Ulamog, the Ceaseless HungerUlamog, the Ceaseless Hunger | Illustrated by Michael Komarck

For the entire history of the game, Magic: The Gathering has been about conflict. Whether it's in the lore or the game mechanics themselves, conflict has always been at the core of what makes the game so compelling.

Although there are plenty of avenues for this, nowhere does it coalesce better than during the combat step.

With combat being more and more of the focus for Wizards of the Coast's Commander designs, I wanted to dedicate some time to this aspect of the game; namely, I wanted to give a little love to attack triggers.

In this article, we'll deal with the Top 10 attack triggers to hit the game since about Coldsnap. If you know, you know!

With this particular list, I wanted to do something different to rank the attack triggers of the cards in question: if I were to rank the triggers for every single card with an attack trigger, we'd be here for months before I put a single letter in the body of this article. Therefore, I'm only ranking legendary creatures.

The Ranking System

With that, let's look at how we'll be scoring and ranking these attack triggers:

1. Points Scale: This ranking will be based on a score from 1-5. Some of the triggers will look low when we get to the results, but this is to be expected. The higher the score, the better the ranking.
2. Efficiency Factor: This aspect of the scoring has to be a bit subjective, I'll admit. With this, we're looking at how strong the attack trigger is in a vacuum. Some commanders are highly dependent on other factors. Therefore, points will be docked here for dependency on the rest of the deck for functionality. Furthermore, if there's a downside (again, in a vacuum), there will be further points docked. Also, this list looks at these triggers through the lens of the Commander format.
3. Cost Factor: The third aspect sees the mana costs of the cards involved and integrates this into the score. This part is a little more objective:
   1. We're deducting 0.5 points for each mana symbol with a color in the mana cost, including the ones from the previous step.
   2. Third, we have to dock 1 additional point for each non-generic mana symbol beyond the first of each type.
   3. Finally, we dock 0.25 points times the mana value of the card.
   4. In the case of a tie, the lower mana value will win out, followed by the lower number of doubled non-generic mana symbols, followed again by the greater number of non-generic mana symbols overall.

With that, we have a final resultant score!

Without further ado, let's look at some nifty attack triggers!

#10. Ilharg, the Raze-BoarIlharg, the Raze-Boar

Our #10 entry is the Big Pig himself, Ilharg, the Raze-BoarIlharg, the Raze-Boar. This is its attack trigger:

Whenever Ilharg attacks, you may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Return that creature to your hand at the beginning of the next end step.

When discussing Ilharg's Efficiency Factor, we can't ignore that a) Ilharg needs a creature in hand to function, and b) it returns the creature to hand as the turn ends.

The second part slightly mitigates the first, but because of its dependency on that, we are deducting an initial 0.5 points for a starting score of 4.5/5.

Ilharg's Cost Factor is interesting, and may be its saving grace here to an extent (). We must remove 1 point for it having two non-generic pips and another 1 point for having two red pips. Finally, we remove 1.25 for Ilharg costing 5 mana altogether.

This leaves Ilharg, the Raze-Boar at 1.25/5. It's enough to put Ilharg at our #10 spot!

#9. Lord Xander, the CollectorLord Xander, the Collector

At #9 is Lord Xander, the CollectorLord Xander, the Collector. This legendary creature used to keep Commander players up at night during Streets of New Capenna previews because of all of the oppressive things he was theoretically capable of.

Many players ended up collectively agreeing not to use Lord Xander to pubstomp, it seems, so usage ended up not being so prevalent. Here's his attack trigger, nestled between a nasty enters trigger and another nasty death trigger:

Whenever Lord Xander attacks, defending player mills half their library, rounded down.

Lord Xander's Efficiency Factor docks no points as the ability is strong, even if it's frustrating to have to count your 99-card library for how many you have to mill.

As for Lord Xander's Cost Factor (), he loses 1.5 points for his three non-generic pips, and another 1.75 points for his mana value of 7.

This puts Lord Xander, the Collector at a score of 1.75/5. Ultimately, not too shabby for this list, but definitely not as high as the other entries on it. Let's press on!

#8. Sephiroth, Fallen HeroSephiroth, Fallen Hero

Our 8th-place runner-up for most powerful and efficient attack trigger in Commander goes to yet another Universes Beyond legendary creature. Sephiroth, Fallen HeroSephiroth, Fallen Hero is a very new card, just arriving from Final Fantasy's Commander precons last month. Here's what his trigger says:

Jenova Cells — Whenever Sephiroth attacks, you may put a cell counter on target creature. Until end of turn, each modified creature you control has base power and toughness 7/5.

Sephiroth's dependency on other creatures is his undoing for the #1 spot. For Sephiroth's Efficiency Factor, this card could've been great, but he's already a 7/5, so he can't exactly make use of his own cell counter granting. Therefore, we have to dock 0.5 points from Sephiroth here, starting him out at 4.5/5.

Next, the Cost Factor. Sephiroth () loses 1 point for having 2 non-generic pips. After this, he loses 1.25 more points for his mana value of 5.

This places Sephiroth, Fallen Hero at a 2.25/5 score. This is great, but as we're not even halfway there, the Top 5 is coming up.

#7. Anrakyr the TravellerAnrakyr the Traveller

The #7 spot on our Top 10 list of attack triggers for Commander comes from Universes Beyond's Warhammer 40,000 decks. Anrakyr the TravellerAnrakyr the Traveller displays a ton of strengths for his trigger, albeit at a bit of a downside cost. This is Anrakyr's trigger:

Lord of the Pyrrhian Legions — Whenever Anrakyr the Traveller attacks, you may cast an artifact spell from your hand or graveyard by paying life equal to its mana value rather than paying its mana cost.

In terms of Anrakyr's Efficiency Factor, you have to pay life for the spell you're casting. It's fine because it's entirely optional to use this trigger, but I'm docking 1 point for the cost and another 0.5 points for being dependent on other zones to be usable. This puts Anrakyr's initial scoring at 3.5/5.

For Anrakyr's Cost Factor (), he loses 1.25 points for his mana value of 5. That's all. This was a relatively simple factor!

As a result, Anrakyr the Traveller is scored at 2.25/5. This firmly places him at #7 on my list! The tiebreakers go to Anrakyr, having one fewer colored mana pip than Sephiroth.

#6. Raffine, Scheming SeerRaffine, Scheming Seer

Raffine, Scheming SeerRaffine, Scheming Seer takes #6 on this list. Raffine took a little while to get to the list as, while the attack trigger is there, it doesn't just trigger when Raffine attacks. It triggers when you attack with anything.

Whenever you attack, target attacking creature connives X, where X is the number of attacking creatures.

The Efficiency Factor for this trigger docks 0.5 points from Raffine as the discard for conniving so much can be considered a slight downside. As such, we start Raffine with 4.5/5.

Raffine has a great Cost Factor, though (). At only 3 mana value, Raffine only loses 0.75. However, three colored pips also dock an additional 1.5 points.

As such, I scored Raffine at 2.25/5. Tiebreakers between Anrakyr and Raffine go to the lower mana value.

The Top 5 is not the place for Raffine, but let's look at what occupies it!

#5. Ulamog, the Ceaseless HungerUlamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

At our #5 spot is Ulamog, the Ceaseless HungerUlamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. This bogeyman of 2015-era Commander boasts a simple yet horrifying attack trigger:

Whenever Ulamog attacks, defending player exiles the top twenty cards of their library.

Ulamog's Efficiency Factor for its attack trigger is so intuitive that even the freshest of Timmy players can understand its value. Therefore, no points are docked from the Eldrazi Titan here.

As for its Cost Factor, that's where Ulamog suffers the most (). Sure, it lacks any colors, so that's an easy thing to ignore. However, at 10 mana, it loses 2.5 whole points for being a very big creature.

This puts Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger with a final score of 2.5/5. It's a lot, but it's not quite enough to make it into the Top 4. Let's examine why!

#4. Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm

Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm's placement might come as a shock to some. After all, Etali is basically the poster child for impactful attack triggers in Commander. However, while I was similarly shocked, the data points don't lie!

Whenever Etali attacks, exile the top card of each player’s library, then you may cast any number of spells from among those cards without paying their mana costs.

Etali's Efficiency Factor is unaffected by any docks to points. The trigger is intuitive and still does something as long as you have an opponent. That's because even if you can't use or cast the top card of their library, you're still exiling it. So, Etali starts this process off with a full 5/5 score.

Ultimately, though, it's Etali's Cost Factor that does the Dinosaur in (). First off, Etali loses 1 point for having 2 non-generic pips. Next, it loses 1.5 more points for costing 6 mana.

This puts Etali with a final score of 2.5/5, same as Ulamog! However, there's a four-way tie to be had, as you'll see in a moment with our #3 and #2 spots.

#3. Carmen, Cruel SkymarcherCarmen, Cruel Skymarcher

This was perhaps an even bigger surprise to me data-wise than Etali not being higher on the list. Carmen, Cruel SkymarcherCarmen, Cruel Skymarcher's attack trigger is amazing, with or without a vacuum-sealed environment:

Whenever Carmen attacks, return up to one target permanent card with mana value less than or equal to Carmen’s power from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Off the bat, Carmen's trigger doesn't need much to be usable. It is a little bit dependent on Carmen's power to be high before it's stellar (and her base power is only 2), per se, but it still works right away and can get you lands if little else right away.

For that reason, I'm (albeit, only) deducting 0.25 points from her score for the Efficiency Factor, starting her off at 4.75/5.

Let's look at her Cost Factor now (). Carmen loses 1.25 points for her mana value and another 1 point for her colored mana symbols.

This concludes the scoring for Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher, putting her just above Etali at another wonderful 2.5/5! Because Carmen's mana value is lower than Etali's, she wins out on tiebreakers.

#2. Zur the EnchanterZur the Enchanter

At #2 on our list, we have one of the most iconic attack triggers in the game. Zur the EnchanterZur the Enchanter, one of the strongest commanders to come from the 2000s, is also remarkably oppressive in the format, though he may have dropped off a little in usage lately. Let's see where his trigger lands!

Whenever Zur attacks, you may search your library for an enchantment card with mana value 3 or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.

In terms of Zur's Efficiency Factor, I may have cheated a little bit here. For what it's worth, Zur's ability is dependent on his controller having enchantments with a mana value of 3 or less in their library. However, as a commander, Zur's pilot will probably be loading the deck up with cards that fit the criteria. So, with that in mind, I'm bending the rule one time and docking no points from Zur for efficiency.

However, Zur's Cost Factor bites him a bit (). We must remove 1.5 points for Zur's non-generic pips. Finally, we remove a final 1 point for his mana value of 4.

Zur the Enchanter ends up with a score of 2.5/5. As a tiebreaker, Zur costs less mana than Etali, Carmen, or Ulamog do, so he's our #2 pick!

With that, we head into our #1 best attack trigger on a legendary creature. With the stiff competition for our #2 slot, what could be even more impactful than the rest?

The #1 Best Commander Attack Trigger

At our #1 spot is Mirri, Weatherlight DuelistMirri, Weatherlight Duelist. This Cat Warrior from Commander 2017 has a nasty attack trigger that can easily break congested combat parity:

Whenever Mirri attacks, each opponent can’t block with more than one creature this combat.

Mirri has no downside to this effect, especially if you're going wide during your combat phase. In fact, the only downside I can think of is that it obliges your opponents to block as best they can during combat, which is not exactly a downside if you're in a good position for combat, so I'm not even chalking that down as an official issue, so, for Mirri's Efficiency Factor, we're docking no points and starting her at a perfect 5/5 initial baseline.

Now, the Cost Factor is a slightly different story here (). We first remove 1 point for Mirri having two non-generic pips. After this, we must dock 0.75 points for her mana value of 3.

Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist's final score is 3.25/5. This looks low, but when you consider the rest of the scoring, Mirri performs better than anything else on this list.

So, let's hear from you now. What attack triggers do you like to rely on in Commander? Do you have any picks not on this list? Sound off below!

And, if you like this article, be sure to check out our article on the Top 5 saltiest non-Game Changer Commanders!