It’s October 1st, so spooky season is officially upon us! Forget Christmastime, for me Halloween is definitely the most wonderful time of the year. It’s always nice to do festive things during this spookiest of all months, and that can even extend to Magic. I love this time of year so much that I always do Halloween-themed MTG Top 10s over on my YouTube channel.
Last year I also wrote an article giving my picks for the 5 best Commanders to play this time of year. This is a sequel to that one, as I’ll be looking at five more Commanders that are well-suited for October.
MARVIN, MURDEROUS MIMIC
Duskmourn might just be the most frightening plane in all of Magic. After all, its designs are inspired by modern horror tropes. Marvin, Murderous Mimic is inspired by the many films featuring animated puppets or dolls as the primary antagonist, with the Child’s Play franchise the most notable of those. There’s not much out there that’s creepier than a murderous animated puppet.
Marvin is a very unique Magic card too, since he gains the abilities of all of your creatures. While you’re restricted only to colorless cards if Marvin is your Commander, there are still plenty of combos you can pull off with him.
Keeping with the Autumnal theme, let’s look at a couple combos that use Scarecrows. If you have Palladium Myr and Pili-Pala in play, that means Marvin can tap for two colorless mana and he can also untap for two generic and give you one mana of any color. This results in infinite mana.
If you have both Cryptic Trilobite and Farmstead Gleaner in play you can pay one generic and put a +1/+1 counter on him. Then you can remove that counter for two colorless mana, and then pay two generic and untap Marvin to put a +1/+1 counter on him. This loop results in Marvin being as big as you want him to be.
These Scarecrow combos aren’t the only ones, either. There are at least a dozen different combos that Marvin can go off with, and his colorless identity makes him a unique Commander that is a ton of fun to play.
GISA, THE HELLRAISER
Children tend to go Trick or Treating every Halloween. These days, they only tend to get treats in the form of candy. But “Trick or Treat” has origins as a more threatening interjection. Basically, kids were using it to say “Give us something good to eat, otherwise we’re going to vandalize your home.” This has kind of lived on separate from the act of Trick or Treating, as teenagers still often toilet paper or eggs homes on Halloween.
Gisa is definitely about that “Trick” life, since she loves it when you commit crimes, as she spits out a couple of Zombie tokens the first time you commit a crime each turn. Throw in the fact that she loves two very spooky creature types – Zombies and Skeletons – and we have a Commander perfect for the holiday.
ASMORANOMARDICADAISTINACULDACAR
Asmorano is a Commander who exemplifies both the wholesome “Treat” side of Halloween, but she can also turn those Treats into Tricks when she needs to. When she enters you get to search up a cookbook that can generate Food tokens. While you can use this Food however you want, Asmorano can also pick it up and chuck it at your opponent’s creatures. Basically, she can “egg” your opponent.
If you fill your deck with discard outlets so you can actually cast her, as well as cards that make Food, she can really go off and annihilate your opponents board.
BLIM, COMEDIC GENIUS
Blim, Comedic Genius is another Commander who makes me think of Trick or Treating. Not only does he have super spooky art, he has a unique and powerful effect. Any time you hit your opponent with him, you give your opponent a permanent you control. That would be super generous if Blim didn’t also punish your opponent for controlling those permanents. This means Blim gives out Treats and Tricks you all at the same time.
While Blim can be pretty sweet in a vacuum, giving your opponent permanents that hurt them more than help them is particularly nasty. For example, you can give them Demonic Pact after you’ve used up all the modes apart from “You lose the game,” Demonic Lore after you’ve used it to draw cards, or Steel Golem to prevent them from ever casting creatures.
Basically, Blim is the house you skip when you go Trick or Treating because everything he gives out is complete garbage.
SOPHIA, DOGGED DETECTIVE
If the other Commanders I’ve suggested are way too scary for you, I have you covered. Spooky doesn’t have to mean scary, as the Scooby-Doo franchise tells us – and Magic has a legendary creature that can make you feel like a regular part of the Scooby Gang.
Sophia is a detective with a Dog friend she brings to the battlefield. She’s a Dog typal Commander, since she can buff them and make Food and Clues any time one of your Dogs hits your opponent. That can help you get to the bottom of whatever spooky mystery you’re trying to solve, while also giving you some nice Treats along the way.
END STEP
I hope you have some fun with one of these spooky Commanders. Are there any other Commanders you think are fun to play in October? Let me know over on X or Bluesky.
Jacob has been playing Magic for the better part of 24 years, and he especially loves playing Magic’s Limited formats. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma. In 2015, he started his YouTube channel, “Nizzahon Magic,” where he combines his interests with many videos covering Magic’s competitive history. When he’s not playing Magic or making Magic content, he can be found teaching college-level history courses or caring for a menagerie of pets with his wife.