Niv-Mizzet RebornNiv-Mizzet Reborn | Art by Raymond Swanland

Hey, everyone! Following my series of articles on the most played monocolor, two-color, and three-color cards in Commander, today I'm tasting the rainbow and bringing you the most played five-color cards in the format.

To be clear, this week is all about cards with all five colors of mana in their casting costs. Next week, I'll bring you a separate list showcasing cards with rainbow activated abilities. So don't be surprised if smash hits like Sisay, Weatherlight CaptainSisay, Weatherlight Captain are missing for now.

There are 52 cards in Magic with rainbow casting costs. Many of them are splashy buildarounds for different Commander archetypes. And, unsurprisingly, more than half were printed in the last ten years. Did any classic gold cards make the list? Let's find out!

10. Sanctum of AllSanctum of All - 21,108 decks

Aside from inspiring the name of one of the most successful pro Magic teams in the last half decade, Sanctum of All is an all-star in Shrine theme decks usually led by Go-Shintai of Life's OriginGo-Shintai of Life's Origin (a little bit of a spoiler for next week's list!).

I'm happy to see just how potentially impactful Avatar: The Last Airbender will be on the archetype. Sanctum now has five more Shrines to search for. Meanwhile, Hei Bai, Forest GuardianHei Bai, Forest Guardian offers another splashy option for Commander while also slotting comfortably into the 99.

Shrines getting a refresh may be a good time to pack those Aura ShardsAura Shards and Fracturing GustFracturing Gusts!

9. Tom BombadilTom Bombadil - 4,953 decks, 17,635 as commander

Sagas are another enchantment subtype that got some love from Avatar in the form of a cycle of splashy mythics that all transform into must-answer threats.

Even without these new toys, Sagas is a popular theme to build around, with no commander being more popular than Middle-earth's Tom BombadilTom Bombadil. The God Bard ensures that you never run of gas, letting you chain Sagas together and even protecting himself as long as you do a little work to set your Sagas up before he hits play.

Tom is an excellent glue holding together all the rest of the Saga buildarounds, many of which help you reuse your enchantments, like Ghen, Arcanum WeaverGhen, Arcanum Weaver, Tameshi, Reality ArchitectTameshi, Reality Architect, and Satsuki, the Living LoreSatsuki, the Living Lore.

8. Omnath, Locus of AllOmnath, Locus of All - 11,503 decks, 13,598 as commander

Look what they've done to my boy! While not as adorable as my favorite card Omnath, Locus of CreationOmnath, Locus of Creation, the "compleated" version — in terms of both creature type and color identity — is a top 100-ranked commander enabling various archetypes, from Lands Matter to Legends to Phyrexians.

You do have to jump through some hoops to optimize Omnath, though I'd say making room in your deck for cards like Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide, Atraxa, Grand UnifierAtraxa, Grand Unifier, and Maelstrom WandererMaelstrom Wanderer is more "having a blast" than "laboring for love."

Playing an Omnath deck is like playing a bunch of different archetypes at once, and I'll always be up for that kind of Commander chaos. Don't leave home without Faeburrow ElderFaeburrow Elder!

7. The Kami WarThe Kami War - 26,497 decks

Sure, The Kami WarThe Kami War is a Saga that feels at home in Tom Bombadil or Terra, Magical AdeptTerra, Magical Adept, but it's also a Dragon, which helps it earn a slot in multicolor kindred decks, and a fantastic piece of disruption, which merits its inclusion in decks already set up to cast rainbow bombs, like Planeswalkers led by Jared CarthalionJared Carthalion or Jenson Carthalion, Druid ExileJenson Carthalion, Druid Exile's Jegantha companion decks.

Like other very powerful Sagas, this one gets supercharged by recursion and lore counter shenanigans from utility creatures like Garnet, Princess of AlexandriaGarnet, Princess of Alexandria, Sigurd, Jarl of RavensthorpeSigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe, and Goldberry, River-DaughterGoldberry, River-Daughter.

And, because you're playing five colors, you can just jam them all into your deck and go ham!

6. Maelstrom NexusMaelstrom Nexus - 28,174 decks

What is the mechanical identity of a five-color deck? One easy answer is, well, anything you want: Dragons, Shrines, enchantments more generally, legends; you name it, you can do it with rainbow mana. But, independently of the cards types and themes you actually build into your deck, I think the game's designers have shown us that playing five colors mechanically rewards you with a lot of free stuff.

You already did the hard work of building a deck capable of producing the rainbow, so why not double up on your spells with the cascade granted by Maelstrom NexusMaelstrom Nexus? Why not enjoy the freebie after hitting your opponent with Maelstrom ArchangelMaelstrom Archangel?

Heck, if you could already cast these cards, why not just cast every spell for ? Thanks, Jodah, Archmage EternalJodah, Archmage Eternal! More on this when we get to number 2 on this list!

5. Slivers

Here's the first of two creature types that have both proliferated across every color of Magic and that feature powerful rainbow commander options. While The First SliverThe First Sliver (4,794 decks Sliver-themed decks as commander) and Sliver OverlordSliver Overlord (old-bordered goodness at 2,677 Sliver decks) are a cut above the rest, likely due to their potential to net a ton of card advantage, many players favor perhaps more aggressive options like Sliver HivelordSliver Hivelord (1,155 decks) and Sliver GravemotherSliver Gravemother (1,086).

Perhaps it's most fun to jam a bunch of these into the same deck! Check out EDHREC's dedicated multicolor Sliver page to learn more about this sweet archetype.

4. Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier - 19,306 decks, 26,370 as commander

Jodah is to Legends what Bombadil is to Sagas: a commander who lets you play any card you want with that type and rewards you for building as much around that theme as you can. Legends is a very popular theme with a ton of creative, albeit more restrictive, options: Aragorn, the UniterAragorn, the Uniter, Dihada, Binder of WillsDihada, Binder of Wills, Ratadrabik of UrborgRatadrabik of Urborg, Saskia the UnyieldingSaskia the Unyielding, and more all pull you in slightly different directions. But Jodah will always be there promising you all the freedom and synergy you can squeeze out of a 99-card deck.

It's worth mentioning, too, that Jodah lets you run the full gamut of legends combos, from Najeela, the Blade-BlossomNajeela, the Blade-Blossom + Esika, God of the TreeEsika, God of the Tree to Ratadrabik and Boromir, Warden of the TowerBoromir, Warden of the Tower:

3. Dragons

Humans, Legends, and even Planeswalkers are all attractive options for multicolor typal decks, but Dragons comes out ahead in this article thanks to the plethora of giant monsters with casting costs, including top options like The Ur-DragonThe Ur-Dragon, who is the most popular commander on EDHREC at over 40,000 total decks, TiamatTiamat (a respectable 2,273 decks as commander and almost 33,000 overall), Scion of the Ur-DragonScion of the Ur-Dragon, and Two-Headed HellkiteTwo-Headed Hellkite (30,069 decks), the latter two of which are excellent inclusions in the 99.

2. Esika, God of the TreeEsika, God of the Tree - 30,266 decks, 21,552 as commander

If five-color is mechanically about doling out freebies, then Esika's other half, The Prismatic Bridge, may be the poster child for this design space. Every turn you get to flip a creature or planeswalker onto the table, which makes the whole package an attractive commander for themes like 'Walkers, Gods, Legends, and more.

Getting a critical mass of stuff into play supercharges your game plan and squeezes the most value out of enablers like Oath of TeferiOath of Teferi, Heroes' PodiumHeroes' Podium, Banner of KinshipBanner of Kinship, and others, depending on what you're trying to do.

1. Leyline of the GuildpactLeyline of the Guildpact - 70,198 decks

I've written about how powerful the rewards are for being able to produce five colors of mana. And, since there are a bunch of different directions you can take a multicolor deck that may not always overlap in terms of card choices, it makes a lot of sense that the most played five-color card is an all-in-one mana fixer.

It doesn't matter whether you're playing gold Dragons, Shrines, Planeswalkers, Legends, or soup, Leyline is a Chromatic LanternChromatic Lantern that will spot you its mana cost some amount of the time.

That isn't all Leyline does, by the way! Making all your nonland permanents five-color does some niche cool things, like turn Iridian MaelstromIridian Maelstrom into a Plague WindPlague Wind, Infinite Guideline StationInfinite Guideline Station into a hand refill, and Jared CarthalionJared Carthalion into an incredible pump spell.

It's Harvest TimeIt's Harvest Time

That was a fun list! There's just something so exciting about casting a rainbow bomb like The Kami War and being rewarded for your shameless greed with the bananas effects.

What's your favorite five-color card that didn't make the list? It has to be Niv-Mizzet RebornNiv-Mizzet Reborn for me. I just love how the concept of color pairs in Magic is spelled out in the rules text, in from what I can recall is the only instance in the history of the game. Let us know!