10 Coolest New Commanders of 2025

2025 gave us some really cool Commander designs. Today’s article covers 10 of the Coolest New Commanders of 2025. If you’re looking for some last minute inspiration, we’ve got you. 

HONORABLE MENTION

First, we have to get an honorable mention out of the way: Joshua, Phoenix’s Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire. Joshua is probably my favorite Commander of the year, and he’s a lovely little “smoothing” Commander that helps you get set up for playing in the graveyard in Boros.

The lifelink and damage provides a generous buffer, and combining it with a cheeky Chandra’s Ignition or a Fear of Burning Alive can be quite the party starter. Overall, these transform Commanders are one of the more elegant and fun designs of the year for me.

10. GWENOM, REMORSELESS

Sexy Symbiote Citadel. That’s why this one is cool, and you know it. That’s why people love the card. Bolas’ Citadel in the command zone is one thing, but being able to play an iconic Spider-verse character on a card with banger artwork is a recipe for success.

Putting a win condition like this in the ‘zone leads to interesting deckbuilding choices, too. How much enabling do you put in the library, vs payoff?

9. CAPTAIN HOWLER, SEA SCOURGE

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge is a delightfully dastardly Commander option. Pirates are always a fun option in Commander, and Howler leans into the discarding aspect of their identity. What the ability does – and this is why it’s such an interesting Commander – is it allows you to buff anybodies creature, at instant speed, providing you have a way to do it. And it even gives you cards for your efforts in discarding them.

It’s a politics Commander in an aggro trenchcoat, and one of the most fun-for-the-format designs of the year.

8. MENDICANT CORE, GUIDELIGHT

Mendicant Core was a powerhouse when it hit the scene with Aetherdrift, and it’s easy to see why: It’s a two mana Commander that gets bigger as the game progresses. It’s also a way to get Max Speed really quickly. With Max Speed being so parasitic, it’s good to have a two drop that can get your engines started. It just so happens that the payoff here is kinda nutty. A very fun Commander.

7. KOTIS, THE FANGKEEPER

Play-someone-elses-deck is a long-time Sultai tradition. For the first time, it comes on an Indestructible Commander that scales from combat damage. It also doesn’t limit you by mana or by amount of spells – whatever you exile that meets the condition is fair game.

Kotis makes for a surprisingly decent Voltron Commander in Sultai, and is distinct from Voltron in other colors as it gives you such a wide range of gameplay outcomes.

6. BETOR, ANCESTOR’S VOICE

The alternate Commander of the Abzan precon, Betor is what I would call a cool Commander. It gives you some very specific (and achievable) hoops to jump through, which in my opinion makes for the best type of Commander. It’s in that goldilocks zone between too easy and too difficult. Going up and down in life in Abzan is easy, and the payoff is excellent. It makes for some fun deckbuilding and lets you use some cards together that don’t normally fit, but that otherwise synergize.

5. HEARTHHULL, THE WORLDSEED

If we go on how popular our precon upgrade articles have been, then Hearthhull definitely earns a spot on this list. It’s easy to see why it’s been the most enduringly popular Commander of the year for many CK readers. Jund landfall only had a couple of “good” Commanders before, and mostly pushed you towards doing things with Glacial Chasm. Hearthhull gives a more casual option with card draw and win condition on one card. Is it a bit overclocked? Probably. 

4. SAMI, WILDCAT CAPTAIN

Boros Storm isn’t an archetype you’d usually expect, but Sami brings us exactly that. The very epitome of a glass cannon Commander, Sami lets you freewheel spells and chain ritual effects to just keep casting spells and gaining mana, until eventually you can hit the huge burn spell to annihilate the table. If anything, Sami is currently still a little under the radar. My friend Aaron has a both a high-end and a budget list with a primer, if you’re interested.

3. FIRE LORD AZULA

Probably the most fun Commander from Avatar, and another reason why Grixis Gets to Have All the Fun. Azula lets you double up any number of spells as long as you’re casting them in combat – and if you have a way to cast spells at Flash speed, that goes for permanents too. She’s a glass cannon in a similar way to Sami, but provides some really interesting lines and a more punchy approach… literally. Jacob wondered if she’s basically resigned to being a Bracket 4 Commander.

2. TERRA, HERALD OF HOPE

Mardu decks got a lot of options this year, especially for Graveyard focused synergy. It was hard to pick one, with Celes being another good pick, and even Zuko from Avatar contending for a spot on this list (though he’s more exile based). Terra took the top spot because she’s such a good engine, and because she opens up Alesha’s space to even stronger creatures. If I was to build a Mardu reanimator deck in 2025, I’d probably look to Terra first. She’s that little bit less training-wheels than Dihada, which counts for a lot.

1. KUJA, GENOME SORCERER // TRANCE KUJA, FATE DEFIED

The coolest Commander of the year for me has to be the aura-farming baddie himself, Kuja. Kuja is such a sweet design, as it gives a little tension, and a really strong payoff. Rakdos Wizards also isn’t the most played version of a Wizards deck, meaning it opens you up to a new-ish approach to deckbuilding, plus there’s Kuja’s double damage rule itself.

It just says that Wizards can deal double damage. How you go about dealing damage is up to you. Hell, you could build Kuja equipment Wizard Voltron. It’s a possibility, and one that might be pretty good. 

END STEP

This year has given us some really cool Commanders. Here are just a handful of the coolest designs. Have you played any of them? Or did you build one you found to be cooler?