The 22 Best Samurai Commanders in Magic Ranked

Risona, Asari Commander | Illustration by Kato Ayaka

“Like Kurosawa I make mad decks. ‘Kay, I don’t make decks. But if I did, they’d have a samurai.”

That’s a lie. I build too many decks, and I don’t play them enough. But I still don’t have a samurai deck, though that’ll probably change after today.

Samurai are heavily tied to the plane of Kamigawa, though they’ve appeared in other sets here and there. If you’ve seen Yojimbo, you get the idea of what most of these commanders go for: They like to attack alone, for they do not fear death.

Let’s look at the best samurai commanders Magic has to offer!

What Are Samurai Commanders in MTG?

Raiyuu, Storm's Edge | Illustration by Heonhwa Choe

Samurai commanders in Magic are made up primarily of legendary creatures with the samurai creature type. You could run a few non-samurai that care about samurai or make tokens, but I’ll leave those aside as honorable mentions.

Samurai commanders are primarily in mono-red, mono-white, and Boros (), and they often have abilities that encourage you to attack with just one creature at a time. Many samurai commanders are also humans, so they have synergy with cards that care about that creature type.

Honorable Mentions

There’s a few non-samurai that either interact with the creature type or make tokens. Godo, Bandit Warlord untaps all your samurai the first time it attacks and gives you an extra combat phase, but it isn’t a samurai itself. If I were to include it on the list, it would rank somewhere around Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms. Naomi, Pillar of Order gives you Samurai tokens when it enters and attacks, but that’s about it.

#22. Cyan, Vengeful Samurai

Every character in a Universes Beyond property needs a card, so we have Cyan, Vengeful Samurai. It just isn’t a commander that you can play early; either you need the mana to hard-cast it, or you need creature cards in your graveyard to unlock the cost reduction. I’d rather have Abzan () reanimator than mono-white.

#21. Kamigawa Block Samurai

Original Kamigawa block was long before Wizards of the Coast started to support and design cards for Commander, and there’re lots of eligible commanders that just aren’t worth even trying. Mono-color samurai like Iizuka the Ruthless, Nagao, Bound by Honor, Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo, and Sensei Golden-Tail just don’t do enough or interact with a particularly relevant creature type.

#20. Auron, Venerated Guardian

Auron, Venerated Guardian’s attack trigger is a repeatable Oblivion Ring effect, and mono-white has equipment and +1/+1 counters to pump it up and exile bigger creatures. I’d actually consider running it if it were a 2-mana 1/3 with the same ability, but as is, it’s just a fun card to consider in samurai and attack trigger decks.

#19. Heiko Yamazaki, the General + Norika Yamazaki, the Poet

The cousins Yamazaki reflect each other, since Heiko Yamazaki, the General and Norika Yamazaki, the Poet let you cast artifacts and enchantments from your graveyard, respectively. If you Rule 0’d the ability to play them as a partner with pairing, you’re in the right colors for a Boros Voltron deck.

#18. Konda, Lord of Eiganjo

Konda, Lord of Eiganjo can make for an alright Voltron commander since it’s indestructible and has bushido 5. But a 7-mana commander needs to do a lot to be competitive, and Konda certainly does not.

#17. Isao, Enlightened Bushi

There are 5 mono-green samurai, not counting shapeshifters. Yeah, Isao, Enlightened Bushi is virtually unplayable unless you use it as a “make your own fun” commander.

#16. Brothers Yamazaki

You can’t technically have more than one copy of Brothers Yamazaki in a singleton deck, though you may be able to do it after a Rule 0 discussion. Otherwise, you’re more likely to run a bunch of clones, though those tend to be rather ephemeral in mono-red.

#15. Kentaro, the Smiling Cat

I just love the art on Kentaro, the Smiling Cat, and I think it could be a relatively easy cosplay to pull off. But yeah, its ability is nearly useless in a mono-color deck unless you only have your Sol Ring and utility lands left to tap. I guess it could technically make 1- and 2-drop samurai spells free if you combine it with Pearl Medallion and The Wind Crystal.

#14. Leonardo, Sewer Samurai

Leonardo, Sewer Samurai reads like a mono-white take on Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker to me. It’s weaker than Shizo, though, because you still have to pay each creature’s costs again, and finality counters prevent you from looping your creatures without blink or airbending abilities.

#13. Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei

Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei is just so good as a cheap haste enabler and token generator in goblin decks, among others, that it just isn’t used that often as a commander. You don’t even need to tap it, so you can activate its abilities the turn that it comes down.

#12. Takeno, Samurai General

Definitely more “flavor” than “competitive”, Takeno, Samurai General is a good reason to bring out all those bushido samurai cards from the original Kamigawa block. What I really like is how some of the other bushido commanders snowball: Konda has bushido 5, so Takeno makes it an 8/8… but it still has bushido 5… so it’s a 13/13 when it blocks or is blocked.

#11. Fumiko the Lowblood

The combination of Fumiko the Lowblood’s bushido X and its forced combat ability make it more of a defensive samurai than an offensive one, unless you’re building a mono-red token deck. Goad cards make for good flavor, and creatures like Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos and Khârn the Betrayer add more chaotic fun to the table.

#10. Risona, Asari Commander

Risona, Asari Commander has a combat damage trigger and is in Boros colors, so naturally, it wants equipment and auras that help it to evade or trample over your opponents’ blockers. The thing is, it doesn’t do much apart from give itself indestructible counters. You can find so, so many better commanders for this theme, both within and outside of this color identity.

#9. The Wandering Rescuer

The Wandering Rescuer is definitely a fine support piece in other decks, but mono-white convoke and tokens is a bit… weak. Like, the epitome of white weenie. It pairs super well with Adept Watershaper to protect your creatures even further, but Masako the Humorless kicks things into high gear.

#8. Toshiro Umezawa

Mono-black spellslinging isn’t an archetype I think of too often, but this sure looks like fun. Toshiro Umezawa may have been around for a while, but it’s constantly getting new toys. And it ain’t just black removal spells and edicts, but also creatures like Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian and Kaervek, the Punisher.

#7. Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms

It’s quite fitting for Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms to distribute weapons when it enters the battlefield. Six mana is a lot, though, and while it gives me a reason to run some mono-red Final Fantasy cards together, I’m not sure it beats out Valduk, Keeper of the Flame in terms of mono-red equipment commanders.

#6. Kosei, Penitent Warlord

Many samurai commanders reward you when you attack alone, which causes problems in a multiplayer format. Kosei, Penitent Warlord makes up for that when you assemble a trio of mods onto it: an aura, an equipment, and a counter (+1/+1, -1/-1, keyword, whatever). You’ll definitely want some trample enablers to make sure that you hit your opponents.

#5. Tetsuo, Imperial Champion

Modal triggers like this are always fun to build around, and no, I’ll never stop saying it. Tetsuo, Imperial Champion is a burn commander at first glance, but then… what’s that second option? Turns out that this is the perfect way to cheat on time counters in a suspend build.

#4. Raiyuu, Storm’s Edge

If you specifically want to build around samurai as a creature type, Isshin, Two Heavens as One definitely works, though Raiyuu, Storm's Edge is friendlier on the budget. It makes for a mix of a typal and equipment deck, since you’re encouraged to attack with one creature on its own. The extra combat clause also helps to mitigate the solo combat triggers that slow you down in a multiplayer format.

#3. Chishiro, the Shattered Blade

As the face commander of the Upgrades Unleashed precon from Neon Dynasty Commander, Chishiro, the Shattered Blade is all about modifications. It adds to your board presence whenever permanent modifications enter, and it gives you +1/+1 counters along the way. The precon and main Neon Dynasty set had a bunch of modified payoffs, but Final Fantasy Commander added Red XIII, Proud Warrior. Chishiro also has great synergy with Rhythm of the Wild. You don’t have white or Boros equipment payoffs like Bruenor Battlehammer, Steelshaper's Gift, or Bureau Headmaster, but you make up for that with green’s access to ramp.

#2. Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima

Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima does something at least slightly different for a samurai, since it doesn’t need to attack completely alone for its trigger to go off. You can double the trigger with Delney, Streetwise Lookout, and fill the deck with small saboteurs and equipment cards that grant combat damage triggers, plus some extra unblockable enablers for redundancy.

#1. Isshin, Two Heavens as One

Isshin, Two Heavens as One is hands down the best samurai you can run in the command zone. Trigger doublers are already a good start, and there’s lots of potential subthemes to explore with Isshin, like myriad, mobilize, or firebending, to name a few mechanics. I love a commander that gives you a nudge in a direction but doesn’t lock you in too much.

Commanding Conclusion

Isao, Enlightened Bushi | Illustration by Christopher Moeller

Unlike a lot of other creature types, samurai commanders have a wonky bell curve when it comes to what’s playable. It’ll probably be a while before we see more aside from one-off appearances in Secret Lairs and Universes Beyond products, but here’s hoping that they hit more than they miss.

Which samurai commanders do you run, either in general or for a samurai theme? Do you want to see the bushido mechanic return? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, stay safe!