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Commander can be a little overwhelming for Magic: The Gathering newcomers. While it’s a fun way to play the game, trying to determine which legendary you’re going to build a 99-card deck around sounds like a very difficult task. There are thousands of potential commanders you could use, after all.
As a long-time player of Magic: The Gathering, I considered some of my favorite Commanders that are easy to understand while also being fun to use. This is not an exhaustive list - I could easily pick 10-20, but I wanted to narrow it down to something that is easy to sort through and pick up.
These aren’t especially hard-to-find cards, either. I’ll go over what each of these deckleaders does, and what sort of deck you’d likely find them in if you build one in Magic: The Gathering.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.
Which Commanders are great for new Magic: The Gathering players?
1) Volo, Guide to Monsters (Blue/Green)
- Mana Value: 2GU
- Type: Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
- Keyword: n/a
- Stats: 3 power, 2 toughness
- First Ability: Whenever you cast a creature spell that doesn’t share a creature type with a creature you control or a creature in your graveyard, copy that spell (This creates a creature token)
Volo, Guide to Monsters is a great Magic: The Gathering Commander for players who don’t really want to focus on any particular tribal deck. This choice will let you build a Blue/Green deck with whatever creatures you fancy. If the creature type (Hydra, Soldier, Vampire, et cetera) isn’t in your graveyard or in play, you get a duplicate of it!
You can include creatures with shared types in the deck - You do need 99 cards, after all - but you don’t want to include too many similar types. But there are so many different, powerful creatures you can go with! It’s a flexible, fun deck type.
2) Krenko, Mob Boss (Red)
- Mana Value: 2RR
- Type: Legendary Creature - Goblin Warrior
- Keyword: n/a
- Stats: 3 power, 3 toughness
- First Ability: Tap: Create X 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens, where X is the number of Goblins you control.
One of my personal favorite Magic: The Gathering creatures, Krenko, Mob Boss is such a great Commander idea. What he does is incredibly simple, and all you need to do is fill your deck with red spells that create Goblin tokens, as well as Goblin creatures. There are so many ways to flood the board with them, so he’s a fun, easy archetype.
Since tapping him doubles the number of goblins you have in play each and every time, he’s going to be a problem at any phase of the game. It’s a simple enough deck strategy too - play goblins, make more of them, and attack aggressively in your Magic: The Gathering games.
3) Muldrotha, the Gravetide (Black/Green/Blue)
- Mana Value: 3BGU
- Type: Legendary Creature - Elemental Avatar
- Keyword: n/a
- Stats: 6 power, 6 toughness
- First Ability: During each of your turns, you may play a land and cast a permanent spell of each type from your graveyard. (If a card has multiple permanent types, choose one as you play it).
A three-colored deck that gets just a tiny bit more complicated, but it allows you to keep bringing back cards over and over again. Muldrotha, the Gravetide is another one of my favorite legends in Magic: The Gathering. You can play a land from your graveyard every turn, and re-cast one of each permanent - creature, enchantment, artifact, and planeswalker.
It’s great if you want to use self-mill, sacrifice mechanics, or just an aggressive build where you keep re-playing cards over and over. One of my favorite things to do is use a fetch land, and just keep using it over and over again.
Since it’s Green/Black/Blue, you have access to a ton of draw/sacrifice and self-mill options! Muldrotha delivers on both fun and great win conditions.
4) Ghalta, Primal Hunger
- Mana Value: 10GG
- Type: Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
- Keyword: Trample
- Stats: 12/12
- First Ability: This spell costs X less to cast, where X is the total power of creatures you control.
As far as these decks go, Ghalta, Primal Hunger is probably the easiest to run. Even if you’ve never played Magic: The Gathering, it’s not going to matter. For this choice, you run a green mana ramp - spells, artifacts, and huge creatures. In a few turns, you can easily play your commander - a 12/12 with Trample - for two mana!
It’s not a deck where you’re going to be playing sneaky, tricky moves. You’re just going to build a ridiculous army, faster than the other players, and start pushing other people around. It’s a great way to learn about how mana curves work in Magic, as well! It also introduces players to the concept of Mana Ramping.
5) Edgar Markov (Red/White/Black)
- Mana Value: 3RWB
- Type: Legendary Creature - Vampire Knight
- Keyword: First Strike, Haste
- Stats: 4 power, 4 toughness
- First Ability: Eminence - Whenever you cast another Vampire spell, if Edgar Markov is in the command zone or on the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Vampire creature token
- Second Ability: Whenever Edgar Markov attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire you control.
There is no shortage of decent, powerful vampires in Magic: The Gathering, especially across White/Red/Black! Edgar Markov buffs your vampires every time he attacks, and every time you cast one, you get another! It’s bafflingly easy to have a hoard of the immortals, many of whom have ridiculous abilities.
All you need to do is make sure that whoever you attack with Edgar Markov isn’t going to be able to kill him. Since you’re running Red/White, you can give him a variety of buffs, and since he’s also got First Strike, he’s going to win all trades in battle.
There are so many other Commanders you can run as well! You can go with Oloro, Ageless Ascetic for a way to constantly keep gaining life, or Giada Font of Hope for Angel Tribal. No matter how you want to play Magic: The Gathering, there’s an option for you!
