Hearthhull, the WorldseedHearthhull, the Worldseed | Art by Daniel Ljunggren | Teval, Arbiter of VirtueTeval, Arbiter of Virtue | Art by Alexander Ostrowski

The end of the year is a great time to reflect on the all the nice things that have come our way in 2025 when it comes to Commander. This year Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has printed 500 new cards that can be used as our commander, which is a ton of cards to keep up with. At this pace, it's super-easy to miss some really cool options, so I'm here to help!

For most set releases I do a review of each of the best and coolest new commanders, so if you missed any of those be sure to check them out -- I'll have links at the bottom of this article.

Today, I'm going set by set featuring the #1 commander according to EDHREC, and then highlighting a hidden gem you might have overlooked. Buckle up, we've got a wild ride!

Aetherdrift

#1 EDHREC: Hashaton, Scarab's FistHashaton, Scarab's Fist

Hashaton, Scarab's FistHashaton, Scarab's Fist, from one of Aetherdrift's precon decks, sits atop the heap, and it's no surprise; Magic players love to cheat creatures with powerful abilities onto the battlefield.

In this case, Hashaton can make a copy of a creature card you discard if you pay that three mana, but since the copy is a 4/4 black Zombie you'll want to ensure it's got some other ability that makes it worth the effort. Since Hashaton is Esper () it can easily helm a Zombie typal deck; many Zombies have special abilities you want, and many Zombie decks have a ton of ways to get creatures back from the graveyard.

You can also just jam a bunch of good quality creatures, cards that discard for profit, and grind your value. And since Hashaton only costs to cast, it's going to be incredibly easy to recast several times from the command zone when it gets destroyed or exiled.

Key Cards for Hashaton:

Hidden Gem: Redshift, Rocketeer ChiefRedshift, Rocketeer Chief

Redshift, Rocketeer ChiefRedshift, Rocketeer Chief is a great build-around card; add in ways to boost it's power and flavor with powerful activated abilities, up to its own exhaust ability. Equipment that enhances power is a great way to tie it all together since equip is an activated ability. You can lean into the exhaust abilities and synergies from Aetherdrift if you want, but I recommend sifting through your collection to find your favorite or fun cards with activated abilities to start your deck off.

And since Redshift is a Goblin, and some Goblins have activated abilities, you could even make this a Goblin typal deck that hits differently than most Goblin builds.

Key Cards for Redshift:

Tarkir: Dragonstorm

#1 EDHREC: Teval, the Balanced ScaleTeval, the Balanced Scale

Teval, the Balanced ScaleTeval, the Balanced Scale is another commander from the set's affiliated Commander precon decks, and since this is another value engine its popularity is no surprise.

You'll want to fill out the deck with self-milling, alongside ways to have cards leave your graveyard. It could be reanimation, or exiling cards for profit, or even loops with cards like Eternal WitnessEternal Witness and GravediggerGravedigger getting each other back over and over.

Don't overlook Teval's attack trigger, which should ramp you a land each time (assuming you're running the correct number of lands in your deck); you can even use cards like BrainstormBrainstorm or Sylvan LibrarySylvan Library to ensure your deck is stacked with a land in the top three cards before attacking.

Key Cards for Teval:

Hidden Gem: Eshki DragonclawEshki Dragonclaw

Eshki DragonclawEshki Dragonclaw is another great build-around; so long as you have roughly equal parts creature spells and noncreature spells that are cheap enough to cast two in a turn, you'll get that sweet trigger to draw a card and grow Eshki.

There are plenty of both sorts of cards that will also draw cards to ensure you make your land drops and keep double-spelling each turn. Keep in mind that casting Eshki during your first main phase will count as the creature spell you cast for the turn, so wait until you can double-spell to get that value right away.

Since this engine is so open-ended, you can customize the deck to your heart's desire with whatever cards or themes make you happy.

Key Cards for Eshki:

Final Fantasy

#1 EDHREC: Y'shtola, Night's BlessedY'shtola, Night's Blessed

Y'shtola, Night's BlessedY'shtola, Night's Blessed continues the dominance of commanders from the precon decks, and this one is also has built-in card drawing each end step if a player lost four or more life that turn - either an opponent, or yourself.

Black especially has ways to trade life for powerful effects to help you lose life if you can't deal damage to an opponent. Instant-speed ways to lose life or deal damage are particularly helpful since you can leverage multiple triggers in a round of game play.

Keep in mind that if an opponent attacks another opponent and deals four or more damage, you'll get that card draw trigger, which could have political implications for the game; opponents may decide not to attack each other so long as Y'shtola is on the battlefield, which could be awkward for you.

Key Cards for Y'shtola:

Hidden Gem: Kimahri, Valiant GuardianKimahri, Valiant Guardian

I really love cards like Kimahri, Valiant GuardianKimahri, Valiant Guardian, which scale nicely with the power level of the Commander pod you're playing in. If your opponents are jamming powerful creatures early, your commander can tap one down and join the party. You can pepper in +1/+1 counter synergies too.

Don't overlook the political deals you can make with Kimahri, agreeing to not tap down someone's powerful creature so long as it doesn't attack you! You can really lean heavily into Simic's () CloneClone effects to get a play experience that will be vastly different each game.

Key Cards for Kimahri:

Edge of Eternities

#1 EDHREC: Hearthhull, the WorldseedHearthhull, the Worldseed

Precon legends continue their dominance into Edge of Eternities with Hearthhull, the WorldseedHearthhull, the Worldseed, a legendary Spacecraft that's a legal commander due to a rule change allowing them.

Its first station ability is a powerful card-drawing engine, and the land sacrifice requirement is barely a setback if you build your deck with enough lands and plenty of ways to get lands back from the graveyard. Magic players love landfall cards and you can jam as many of them in your deck as you'd like.

I'm curious if people will be peppering in a good number of cards from the new Avatar: The Last Airbender set with the earthbend ability; if a land animated with earthbend gets sacrificed, it'll come back to the battlefield. Now that's value!

Key Cards for Hearthhull:

Hidden Gem: Sami, Wildcat CaptainSami, Wildcat Captain

Sami, Wildcat CaptainSami, Wildcat Captain's stats as a 4/4 with double strike and vigilance are already impressive for six mana, but giving your spells affinity for artifacts can lead to explosive turns, especially if you get to untap on your turn with Sami on the battlefield.

I'd look for cool, expensive spells you might not normally get a chance to play in Commander and put a few of them in your deck. One trick in building this deck is to include lots of ways to draw cards so you don't run out of things to cast.

Key Cards for Sami:

Marvel's Spider-Man

#1 EDHREC: Norman OsbornNorman Osborn

Norman OsbornNorman Osborn (or more correctly the Green Goblin flip side of Norman OsbornNorman Osborn) is another value-engine card so long as you build in ways to discard cards you want to cast for a discount with the mayhem ability. You can build this as powerful or as casual as you want, either setting up a big turn with the storm mechanic, using the mayhem discount to play an expensive and fun card ahead of time.

WotC has put out a bunch of cards lately that reward discarding so you can jam a lot of them into this deck. One thing I really like with these dual-faced commanders is you can play its expensive side first, and if it dies, you can play its cheaper side (plus commander tax) and then use the activated ability to transform when you're ready for shenanigans.

Key Cards for Norman Osborn:

Hidden Gem: Electro, Assaulting BatteryElectro, Assaulting Battery

Electro, Assaulting BatteryElectro, Assaulting Battery jumps on this list almost entirely because of the new firebending mechanic from Avatar: The Last Airbender. You normally have to use the mana from firebending during combat or it goes away, but Electro lets you bank unspent red mana as steps and phases end.

So you could use that mana in your post-combat step to cast a big spell, or hang onto it until your following turn to have even more mana available. Even if an opponent deals with Electro, its leaves the battlefield trigger can immediately spend that mana to deal damage directly to that opponent's life total in revenge.

It even pays you back a red mana each time you cast an instant or sorcery spell!

Key Cards for Electro:

Avatar: The Last Airbender

#1 EDHREC: Fire Lord AzulaFire Lord Azula

Speaking of firebending, Fire Lord AzulaFire Lord Azula has Grixis () fans excited for casting and copying spells during your combat step as Azula attacks.

While there are plenty of fun instant spells you'll want to cast and copy during combat, what's really wild is when you cast other types of cards with flash and copy those.

When I see these Azula decks on Arena, they all play Snapcaster MageSnapcaster Mage for huge, explosive turns. While many Grixis decks tend to lean towards control builds, I like that Fire Lord AzulaFire Lord Azula encourages a more aggressive stance.

Key Cards for Azula:

Hidden Gem: Yue, the Moon SpiritYue, the Moon Spirit

When I first started to noodle with the waterbend ability, it occurred to me one way to "break" it is to run artifacts that don't need to tap for some effect, and I quickly landed on Equipment as the perfect way to pay for some or all of a waterbend cost.

Yue, the Moon SpiritYue, the Moon Spirit has a powerful waterbend ability that you can set up by playing cheap Equipment cards early so that it can be activated for little to no mana, letting you cast something huge and impactful earlier than normal. Plus, if you're able to cast spells for no mana, that leaves the mana you do have available to pay equip costs.

Building a monoblue waterbend/Equipment deck sounds like a fun challenge!

Key Cards for Yue:

So, which new legends printed in 2025 are your favorites?

Best Commanders Set Reviews

The Best New Commanders in Final Fantasy

The Best New Commanders in Edge of Eternities

Best New Commanders From Marvel's Spider-Man

The Best New Commanders From Avatar: The Last Airbender