Zetalpa, Primal DawnZetalpa, Primal Dawn | art by Chris Rallis

For years now Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has really focused on Commander across all of its Magic set releases with more and more legendary creatures that can helm Commander decks. 2020 marked a huge jump in the number of new legendary creatures, and then 2022 made an even bigger jump.

Notably, 2024 pulled back just a bit on the sheer volume of new commanders, but at 338 revealed so far, 2025 is set to be another banner year at these huge volume levels we've been living in.

One consequence to the "Commanderization" of all Magic set releases is the need to make a good percentage of the legends powerful enough that you'd want to play them in your competitive Standard or Modern decks. This means making them incredibly efficient and powerful for a dual environment, within a relatively limited card pool environment.

The ripple effect being that some number of these powerful and efficient legends, when you take them into a card pool that includes nearly every Magic card ever printed, put pressure on the format to exclude many of the less efficient cards that have made Commander the most popular way to play Magic on the planet.

There is pressure to run cheap, efficient, pinpoint creature removal so you can interact with these incredibly powerful commanders, and then there's also pressure to end the game more quickly so that those same commanders can't be redeployed and stick around long enough to take over the game. Which all makes it much more difficult to play higher cost commanders that can be answered so cheaply, assuming that the game isn't already almost over with.

I took a look at the new commanders released or previewed so far this year by mana value, and a whopping 91% are five mana or less; almost 50% are three mana or less.

Now, as long as WotC continues pushing legendary creatures in booster products aimed at competitive Magic, this sort of issue isn't going away.

Thankfully, we do have the Commander Bracket system that can help allocate a lot of the more busted, cheaper commanders into the Optimized or cEDH (Brackets 4 or 5) pods where the games go hard and fast.

Commander Brackets information

If you like playing in the lower brackets where more social-focused deckbuilding resides, I'm here to urge you to consider higher mana value commanders. And I don't mean ones with eminence that sit in the command zone and still impact your game starting on turn one.

And I also don't mean something like Ghalta, Primal HungerGhalta, Primal Hunger that technically costs twelve mana to cast but is often cast for much, much less.

I mean cards like the other versions of Ghalta, that cost a significant mana investment but make a big splash when they hit the battlefield. When you play these sorts of commanders, it lets the game breathe for a while before the commanders hit the battlefield and start to impact the game.

Everyone has time to set up their game plan - ramping mana, deploying utility artifacts and enchantments, summoning quality creatures that will kick things into higher gear once the commander comes calling.

But why else should you give high mana value creatures a whirl?

Spells That Get Better

WotC has designed cards that get more and more powerful the higher the mana value of your commander, and I really like these as payoff cards.

Stinging StudyStinging Study and Imposing GrandeurImposing Grandeur draw cards equal to the mana value of your commander whether it's in play or in the command zone.

What's particularly nice about drawing those extra cards is that it helps you keep making your land drops, something that's vitally important when you have higher mana cost creatures.

If you're ramping up to a high mana value commander, you might as well play Majestic GenesisMajestic Genesis, which can be absolutely bonkers if you hit right, but even if you're mostly hitting smaller impact permanents, you're bound to get a few lands with it, which will help you cast your commander and might even pay commander tax if needed.

Mass removal is one way to help you survive long enough to get a higher mana value commander online, and CloudkillCloudkill is one way to sweep up the battlefield, even in the face of indestructible creatures. It's particularly good if your commander has a higher toughness than its mana value.

Tangleweave ArmorTangleweave Armor and Cactus PreserveCactus Preserve are cool ways to get a huge creature onto the battlefield before you get your commander out; just make sure you don't activate Preserve if an opponent has mana for instant speed removal since you'd hate to be set back a land on your quest to play a high mana commander.

The Visions cycle is pretty cool; the cards themselves aren't exceptionally powerful, but getting to significantly reduce the flashback cost can make them worthwhile if the card fits into the themes of your deck.

I'd really like to see Wizards of the Coast produce more cards like all of these to reward players for not chasing low mana cost and highly efficient commanders, especially colorless spells that can be slotted into any high mana value commander deck regardless of color.

A Built-In Mini-Quest

Since there's typically just one winner of any particular Commander game, that means each other player will "lose," so I've found it important to build mini-quests into my decks I can strive to complete so that, even if I lose, I win! A few years back I wrote a pretty cool article about that if you want to read more: How To Win Every Game Of Commander You Play.

When you play a commander that costs a bunch of mana to cast, trying to get to that point is a journey in itself. Between hunting for ways to ramp and surviving early onslaughts, getting to finally cast your commander can be a win in itself, especially if you get to untap with it on the battlefield!

I have a deck built around Zetalpa, Primal DawnZetalpa, Primal Dawn that's fun to play. It costs a whopping eight mana to cast it from your command zone for the first time! I certainly have a fair amount of the mana rocks you'd expect, with a few spicy choices.

Discerning FinancierDiscerning Financier will usually give you a Treasure token each turn, which can definitely be helpful in ramping up to eight mana, but if for some reason you don't need the Treasure you can donate it to draw a card.

I'm running a fair number of legendary creatures, so Relic of LegendsRelic of Legends will often generate a bunch of mana, and importantly give you access to a mana after Zetalpa hits the battlefield. And Gilded LotusGilded Lotus ramps you from five to eight mana all on its own.

I'm also running the classic Land TaxLand Tax and Scroll RackScroll Rack combo, which both ensures you hit land drops each turn and also gives you access to fresh new cards each turn.

Lotus FieldLotus Field is a card I always make room for in mono-white decks since it reduces your actual land count without setting you back on your total mana. Having less lands powers up a bunch of cards, in addition to Land TaxLand Tax, there's Weathered WayfarerWeathered Wayfarer and Knight of the White OrchidKnight of the White Orchid.

Don't Leave Home Without Sweepers

To ensure you survive long enough for your high mana commander to make a difference in the game, run a fair number of ways to reset the battlefield in case things are getting out of hand.

In my Zetalpa deck I've got Cleansing NovaCleansing Nova and Vanquish the HordeVanquish the Horde for clean sweepers, and I'm also running Elesh Norn, Grand CenobiteElesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to kill off a bunch of small token creatures and shrink larger threats. Elesh Norn also makes a good removal "lightning rod" to encourage opponents to play that cheap Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares on it rather than Zetalpa.

I've got a lot of really good creatures in the deck that cost less than Zetalpa that count as lightning rods, and each one that demands removal is one less you need to worry about hitting your commander.

Protect the Queen

I don't really believe in playing a bunch of ways to protect my commander if it's cheap since you can always just replay it once or twice, but when your commander is expensive that commander tax can really be prohibitive. So you'll want to include ways to protect your commander once it hits the battlefield, ideally costing little or no mana since you'll often use all your mana just to get it out there.

Even though Zetalpa protects itself to some degree, I still have a handful of cards like Mother of RunesMother of Runes and Clever ConcealmentClever Concealment to protect from at least the first bit of removal pointed in its direction.

I'm also running other powerful lightning-rod creatures to draw out that pinpoint removal.

Boromir, Warden of the TowerBoromir, Warden of the Tower demands pinpoint removal first before someone can effectively sweep the battlefield of your creatures. Battle Angels of TyrBattle Angels of Tyr represents a bunch of damage and value each time you attack, and God-Eternal OketraGod-Eternal Oketra is very difficult to permanently deal with, and in the meantime it hits hard and spits out 4/4 tokens.

Guardian ScalelordGuardian Scalelord and Sun TitanSun Titan represent a lot of recursive value and are particularly obnoxious when bringing back Boromir. And if you have any number of creatures, Baldin, Century HerdmasterBaldin, Century Herdmaster's attack trigger can be positively lethal.

The Cool Factor

Higher mana value commanders are just cooler in a world filled with lower mana, more efficient legends. When someone strolls into the pod wielding one of those commanders, you know what to expect.

They come out quick, they do their thing, and immediately impact the game and will often demand answers early and often. The rhythm of the game is predetermined.

Higher mana creatures are often impressively large, and have text boxes full of abilities that do cool things, and since it's a higher mana value commander, many of your opponents will have rarely faced it before.

While they may fear it, they will also be curious about it, and may cut you a little slack just to see it in action. No one is going to cut a Yuriko deck any slack, or be curious to see how it plays out. Everyone knows what it does!

Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord is the #7 most popular commander from the past two years on EDHREC, but beyond the name "Sauron" the card isn't particularly cool because it's just obscenely powerful and difficult to deal with. As a fan of Lord of the Rings, I was very interested in building a Sauron deck, but I chose to build around Sauron, Lord of the RingsSauron, Lord of the Rings instead, which is ranked #494!

When I break out the deck, it gives that sweet Tolkien villain vibes, but attached to a body that most people haven't played against. It's mostly an Orc typal deck, which got a big boost from the Magic set The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, but I've got a fair number of large cycling creatures so that when I play Sauron I'll be able to reanimate one of them with its enters trigger.

What High Mana Value Commander Will You Pick?

There are some really nifty commander options at the higher end of the mana curve. Here are ones from this year that I'd recommend giving a try!

What's your favorite high mana value commander?

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