All 7 Sliver Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on November 29, 2023

The First Sliver | Illustration by Svetlin Velinov

Welcome to another look at the commanders to take you to the next level. Today we’re looking at sliver commanders, and the kind of play styles they fit best. Sliver is an old and beloved creature type, and they're one of the quintessential tribal creatures.

There aren’t too many legendary slivers, but the ones we have can pack a punch. These sliver commanders range in strategy from a tribal crux to token generating to storm deck support. Let’s see what colors, play styles, and supporting cards we need to make a great sliver Commander deck!

What Are Sliver Commanders in MTG?

Sliver Hivelord | Illustration by Aleksi Briclot

Legendary creatures with the “sliver” type are able to be your commander, and there are five legendary slivers in the game. They’re all 5-color cards, so you have access to any card and color you want. You also have to think harder about your mana as a resource to realize your true potential.

As far as they play, these commanders are like other slivers and interact with or support all your other sliver creatures. The first legendary sliver appeared in Stronghold, and the final one on this list appeared in Time Spiral Remastered.

#7. Sliver Legion

Sliver Legion is the sliver card that should be in every sliver deck that can produce five colors. If you want to cut out the probability of drawing it, make it your commander!

This sliver turns your army of cheap slivers into unassailable behemoths. Make sure to pair your giant slivers with keyword slivers like Horned Sliver or Fury Sliver. The exponential growth of this commander makes it a legit contender in many competitive matches.

#6. Sliver Hivelord

Sliver Hivelord is the smallest of the sliver commanders, but its effect is wildly good. To give all your slivers indestructible greatly limits your opponent’s chances of responding. You can basically neutralize a lot of cards and strategies your opponents may have.

This protects your army from most board wipes and allows you to grow your brood. If I were to make a sliver Commander deck, this would be my choice of commander.

#5. Sliver Queen

Sliver Queen doesn’t have outright value or keywords for your slivers, but it can act like your creature engine. The high value here is that the token creation is cheap and can be activated many times. You can make many tiny slivers and turn them into monsters with slivers like Sliver Legion, Necrotic Sliver, and Lavabelly Sliver.

Sliver Queen is the sliver commander to build a massive sliver board presence. Make sure to consider plans to avoid board wipes with this commander.

#4. Rukarumel, Biologist

Next up is Rukarumel, Biologist, which isn't actually a sliver while it's not on the battlefield. Instead, it has you choose a creature type when it enters the battlefield and makes all of your Slivers and nontoken creatures that creature type. This allows the inclusion of what would otherwise be incompatible typal cards into your Sliver deck! It's a little weird to think about, but having access to efficient cards like Crux of Fate and The Ur-Dragon available since you make all of your slivers a dragon seems incredible.

#3. Sliver Gravemother

Sliver Gravemother is an incredibly unique legendary sliver. It bypasses the legendary rule, and provides all your slivers with the ability to come back from the graveyard temporarily as multiple copies. This provides a solid level of recursion and aggressive power to your deck that makes your most potent slivers stick around just that much longer. This doesn't seem too powerful with cards like Sliver Hivelord, but imagine getting 3 copies of Sliver Legion or Predatory Sliver for an insane board-wipe +3/+3.

#2. Sliver Overlord

Sliver Overlord is a sliver that doesn’t have keywords or abilities for all your other slivers, but what it does have is amazing for a Commander deck if you can keep this card alive. For a ridiculously cheap and flexible amount of mana you can find the exact slivers you need and put them into your hand. You can grab slivers like Winged Sliver or Crystalline Sliver to create advantages over your opponent.

At instant speed, this activated ability also provides some much-needed retaliation after board wipes. And hey, you can steal all the slivers you want if you’re playing against a sliver deck.

#1. The First Sliver

The First Sliver is a wonderful commander to pair your slivers with other powerful spells. Cascade is a fantastic keyword that allows you to bring in spells that have less mana value than the spell cast with cascade. Now all your slivers have cascade, and you can quickly make the game out of control for your opponent.

The fact that you can bring in more slivers or cards like And They Shall Know Fear and Guardian Project is a massive value for a Commander deck.

Best Sliver Commander Payoffs

Slivers are tribal creatures in the very definition of the word; they boost each other and no other creatures. Your Commander deck should be full of slivers. There are also plenty of other slivers that can give you major benefits, so make sure to do your research.

Gemhide Sliver and Manaweft Sliver are absolutely necessary mana fixers to help with your 5-color sliver Commander deck.

Cloudshredder Sliver and Shifting Sliver make your sliver creatures harder to block.

Harmonic Sliver and Necrotic Sliver can turn your slivers into powerful removal.

Crystalline Sliver and Diffusion Sliver help to protect your sliver army.

Spiteful Sliver and Lavabelly Sliver allow you to ping your opponent for faster victory.

Bonescythe Sliver and Striking Sliver change the timing of combat phases in your favor for your slivers.

Homing Sliver turns your weaker slivers into wonderful fetch cards.

Synapse Sliver and Opaline Sliver help you draw all the slivers you may need.

Tribal-nonspecific cards can also have major benefits, like Vanquisher's Banner, Herald's Horn, and Cavern of Souls.

Eladamri's Call, Assassin's Trophy, Worldly Tutor, and Kodama's Reach are also popular in the sliver decks I've seen.

Are Slivers Banned in Commander?

No, none of the sliver commanders or non-legendary slivers are banned in Commander. Sliver Queen is on the Reserved List, it’ll never be reprinted and therefore won’t be coming back to Standard or newer card formats.

Is Sliver a Good Commander Deck?

The consensus on the internet I’ve seen is yes, sliver commanders can do well. The thing that burns players out is the lack of variance in the number of commanders and how the deck plays. I’ve seen many complaints about how boring it is to play with and play against.

So yes, slivers can snowball out of control and overpower many opponents. But sliver Commander decks aren’t exciting or creative.

Wrap Up

Sliver Overlord | Illustration by Tony Szczudlo

That will do it today for the wonderfully tribal sliver Commander decks. The slivers are fascinating hivemind-like creatures that share their traits, and I can’t picture a better tribal build than a hivemind. You know what you’re going to do when you roster a sliver commander. I hope that this has given you even more insight into them.

What's your favorite sliver commander? Do you think they make good Commander decks, or are they too predictable for you? Let me know in the comments down below, or find us over on the Draftsim Twitter.

Cheers!