All of the Commanders in today’s article bring something satisfying and unique to the table. They have really interesting text boxes, which makes them really bloody cool. Here are the Top 10 Coolest Commanders of 2024.
“Cool”. What is it? Well, it’s entirely subjective, I can tell you that. There’s no two people in the world who would come up with the exact same list of coolest Commanders of the year, so I’m not even going to pretend this is a science. No, folks, this is more of a vibe check. Who are the ten Commanders I found the most fun/interesting/cool/powerful/[Adjective]?
It’s so far away from a science that we’re not even using numbers to begin to attempt to rank them. No, we’ll go in release order.
10 COOLEST COMMANDERS OF 2024
MASSACRE GIRL, KNOWN KILLER
Bursting onto the scene in an entirely predictable fashion, Massacre Girl, Known Killer brings her trademark appetite for murders of the most spectacular kind. I think many of us have a soft spot for this card owing to just how divisive the OG Massacre Girl felt to play at tables. “Board wipe in the Command Zone? I’m switching decks” was the common refrain all of us OGs had to suffer through.
Is her MKM incarnation different? Well, kinda, yeah. Firstly, she’s much more focused on single targets aside from big splashy effects. The reward for being single-target-based is delicious, delicious card draw. You can drop a Toxic Deluge and refill your hand like it’s nobody’s business. There’s something innately satisfying about watching those toughness numbers tick down and reward you with fresh cards.
One of the most fun control builds of the year.
JUDITH, CARNAGE CONNOISSEUR
Speaking of fun control builds – have you met Judith, Carnage Connoisseur?
Judith’s next incarnation swaps out ping-based gameplay for a true rarity – the ability to grant all of your damage dealing instants and sorceries both lifelink and deathtouch. More than being a home for Pestilent Spirit, Judith creates an entirely new archetype and decklist. She turns spells like Blazing Volley, End the Festivities and Tectonic Hazard into very cheap one-sided wraths.
She might not give you raw card advantage, but her ability to purge a board for bargain basement pieces, and leave you better off? Unparalleled.
THE WISE MOTHMAN
It’s no secret that Simic decks are among the color combinations I most dislike. That’s why you can take it from me as sincere when I say that The Wise Mothman is awesome. This thing grows your board lightning fast if you combine it with other forms of mill than just rad counters, but even if you’re just tinkering a little with the precon it’s still more than potent enough to get out of hand real quick.
The Wise Mothman is a place to jam some of the year’s other coolest designs: The Mindskinner, Hedge Shredder, Nuclear Fallout and Dreamtide Whale. If that’s not enough to get the brewing juices going then you should probably see a doctor.
ERIETTE, THE BEGUILER
It took a few tries to get there, but Eriette, the Beguiler is a sweet Esper enchantress Commander that offers something radically different from the likes of Zur. You can turn your Auras into Mind Controls, basically, as long as you’re targeting something equal to or smaller than the mana value of said Aura. There’s nothing stopping you slapping goading Auras like the Impetus cycle on bigger creatures still – and I would play them, because as I discussed recently, they’re real game changers.
Slapping Twinblade Blessing or Angelic Destiny onto something scary like an opponent’s Commander is going to make for interesting games, but the excuse to run expensive auras like Fool’s Demise and Songbirds’ Blessing is what really draws me in.
THE GITROG, RAVENOUS RIDE
Staying in Thunder Junction, let’s talk about one of the most outrageous and silly value engines of the year: The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride. This latest incarnation of our favorite beastie from Innistrad can help you draw and ramp into the stratosphere, and all for just a Saddle cost of 1. Let’s be real though – you’re saddling with every fattie you can find, from Daemogoth Titan to Yargle and Multani.
What makes this Commander so powerful is the average draw. You play something like Shakedown Heavy on turn 3 or 4, then slam Gitrog the next turn. You’re drawing 6 cards and ramping by probably 3 lands. This gets the ball rolling, and your later turns get all the more out of hand.
We liked this card so much that we put together an article all about him. You can read about our underrated picks here – and decide if they’re still underrated 8 months later.
TAII WAKEEN, PERFECT SHOT
Another Commander from OTJ, Kristen?
Yes, actually. And this one’s a real spicy one. Taii Wakeen is Boros card draw, in the Command Zone, and it’s not limited to once per turn. What is this new devilry? I hear you ask. Yeah, pretty impactful. But not as impactful as being blasted by that laser rifle thing.
Taii Wakeen was one of many cool Boros designs this year. When I asked “Why Play Boros in Commander?” back in October, part of the draw to the color pair for me is in just how many new and exciting designs it’s getting lately. You’ve got this one, you’ve got The Jolly Balloon Man, Three Dog, Nelly Borca… it was hard to pick one for this list.
Taii Wakeen gets this spot though on account of how cool doing a mechanically unique thing tends to feel. It’s refreshing, and it allows you to play a whole host of underplayed gems.
LEONARDO DA VINCI
Leonardo da Vinci is arguably the coolest mono-blue design of the year, in my eyes at least. He loots and turns whatever is discarded into a 0/2 Thopter version of itself. That can be anything from Forsaken Monument to Darksteel Forge, all way ahead of curve.
The beauty of this is that you can then start to populate more of those tokens into play with various effects – or just clone them.
My favorite cards to run with him are Training Grounds and Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut, but don’t miss out on more interesting picks from our article.
ALANIA, DIVERGENT STORM
Spellslinger got many good Commanders this year, and so too did Izzet. There’s nothing cooler than copying your first spell each turn though, and Alania does it. Yes, that’s each of your turns, and on each opponent’s turn. The low cost of gifting cards is really not that bad for you, because a lot of the time you’re copying your own draw spells, and end up way ahead.
Copying Otters is cool too, and there are numerous little critters to drop down in the early game that are worth a copy, such as Valley Floodcaller, Harnesser of Storms, and Stormcatch Mentor. Did this card get extra points for being a friggin’ Otter? Obviously. Who doesn’t love Otters.
VALGAVOTH, HARROWER OF SOULS
I waxed lyrical about this card when it was previewed. Jumping through just enough hoops to keep things interesting? In order to draw cards? But not too many cards? Attached to a win condition?
Hell yeah.
Valgavoth has been a bit of a hit across the board, spiking the price of the Endless Punishment precon way above the price of the others. Have my playgroup gotten wise quickly, and ended up stealing or countering my Commander in most of the games I’ve played so far? Yes. Do I care? I mean, I get a bit salty, but I still wanna keep playing this deck. It’s a lot of fun.
Check out our budget upgrade guide for the precon over here, by the way.
REV, TITHE EXTRACTOR
The final card that I think is just so damn cool this year is Rev, Tithe Extractor. The tithe that she extracts isn’t the four mana enchantment, and it isn’t from deep within an opponent’s mouth after the table gets sick of being asked if they pay the two.
All jokes aside, giving your stuff deathtouch, making treasure, and getting to sneakily cast opponent’s cards is a really fun textbox, and when you put it on a badass lady sitting badassly (is that a word?) with art from Matsumoto, it gets a lot cooler.
I’m very hyped to jam my Grim Hireling and associated cards into this deck, but mostly just use it as an excuse to play with Shadow Alley Denizen, one of the Grixis Ladies Doing Crimes I am rather fond of.
END STEP
2024 was a great year for Commander, and the designs we had were some of the freshest and most interesting yet. Did I mention one of your faves? Share with us on BlueSky.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.