It’s About Time Angels Got Some Good Commanders

A few weeks ago, I took a look at creature types that currently have no viable Commanders. This article is in a similar vein. It looks at creature types that do have Commanders, but the options are lackluster. For example, while Angels certainly have several options at Commander, the creature type desperately needs more options. In short, it’s about time Angels – and the three other creature types I’ll look at in this article – got some good Commanders.

ANGELS

Of all the creature types on this list Angels have the least desperate need for better Commanders. However, when one considers the prominence of Angels in Magic, the options are severely limited. Angels are the iconic creature type for White. This means we see them with regularity, they tend to be pushed and powerful, and largely appear at higher rarities.

And yet, the only two Angels that I think we can legitimately call “Angel Commanders” are very one-dimensional cards that also happen to have a mono-colored identity. Giada is the best option, as you can get her down early and use her to ramp into other Angels who will also be larger. Lyra Dawnbringer is just a well-statted Angel lord.

While Giada can certainly perform well as a Commander, she’s also pretty much the only option you have if you want your deck to be remotely good, and that limits you to mono-white. Out of the 257 angels in existence, there are 68 that you can’t even play in your Giada deck. That’s more than a quarter of the Angels that have ever been printed.

While there are some multicolored Commanders who like Angels – like Shilgengar, Sire of Famine and Kaalia of the Vast – their interest in Angels is far from focused, so they aren’t really Angel Commanders.

The dearth of options for Angel Commander decks is even more noticeable when you compare the embarrassment of riches that Dragons have – including multiple powerful 5-color Commanders! Dragon is the iconic creature type for Red, so it should be on roughly equal footing with Angels. But it isn’t. And, while I’ll concede that Dragons are more popular than Angels, it isn’t by that wide of a margin.

Angels really need a viable multi-colored Commander, at the very least one that has an Orzhov identity, and the more colors the better.

ELEMENTALS

Elemental is one of Magic’s most numerous creature types, with almost 600 of them in existence. For comparison’s sake, there are only 471 Goblins in Magic! With that many Elementals out there, you’d think that would mean they have some great Commanders – but you’d be wrong.

Unlike Angels, Elementals do have access to a five-color Commander in Horde of Notions. While that’s good news and does mean you can play all the elementals ever printed in your deck, the Horde itself isn’t exactly a powerhouse by today’s standards. 

It has some nice stats and keywords, and its activated ability is cool and all, but if you’re paying WUBRG for an Elemental in your graveyard, it’s very unlikely you’re actually getting that good of a deal.

Omnath, Locus of the Roil and Omnath, Locus of Rage are also potential options for Elemental Commanders, but both of them are more accurately described as landfall Commanders who also happen to like Elementals.

Elementals need a new 5-color Commander, one who is super focused on making all the other Elementals in your deck much better.

SPHINXES

Sphinxes have it even rougher than Elementals and Angels do. In fact, they’d be thrilled to have their own version of Giada and Horde of Notions. This is because there is currently only one viable option for a Sphinx Commander right now – Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign. This, despite the fact that Sphinxes – like Angels and Dragons – are an iconic creature type.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Unesh isn’t a terrible card. Not only does it reduce the cost of your Sphinxes, it also lets you do a mini-Fact or Fiction when it or any other Sphinx enters. That’s actually pretty powerful, as it generates big card advantage as well as graveyard value.

But Unesh does have some problems. First, a 6-mana 4/4 Flyer is horrendous, both because it’s not that meaningful of a threat and because it can die to almost anything. While you do get some cards even if your opponent kills Unesh immediately, the exchange still isn’t going to feel remotely worthwhile.

Throw in the fact that he’s mono-blue, meaning you don’t even have access to 22 of the 81 Sphinxes (27% of them) in Magic, and Unesh just can’t do a very good job as a Sphinx Commander.

SOLDIERS

Soldiers are even more plentiful than Elementals are, with almost 1,000 of them in existence – and that’s without counting noncreature spells that can create Soldier tokens. There are only a little more than 16,000 creatures in all of Magic, so 1-in-16 of them are Soldiers. That’s pretty crazy.

While the creature type isn’t completely devoid of options at Commander, those options are incredibly limited. Myrel, Shield of Argive is currently the best options by a fairly wide margin. She lets you go super wide with Soldiers, which is actually perfect, as that’s always been a major part of the creature type’s mechanical identity. 

Commander Mustard isn’t the worst option either, as he does offer some fairly significant buff, and has an activated ability that also pays you off for having lots of soldiers in play.

However, when we’re talking about one of the most plentiful creature types in the entire game, the list of viable Commanders shouldn’t come to an end after two. And like some of the other creature types on the list, the lack of a Commander with a broader color identity severely limits your options. Soldiers are certainly White the most frequently, but they appear across all of Magic’s colors.

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What do you think? What other creature types are there that really need some more options in Commander? Let me know over on X or Bluesky.