Toxrill, the CorrosiveToxrill, the Corrosive | Illustrated by DZO

Every so often, a commander comes along that is so salt-inducing that players often refuse to play against it outright. Commanders like Nadu, Winged WisdomNadu, Winged Wisdom or Urza, Lord High ArtificerUrza, Lord High Artificer both spring to mind here.

Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast has relegated many of these commanders to the Game Changer list. However, many still exist as lesser bogeymen to the format.

In today's article, I'll examine five salty commanders not on the Game Changer list and discern whether they're too salty to remain excluded.

#5. Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant

The antagonist of the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty set, Jin-Gitaxias, Progress TyrantJin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant is a formidable and consistently frustrating commander to face off against. As such, it's #5 out of the most tilting non-Game Changer commanders in EDHREC's Salt Score Summary.

However, it ranks just above the #5 saltiest Game Changer, Urza, Lord High Artificer. To be a saltier card than Urza feels like an invitation to join the Game Changer list all on its own.

Verdict: Deserves the Hate (For Its Rank)

Let's face facts here, dear reader. In Magic: The Gathering, players like to be able to make their plays and not be denied. Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant does not allow many players to play their game the way they want. In fact, the Praetor just allows one player, its controller, to accelerate their game.

Yes, he costs . No, that is not insurmountable, even from the command zone, or even in lower brackets. Yes, his abilities only trigger once per turn. No, that doesn't stop those abilities from being oppressive.

However, all these factors firmly in mind, there are other cards that deserve the hate even more than Jin-Gitaxias, and they're all above them in rank. Plus, it's a bit of a steep hill to get to the #4 rank and above. Let's look at those cards!

#4. Toxrill, the Corrosive

The #4 saltiest non-Game Changer commander is, ironically, Toxrill, the CorrosiveToxrill, the Corrosive, a Slug.

Toxrill is relatively disgusting as a control card with a blue-black (Dimir) color identity. Capable of decimating entire boards of creatures within a turn cycle while propagating their own, the pod will often need to deal with a Toxrill player before Toxrill hits the battlefield.

What's more, Toxrill can turn many of those Slug tokens it makes into card advantage for very little investment.

Verdict: Deserves the Hate (For Its Rank)

The argument for Toxrill to remain as hated as it is comes from the notion that players can't keep a creature on the board for very long while the Slug Horror is in play.

Again, it boils down to players liking to make valid, impactful plays. There's a certain endorphin rush to making a big play in Magic, and to strip a player of that resolution is rough.

With a vast number of Commander decks running a decent number of creatures, those plays are often diminished by a timely (or persistent) board cleansing, such as in Toxrill's case.

#3. Emrakul, the Promised End

Mama Emrakul is an important character in the Magic storyline, and players like to use their favorite characters to command their Commander decks. But is that enough to justify Emrakul's usage as a salty commander? Signs point to "no," dear readers.

Even with Emrakul, the Promised EndEmrakul, the Promised End's restrictive colorless identity, an Emrakul pilot will often find ways to make the deck work, even potentially casting Emrakul for much less mana than she costs.

Verdict: Doesn't Deserve the Hate

Emrakul, the Promised End is a very strong colorless commander, but she doesn't deserve to be viewed as saltier than Game Changer commander options. The Eldrazi Titan that players should assess as a bigger threat is probably Ulamog, the Ceaseless HungerUlamog, the Ceaseless Hunger.

Emrakul performs a MindslaverMindslaver operation on a player, yes, but if that player survives the turn, they get an extra turn to do reasonable amounts of damage control and even advance their board state further. That seems pretty fair for something so seemingly oppressive.

#2. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

Sheoldred's second iteration, Sheoldred, the ApocalypseSheoldred, the Apocalypse, is a card that people malign, perhaps unfairly, partly due to her price. Similarly to how The Meathook MassacreThe Meathook Massacre and Beseech the MirrorBeseech the Mirror quickly spiked during preorders, Sheoldred shot up in price quickly even though Dominaria United was a widely printed Standard-legal set.

Since then, she's seen reprints in a variety of other Standard-legal set releases. Despite these, she is still exorbitantly expensive for the more casual or discerning Commander player! However, much of the reason she spiked was in her abilities, even more than her novelty as a Phyrexian Praetor.

Being able to reward doing normal things in a Magic game while punishing your opponents for doing the same is impactful. There's a reason players may sometimes rush to remove a copy of Underworld DreamsUnderworld Dreams that's affecting them after long enough. The same principle can apply to Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

Verdict: Deserves Less Hate Than It Gets

Sheoldred's ability suite, while oppressive and punishing to natural gameplay, doesn't stop opponents from playing their game. Opponents staring down Sheoldred can still cast removal before their opponent has broken their matronly centipede commander. With cards like Urza and Grand Arbiter Augustin IVGrand Arbiter Augustin IV in ranks near Sheoldred, it feels weird to lump her in with the rest of the salt.

This brings us to the #1 saltiest commander that isn't a Game Changer. What legendary creature has this distinction, and is it worthy of the hate that it receives? Let's look!

#1 Saltiest Commander

Hokori, Dust DrinkerHokori, Dust Drinker is the single saltiest non-Game Changer legendary creature on EDHREC's Salt Score Summary. As a creature with a Winter OrbWinter Orb-style effect, it can grind games down to a screeching halt. It's the 22nd-most salty card on the Salt Score Summary overall, and with an ability like it has, my final verdict on Hokori stands to reason.

Verdict: Deserves the Hate It Gets, and More!

If you've ever played against a Winter Orb, Static OrbStatic Orb, or any of the other variants of this kind of card, you'll know right away that Hokori, Dust Drinker needs to be focused on immediately.

Many of these kinds of effects are on the Game Changer list. Because of this fact, I don't anticipate that Hokori will stay off of that list for long. For now, though, let's all do our part and remove Hokori from the game as often as possible. And remember, player removal is also permanent removal!

So now, let's hear from you, dear readers. Do you think there are any saltier non-Game Changer commanders to look at in the future? How do you typically deal with such cards? And do you play with any of them yourself? Sound off below!