<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Grand Unifier" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa, Grand Unifier</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/martanael" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marta Nael</a></em></p>
<p>The problem with eternal formats is that they're, well, eternal. Outside of bans for cards that break the format, as soon as a <em>Magic</em> card is printed, you can play it in Commander. And you can play that card in Commander forever.</p>
<p>Now this is of course one of the appeals of the format. There are many beloved cards that have lost their playability as they've been rotated out of Standard or power crept out of longer formats like Modern. And those cards are special to a lot of players. They're filled with joyful memories of pro tour victories or janky decks brought to weeklies that punched above their weight.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tenacious Underdog"></div></div>
<p>It's great that these deckless cards can find a home in the game's most popular format. And that also goes for all those super cool designs that just didn't quite make a splash in more competitive formats.</p>
<p>Super flavorful bombs that were just a bit too expensive. Super niche strategies that didn't have enough of a payoff in their environments. They can all find a purpose at the helm of a Commander deck. Or in their 99.</p>
<p>But eternal formats are eternal. And cards never go out of rotation. For every fun and flavorful include you want to slot into your deck, there's an outrageously powerful alternative. Staples that just outperform their peers in almost every situation. Cards that are just begging to be played and may never be topped. And, save for a ban, they won't ever leave the format.</p>
<h2>Ubiquitous Commanders</h2>
<p>There's a similar situation with the commanders that helm a good chunk of the decks in the format.</p>
<p>Legendary creatures can be popular as a commander for a multitude of reasons. It could be that they're a really flavorful champion for your favorite creature type. They could be the only option for certain archetypes in the color identity you want to play.</p>
<p>But let's be honest. Most of the top 100 commanders on EDHREC are there because of their overwhelming strength.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Ur-Dragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Edgar Markov"></div></div>
<p>You only need to look at the current top three to see just how powerful the most popular commanders are. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Edgar Markov" href="#" target="_blank">Edgar Markov</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> might as well be the boogie-men of the entire format. Two of them are sporting <em>eminence</em>, one of the most busted keywords ever printed on a legendary creature.</p>
<h3>Tantalizing Power</h3>
<p>The fact is, players are drawn to powerful decks. They want the cards in their hand to do as much as possible for as little investment as possible. And the same obviously goes for the creature leading your deck. There's nothing inherently wrong with that fact, of course. If you want to play high power games, there's no reason you shouldn't.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Overrun"></div></div>
<p>The problem lies with the homogenization of the format as a result. I'm sure we've all seen <em>Magic's </em>most recent top eight where every deck present was one of two versions of playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Monstrous Rage" href="#" target="_blank">Monstrous Rage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It's an overwhelmingly powerful card and it almost demands you play it. As a result, it made up half of the decks present at the tournament, and the entirety of the top eight.</p>
<p>I'm sure we've also heard the same protestations from an opponent at our table that cries, "No don't worry, this isn't like other Atraxa decks! I promise!"</p>
<h2>From Commanders to Legends</h2>
<p>So what would happen in a world where the top 100 commanders of the format were banned from play? What if when a commander became too ubiquitous, it was removed from the format? It might seem a little far fetched, but there is actually already a precedent in one of <em>Magic's </em>competitors.</p>
<p>In <em>Flesh and Blood</em>, there's a Commander-like hero system in play in all formats. In the fiction of the game, you aren't controlling legions of soldiers and dragons, but instead a single character. Which means no matter if it's competitive or casual, you'll have a commander at the helm of your deck. And of course, some of these characters are stronger than others.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flesh Duplicate"></div></div>
<p>But the system in which <em>Flesh and Blood </em>deals with that is an interesting counterpart to <em>Magic </em>due to something called the <em>Living Legend</em> system. The long and short of it is, whenever a hero receives a competitive victory at an official tournament, they receive points. Winning their World Championship with one hero for example, would net that hero 100 points. And that's for everyone playing that hero, it doesn't matter who wins with them.</p>
<p>Once a hero hits the threshold of 1000 points, they'll reach what's called <em>Living Legend</em> status. Essentially, they'll be immortalized as being really bloody good and then removed entirely from standard competitive play.</p>
<h2>So What About Commander?</h2>
<p>So would a feature like this work in Commander? If a deck became too heavily played we either shelved the commander or put them into a separate format? But most importantly, what would happen to the format if that were the case? Would it be a change for the better? Or go against everything Commander stands for?</p>
<p>For one, the players of the most powerful decks would need to find an alternative. If their commander is no longer legal, they'll have to find a replacement or switch decks entirely.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lathril, Blade of the Elves"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chatterfang, Squirrel General"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krenko, Mob Boss"></div></div>
<p>One positive of this fantasy world we're imagining is that typal decks, one of the most popular archetypes in Commander where you build around a single creature type, might get a good shakeup. A lot of the creature types in <em>Magic</em> have a default best option to lead their charge.</p>
<h3>Driving Players Nuts</h3>
<p>It shouldn't be hard to figure out which type <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chatterfang, Squirrel General" href="#" target="_blank">Chatterfang, Squirrel General</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is often played at the helm of. But it is quite hard to justify anyone else in his place as he gives you so much value for playing Squirrel-based strategies. At the time of writing there's just under 20k Chatterfang decks registered on EDHREC.</p>
<p>But despite coming from a set released last year that dedicated a fifth of its card collection to Squirrel typal, Bloomburrow commander <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Camellia, the Seedmiser" href="#" target="_blank">Camellia, the Seedmiser</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> sees only 3.5k players.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Camellia, the Seedmiser"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hazel of the Rootbloom"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Odd Acorn Gang"></div></div>
<p>You do have to wonder how many people might have built her, or some of the other Squirrel options, if Chatterfang weren't such an obvious, go-to option.</p>
<h3>Scaling Impossible Odds</h3>
<p>By far the most popular creature type in all of <em>Magic </em>is the fantasy staple of Dragons. There's a whopping 65,322 Dragon Commander decks on this website at the time of writing. But half of those decks play the same two commanders:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Ur-Dragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm"></div></div>
<p>And both of those commanders are in the top 100 across the format. Imagine the increase in diversity of Commander decks as a whole if all those players started branching out into different commanders because we all just admitted that maybe <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has been figured out already.</p>
<p>And imagine all of the cool commanders that don't see much play which might get a second chance?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zurgo and Ojutai"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rith, Liberated Primeval"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient"></div></div>
<h3>Goblin' Up the Competition</h3>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krenko, Mob Boss" href="#" target="_blank">Krenko, Mob Boss</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another big offender in this region. And he represents a double problem as not just a Goblin commander but also propping up pretty much any strategy that asks for token spamming. He's just one of the most efficient ways in the format to dump a load of creatures on the board.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krenko, Mob Boss"></div></div>
<p>Looking at Goblin commanders specifically, Krenko is a ridiculous 16k decks ahead of the second place commander. If a new legendary Goblin is printed into the card pool, unless it can serve in Krenko's 99, it basically doesn't ever get a look in.</p>
<h2>Gone But Not Forgotten</h2>
<p>It's worth pointing out that <em>Flesh and Blood</em> heroes aren't just dead forever as soon as they become too powerful. They're essentially moved to a different format where players can continue to battle with and against the most powerful heroes of all time. I'm not much of a <em>Flesh and Blood</em> player myself, but I assume it's sort of like playing Vintage in <em>MTG</em>. A format full of crazy powerful cards with massive amounts of history and prestige.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crypt of the Eternals"></div></div>
<p>One of the potential, less disruptive, paths for a move like this from <em>Wizards of the Coast </em>would be to consider adding overplayed and overpowered commanders to the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/game-changers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game Changers</a> list. In fact, three of the top 100 most popular commanders are already on the list: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urza, Lord High Artificer" href="#" target="_blank">Urza, Lord High Artificer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy" href="#" target="_blank">Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow" href="#" target="_blank">Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Urza, Lord High Artificer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy"></div></div>
<p>These cards can have an absolutely devastating effect on the balance of a Commander game when they're piloted correctly. Sometimes more suited to cEDH than regular old Commander, they've been rightfully added to the list. But you have to wonder how many other legends in the top 100 could arguably be given the same treatment.</p>
<p>Is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> a Game Changer? How about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magda, Brazen Outlaw" href="#" target="_blank">Magda</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? She's one of the most popular commanders in cEDH!</p>
<h2>We Can But Dream</h2>
<p>This is all of course, speculation. And I'm not even sure I would want commanders to be banned outright. EDH is the format of choice of course, and a healthy discussion at the table can lead to a wonderful world where everyone gets to play <em>Magic </em>in the way they want.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wrath of God"></div></div>
<p>But I do think it's an interesting thing to imagine, and something we could maybe find a healthy middle ground for in the future. If the top 100 commanders in the format were banned tomorrow, how many of your decks would go missing? Or would you be safe?</p>
<p>And if you had to replace your affected commanders, what legends would you reach for instead?</p>
<p>We often talk about the health of other formats ad nauseam, but how often do you consider the "health" of EDH?</p>
<p>Regardless, whoever you have sat in the command zone, there's nothing like a little self reflection. Let me know your thoughts on this hypothetical in the comments below!</p>
<p></p>
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What Would Happen If We Retired the Most Popular Commanders?

<p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artpad.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jaime Jones</a> | <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://victoradameart.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victor Adame Minguez</a></em></span></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has been the #1 commander for YEARS... and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> just snatched her crown. How'd it happen? Will it stick? And is there a hella awesome bunch of behind-the-scenes data about it? Check out the vid below <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_PLuzLmfDE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">or on YouTube</a> to find all the answers.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Did the #1 Commander Just Get Usurped? | Magic: the Gathering | EDH Commander" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v_PLuzLmfDE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>


Is There a New #1 Commander?

Shape Anew - Atraxa's Sagas

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Nature" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Nature</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/gregstaples">Greg Staples</a>)</h6>
<h1>Keywords as a Keystone</h1>
<p>Welcome to <em>Too-Specific Top 10</em>, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that <em>Banding</em> is the best new mechanic out of <em>Alpha</em>?)</p>
<p>This year, Commander Christmas brought us a full helping of legends based around underutilized keywords. From <em>Flashback </em>to <em>Madness</em>, we got some build-around commanders specifically made to help out archetypes that weren't really viable before. But while we're looking for new goodies, are we missing other excellent mechanics right under our noses? Have we really used all the available keywords that are build-aroundable?</p>
<p>To find out, let's dive into what the best mechanically-minded commanders are.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Top 10 Commanders Featuring a <a href="https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Evergreen">Non-Evergreen Keyword</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1-resized.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37092" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1-resized.png" alt="" width="350" height="278" /></a></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Atraxa, Praetor&#039;s Voice"></div></div>
<p>If anyone was doing some quick mental math while reading the theme for this week, it probably wasn't hard to figure out that the number one card that fit the criteria would also be the number one commander of all time. While Atraxa has been knocked off of the top of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders#pastweek">Past Week</a> and <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders#pastmonth">Past Month</a> lists, she's still good enough and flexible enough that she continues to stick around the middle of them despite all the new and exciting commanders we've seen in the past few months. As for her featured keyword, <em>Proliferate</em>, it's only gotten more popular of late with the return visit to the plane of Ravnica and the +1/+1 counters and planeswalkers that came with it.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for this too-specific list, however, <em>Proliferate</em> may not be the main reason that everyone plays Atraxa: given just how good her keyword soup is, and the fact that she's in four colors, Atraxa can often built as a "goodstuff outside the color red" commander rather than around a central theme that takes advantage of her <em>Proliferate </em>ability.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37093" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2-resized.png" alt="" width="350" height="278" /></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Edgar Markov"></div></div>
<p>Perhaps we haven't gone specific enough with our top 10 this week, as our number two happens to be found on the second-most popular commander of the past two years. With the inclusion of <em>Eminence</em> as a keyword, however, it perhaps isn't much of a surprise that we ran into <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Edgar Markov" href="#" target="_blank">Edgar Markov</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> so soon. Having a commander that can affect the game state without ever having to be cast is extremely powerful, even if that ability is restricted to a tribe. Maybe if a more obscure tribe than Vampires had been chosen, however...</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37094" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/3-resized.png" alt="" width="350" height="278" /></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Queen Marchesa"></div></div>
<p>Moving a little bit further down the popular commanders list, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Queen Marchesa" href="#" target="_blank">Queen Marchesa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is ranked the number ten commander overall, and number three on our list of keyword commanders. Often seen as a fun casual commander that allows for you to do pretty much anything you want in Mardu colors, Marchesa makes you the <em>Monarch</em> when she enters the battlefield, and then punishes others for taking the crown from you, thereby making it easier for you to take the crown back. Deathtouch Assassin tokens will do that, after all.</p>
<p><a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/10-resized.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37095" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/4-resized.png" alt="" width="350" height="278" /></a></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Ur-Dragon"></div></div>
<p>Speaking of <em>Eminence</em>, here is the most powerful of Dragons, whose mere presence allows other Dragons to rush forth from your hand, and whose actual arrival to the battlefield can even bring forth more Dragons from the top of your library. While throwing Dragons (and other permanents) onto the battlefield is certainly a lot of fun, this isn't quite the "building around keywords" type of thing we were looking for, now was it? In another universe where <em>Wizards of the Coast </em>hadn't brought back Protection to evergreen status, we would have had our number four in this list appear in the form of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animar, Soul of Elements" href="#" target="_blank">Animar, Soul of Elements</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. As it is, we'll have to wait for our number five ranking before we find a legend who gives us a keyword to build around, rather than just building around some (admittedly awesome) large flying reptiles.</p>
<p><a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/10-resized.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37096" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/5-resized.png" alt="" width="346" height="278" /></a></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tasigur, the Golden Fang"></div></div>
<p>There we go! <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tasigur, the Golden Fang" href="#" target="_blank">Tasigur, the Golden Fang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is rather expensive when looking at his CMC, but in all actuality you're rarely casting him for that much thanks to the inclusion of <em>Delve</em>, which gets even better since his activated ability puts more cards into the graveyard. Indeed, in a Sultai deck built around getting things into and out of the graveyard, it's not uncommon to see him come down for a single black mana, even with a few instances of commander tax stacked on him. Speaking of cheap, he's also the first commander on the list under the $10.00 mark, coming in at only 35 cents (as of the posting of this article)!</p>
<p><a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/10-resized.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37097" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/6-resized.png" alt="" width="350" height="278" /></a></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Omnath, Locus of Rage"></div></div>
<p>Perhaps one of the most popular and most commonplace keywords to grace commander tables everywhere, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Omnath, Locus of Rage" href="#" target="_blank">Omnath, Locus of Rage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> brings us one heck of a <em>Landfall</em> trigger in the form of 5/5 Elementals; not only that, but he also gets to tack a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lightning Bolt" href="#" target="_blank">Lightning Bolt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> onto each death trigger. It probably comes as no surprise, then, that Omnath is number 23 on the most popular commanders list. Being rewarded for playing lands, something you were already going to do, looks to be quite powerful on its face, but once you start building decks around it, it gets to a whole other level of ridiculousness.</p>
<p><a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/10-resized.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37098" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/7-resized.png" alt="" width="350" height="278" /></a></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder"></div></div>
<p>Speaking of things you were probably already going to be doing in a game of Commander, how about attacking? Casting spells, maybe? If you do manage to connect with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder" href="#" target="_blank">Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, you're rewarded with your spells casting other spells for you! <em>Cascade</em> is another popular keyword, sometimes just acting as a train to value town, while other times finding specific combo pieces through careful manipulation of mana costs in your deck construction. Pairing either of those kinds of upside with four-colors-worth of resources leads to great options, no matter how you swing it.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/10-resized.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-37099" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/8-resized.png" alt="" width="300" height="238" /></a></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow"></div></div>
<p><em>Ninjitsu</em> is a keyword utilized exclusively by the Ninjas of the <em>Kamigawa</em> block. Or at least, it was, up until <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow" href="#" target="_blank">Yuriko, the Tiger&#039;s Shadow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> crashed onto the scene in <em>Commander 2018.</em> Her slightly modified version of the Ninja keyword allows her to play switcheroo from the command zone when one of your creatures attacks and isn't blocked. The resulting combat damage allows both her and any other Ninja who happens to be getting through at the time to pull a reverse <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Confidant" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Confidant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, drawing you a card and having your opponents lose life equal to that card's mana cost. Add to that that the <em>Commander Ninjitsu</em> cost gets around commander tax, and it's not surprising that quite a few folks out there decided on dusting off their old Ninjas.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-37100" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/9-resized.png" alt="" width="300" height="195" /></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Trostani, Selesnya&#039;s Voice"></div></div>
<p>All right, so I may have exaggerated in the intro when I said that all of the new keyword commanders from <em>Commander 2019</em> allowed strategies that weren't possible before. In the case of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghired, Conclave Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Ghired, Conclave Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer" href="#" target="_blank">Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, it just allowed their keywords to be utilized in new color combinations. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trostani, Selesnya&#039;s Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Trostani, Selesnya&#039;s Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an example of another commander that could helm a deck based around the <em>Populate</em> keyword, which encourages you to play bigger tokens so you can keep on making copies of them. How <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Godsire" href="#" target="_blank">Godsire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> didn't make the cut in the <em>Naya </em>version is a bit beyond me, though....</p>
<p><a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/10-resized.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37101" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/10-resized.png" alt="" width="350" height="278" /></a></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Inalla, Archmage Ritualist"></div></div>
<p>And... another <em>Eminence </em>commander, straight out of <em>Commander 2017</em> and warping a power curve near you. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inalla, Archmage Ritualist" href="#" target="_blank">Inalla, Archmage Ritualist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is centered around Wizards rather than keywords, although that doesn't mean you couldn't get up to some serious <em>Prowess</em> shenanigans if you put your mind to it!</p>
<hr />
<h2>Honorable Mentions</h2>
<p>Let's be honest, you're disappointed that a third of this list is <em>Eminence</em> commanders, and so am I. Abilities which operate from the command zone have long been a controversial topic, and the general increase in power level stemming from them is a large part of that controversy. With that in mind, then, let's take a look at what our Top 10 would look like without any cards that have the word "commander" or "command zone" on them. From that list we'll also remove any commanders that share a keyword with another commander in <em>that</em> top 10 (which edges out <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karametra, God of Harvests" href="#" target="_blank">Karametra, God of Harvests</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xenagos, God of Revels" href="#" target="_blank">Xenagos, God of Revels</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kruphix, God of Horizons" href="#" target="_blank">Kruphix, God of Horizons</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Athreos, God of Passage" href="#" target="_blank">Athreos, God of Passage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Marchesa, the Black Rose"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Phenax, God of Deception"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest"></div></div>
<ol>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Praetor&#039;s Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa, Praetor&#039;s Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Proliferate</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Queen Marchesa" href="#" target="_blank">Queen Marchesa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Monarch</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tasigur, the Golden Fang" href="#" target="_blank">Tasigur, the Golden Fang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Delve</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Omnath, Locus of Rage" href="#" target="_blank">Omnath, Locus of Rage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Landfall</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder" href="#" target="_blank">Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Cascade</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trostani, Selesnya&#039;s Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Trostani, Selesnya&#039;s Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Populate</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marchesa, the Black Rose" href="#" target="_blank">Marchesa, the Black Rose</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Dethrone</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phenax, God of Deception" href="#" target="_blank">Phenax, God of Deception</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Devotion</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Historic</em></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest" href="#" target="_blank">Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <em>Prowess</em></li>
</ol>
<p>And there we have it! For those of you confused about our new #10, <em>Prowess</em> was dropped from evergreen status back in <em>Hour of Devastation</em>, allegedly for issues of complexity. That makes me doubt whether bringing back Protection was the right call, but I do still remember the old acronym D.E.B.T. (Damage, Equip/Enchant, Block, and Target), which makes remembering how Protection works a bit easier.</p>
<hr />
<h2>What Do You Think?</h2>
<p>With all of the keyworded commanders out and about from <em>Commander 2019</em>, are you excited that we're expanding on the list above? Are keywords something you'd like to see expanded on when it comes to future commanders, or would you rather <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> broaden their focus a bit?</p>
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<p>And finally, what are keyword mechanics you're building around?</p>
<p>Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the Mandatory <em>Monarch</em> tables soon!</p>


atraxa

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