice Reborn + Dargo, the Shipwrecker
Dargo, the Shipwrecker goes infinite in about a thousand ways, typically when you combine it with a sacrifice outlet like Phyrexian Altar that lets you cast and recast Dargo forever.
Jeska has a similar combo leaning, often used as an outlet for infinite mana with the -X ability. But you can also cheese people out with this combination. Jeska makes Dargo deal triple combat damage, and it has 7 power, which adds up to a silly one-shot aided by cards like Rogue's Passage. This pair feels well-suited to building a Bracket 3 or 4 combo deck that’s powerful but still fun and Commander-y.
#19. Halana, Kessig Ranger + Alena, Kessig Trapper
Halana, Kessig Ranger and Alena, Kessig Trapper were meant to be together (and are, on the aptly-named Halana and Alena, Partners, which wasn’t eligible for this list due to a technicality) for a Gruul () stompy build that goes as big as the Commander format.
This is the natural home for your favorite monsters and for cards that care about big creatures, like Garruk's Uprising and Temur Battle Rage.
Keep an eye out for creatures with power greater than their mana cost, like Anzrag, the Quake-Mole; these are effectively rituals with Alena. Toss in some untap effects like Thousand-Year Elixir and Quirion Ranger, and you have the start to a funky storm deck.
#18. Alharu, Solemn Ritualist + Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
Alharu, Solemn Ritualist and Reyhan, Last of the Abzan combine to create a very interesting little counter-sacrifice deck. You don’t normally sacrifice creatures you add counters to. It opens the door to all sorts of interesting synergies; perhaps you lean on cards like Greater Good and Rite of Consumption that care about large creatures; maybe you work up some wild line with The Ozolith. You could even build Abzan () modular!
#17. Prava of the Steel Legion + Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper
Toughness-matters decks often resort to defender synergies revolving around commanders like Arcades, the Strategist, but this partner pairing shirks that. Oh, your Prava of the Steel Legion and Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper deck still wants Doran, the Siege Tower, but Prava’s immense toughness buff liberates you from relying solely on defenders, which become pretty useless if you lose a key card or two. Instead, you can use Abzan’s () ample token support.
#16. Tana, the Bloodsower + Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Another classic example of combining a partner that produces a resource with one that consumes it, Tana, the Bloodsower and Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools make a fine Jund () sacrifice pairing. You need ways to sneak Tana past opposing blockers, but red has plenty of effects like Goblin Smuggler to help with that.
#15. Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa + Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar
A big part of why I like Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa and Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar is the recent support we’ve gotten for small creatures. Cards like Delney, Streetwise Lookout, Arabella, Abandoned Doll, and Assemble the Players are all excellent ways to get even more value from already-powerful creatures like Professional Face-Breaker.
#14. Thrasios, Triton Hero + Dargo, the Shipwrecker
Thrasios, Triton Hero and Dargo, the Shipwrecker is one of the first true cEDH pairings we’ve looked at.
Blue’s the best color in cEDH, and both commanders are combo machines. I’ve mentioned Dargo and its thousand combos, so I won’t say more here. While Thrasios, Triton Hero doesn’t directly help you combo, it’s a fantastic mana outlet that draws your deck.
#13. Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful + Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful and Reyhan, Last of the Abzan takes a more traditional stance on counters decks than Reyhan’s previous pairing. It’s also just stronger, because Yoshimaru’s a better card than Alharu.
This deck wants to be very aggressive, and it leans on cheap counters-matter cards like Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion, and Generous Pup to put forth an immensely aggressive board state.
#12. Vial Smasher the Fierce + Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
If you want to burn out your opponents with partners that share chemistry, look no further than Vial Smasher the Fierce and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces. You want to play them sequentially to stack Vial Smasher triggers to incite some chaos. You can get even more triggers by leaning on cards like Roaming Throne and Spark Double.
#11. Kodama of the East Tree + Thrasios, Triton Hero
Kodama of the East Tree and Thrasios, Triton Hero is a very combo-centric combination. Kodama goes infinite a dozen ways to Sunday, which often leads to infinite mana you can feed through Thrasios. Since you want landfall synergies anyway, the ramp that Thrasios provides you in the midgame becomes stronger with Tatyova, Benthic Druid and Scute Swarm. While it’s combo-oriented, this pairing isn’t much of a cEDH deck, so it could be good for Bracket 3 and 4.
A key part of Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator’s power lies in its ability triggering whenever a pirate deals any type of damage, not just combat damage. And since Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar makes Malcolm deal damage to your opponents, you get oodles of Treasure. This deck is absolutely capable of duking it out at high power levels thanks to Glint-Horn Buccaneer and the insane mana production.
#9. Sakashima of a Thousand Faces + Krak, the Thumbless
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces and Krark, the Thumbless make a killer spellslinger combo… assuming you don’t mind flipping multiple coins every time you take a game action.
You need some coin flip support, like Krark's Thumb and Tavern Swindler, but the deck leans into typical spellslinger nonsense, relying on the commanders to generate an abnormal amount of card advantage. If you want to toe the line of cEDH, you can use Dualcaster Mage + Twinflame combo, or you could take a more casual approach with typical payoffs like Niv-Mizzet, Parun.
#8. Silas Renn, Seeker Adept + Akiri, Line-Slinger
Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and Akiri, Line-Slinger combine for artifact value. Access to all colors but green means you get all the best artifact synergies, like Urza, Lord High Artificer.
My inclination is to go for an artifact token focused build with Treasure production and Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer to provide plenty of pressure with Akiri, while Silas provides late-game card advantage.
#7. Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh + Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful
I’ve proposed many different aggro pairings, but I suspect Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh and Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful is the strongest. Rograkh helps Yoshimaru grow, and the access to red and white makes up for slower growth than with Keleth. There’s some great legends like Inti, Seneschal of the Sun and Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar for Yoshimaru.
#6. Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist + Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh’s keyword soup makes it the perfect creature for Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist to slap a bunch of equipment and auras onto. Boros () equipment already had a wealth of support, but Final Fantasy gave the archetype a massive boost with cards like Cloud, Midgar Mercenary and Buster Sword.
#5. Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh + Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh and Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools are the sacrifice partners. The goal is to feed Rograkh through Tevesh Szat a few times to draw three cards several times over.
Rograkh even helps to power out Tevesh Szat with cards like Mox Amber, Guild Artisan, and Culling the Weak.
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator and Francisco, Fowl Marauder are a deadly duo of pirates if you want to do some high-powered nonsense. You lose the Glint-Horn Buccaneer combo, but Francisco’s part of plenty of combos itself, and you’re in the right colors for the Oracle-Consult combo.
#3. Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh + Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept is practically always a cEDH pairing, and an interesting one. This is the turbo combo deck of the format, and it really uses both commanders just for their colors. Sure, you’ll have Culling the Weak and Flare of Duplication and other stuff that benefits from the fact that Rograkh costs literally nothing, but this deck more than any other partner pairing focuses on the 98, with little time for the legends that lead it.
#2. Tymna the Weaver + Thrasios, Triton Hero
Tymna the Weaver and Thrasios, Triton Hero are incredibly flexible. You have your combo options, of course, but this is a great option for a more casual deck that wants Thrasios to add Simic (), the best colors in casual EDH, to Tymna’s immense card advantage. If you want a diverse midrange value pile, this is your deck.
#1. Tymna the Weaver + Kraum, Ludevic’s Opus
Tymna the Weaver and Kraum, Ludevic's Opus make up the command zone of cEDH’s infamous Blue Farm deck, a lean 98 cards that’s composed of the best cards in the format—while green is king in casual EDH, it’s the weakest color in cEDH, so you miss out on very little.
These are excellent commanders simply because they provide so much card advantage. Any time you manage to control both for several turns, you have the card draw to compete with the player who controls The One Ring and Rhystic Study. And the deck list can be incredibly flexible; while you’ll play a core of cards, like Thoracle-Consult and Underworld Breach, how you support them is completely up to what you think the 90ish best cards in cEDH are.
Commanding Conclusion
Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar | Illustration by Jesper Ejsing
Partners have made a massive impact on EDH’s highest power levels, but they’re also quite reasonable at lower power levels. Maybe you want to do something memey, or perhaps you just want to draw on basic synergies or add extra colors to a card you think is neat. The thing about partners is that there are so many combinations you can probably pick one up that nearly nobody’s played before and make it your own!
What’s your favorite partner pairing? What cool ones did I miss? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!
Stay safe, and thanks for reading!
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