(Snapcaster Mage | Art by Volkan Baga)

Either I know just the spell I need, or I'm about to.

Happy Spooky Season, everyone! For our latest list of top 10 most played Commander cards, we're trying something new and branching out into older sets. You'll still see my articles for new releases like Duskmourn: House of Horror, but I also wanted to look back at the game's rich history of booster sets, most of which feature cards that today's EDH players still recognize and even cherish.

And, what better place to start is there than with the original Innistrad set? The first visit to this Gothic-horror-themed plane birthed a whole bunch of follow-up sets and introduced a bevvy of memorable Legends, creature types, and some extremely iconic EDH cards to boot. Let's dive right in!

Honorable Mentions - Sulfur Falls and other two-color lands

One of ISD's most impactful contributions to EDH was introducing a set of enemy-colored two-color lands to complete the cycle of "checklands" introduced in Magic: The Gathering 2010 Core Set two years previously. Indeed, several of these lands make the true Top 10 from this set, so I've grouped them all under an honorable mention, as I will for all sets with a prominent cycle of lands.

While clearly not as good as the original dual lands or Ravnica's "shocklands," the checklands give deckbuilders a more accessible option that still gets the job done. Kieran Sheldon has a nice piece over at Commander's Herald breaking down the different two-color land options.

 

10. Balefire Dragon - 57,029 decks

 

We're kicking this throwback list off with an absolute doozy of a Dragon. It's a pretty powerful seven-drop that doesn't offer much in terms of synergy; still, its best home based on EDHREC data is a Dragon kindred deck where you can take advantage of mana generators and cost reducers like Dragonspeaker Shaman and Rivaz of the Claw to power ol Baley D out early.

It's really only good if it manages to deal combat damage to a player, so you can pair it with specific cards inside a Dragon deck that optimize for this, or play Balefire Dragon in a strategy more focused on combat damage. Examples of enabling commanders include Zirilan of the Claw, Sarkhan, Soul Aflame, Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, and the iconic EDH twist on Sneak Attack, Kaalia of the Vast.

We also can't overlook the popular five-color Dragon deck, often led by Scion of the Ur-Dragon, The Ur-Dragon himself, or Tiamat. This type of deck should still be trying to get a big hit in with the Balefather, but it also likes just putting a ton of Dragons into play and winning that way.

 

9. Past in Flames - 63,443 decks

Browsing this card's EDHREC page is like meeting the who's who of Storm cards in the format, and with good reason! Past in Flames is an incredibly powerful enabler for an Izzet (blue, red)-style spells deck even 13 years after release. Popular commanders for this strategy include Birgi, God of Storytelling in a very sweet mono-red spells build, Vadrik, Astral Archmage, and Magnus the Red. But beyond the top 3, you'll find a ton of inspiration for sub-themes of spellslinger decks.

In terms of payoffs, there are also many to choose from, but I'll shout out Jeskai Ascendancy as something that can do both and the family of cards that deal damage when spells are cast.

 

8. Gavony Township - 97,632 decks

Aside from the whole Gothic horror vibe that I absolutely adore about this set, I also enjoy seeing really clean, effective card designs like Gavony Township persevering in 2024, when many rares and mythics pack a bigger wallop along with a wordier text box. I think Township is one of best enablers for a Counters theme deck, especially because it doesn't even take up a spell slot!

One handy way to gauge its utility is to click on the "Similar Cards" button near the top of the card's entry on EDHREC. You'll see that, while there are other utility lands that can put counters on one or more creatures, Township is the only one that pumps your whole team, no ifs, ands, or buts. This is just an A+ Magic card design that will continue to show up in decks that don't mind playing a land that produces colorless mana. It's also pretty hilarious when paired with Shalai and Hallar and a big board.

7. Laboratory Maniac - 106,128 decks

Speaking of clean, powerful designs, the Lab Man has been a premium alternate win condition in the format for years and will continue to be as long as it remains legal in the format. A quick look through Commander Spellbook will show you just how many combos exist with this card and how easy some of them are to put together. To wit, the most popular one is a two-card combo that wins when you draw a card.

We even got a second version of this effect more recently with Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, adding more redundancy to this side of the combo. Of course, playing Maniac combos isn't free and does require effort and thought in deckbuilding. Likewise, your opponents will likely know what you're up to and will be on guard for even a whiff of a combo.

Taking this into account, EDHREC players seem to be slotting the combo into focused blue combo deck or controlling builds that both want to draw a ton of cards led by Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, among others.

 

6. Intangible Virtue - 108,752 decks

The next most played Commander card from ISD is this cheap Glorious Anthem-style effect for tokens that also gives you additional value by granting vigilance. Tokens is a common theme that is also a blast to play and has a ton of options available.

You can dip into black with Thalisse, Reverent Medium or King of the Oathbreakers and build around sacrifice synergies. You can go Naya (white, red, green) and spit out a million tokens at once for an instant kill with Impact Tremors. Sticking to Boros lets you beat opponents up with tokens buffed by Neyali, Suns' Vanguard or Gut, True Soul Zealot paired with Inspiring Leader. The possibilities are endless, and Intangible Virtue is a great option to help further whatever game plan you choose.

5. Mentor of the Meek - 134,252 decks

In the Top 10 Most Played Commander Cards from DSK I linked above and my latest list on top Boros (red, white) cards, I touched briefly on the synergies around the "power 2 or less" theme. Mentor of the Meek is one of the best payoffs in that type of deck alongside Bygone Bishop, Welcoming Vampire, and more offensively-oriented white creatures like Goldnight Commander.

If you're newer to the format, you can build a sweet deck around Arabella, Abandoned Doll from DSK and other newer cards including Delney, Streetwise Lookout and Enduring Innocence. Win conditions like Impact Tremors and Molten Gatekeeper, et al. are plentiful. If red isn't your thing, Harbin, Vanguard Aviator and Myrel, Shield of Argive provide a pathway into Azorius Soldiers while Zulaport Cutthroat and its ilk invite you into an Orzhov Sacrifice strategy. Any of these strategies will see you drawing a lot of cards with Mentor or one of its analogs in play.

4. Avacyn's Pilgrim - 152,494 decks

One-mana value creatures that produce mana themselves are staples of EDH and Magic in general, so having one in a creature type that isn't Elves really broadens what you can do in the format. Humans is a very popular creature type for kindred decks, and Avacyn's Pilgrim can be an important part of any Humans deck. Casting commanders like Katilda and Lier, Kyler, Sigardian Emissary, and Bess, Soul Nourisher — who cares more about 1/1s in general than Humans — lets you get the ball rolling on your synergies a whole turn earlier, which can matter a ton in a tight game of EDH.

 

3. Parallel Lives - 159,129 decks

Doubling Season may be the original token doubler, but Parallel Lives doubled the number of token doublers in EDH, which really powered up green token strategies by more than double. In 2024, Selesyna (green, white) is the primary token-doubling color pair, with access to Anointed Procession, Primal Vigor, and newer cards like Mondrak, Glory Dominus as permanents and Second Harvest as a cheeky instant.

Let's not get into the math of how many tokens you'd create with a bunch of these in play; instead, let's go over how even just Parallel Lives threatens infinite combos, thanks to Commander Spellbook.

As with Laboratory Maniac, there are many ways to go off with the card, and in different color combinations, too. Aside from Slimefoot, you can also see this in the variation of commanders' color identities Lives is played in: Rhys the Redeemed, Roxanne, Starfall Savant, and Koma, Cosmos Serpent all offer different twists on the token theme.

 

2. Kessig Wolf Run - 162,970 decks

Like Gavony Township, Kessig Wolf Run is a clean design that also packs a powerful punch. Gruul (red, green) is already a color pair that produces a lot of mana, so turning all that into trampling damage means this utility land is also a decent alternate win condition. It isn't really a synergy card like Township is with counters, but you can pair it with big-damage generators like Xenagos, God of Revels or Jolene, the Plunder Queen to threaten a one-hit-KO.

 

1. Blasphemous Act - 772,824 decks

It's a first for Back to Basics! Blasphemous Act is not only the most played Commander card from Innistrad; it also topped the list of the most played mono-red cards! The number 13 was a minor theme in ISD, but it's also just a very large amount of damage to deal every creature in play. It does so much: it's an effective sweeper in red, which can have trouble with high-toughness creatures, it can cost as little as one mana to cast, and it even has combo potential alongside cards like Tree of Perdition, Brash Taunter, Toralf, God of Fury, and many more!

Let moss grow over gargoyles.

What a wonderful, nostalgic list of cards for this humble Innistrad fan! I really enjoyed looking back at a time before cards were being designed specifically for EDH. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of how designers can let loose on supplemental sets and I also don't mind wordy cards too much. I just really appreciate how simple cards like Parallel Lives and Gavony Township have withstood the test of time. I can't wait to go over more sets from Magic's past! Which one should I do next?

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