Best commanders by theme

Commander themes

Every theme page is an editorial recommendation, not a popularity or win-rate ranking. Where a page lists ten commanders, the order is our own: how well the commander fits the theme, how consistently the deck does its thing, how hard it is to stop, and how it holds up at a four-player table.

Strategies

How the deck wins

Voltron

Suit up one creature with Equipment, Auras or counters and win with commander damage.

Art: Jason Rainville · Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist10 commanders compared →

Aristocrats

Sacrifice your own creatures and drain the table with every death.

Art: Magali Villeneuve · Teysa Karlov10 commanders compared →

Landfall

Play more lands than anyone else and let each one make, draw or deal damage.

Art: Chris Rahn · Omnath, Locus of Creation10 commanders compared →

Tokens

Go wide with more creatures than the table can block, then pump them all.

Art: Jason A. Engle · Chatterfang, Squirrel General10 commanders compared →

Spellslinger

Turn cheap instants and sorceries into tokens, card draw and damage.

Art: Mathias Kollros · Veyran, Voice of Duality5 commanders compared →

Reanimator

Fill your graveyard on purpose, then bring back the creature you need.

Art: Mark Winters · Meren of Clan Nel Toth5 commanders compared →

Artifacts

Artifacts as mana, creatures, card draw and fodder for the next big turn.

Art: Grzegorz Rutkowski · Urza, Lord High Artificer5 commanders compared →

Creature types

Typal decks built around one creature type

Elves

Cheap mana creatures, a wide board and one big turn — the classic typal deck.

Art: Caroline Gariba · Lathril, Blade of the Elves10 commanders compared →

Dragons

Ramp into big flyers and let every Dragon trigger the next one.

Art: Jaime Jones · The Ur-Dragon10 commanders compared →

Vampires

Drain, lifegain and aggressive tokens in black, red and white.

Art: Volkan Baǵa · Edgar Markov10 commanders compared →

Zombies

An army that comes back from the graveyard faster than the table can remove it.

Art: Chris Rallis · Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver10 commanders compared →

Dinosaurs

Get huge Dinosaurs into play early and make every one of them pay off.

Art: Sam Burley · Pantlaza, Sun-Favored5 commanders compared →

Goblins

Swarm the table with Goblin tokens, explosive spell turns or graveyard value.

Art: Lie Setiawan · Krenko, Mob Boss5 commanders compared →

Slivers

Five-color Sliver decks that share abilities: cascade, tutoring, protection or encore.

Art: Svetlin Velinov · The First Sliver5 commanders compared →

Angels

Big flyers with lifelink and protection, and a commander that helps them arrive.

Art: Kai Carpenter · Giada, Font of Hope5 commanders compared →

Mechanics

Decks built around one rules mechanic

Poison & Infect

Ten poison counters win, whatever the life total: infect, toxic and proliferate.

Art: Victor Adame Minguez · Atraxa, Praetors' Voice10 commanders compared →

+1/+1 Counters

Permanent growth: add, double and proliferate counters until the board is out of reach.

Art: Mila Pesic · Shalai and Hallar10 commanders compared →

Equipment

Equip a whole team, not just one creature, and keep the cards coming.

Art: Tyler Jacobson · Wyleth, Soul of Steel5 commanders compared →

Blink

Exile your own permanents and bring them back to reuse their enters abilities.

Art: Karla Ortiz · Brago, King Eternal5 commanders compared →

Lifegain

Turn extra life into counters, drain and a plan beyond a high life total.

Art: Eric Deschamps · Oloro, Ageless Ascetic5 commanders compared →