The Top Five Magic: The Gathering Commanders of All Time
In the world of Magic: The Gathering’s Commander format, the debate over the “greatest of all time” is a complex one.
For this list, I’m not just looking at raw power or the top decks in the competitive commander (cEDH) scene. I’m taking a more holistic approach, considering a legend’s raw power, its impact on the format, its enduring popularity, and the uniqueness of its design.
Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice
First on our list is Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice, a name synonymous with overwhelming value. Released in Commander 2016, Atraxa immediately warped the format.
For four mana, you get a 4/4 with flying, vigilance, deathtouch, and lifelink, making her a nightmare in combat. But her true power is her ability to proliferate at the end of your turn, adding another counter of each kind to any number of permanents or players for free.
This makes her the undisputed queen of any strategy involving counters, from Superfriends decks that accelerate planeswalker ultimates to deadly Infect strategies and creature-based +1/+1 counter builds.
Current Market Price
- Commander 2016 Printing: ~$19.00
- Double Masters Printing: ~$22.50
- Secret Lair Gilded Foil: ~$36.00
- Double Masters Borderless Foil: ~$48.00
Edgar Markov
Next up is Edgar Markov, the ancient progenitor of Innistrad’s vampires. Introduced in Commander 2017, he represents something terrifying with free value from the command zone.
Edgar’s dominance comes from his Eminence ability: 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.
This generates a free resource from a zone your opponents cannot interact with, doubling your board presence with every vampire you play. This fuels a brutally efficient go-wide aggro strategy, flooding the board with cheap vampires that quickly become an overwhelming army.
Current Market Price
- Innistrad Remastered Printing: ~$27.00
- Commander 2017 Printing: ~$23.50
- Innistrad Remastered Showcase Printing: ~$20.00
The Ur-Dragon
Our next entry secured his throne through overwhelming popularity. The Ur-Dragon is a five-color behemoth whose power is felt long before he ever hits the battlefield. Released in Commander 2017, he has been a fan favorite ever since.
Like Edgar, The Ur-Dragon’s strength comes from an Eminence ability that makes all Dragon spells cost one less to cast. This built-in cost reduction makes a Dragon tribal deck not just possible, but powerful, allowing you to deploy massive threats ahead of schedule.
If you cast the nine-mana Ur-Dragon, his attack trigger draws and lets you put a permanent onto the battlefield for free.
Current Market Price
- Commander Masters Printing: ~$35.00
- Commander 2017 Printing: ~$38.00 (based on historical data, as it’s less available)
- Commander Masters Borderless Printing: ~$44.00
Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow
Yuriko’s power comes from her ability to cheat the commander tax. Her Commander Ninjutsu ability allows you to put her onto the battlefield from the command zone for just two mana by returning an unblocked attacker to your hand.
Once she’s on the board, her triggered ability draws you a card and causes each opponent to lose life equal to that card’s mana value whenever a Ninja you control deals combat damage.
This creates a ruthlessly efficient strategy of attacking with cheap, evasive creatures to enable Yuriko and drain the table’s life totals.
Current Market Price
- Commander Masters Printing: ~$1.30
- Commander Masters Borderless Printing: ~$1.50
- Commander Legends Etched Foil: ~$3.50
Thrasios, Triton Hero & Tymna the Weaver
Our final entry is a duo: Thrasios, Triton Hero and Tymna the Weaver. Introduced with the Partner mechanic in Commander 2016, this pair has become the gold standard for cEDH.
Their power lies in how perfectly their abilities complement each other. Tymna provides one of the most efficient and repeatable sources of card draw in the command zone. Thrasios, meanwhile, offers an infinitely scalable mana sink that allows players to draw their entire deck once they assemble an infinite mana combo, leading to a decisive win.
Together, their four-color identity gives them access to nearly every powerful card in Magic’s history. This pairing fundamentally shifted the cEDH metagame, solidifying it around hyper-efficient combos and pure value engines.
Current Market Price
- Tymna the Weaver (Commander 2016): ~$25.00
- Thrasios, Triton Hero (Commander 2016 Foil): ~$20.00
Continued Reading: The Top Five Weakest Magic: The Gathering Commanders of All Time
