One down, two to go. We got the bottom third out of the way and now it's time to look at the middle of the pack. I will say it again; this set has some incredibly strong commanders and even those that we took a look at in part one will see a lot of play. And it's only going to go up from here.
A quick reminder, I'm not going to do images or links to every card, because that would take me years. I will, however, include a link to the card gallery here.
Well, let's jump right back into this. The next 53 starts with:
107) Black Walz No. 3
Have you ever wanted to run Guttersnipe out of the command zone? Well, now's your chance. Plus, you get to add black and deathtouch for an added bonus. I think this will see a surprising amount of play out of the command zone as it's a reliable redundancy piece in an already popular archetype, even if it isn't inherently powerful on its own.
Have you ever wanted to run Guttersnipe out of the command zone? Well, now's your chance. Plus, you get to add black and deathtouch for an added bonus. I think this will see a surprising amount of play out of the command zone as it's a reliable redundancy piece in an already popular archetype, even if it isn't inherently powerful on its own.
106) Queen Brahne
105) Jecht, Reluctant Guardian//Braska's Final Aeon
He's relatively affordable and transforming him feels like it won't be hard at all. His abilities are great but having this all spread out over three turns also make them easy to work around. Him going back to the command zone once the saga is complete rather than flipping limits his potential.
104) Thancred Waters
It's expensive and mono white, but it's going to make removing at least one really powerful creature a real pain. Having flash means someone is probably going to have to waste at least one removal spell or hinder their gameplan trying to play around him. If there weren't so much instant speed exile removal running around these days, Thancred would have placed way higher.
103) Zell Dincht
There just isn't enough support in mono red to take full advantage of Zell's abilities. You can definitely pull off some unique interactions though and the ability is still relatively powerful. It's not really a consideration for this list, but this is going to be an auto include in the 99 of any landfall deck that can play it.
102) Xande, Dark Mage
This may be the least interesting card in the whole set, but in these colors, it can get really big, really fast. It's also a refreshingly unique play pattern for a blue and black deck.
101) Yufie, Materia Hunter
Our favorite perpetually motion sick ninja isn't going to surprise anyone coming out of the command zone. But the ability to instantly snag the best artifact on the board, and attach it if it's an equipment, is strong. Only 3MV brings it up, but being mono red brings it down.
100) Cid, Freeflier Pilot
Grab a cigar and put on a pot of tea, because Cid has entered the building. The bad news here is he's mono white. The good news is he only costs two, reduces the cost of both equipment and vehicles and can bring back both of those types of cards from the graveyard. Not exceedingly powerful, but provides tons of value.
99) Dion, Bahamut's Dominant
Being able to give a board full of knights flying, as well as creating a token itself is nice. Pumping those creatures permanently over the next two turns before destroying a permanent and flipping back over is also nice. However, it's not "10 mana over four turns in mono white" nice.
98) Maester Seymour
It takes a little work, but Seymour will always do something and even increasing his power by one or two will start making your creatures really big, really fast. He can also build himself into a fairly strong threat.
97) Minwu, White Mage
On one hand, it's a five mana mono-white commander. On the other, clerics have tons of support, the ability is going to be easy to trigger as soon as it comes down and it's going to very quickly make a board full of clerics really, really big. I actually think Minwu could be a little bit slept on.
96) Diamond Weapon
Another card I think is going to surprise some people. Remember, it's each permanent, not permanent type. So, throwing out an 8/8 for two even with commander tax applied is going to be something that happens a lot more frequently than most people think. It can't be killed with combat damage, so someone is going to have to hold up removal. No evasion brings it down, but there are plenty of auras and equipment that can make that happen and let you start slinging commander damage around.
95) Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant
Joshua offers a lot of good, efficient effects, but I'm not sure he provides them fast enough. You probably want to wait to play him until turn four and then flip him. It almost would have been better just to have the saga side for five. It's powerful, but if you are spending eight mana and waiting four turns for its full effect, it needs to be doing more. At least it flips back when the saga is complete.
94) Adelbert Steiner
Another surprisingly powerful uncommon commander from FF IX, I think people are going to underestimate how big Steiner will get and how quickly he will get there. At two mana, you are going to have to kill him several times, which will be made more difficult as he's probably going to have tons of hexproof and shroud equipment backing him up. Lifelink is also going to be very relevant here, as if he's not dealt with quickly he will build up an insurmountable life total.
93) Giott, King of the Dwavrves
He comes down early and immediately provides equipment players with a way to filter cards. That's really important in an archetype that doesn't often have these effects. Having double strike means he's perfectly capable of carrying equipment by himself. Nothing earthshattering, especially in a set with so many strong equipment commanders, but still a really good card.
92) Sin, Unending Cataclysm
This feels like another step up in power for the list. This version of Sin is super expensive and its counter-removal ability can't be used to its full potential since it can't hit planeswalkers. However, it does a great job of resetting sagas and is absolute death to an opponent playing a +1/+1 counters deck. Oh, it can also get huge and then redistribute said +1/+1 counters when it dies. It's also blue and green, which is a strong color combination that has access to ramp to offset its high cost.
91) Shantotto, Tactician Magician
Looks like the red rituals are about to spike in price. Making this huge is going to be trivial in red and blue, and getting the draws off of bigger spells will go a long way in preventing you from gassing out.
90) Ultimecia, Time Sorceress
Five for a 4/5 is a bit much, but surveilling on entry and attack is incredibly useful. Flipping the card is also expensive, and the body is a bit underwhelming, but an extra turn is an extra turn. Is this the first ever uncommon to grant that ability?
89) Ardbert, Warrior of Darkness
He's going to be tricky to build around, but there is president for a Black and White legends matter commander and the fact that his abilities pump permanently is great. There are also a lot of very strong spells in both of those colors, which will allow for you to very quickly pump your board.
I really like Sabin, to me this is how you do one of those "cheats on taxes" commanders. It's not overwhelming, but it's also a guaranteed eight (minimum) commander damage coming at you every turn. Again, there is a lot of exile-based removal out there now, but he's largely going to dodge the bord wipes that do this. There is also no shortage of power boosting effects in red, so Sabin could end games very quickly.
87) The Emperor of Palamecia//Lord Master of Hell
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like this is going to be incredibly easy to both flip and hit hard with. It's nice and efficient too and provides tons of value even on its face. The big thing bringing it down is that you have to attack with a non-evasive 3/3 to trigger it, then try and flip it again if it doesn't survive combat.
86) Mog, Moogle Warrior
I don't like giving my opponents card selection, though I do like the fact that you will pretty much always come out ahead on value. This is the kind of commander your opponents don't remove because they want to get the cards they need, only to be faced down with a board of giant Moogles. Unfortunately, it's also the kind of card that draws your opponent into Cyclonic Rift and allows them to completely blow up your game plan.
85) Estinien Varlineau
84) Raubahan, Bull of Ala Mhigo
Better hope you have instant speed removal up when this guy hits the board. If you are able to get a few equipment on this guy, you are going to force your opponents to make a tough decision: take him out and pay the life or hope he swings at someone else. Again, auto equips are incredibly powerful and seeing Colossus Hammer into Raubahan is going to be a nightmare.
83) Professor Hojo
Hojo is ruthlessly efficient but requires building a round and feels a bit disjointed. His cost reduction only working on your turn really holds him back. However, it's not going to be hard to draw multiple cards per rotation and, if nothing else, will disincentivize opponents from targeting your creatures with activated abilities. Being mono green does hold it back as well.
82) Serah Farron
This is a really nice effect that already has a lot of synergy in these colors. She won't be replacing Sisay as the go-to Green White legends commander anytime soon, but Serah will definitely be interesting to build around. Once she's flipped, she's also going to be far more difficult to target. Still, she's probably more a candidate to go in the 99 of those aforementioned Sisay decks than she is to helm one herself.
81) Barrett, Avalanche Leader
Again, cheating on equipment is a super strong effect and the ability to create targets to hold said equipment is very complimentary. It's almost feels like Barrett needed one more ability to make him really top tier, like there is something missing.
80) Lightning, Security Sargent
Impulse draw is strong in red and the fact that you get to keep the cards in exile as long as Lightning is still alive is awesome. She has to connect to activate, but at least she has evasion and a 2/3 for three is ok. Still though, she's mono red and doesn't impact the board. That brings the potential down, but the potential for card advantage is huge.
79) Edgar, King of Figaro
If nothing else, Edgar is going to allow you to draw a lot of cards if built correctly. My question is how relevant the coin flipping will be. In the 99 of Okaun and Zinderspilt, Edgar becomes an instant kill on sight target. But without red, any deck he helms loses access to most of the powerful coin flip cards. Still, the potential to draw huge amounts of cards pushes him high.
78) Tataru Taru
Punishing instant speed play and ramping is a very powerful effect. This is another card that I think gets stronger against stronger decks, as a lot of higher-level decks prefer to hold up their resources. This is going to alter opponent's play patterns way more than you would think and it comes down early at only two mana. Being mono white is the biggest strike against it.
77) Shadow, Mysterious Assassin
You have to connect with Shadow to get the effect, but having deathtouch will make that much easier. You have a lot of paths you can go here. Focus on tokens so you always have something to sacrifice. Focus on death triggers, which are typically very strong in mono black. Ramp up to big permanents and throw massive damage around. I think focusing on value will be the more viable option, but it's nice to have different ways to play.
76) Setzer, Wandering Gambler
I think Setzer makes a great vehicle commander, especially since he creates one himself on entry. You can also throw in some coin flip synergies and create huge amounts of mana, at least if you are lucky. The problem here is I feel like you are getting pulled in multiple directions. I also don't really like the randomness factor, though that's a me thing.
75) Firion, Wild Rose Warrior
Another equipment commander, great. That said, Firion's effect is unique and very powerful, and can lead to tons of damage out of nowhere. It's a shame the copies don't stick around, and that you can't target legendary equipment.
74) Garnet, Princess of Alexandria
Garnet/Dagger/whatever you want to call her has a surprising amount of potential. I feel like resetting sagas is going to be very powerful and getting bigger while she does it will help her survive combat. Green and white are probably the best colors to be in for sagas too.
73) Edgar, Master Machinist
The ability to re-cast an artifact each turn is very powerful though you are definitely incentivized to focus on bigger stuff. My biggest issue here is the lack of evasion, if the second ability granted trample or flying or menace or whatever, Edgar would be a bigger hit.
72) Papalymo Totolymo
I really like the idea of a Black White spellslinger commander, especially one that comes down nice and early on turn two. Am I going to have to build a redless burn deck? Papalymo can also take out some pretty strong creatures in a pinch.
71) Sazh Katzroy
First, we get to search up a basic land or bird. Then, we get an ability that's proven to be incredibly powerful in the past. Having to attack to get the trigger isn't ideal, but Sazh can swing as a 5/5 at minimum and just grow from there. If he had a second color in his identity, he would be much stronger. But he's still very powerful, though probably more so in the 99 of a counters deck that also has white.
70) Seifer Almasy
Double strike is really what makes the card. Getting two free instant and sorcery spells each turn is a strong effect (even if three mana or less means your spells will only take out chicken wusses), but you do need to be able to both fill the yard and get our boy here trample. Still though, I like the design here.
69) Squall, Seed Mercenary
Having to attack alone to get double strike is kind of a problem (though incredibly flavorful), but at least the effect is fairly powerful. Unfortunately, it also kind of feels a bit boring. I think they were going for something else, but Squall seems like he would be at his best as yet another equipment/auras commander. Giving him evasion will be essential, and the best value probably comes in negating the disadvantage enchantments inherently have.
This is a very unique and interesting effect, but it kind of makes Lightning hard to rank. On one hand, she's going to incentivize the table to gang up on a single opponent. On the other, she's going to make that opponent focus all of their attention on you. She's also going to be a lightning rod (pun intended) for removal. I guess your best bet is to attack the person that's last in the turn order, but that may not always be viable. Also, it's yet another commander that seems to lean into equipment synergies, though at least it's more interesting than some other options.
67) Krile Baldesion
If not for that pesky "once per turn" clause, Krile would be a top flight commander. Even with it, she's very good and she's going to make your deck extremely resilient while resetting ETBs and various other triggers. She's also small and efficient, so opponents will likely have to waste removal on her multiple times. As a blue and white commander, I think Krile will be sneaky good at grinding out games and making opponents waste all their resource while you recycle yours.
66) Hermes, Overseer of Elpis
I think our guy here might just usurp Talrand, Sky summoner. Cons, the tokens he makes are smaller. Pros, he's easier to cast (though in a mono color deck I guess that doesn't matter much), harder to kill, triggers off all non-creature spells rather than just instants and sorceries and scries when his tokens attack. I think he might be better than the long time blue spellslinger staple.
65) Cid, Timeless Artificer
It may be a gimmick, but Cid might be the most slept on commander in the entire set. It's going to be trivially easy to cycle through your deck in these colors. From there, you can both build and protect an artifact creature monstrosity that will stomp your opponents. Bonus points if said monstrosity has a crazy death trigger. Also, white has tons of recursion options to keep bringing back your artifact creatures, or even Cids since they provide their bonus on the battlefield as well. Hopefully, these guys don't end up priced like Nazguls.
64) Jill, Shiva's Dominant
Jill impacts the board the turn she comes down but might have to wait a little while to transform. Once she does flip, the first two abilities she has are a little underwhelming. However, the third ability can be backbreaking, as forcing all of your opponents to take a turn off is nasty. Of course, it's also probably going to make you the archenemy, especially since Shiva flips back to Jill once the saga is complete.
63) Banon, Returner's Leader
He comes out fast, he's efficient and his super strong ability will be trivially easy to activate. Being able to filter cards is also nice and you don't have to send Banon into battle to activate it (it's whenever YOU attack). Still a shame it costs mana to do though.
62) Lyse Hext
There are no frills here, just simple and straightforward spellslinging. Reduce the cost of non-creature spells, power up by casting those spells and basically guarantee double strike on every turn. Evasion would have pushed it even farther up, but that can be worked around.
61) Kefka, Dancing Mad
60) Balthier and Fran
Balthier and Fran are perfectly on curve for a vehicle deck, coming down on turn three to crew just about any relevant vehicle you can think of. Vigilance, reach and +1/+1 are all nice, but we are really here for the extra combat steps. Even if you have to pay for it, it's still an incredibly strong effect, especially considering vehicles tend to have a high power to cost ratio.
59) Strago and Relm
It's a bit random for my liking, but Strago and Relm have the potential to make big things happen out of nowhere. There is always someone in every playgroup with a deck featuring high CMC spells or big green creatures and getting them for free is nothing to sneeze at. Of course, you can whiff too, but at least these two will always do something. Keeping them alive for a rotation might be a bit of a challenge, and that brings them down a bit.
58) Hraesvelger of the First Brood
Well, here's an interesting effect in mono blue. All I have to do is cast non-creature spells and my guys becomes unblockable? Sign me up! Not only that, but as a 5/5 for five with ward, Hraesvelger is going to be hard for your opponents to remove and flying and vigilance mean he will have no problem jumping in to combat himself.
57) Gau, Feral Youth
The biggest thing here is going to be finding ways in mono red to consistently get cards out of the graveyard. Because if you can do that consistently, the damage Gau throws around the table is going to add up fast. Attacking to increase his power isn't ideal, but he comes down so early and you really only need to get one or two counters on him to really start making the damage he throws hurt really bad. Add in a few pump spells and you can end games really quick.
56) Tromell, Seymour's Butler
Oh joy, we get to play against more mono green planeswalker decks. Having creatures enter with an additional +1/+1 counter is already strong, but Trommel is going to make proliferating multiple times in a turn trivially easy. Even if he just proliferates two or three times, that might be enough to get whatever version of Garruk/Nissa/Vivien you want to play to their ultimate in a single turn. This is another card that I think people are sleeping on, largely due to its mono-color identity.
Here's a commander that's going to be miserable to face in historic brawl. But in actual commander? I don't think it's as bad as people think it will be. It's expensive, doesn't give itself any form of protection and is incredibly likely to make you a target. You will likely only end up having to kill it once or twice and it's definitely going to make its controller the archenemy. Don't get me wrong though, it's still a powerful card in a color combination that will have little trouble protecting it.
54) Sephiroth, Planet's Heir
Well, we knew this guy was going to show up sooner or later. His ETB is going to severely weaken opponent's boards and anyone playing with a lot of dorks is going to be set back pretty far. Sephiroth is also going to get big very quickly. He is in a strong color identity as well, though it still kind of feels like he should do more.
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