Magic: The Gathering offers many different formats, ranging from Standard to Modern to Legacy, and the popular Commander format now stands out as a fan favorite. Commander is a multiplayer format that requires each player to have a legendary creature to lead their deck, and those commanders also define the deck’s color identity and strategy.
Hundreds of legendary creatures exist all over the game to define a Commander deck, and a large handful of them have risen to the top as the very best. These top-rated Commander decks have powerful and cool creatures to lead them, and these decks offer cool, exciting gameplay in all five colors and with strategies ranging from Dragon creatures to artifacts and the graveyard.
Updated on December 2nd, 2023 by Louis Kemner: This list of the best Commander decks has been updated to adhere to CBR’s current publication standards.
10 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King Wins Games With Treasure Tokens
14,148 Decks on EDHrec.com
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King is a popular Jund-colored commander whose deck is all about Treasure tokens, a token type that first appeared in the Ixalan block. Korvold’s deck is primarily meant to pump Korvold itself into a massive flying threat as its plan A, but the deck also has a powerful plan B.
In case Korvold can’t finish the job with aerial attacks, the deck should either draw or tutor for Revel in Riches as a powerful alternate win condition. However, the player must be careful about enchantment destruction or cards like Generous Gift destroying it first. So, cards like Heroic Intervention can be used to protect Revel in Riches.
Korvold’s deck can rapidly make more tokens with cards like Bootleggers’ Stash and the famously powerful Dockside Extortionist, among others in Jund colors. Notably, Korvold will benefit from any card type being sacrificed, not just Treasures, so the deck can use sacrifice-related card like Sakura-Tribe Elder both for their own effects and for Korvold’s personal benefit. Cards like Mayhem Devil make all this sacrifice even more lucrative. Overall, Korvold’s deck is fairly powerful, but it lacks the complex nuance of other top-tier commander decks and can feel a bit repetitive.
9 Lathril, Blade of the Elves Goes Wide, Then Makes Opponents Lose Life With Abilities
19,248 Decks on EDHrec.com
Elf decks are powerful in various formats, including Commander, since the Elf creature type has so much support from “lord” creatures and other effects. Lathil, Blade of the Elves rose to prominence in Commander not just because of building large board states, but its activated ability to end games with massive life loss. That’s crucial if any board state becomes stalled out, ensuring an Elf army isn’t rendered useless.
Lathril’s deck can use Rogue’s Passage to push damage with its commander to make more Elf creature tokens, but Lathril isn’t the only token maker. Cards like Elvish Promenade and Imperious Perfect can churn out many Elf creature tokens, too. Meanwhile, lords like Elvish Archdruid are essential for making those Elves big enough to attack, and Tyvar Kell is a must-have because its +1 loyalty ability can untap Lathril, allowing Lathril to use its powerful ability again. Demonic Tutor can seek out powerhouse cards on demand, like Tyvar Kell and Shaman of the Pack.
8 Edgar Markov Makes A Vampire Army & Can Steal Creatures
16,760 Decks on EDHrec.com
Edgar Markov’s Commander deck is a Mardu-colored deck that focuses on the Vampire creature type. Edgar’s deck wants to go wide with lots of Vampires, including both Vampire creature tokens and actual Vampire spells. Then the deck can attack with powered-up vampires, which have plenty of “lord” effects to pump them, including the cheap emblem from Sorin, Lord of Innistrad.
Edgar Markov’s Deck can speed up token production with Anointed Procession, which is worth using a tutor like Demonic Tutor for, all to build the board faster. Creatures like Elenda, the Dusk Rose grant Edgar Markov’s deck an “aristocrats” subtheme, aided by the likes of Blood Artist. With black mana, reanimating those sacrificed Vampires should be easy. Also, this deck can steal enemy creatures with Captivating Vampire and Olivia Voldaren to weaken an opponent’s board state or even sacrifice the stolen creature. Falkenrath Pit Fighter is a fine example of a Vampire-themed sacrifice outlet.
7 Meren Of Clan Nel Toth Constantly Sacrifices & Reanimates Creatures
11,917 Decks on EDHrec.com
Meren of Clan Nel Toth leads a black-green deck archetype that’s all about experience counters and reanimation. Experience counters allow the player to get stronger, and Meren’s ability scales up according to the player’s experience counters. Meren’s deck is all about creature sacrifice and reanimation, true to its Golgari colors. That allows Meren to grind out advantage to eventually win.
Creatures with good ETB effects like Plaguecrafter and Acidic Slime are a must, so they provide recurring value as they’re repeatedly sacrificed and reanimated. Cards like Altar of Dementia and Viscera Seer are effective sacrifice engines, and cards like Entomb and Buried Alive are tutors for the graveyard. For added power, Meren’s deck can use creatures like Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat to make opponents lose life with all those sacrifices.
6 The Ur-Dragon Builds A Board Of Diverse Dragons With Cool Abilities
20,246 Decks on EDHrec.com
The Dragon creature tribe has always been popular in Magic, and in the Commander format, Dragon decks reached new heights with the legendary card The Ur-Dragon. It’s effectively a “good stuff” midrange build centered on the Dragon creature type since those dragons all have diverse effects in all different colors. The deck also aims to make Dragon spells cheaper with the likes of Morphon, the Boundless, Urza’s Incubator, and Herald’s Horn.
Support cards like Dragon Tempest and Temur Ascendancy make this deck even faster via haste, usually so those Dragons can do some damage before facing an inevitable boardwipe like Wrath of God or Damn. This deck can practically double its firepower with Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm, whose effect gets around the “legend rule,” which is great since many of this deck’s Dragons are legendary. Finally, utility creatures like Dragonlord Dromoka can slow down opponents in unexpected ways, proving that Dragons aren’t just about attacking — they can be tricky, too.
5 Breya, Etherium Shaper Can Make A Thopter Army Or Become A Midrange Build
11,650 Decks on EDHrec.com
Breya, Etherium Shaper is a deck that has every color except green to work with, giving it a dazzling variety of options for its strategies. There are a few different ways to build a Breya deck, all of them centered around powerful artifact cards that synergize with one another. For example, the deck can go wide with Thopters thanks to Sai, Master Thopterist, and Efficient Construction to fuel Breya’s activated ability.
Breya’s deck even allows for infinite turns with combos involving Time Sieve, or it can use Sword of the Meek and Thopter Foundry to make infinite combos. But no matter the build, Breya’s powerful Commander deck needs typical artifact-enhancement cards like Unwinding Clock, Academy Ruins, Enthusiastic Mechanaut, and Etherium Sculptor to get things started. This artifact-based power makes Breya enormously powerful and flexible, meaning it ranks near the very top of all Commander decks, with just a few being even more potent.
4 Muldrotha, The Gravetide Sacrifices & Reanimate Permanents For ETB Effects
13,727 Decks on EDHrec.com
Muldrotha, the Gravetide commands a formidable Sultai-colored Commander deck that emphasizes the graveyard for added value. Muldrotha’s deck is incredibly resilient and persistent, even in the face of non-exile boardwipes. The deck can also use sacrifice outlets like The Gitrog Monster and Altar of Dementia to accrue value while replaying the sacrificed cards every turn.
Cards like Gravebreaker Lamia, Entomb, and Buried Alive are great ways to tutor for cards that can be cast from the graveyard, making this deck flexible in any game. Most of all, this deck’s creatures need good “enters the battlefield” effects to make reanimation worth it, such as Ravenous Chupacabra, Baleful Strix, Acidic Slime, and Mulldrifter. The deck may also run cards like Panharmonicon or Strionic Resonator to get even more value.
3 The Scarab God Goes With Zombie Creatures
8,557 Decks on EDHrec.com
The Scarab God focuses on the popular Zombie creature type, and it can become incredibly effective if the Zombie army is big enough. The Scarab God might overwhelm its enemies with Zombie creature armies, but it can also win the game with its life loss effect, a vital plan B if the board state is unfavorable for combat.
The Scarab God uses Zombie creatures and token creators alike to build a huge army, with Cleaver Skaab being a fine way to double any good Zombie creature. Gray Merchant of Asphodel speeds up the deck’s strategy to make opponents lose life, and Cryptbreaker is a good example of a utility creature to round out The Scarab God’s deck. As for tokens, cards like Liliana’s Mastery, Endless Ranks of the Dead, and Open the Graves are essential, while enchantments like Rooftop Storm make it easy to cast any Zombie the player draws.
2 The First Sliver Is A Beatdown Typal Deck With Diverse Abilities
8,317 Deckson EDHrec.com
The First Sliver is a formidable WUBRG creature that fits right into the notorious Sliver type, a five-color tribe where all Slivers give each other diverse benefits. The First Sliver can rapidly expand its board state by giving all Sliver spells cascade, which can generate astonishing value, but it’s up to the Sliver army to finish the job. This is a deck where the commander merely enables a strategy while being unable to finish the game on its own.
As expected, every creature in The First Sliver’s deck is a Sliver, taking advantage of nearly every effect Slivers have access to. Combat-oriented Slivers like Cloudshredder Sliver make it easy to attack, while utility creatures like Harmonic Sliver can slow down any opponent. Support cards like Herald’s Horn and Kindred Discover push this deck over the top and keep the hand full of cards. As for boardwipes, The First Sliver would struggle with conventional boardwipes, so it uses selective boardwipes like Patriarch’s Bidding instead.
1 Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice Uses Proliferate With Poison Counters & +1/+1 Counters
29,006 Decks on EDHrec.com
Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice is a flying Angel Horror that represents the clever, all-consuming evil of New Phyrexia. Cards like Norn’s Choirmaster make Atraxa even more powerful than ever, and Ichor Rats ensures every opponent is poisoned without having to push damage with an Infect creature.
Atraxa’s proliferation encourages the player to focus on counters of all kinds, from +1/+1 counters to buff their creatures to -1/-1 counters to weaken each opponent’s board state. Atraxa can even proliferate poison counters and Planeswalker loyalty abilities, which encourages Infect and “superfriends” builds as well, including Planeswalker cards like Narset, Parter of Veils. Plenty of creatures like Evolution Sage can add even more proliferation with ease, and these colors also have access to countless top-tier removal options like Anguished Unmaking to deal with any enemy threat. Such incredible proliferation and a wide variety of non-red effects means Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice is the best Commander deck of all, and players know it.
