The 39 Best Gruul Commanders Ranked

Last updated on May 29, 2026

Omnath, Locus of Rage | Illustration by Brad Rigney

It’s always “Gruul SMASH!” or “Gruul BREAK!”, but when is it ever “Gruul PLAY SPELLSLINGER IN COOL AND INTERESTING WAY”?

Yeah, Gruul () has an identity, that’s for sure. But you’d be missing out if you never touched the color pair because you think the only strategy it employs is smashing things to bits. It definitely does that, a lot, but there’s some nuance to Magic’s most “braindead” guild. And hey, if you’re just a little angry on the inside and want to express that with Magic cards, Gruul probably has a commander that’s right up your alley, too.

What Are Gruul Commanders in MTG?

Tovolar, the Midnight Scourge | Illustration by Chris Rahn

Gruul commanders include any legendary creature or other qualifying commander with an exact green and red color identity. This includes double-faced cards, planeswalkers with a tag that allows them to be a commander, and legendary vehicles/spacecraft with these colors.

Gruul commanders are almost overwhelmingly focused on large creatures and dealing damage. They play a typical aggro/midrange plan of trying to overrun the opponent with burly haste creatures and tramplers.

There are a few that buck the trend and focus on artifacts, spellslinging, and a few other archetypes, though they often approach these strategies in a very “Gruul” way. In other words, your Gruul commander might support some micro-strategy, but aggro beatdown is almost always the macro-archetype.

Honorable Mentions: Partners

It feels a little disingenuous to put partners on this list, since they usually combine with another creature to form a different color identity altogether. Tana, the Bloodsower, Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer, and Pako, Arcane Retriever are all respectable partner cards, but you never really see them as straight Gruul commanders.

#39. Rosheen, Roaring Prophet

Rosheen, Roaring Prophet is largely an upgrade over Rosheen Meanderer, though you’ll find them in the same lists often enough. X-spells is a niche archetype with better commanders, but you could do worse than a Metalworker that draws you the big card you’re going to sink all that mana into.

#38. Stangg, Echo Warrior

No, not that Stangg. I tried out Stangg, Echo Warrior for a bit, and while it never quite impressed, it felt very novel for a Gruul commander. Very much an eggs-in-one-basket sort of build, but the Stangg Twins make for a fun Bracket 2-3 deck focused on copying impactful auras and equipment.

#37. Jolene, the Plunder Queen

This one strikes a small chord having just come off a trip to Dollywood. When Jolene, the Plunder Queen’s not taking my man, she’s dishing out Treasure like a defunct Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Turn those extra Treasures into +1/+1 counters and beat down, or ramp into something else that will, presumably, also beat down.

#36. Gallia of the Endless Dance

Typal commanders don’t rank too high without exception, but I like to award points for commanders that head a creature type with sparse support. Gallia of the Endless Dance gives satyrs a place to rest their horned heads after a long night of reveling. And this is a strong commander, it’s just that… satyrs suck pretty bad. Good commander for an underpowered creature type? Sounds like perfect Bracket 1 fodder to me.

#35. Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients

Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients is a total melting pot of the most random stuff you can imagine. Enrage that creates dragon spirits and a die-rolling payoff that makes it ping itself. I don’t know what Vrondiss’s deal is in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, but it translates to an intriguing but eyebrow-raising MTG commander.

#34. Radha, Heir to Keld

I’ve always enjoyed the sleek design of Radha, Heir to Keld. It had firebending before firebending was cool. It promotes early aggression and mid-combat trickery, which makes for an interesting alternative to all of Gruul’s midrange and late-game beaters.

#33. Muerra, Trash Tactician

Whether you buy into raccoon typal or not, Muerra, Trash Tactician puts in more work than the typical dumpster panda. Mana generation, lifegain, and card advantage on one card is pretty wide coverage, though Muerra’s not even the best raccoon commander out there. Don’t worry, we’re getting there.

#32. Wort, the Raidmother

A couple Gruul commanders break the green-based stompy mold and instead lean into their red origins with spellslinger abilities. Wort, the Raidmother conspires with a few other goblins to copy your instants and sorceries, though it’s painfully slow by today’s standards. You can run it as a big mana commander, since it benefits from ramp on both ends: You’ll need decent ramp to cast your 6-mana commander, but you can also copy those spells once Wort’s in play.

#31. Amarant Coral

A fittingly boring Magic: The Gathering card for a dreadfully boring character. I said what I said, Final Fantasy IX fans. Hydra Omnivore in the command zone can put the hurt on people, though much like Saskia the Unyielding, it’ll probably put three sets of eyes on it at all times. If you like to be public enemy #1, Amarant Coral is the commander for you.

#30. Samut, Vizier of Naktamun

I like the concept of “haste-matters” as an archetype, and it’s got some support with Samut, Vizier of Naktamun and Deathleaper, Terror Weapon in Gruul. I prefer the card draw on Samut, though the applications go beyond just haste creatures. Drop something into play tapped and attacking and it’ll net you an extra card as well.

#29. Phylath, World Sculptor

Much like Amarant, Phylath, World Sculptor is another mono-green creature recontextualized as a Gruul legend. Phylath riffs on Avenger of Zendikar; it’s a “go-tall” version that looks to build up massive plants instead of the go-wide gameplay suggested by Avenger. It also promotes playing a heavy number of basic lands, so it pairs well with Blood Moon and similar stax pieces.

#28. Meria, Scholar of Antiquity

Gruul rarely touches on artifact synergies… it’s usually the color that turns them to rubble. But if you want to see what happens when a RG creature handles artifacts with care, try out Meria, Scholar of Antiquity. It’s often compared to Urza, Lord High Artificer due to its mana generation, though not working with artifact tokens really hampers its potential.

#27. Klothys, God of Destiny

Klothys, God of Destiny is the sampler appetizer platter of Gruul commanders. Just a little bit of everything, but not too much of any one thing. A little graveyard hate, a side of lifegain, and just a pinch of incidental damage (for taste). And for the main course: an indestructible beatstick of godly proportions.

#26. Zilortha, Strength Incarnate

You call it Godzilla, King of the Monsters, I call it Zilortha, Strength Incarnate, same thing. Either way, the dino’s a fantastic “Ball Lightning commander”, AKA a legend that gives a home to high-power, low-toughness creatures that are otherwise too fragile to see consistent play.

#25. Wolverine, Best There Is

Wolverine, Best There Is? Not so sure about that moniker, but it’s a scary aggro commander nonetheless. Regenerate is a nice mix of flavor and function here, giving our first crack at Logan some much-needed resilience. Not enough to survive a Wrath of God, though.

#24. Toph, Hardheaded Teacher

Another spellslinger in Gruul, this time with an emphasis on lessons. You don’t have to play lessons to earthbend creatures with Toph, Hardheaded Teacher, but it doubles your output if you do. Otherwise, this is just a pumped-up Young Pyromancer that uses your lands as the fodder, and it can even build up larger threats instead of simply making 1/1s.

#23. Omnath, Locus of Rage

Once the #1 contender on this list, 7-mana commanders need to have an outsized effect on a game to claim the command zone for themselves. Omnath, Locus of Rage can be a highly effective landfall commander, but it’s usually better to run something lower on the curve, and slot RG Omnath into your 99 as a synergy piece instead.

#22. Bumi, Unleashed

You can run Bumi, Unleashed in two different ways. You’ve got the combo route with Ashaya, Soul of the Wild, which results in infinite combats. Or you can keep it simple with good old fashioned Gruul beats. Bumi does represent 9/9 worth of stats for 5 mana, after all. Whichever route you go, access to more land creatures is helpful.

#21. Wildsear, Scouring Maw

What if Colossal Dreadmaw cost 1 less mana and cascaded on every enchantment you cast from hand? Oh, and it had random elemental synergies? That’s Wildsear, Scouring Maw, a commander I’ve been impressed by the few times I’ve see it, but rarely see because it was a backup commander to its clearly more powerful precon face commander. I said we’re getting there.

#20. Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers

Back in my day, troublemaking would get your Gameboy and TV privileges taken away. Apparently in Magic it means dumping Blightsteel Colossus and Etali, Primal Conqueror into play for free. Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers is as telegraphed and expensive as it can be, but obvious or not, it’s bad news if you don’t have an immediate answer for it.

#19. Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss

Yet another Gruul commander with an alternate combo route and a beatdown path for deckbuilding. Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss goes nuts with creatures that tap for mana equal to their power, like Topiary Lecturer, Mona Lisa, Science Geek, or Gyre Sage. And aside from those, it still makes all your Elvish Mystics and such more sizeable threats in combat.

#18. Nikya of the Old Ways

A mana doubler in the command zone should always send up red flags. Red-green flags, in this case. The fun of Nikya of the Old Ways is circumventing the “no-spells” restriction by just attaching those spells to creature abilities instead. Can’t run combat tricks? Try Rubblehulk instead. Traditional removal not a good fit? Green and red have no shortage of large fight creatures.

#17. Kibo, Uktabi Prince

You get a banana! You get a banana! Everyone gets a banana! You can be an extremely generous Kibo, Uktabi Prince player and lean into banana-giving and primate synergies. Alternatively, you can smash everything in sight and re-enact Planet of the Apes in MTG form (comment below when that’s a real Universes Beyond thing).

If you want to win with Kibo, combine the monkey with cards that punish your opponent for having or using those bananas, like Party Dude and Sardian Avenger.

#16. Toph, Greatest Earthbender

Toph, Greatest Earthbender borrows from the original wave of precon commanders as a legend that gets better the more you cast it from the command zone. It hits like an earthbent truck, since the first land creature likely hits for 8 on its own.

#15. Wulfgar of Icewind Dale

Always playing second fiddle to Isshin, Two Heavens as One, Wulfgar of Icewind Dale is the less popular and more expensive of the two “double attack trigger commanders”. A lot of support for this archetype is concentrated in white, but shifting over to green gives you better access to ramp and larger attackers.

#14. Halana and Alena, Partners

Sometimes it’s okay if Gruul just Smash. The power output on Halana and Alena, Partners is wild, especially once you start to pump your commander itself. A haste enabler and power distributor in one card makes for a deadly combination.

#13. Agatha of the Vile Cauldron

Agatha of the Vile Cauldron is part of the prestigious “Activated Ability Commander Club”, and it rewards running activated abilities with mana requirements. There’s a deckbuilding challenge here, since you want to mix good activated abilities with ways to pump up Agatha, while also adding enough board presence to make Agatha’s own activated ability worthwhile.

#12. Chishiro, the Shattered Blade

As cool as I think Stangg, Echo Warrior is, Chishiro, the Shattered Blade is the better bet for auras and equipment in Gruul. It’s a pure board presence commander that dumps stats on the table, but that’s very on-brand for the color pair. Bring a copy of Silkguard to protect your investment.

#11. The Howling Abomination

I just assume if my opponent untaps with The Howling Abomination that I’m effectively dead. This can deal silly amounts of damage with a flurry of pump spells, effectively eliminating one poor sap and severely damaging the others. Kill or be killed with this one. That doesn’t change if it shows up as Blanca, Ferocious Fiend instead.

#10. Xenagos, God of Revels

As much as I like Halana and Alena, Partners, Xenagos, God of Revels is the better haste enabler for the command zone. Xenagos gives a big power boost regardless of sizing, and being indestructible helps it to stick around.

#9. Ruric Thar, the Unbowed

Some decks don’t mind facing down Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, whereas others just fold to it. Regardless, no one can just shrug it off. Everyone runs noncreature spells, even the Ruric Thar player, and you can only take 6 on the chin a few times before you’re in the danger zone.

#8. Tovolar, Dire Overlord / Tovolar, the Midnight Scourge

Tovolar, Dire Overlord bookends the typal commanders opposite Gallia. It’s just as restrictive, but wolves/werewolves have heavy support, and the card draw and damage output between the front face and Tovolar, the Midnight Scourge is unreal. The only fault is having to bear the atrocious daybound/nightbound mechanic.

#7. Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes

More face-smashing, but this time with hamsters! Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes hits hard and fast, and you can choose between growing Boo or cashing in your hamster for a new hand. Sounds heartless, but Boo always comes back, anyway. This card is so strong people ran it in UW Constructed decks off a double-splash.

#6. Anzrag, the Quake-Mole

More totally un-nuanced ground-pounders. Anzrag, the Quake-Mole has big stats and extra combat potential, a mean one-two punch that screams commander damage. The trick is to force opponents to block while keeping Anzrag alive so you can level the entire board during one turn.

#5. Roxanne, Starfall Savant

First Dolly now The Police? Too easy, honestly.

Roxanne, Starfall Savant is sort of like reverse Meria, since it only works with artifact tokens. That’s easier to manage than nontokens, and it lets you play with all the Treasure and Powerstone tokens you’d like. The Meteorites play decent board control too, while they also help to cover some of the cost of paying commander tax should someone [rightfully] remove Roxanne.

#4. Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient

Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient just makes a dumb amount of mana. Yeah, yeah, you can only use it on spells, but I dunno, that’s usually what I’m using my mana on. No cheesing with Kessig Wolf Run, but Earthquake and friends should do just fine.

#3. Etali, Primal Conqueror / Etali, Primal Sickness

The only Gruul card anyone knows how to talk about (myself included), Etali, Primal Conqueror looked at Etali, Primal Storm, said “hold my beer”, got upset that its T-rex hands couldn’t actually hold a beer, and took that out on Commander players by being an absurd value engine with a poison wincon lurking on the Etali, Primal Sickness side. I docked points from Omnath for being a 7-drop, but Etali is a near-guaranteed 5-for-1 on ETB.

#2. Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald

I’m a big fan of the paradox/”cast-from-exile” space, and Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald is one of the best commanders for the archetype. Consistent board presence and card draw go a long way here, and the never-ending impulse draw that Magic keeps pumping out means Faldorn always gets new tools to play with.

#1. Bello, Bard of the Brambles

There, we got to it! Bello, Bard of the Brambles is obscene for a precon commander. You can run it as an artifact commander, enchantment commander, vehicle commander, even raccoon commander, or some combination therein, and absolutely wreck people with your animated permanents, many of which have cyclical effects with themselves, like how Dictate of the Twin Gods amplifies its own damage, or Guardian Project makes itself draw a card.

Roxanne, Starfall Savant in Commander

Roxanne, Starfall Savant | Illustration by Ina Wong

Here’s a Roxanne, Starfall Savant deck I’ve been rocking for a little while. It’s squarely in Bracket 3, and it functions as a token/big-mana deck. Roxanne ties everything together as a token generator and mana doubler of sorts, at least for Treasures and other mana-producing artifacts. It does a decent job of controlling utility creatures with its Meteorites, and it’s hard to keep down since it produces mana to help recast it if it dies.

This version also has a mini legends-matter theme, but that’s mostly because I think Bard Class is such a cool card.

Commanding Conclusion

Halana and Alena, Partners | Illustration by Jason Rainville

Now that everything’s sufficiently smashed to smithereens, I think it’s time I see myself out. Hopefully this list highlights that Gruul is a little less one-note than it seems, even if that one note tends to find its way into the more provocative commanders as well. A Gruul deck is going to be attacking you one way or another.

Who’s your favorite Gruul commander? Is there a direction you’d like to see Gruul go that it hasn’t yet? Let us know in the comments down below or in the Draftsim Discord, and check out The Daily Upkeep newsletter to stay up to date on the latest MTG news.

Interested in commanders from other colors? We've ranked those too: Rakdos | Orzhov | Selesnya | Simic | Izzet | Azorius | Golgari | Boros | Dimir

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