There are so, so many commanders inMagic: The Gathering, with more constantly being added every year. There are already well over 2,000 options, and that number is only ever going to get larger. The possibilities when it comes to Commander are endless.
However, there are some commanders that, no matter how unique they are, I can’t help but roll my eyes when someone busts them out. Even unique builds of these commanders fall under the same gameplay loops, which just makes playing against them the worst. If I’m looking for games where people bring their best decks, they’re fine, but if not, I’ll be asking if they can play something else.
10Sen Triplets
They’re My Cards, Not Yours
Sen Triplets is one of those commanders where if you see it being played across from you, you just know you won’t be able to play with half your deck. It’s an easy-to-cast commander that can just play anyone’s lands and spells. If I need to hit a land drop, the Sen Triplets player can just steal it and make me hope to draw one after they steal it.
The Sen Triplets player doesn’t even need their own cards to play; they can copy someone else’s deck by playing their cards instead. The “triplet” part of Sen Triplets is accurate, since it makes the game a three-way game instead of four.
9Vivi Ornitier
Or Most Storm Decks
Vivi Ornitier isn’t necessarily an annoying commander, but amongstorm commander decks, Vivi just happens to be the best one. The problem with storm in Commander is that players will be playing solitaire or losing immediately if they get interrupted.
Storm decks are fun for the person playing them, that I cannot deny (and I myself have played a few). But, storm commanders are something I’d only want to face in higher-powered games where I know the combos are at least going somewhere instead of stumbling around hoping they hit their win condition.
8Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice
Auto-Pilot.deck
Light-Paws isn’t exactly the strongest commander (far from it), but it’s the way it plays that makes me hate playing against it. If someone I play with a lot has a Light-Paws deck, I know every game is going to be the same: get the strongest Auras as quickly as possible, snowball from there.
The problem with Light-Paws is it’s just so…boring. You can’t really do anything splashy or fancy with it; it’s throwing powerful Auras on it and hoping for the best. At least with other Voltron decks, you get some variety, but because Light-Paws' effect tutors, it doesn’t even have much variance.
7Urza, Lord High Artificer
No Weak Builds
Urza, Lord High Artificer is such astrong artifact commanderthat it’s on the game-changer list. No matter how weak you attempt to build an Urza deck, it’ll still bully people out of the game with ease. Urza is such a powerful commander that unless you bully them out of the game first, you acknowledge that you and everyone else are just going to lose.
You would think being mono-colored would be a hindrance, but Urza would be explosive no matter what color it is. I dread to imagine a world where Urza was multiple colors when it’s the worst to play against with just one.
6Edgar Markov
Spitting Out Vampires
Edgar Markov is the best Vampire type commander, and it’s not even a contest. You could build an Edgar commander deck with nothing but Vampires you find in the bulk bin, and still be able to destroy most other decks you might come up against.
When I see Edgar across the table, I just know I’m not ever going to be able to keep their battlefield clear. Edgar decks get rewarded by simply playing their deck without ever needing to play their commander. If I see Edgar, I’m asking if they can play the Crimson Vow Edgar instead.
5Tergrid, God Of Fright
Tergrid in the 99 of a Commander deck already sucks to play against, so when I see it as a commander, I can’t help but mentally groan. I just know I’m never going to have a hand or battlefield because I’ll be berated with forced discard and sacrifice the entire game.
There really isn’t a way to build a Tergrid deck without it being annoying; it just comes with a commander like that. It being mono black isn’t much of a downside either, since black has both the best discard and sacrifice effects. Tergrid does it all, and makes it so I can’t play at all.
4Kaalia Of The Vast
Win Or Do Nothing
Kaalia of the Vast is one of those commander decks that either does nothing the entire game, or wins the game the turn it attacks. It’s not that Kaalia decks are annoying to play against (there are plenty of commanders that cheat out creatures), but this card is such an “all or nothing” commander that turns most games into a three-person game if Kaalia is shut down.
The Mardu (red/white/black) color combination doesn’t help it stay in the game. Mardu isn’t known for being able to come back quickly, making for even more non-games when Kaalia is involved.
3Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Please Let Me Play
Stax decks are built to prevent everyone else from playing the game, and when Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is at the table, I just know I won’t be able to play half my deck. Azorius (white/blue) has all the best stax pieces, and there aren’t many other variants of Augustin that aren’t stax.
Stax decks are annoying to play against,but control is a playstyle, and I respect that. However, if I’m looking to have fun in a Commander game, I’m hoping to never run into an Augustin deck.
2Narset, Enlightened Master
One Player Game
Narset, Enlightened Master is a very cool commander, I’ll give it that. Unfortunately, the majority of Narset decks are extra turn decks, so if someone busts out this version of Narset, I know as soon as it attacks, everyone is going to stop playing the game, as only the Narset player will be taking turns.
It doesn’t help thatNarset has hexproofto make it even harder to interact with. If I’m at a competitive table, Narset is perfectly fine. But in every other case, I’m asking if they have a different Commander deck they can play with.
1Winota, Joiner Of Forces
Snowballing Stax
When a card had to be banned in a constructed format and put on the game-changer list, you know it’s a miserable card to play against. Winota, Joiner of Forces decks can get a ton of creatures out onto the battlefield with just one combat step since it triggers off of all non-Humans attacking, not just one.
Winota decks have Humans that are primarily stax pieces to cut everyone off of their effects, all whileusually playing a Goblin engineto flood the battlefield quicker. Outside of a board wipe, Winota decks are so hard to stop, I can’t help but hate playing against them.
