Last updated on August 30, 2025
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep | Illustration by Chris Rallis
As a collector, I guess you could call me Ahab in terms of how I pursue some things that are on my wish lists. But unlike that doomed sea captain, sometimes, I land my whale. And I live to tell about it, like when I finally found an affordable copy of Hal Willner’s Rogues’ Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys after having mostly given up.
But we aren’t talking about pirates or sailors. Instead, we’re looking for commanders that can lead a legion of sea creatures! A pod? A school? What’s the magic word for a group of mixed deep-dwellers that cause anxiety attacks at the thought of swimming in open water?
Today, we go deep. And only Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle gets any sleep. Is there a more appropriate time to say: “Let’s dive right in?”
What Are Sea Creature Commanders in MTG? Where are My Kraken, Leviathan, Octopus and Serpent Commanders?
Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood | Illustration by Campbell White
Sea creature commanders are legends that care about what I’ll call Magic's sea-dwelling Big Four, or KLOS creatures: kraken, leviathans, octopuses, and serpents. You can make the case that other creature types such as crabs and even merfolk are sea creatures, but these Big Four have been batched on multiple cards and all tend to be big-mana, high-toughness creatures.
As a result, there are commanders that don’t mention these creature types but that can be effective for a sea creature theme. Think of big-mana commanders that help to reduce the cost of huge creatures or let you cheat them into play, or commanders that pay you off for running high-toughness creatures. You’re pretty much going to need blue in your commander’s color identity for a sea creatures deck to make a lick of sense, but these should be your main guiding principles.
Not Ranked: Octavia, Living Thesis + Others
I’m looking for commanders for a sea creatures theme, not sea creatures that can be your commander, so I haven’t included every single legendary kraken, leviathan, octopus, or serpent. Octavia, Living Thesis is a prime example as a legendary octopus that’s a good mono-blue commander, but it wants a shell (hah!) that’s closer to a spellslinging commander or cantripping strategy.
Some of the other ones I left off just don’t really distinguish themselves from the pack, like Lorthos, the Tidemaker or Monstrosity of the Lake.
Not Ranked: Keruga, the Macrosage
I chose to leave Keruga, the Macrosage off the list since most people opt to use this as a companion rather than a Simic commander. But, as a big-mana payoff in Simic () colors, you could do worse than use this alongside your sea creature deck.
Not Ranked: Maelstrom Wanderer
I won’t include every possible big mana commander or big toughness commander, since both of those themes deserve their time to shine. And I’m not going to run through every commander that you could use in theory, so I’ll use Maelstrom Wanderer as an oddball Temur commander that you could run for sea creatures.
You’ll be dipping away from the cascade theme, pretty much only cascading when you cast your commander. Green gives you access to some ramp, while red gives you burn (rather than black’s straight removal) and fling effects. Unfortunately, Fling effects rely on power rather than toughness, so you aren’t getting the absolute best out of some of your creatures like Charix, the Raging Isle.
Every perk comes with a setback that balances it. It’s just not worth it. Besides, accessing red, fiery mana for a sea creatures deck? Come on.
#18. Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep
While it’s one of the few commanders to mention the full suite of KLOS sea creatures, Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep is more of a support player in my eyes. It needs a lot of mana before you can cast it. While its kicker ability is useful, I see it as a mini-Cyclonic Rift you cast right before you swing in for lethal. I find that strategy from the command zone is highly telegraphed, and you’re limiting your access to ramp and kill spells in mono-blue.
#17. Sin, Spira's Punishment
Sin, Spira's Punishment gets you a good amount of card advantage. Remember that you still get copies of the lands, the process ends after you get a nonland.
#16. Kamiz, Obscura Oculus
This is probably a bit of a stretch, but I’m taking inspiration from the fact that cephalids are now octopuses.
Kamiz, Obscura Oculus is an Esper commander (), so it lets you run all the best cards from the Dimir () sea creature decks. White lets you access Yorion, Sky Nomad to reuse your other creatures’ enters abilities, while Kamiz itself gives one of your attackers unblockable and double strike to another. Given the number of sea creatures that want to deal combat damage to your opponents, this seems like a fit now thanks to some typing erratas.
#15. Koma, World-Eater
Koma, World-Eater in Foundations is much more tame than the Kaldheim one, but the uncounterability, size and serpents are not to be underestimated.
#14. Wrexial, the Risen Deep + Gyruda, Doom of Depths
Wrexial, the Risen Deep is a legendary kraken, but this Dimir commander wants a shell that allows it to attack as unencumbered as possible so you can steal your opponents’ spells. You can build a sea creatures deck around this, and it could probably work. The issue is that your commander doesn’t care whether you do or don’t.
Gyruda, Doom of Depths works in a similar space, in the same colors, at the same mana value. The only real difference is in exactly how you do it, and the fact that Gyruda can be your deck’s companion.
#13. Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood
Okay, so maybe I just wanted to talk about the axolotl. Sue me. The thing is, while Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood’s abilities point toward counters builds where you untap your own lands with its flood counters, there’s nothing stopping you from doing a sea creatures build. Your flood counters can help you to ramp into these big mana creatures, while also enabling Stormtide Leviathan and other landwalkers. Islandwalk and sea creatures are probably one of the only places where landwalk is remotely relevant these days, so I see this as a possibility.
#12. Phenax, God of Deception
While I didn’t find anyone running Phenax, God of Deception specifically as a sea creature commander, it’s fairly popular as a toughness-matters commander. I came across it looking for blue devotion payoffs, and it’s got the right colors to run some sea creatures.
Phenax turns your creatures into toughness-based Grindclocks (minus the counters), which is so silly that I’m honestly a little inspired. It takes advantage of your huge toughness creatures without making them vulnerable to combat, too. Milling isn’t the most powerful in a format with 99- or 98-card libraries, especially since your Bruvac the Grandiloquent becomes Public Enemy No. 1. But it’s fun, and I like fun.
#11. Koma, Cosmos Serpent
Koma, Cosmos Serpent stands out as a uncounterable commander with a bunch of decks, but few themes jump out, at least based on how EDHREC compiled their analytics. Its activated ability asks that you sacrifice a serpent to it, and while Koma makes its own Koma's Coil tokens, you can fill your deck with other serpents to have more sacrifice fodder. Of course, you could always just use clones instead. Doable, but I’d rather run a commander that costs less than 7 mana.
#10. Charix, the Raging Isle
Charix, the Raging Isle is a viable toughness-matters commander that just happens to be a sea creature. Its 17 (!!) toughness allows you to build in that direction, while its crab creature type means you could just run it with a bunch of crabs if you want.
#9. Marvo, Deep Operative
Marvo, Deep Operative plays in the clash and topdeck space, but since it cares about big mana… do I need to continue? It’s the same colors as Runo Stromkirk, and it costs as much mana as Phenax. I want to see this more than I have so far.
#8. Sin, Unending Cataclysm
Sin, Unending Cataclysm has a fascinating ETB that has me look at all the weird counters you proliferate with Atraxa in a different way. Just take a second look at your opponent's spacecraft, shield counters, and +1/+1 counters. Then look at your sagas and permanents with stun counters, -1/-1 counters, or finality counters. Oh yeah, my brewing juices are flowing.
Also, I really like the insurance against removal in the death trigger that keeps your +1/+1 counters in play.
#7. Brinelin, the Moon Kraken + Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper
Sultai () sea creatures, here we go!
Brinelin, the Moon Kraken is the KLOS part of this partner commander pairing, and it’s a big-mana payoff that bounces stuff. Whether you’re bouncing problematic game pieces to your opponents’ hands or targeting your own creatures to take advantage of a good enters ability, Brinelin doesn’t care.
Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper brings a toughness payoff to the equation in the form of lifegain. It also makes these two partners work as a Sultai commander; the extra colors help with ramp, reanimation, and virtually anything else that big creatures need. You only get the lifegain when your creatures deal combat damage to a player, though, so pack in your unblockable enablers.
#6. Thassa, God of the Sea
Thassa, God of the Sea is probably your best option for a mono-blue sea creature commander. First, it makes your creatures unblockable with an activated ability. Then the scrying ability can help to filter your draws so that you aren’t drawing big sea creatures until you’re ready for them. But there’s not much else to say here, besides that I really don’t like missing out on green’s ramp or black’s removal since sea creatures can be a tough board to develop.
#5. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait
Well, here’s a solution to the big-mana problem. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait lets you play additional lands, which absolutely points in a landfall direction, no doubt about it. But it also allows you to make your sea creatures easier to cast, and Aesi is a serpent, so why not?
What? Are you telling me a single of Aesi is worth about half a precon? I see.
Go nuts if you own one or have the budget for it; otherwise, look elsewhere.
#4. Kenessos, Priest of Thassa
Kenessos, Priest of Thassa is a slightly rougher fit for sea creatures. Yes, the activated ability lets you sneak your creatures onto the battlefield, while the triggered ability improves your scrying. Not a bad combination, although it kind of decides your entire deck’s theme for you. You can lean into sea creatures and care less about the scrying, or you could lean into the scrying, but you’re not using your commander to its full potential when you start ignoring the text.
#3. Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
12/12 is a stat line that makes me salivate. Gimme a Brotherhood Regalia or some other unblockable enabler and lemme swing for commander damage. Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle is a land in the early game and a mana dork with big power/toughness in the mid-to-late-game. Sequencing is important here because you want to turn Arixmethes into a creature at the right time. Creature removal is a lot more common than land removal, and you don’t want to waste the time you took to set this up.
#2. Runo Stromkirk / Krothuss, Lord of the Deep
Runo Stromkirk’s transform condition is revealing a big mana creature from the top of your library, and the backside calls out our Big Four KLOS sea creatures. Krothuss, Lord of the Deep gives you two token copies of your best deep-dwellers when it attacks, so you’re less likely to run any but the most important legendary creatures here. A vampire that transforms into a kraken is the kind of silly Magic shenanigans that keeps me coming back for new MTG sets. And it’s even a more-than-viable commander!
#1. Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep
It’s a 5-mana 4/5 with ward 3 and vigilance. Yup, it’s a modern-day commander, all right.
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep is March of the Machine: The Aftermath’s check-in on this ex-planeswalker, and this Kiora sure wants you to play a lot of sea creatures. It’s a casting trigger, so a counterspell won’t stop your first sea creature from letting you dig for another.
I find you could probably flip Kiora and Runo depending on your priorities. Do you want Simic colors and a merfolk in your command zone, or do you want Dimir and a vampire-kraken? There’s advantages to each (advantages, advantages). I may be building a Runo deck, but I’m giving Kiora the edge. Because I can.
Best Sea Monster Commander Payoffs
Your most important sea creature payoffs and synergies start with ramp and ways to cheat creatures onto the battlefield, followed by abilities that make your creatures unblockable.
Some similar effects are Stormtide Leviathan for some landwalk and Tromokratis as a lure-like effect. Bounce effects and tap effects can also help to clear the way for an impactful combat phase, and sea creatures often have enters abilities, attack triggers, and activated abilities that do these. Toughness payoffs also tie in well. Summon: Leviathan is a riff on Cyclonic Rift that sea creatures just gobble up, and the card draw plus ward make the summon sting even more.
Cards like Quest for Ula's Temple, Whelming Wave, Spawning Kraken, and Serpent of Yawning Depths are each examples that mention sea creatures as a group of creatures.
Since so many sea creatures are blue, I’d usually look at blue devotion payoffs. Depending on what you’re doing, your best bets are Phenax, God of Deception and the Thassa-related cards. Phenax has its own spot on the list, but Thassa, Deep-Dwelling gives you an end step flicker. Thassa, God of the Sea has an activated ability that you can sink some mana into for some unblockable creatures. Thassa's Rebuff can be a cheaper counterspell for you, although it’s less effective earlier in the game unless you’re countering someone who has tapped out. Apologies to Thoracle (Thassa's Oracle); it’s less important here because sea creature decks are generally closer to an aggro deck that wants to cast big things and swing for massive damage than the typical card draw, discard, or self-mill decks.
Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea is another blue devotion payoff, this time turning your creatures and enchantments into stax pieces. While not the best or most efficient, it can be a budget-friendly way to help slow your opponents down.
Do Merfolk Count as Sea Creatures?
Players usually refer to sea creatures as the big four creature types (KLOS, or kraken, leviathans, octopuses, and serpents), or to creatures that live in the sea. In terms of the Commander format and deckbuilding, it depends on who you ask. Some players include merfolk in that, while others don’t.
Regardless, Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep batches merfolk alongside KLOS with its ETB. While you could argue that this means that merfolk count, my take is that it’s templated this way so that you don’t bounce the merfolk who may happen to be your commander or part of your Limited/Constructed strategy with Slinn Voda’s enters ability.
In terms of game design, merfolk have been treated as sea creatures in the broader sense. Merfolk and other sea-based creature types disappeared from Magic for a while starting around the Odyssey block. The reasoning was that our beloved game takes place on a battlefield, always assumed to be a land-based battlefield. It just didn’t make sense to summon sea things to fight on land.
Commanding Conclusion
Runo Stromkirk | Illustration by Matt Stewart
And with that, we can return to the surface. Are you glad I don’t have to say “deep” again?
Many sea-faring cultures have folk tales about what lurks below, and I like seeing how these aquatic beasts find their way into different Magic sets. While not necessarily the absolute most iconic of the themes to have for your Commander deck, there’s no denying that a sea creature deck can be lots of fun, and I expect us to always have some support for it, whether in the form of new commanders or new/reimagined payoffs.
Would you run any vehicles as commanders for your sea creature decks (The Lunar Whale comes to mind)? Which big sea creatures do you love to drop onto the battlefield? Let me know in the comments below, or leave your captain’s commander’s log over on the Draftsim Discord.
Until next time, keep fishin’!
Add Comment