What are the best cEDH decks? Our cEDH Tier List will sort the good from the great, and hopefully give you a clear jumping off point if you’re looking to make a high power Commander deck.
Below you’ll find the best MTG commanders for cEDH. Bear in mind that just because we didn’t put a particular deck in top tier, that does not make it bad by any yardstick. And don’t feel constrained by these options – there are plenty of cEDH decks outside of the top few that can bust out an MTG combo and pull off a win.
Tier 1
These Tier 1 cEDH decks are the cream of the crop, the most consistent tournament-toppers, and the archetypes to consider if you really like the taste of victory.
Kraum, Ludevic’s Opus and Tymna the Weaver
Kraum and Tymna, Tymna and Kraum. This pair of MTG partners has access to some of the best tools in cEDH, and plenty of versatility. Often called ‘Blue Farm’, for unclear reasons, this deck has lots of combo potential with the usual suspects of Ad Nauseum, Underworld Breach, and Thassa’s Oracle. However, its two commanders also allow it to play a longer, more interactive game, thanks to the absurd number of cards they generate.
Kraum, Ludevic’s Opus is ultimately the key to the deck’s gameplan, as he’s able to draw cards whenever opponents double spell (i.e. all the time). He can then nip in in the skies for damage, helping you to make the most of Tymna’s ability as well. But don’t underestimate the power of a three mana commander, enabling spells like Fierce Guardianship and Deflecting Swat from early on. Kraum and Tymna are top tier right now, a match made in heaven that forms one of the most consistent cEDH decks around.
Najeela, The Blade Blossom
Whereas most cEDH decks are digging for wincons, the Najeela player has their wincon already sitting pretty in their command zone. A five color deck is often a good place to be in cEDH, since you have access to all the broken cards across Magic: The Gathering’s history. It gets much better when those colors come from your commander’s abilities, not their mana cost.
With Najeela, The Blade Blossom you can play your favorite win conditions, but also find success through combat. With an exponentially growing horde, plus multiple combat steps, there are lots of ways to win with Najeela by taking advantage of combat damage triggers to provide you with sufficient mana to set off her ability again and again.
The classic combo in this case is Najeela, plus the untapping bird, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician.
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain is another five color commander that’s super easy to cast. This one has a slower gameplan than many of the other best cEDH decks, but is still incredibly potent. She’s all about setting up sufficient multicolored mana, then fetching up the perfect pieces to secure victory.
You see, Sisay has a built in MTG tutor ability, which can place any legendary permanent onto the battlefield. From MTG planeswalkers like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God to useful artifacts like The One Ring, to answers like Ertai Resurrected: with sufficient mana, it can be incredibly hard to outplay her.
Sisay is a unique and intriguingly complex cEDH option, rewarding you for having mastery of your deck, an understanding of the numerous options available to you, and knowledge of the most likely route to success.
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Do not underestimate the zero cost Commander. Being able to play Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh on turn one, regardless of what’s in your opening hand, is incredibly potent.
With Rograkh, you immediately get access to the Ikoria free spells which can save your bacon when you make a bid for victory. Meanwhile, Mox Amber functions like a piece of the Power 9, and you are guaranteed to have something to sacrifice for mana to spells like Culling the Weak and Infernal Plunge.
What does Silas bring to the table? Well, pretty much just the Dimir colors, which you’re depending on for your win cons. The deck wouldn’t work without him, but he doesn’t do much on his own.
Rograkh and Silas, or RogSi, is what’s known as a turbo cEDH deck, which means it wants to win really fast. You’ll explode out the gate in a shower of fast mana, looking to combo off on turn one or two or die trying.
Tier 2
These Tier 2 decks are still very mighty, but perhaps lack that razor sharp edge, that certain je ne sais quois of the previous tier. Some are just victims of their own success or popularity – as players are more ready to counter these strategies.
Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
While green is commonly considered the worst MTG color in the format, this Simic deck bucks the trend. The key to Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy’s success: just absurd degrees of MTG Mana Ramp.
Yes, this deck foregoes some of the more common win conditions in cEDH for big, stompy creatures. The average Kinnan deck has the likes of Hullbreaker Horror and Void Winnower that can end games on their own. You don’t even have to worry about playing around most counterspells, because Kinnan’s own ability lets you plop your creatures straight onto the battlefield without casting them.
Mana rocks are great in this deck, and you only need a Basalt Monolith and your commander to make infinite mana. This deck is very dependent on its leader, but that’s where Kinnan’s low cost pays off. Your opponents’ need to deal with your commander, but it’s quite unappealing when he can come back the first time for only four mana.
Tivit, Seller of Secrets
The newest high-power deck around, Tivit, Seller of Secrets has a lot of things going for it. It generates an absurd amount of clue and treasure tokens when it comes down or attacks. It’s in the Esper MTG color combination, so you can play a strong controlling game. It has access to some powerful combos. It’s evasive, and it has Ward 3, making it a nightmare to remove.
Obviously, you’re in blue, so Thassa’s Oracle awaits you as an easy wincon, but there’s also some great options involving flickering Tivit for resources. Or you can just tutor up Time Sieve, which combos with Tivit for infinite turns.
We were unsure if Tivit deserved to be in Tier 2 or Tier 1. It seems like he’s very heavily played right now, but achieves less consistent results – perhaps partly as a result of that popularity – than most of the other top decks in the format.
Kenrith, the Returned King
Kenrith, the Returned King is the swiss army knife of commanders. He makes for an interesting comparison with Sisay. Whereas Sisay can fetch up anything you need, Kenrith tries to provide all the tools you could require on one regal body.
Kenrith is best friends with cEDH staple Dockside Extortionist, able to set up combos that grant you infinite mana, and then use that mana with his own abilities to win the game. Another versatile commander that can be built in a number of different ways, the only thing that keeps Kenrith just a smidgen behind the top tier cEDH decks is his casting cost and the cost of his abilities.
Magda, Brazen Outlaw
A relatively new addition to the roster, Magda, Brazen Outlaw is a bit unusual, as she’s one of the few mono-color decks you’ll find this high up on a cEDH tier list. She’s also unique because her strategy involves packing patently crap low-cost dwarves into your deck. That’s because Magda can use those dwarves to make treasures, and then use those treasures to cheat any artifact or dragon from your deck into play.
There’s plenty of infinite combo potential here – like infinite treasures using Clock of Omens, however because the deck is a bit fragile, a failed attempt at going for gold is often disastrous. Instead, Magda players will often keep their combo options in their back pocket and tutor out powerful artifacts like Portal to Phyrexia, waiting for the opportune moment.
Originally people thought that Magda would drop off once she no longer had the element of surprise, but this doesn’t seem to have happened – in fact, she’s gone from strength to strength.
Tier 3 cEDH decks
Either a little bit slow or a little bit fragile, you can still pull off a win very easily with these decks, they’re by no means bad. But they lack the fear factor of some of the other cEDH decks on this tier list.
Marneus Calgar
Stepping away from the conventional MTG planes and into Universes Beyond, Marneus Calgar is our one and only MTG Warhammer 40k commander worth talking about for cEDH. The main things he has going for him are his Esper color identity, his consistent source of card draw, and his powerful (but expensive) activated ability.
A Marneus Calgar deck is a good fit for you if you’re a cEDH player, but you love token decks at heart. Your main goal with Marneus is going to be setting up infinite mana through a combo like Isochron Scepter and Dramatic Reversal, then drawing your entire deck with your commander. To ensure you get there, you can get plenty of value out of token (note that Marneus draws off treasures too).
The main problem with Marneus is he’s just a bit slow and expensive. A five mana commander that doesn’t impact the board immediately has an obvious downside.
Tayam, Luminous Enigma
Tayam, Luminous Enigma is a cEDH deck that’s built around its commander’s really weird and unique ability to remove counters and pull permanents out of the grave. This allows for all sorts of unusual combo shenanigans like repeatedly sacrificing undying creatures and taking their counters, or constantly untapping Devoted Druid for limitless mana.
You can throttle your opponents’ gameplans, resurrecting various stax pieces to make their lives a misery.
If you like bending your mind with lots of synergistic card interactions (and if you’re reading this, you probably do) Tayam can be a great Commander choice.
The big issue with her is that the deck is so commander-centric. Tayam is the glue that holds the deck together. If you can’t get her to stick to the board you’ll come undone. You also have to leave out a few cEDH staples to make room for all that synergy.
Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
Old Ob Nix may have lost his spark yet again, but at least as a legendary creature he has the honor of being a decent cEDH option. This is another commander-centric deck, and it’s what I’d call a glass cannon: this time Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin is both your main source of value and your key wincon. You just need to tutor up a few pieces to make the most of him – easily done in black.
If all goes to plan your opponents will die a death of a thousand cuts as you gain impulse draw and +1/+1 counters from each point of damage. Usual suspects like Reckless Fireweaver will help you out, and if you can live the dream and get an All Will Be One on the battlefield, it’s all over.
For more magical content, check out our guide to the best MTG Arena decks, and all the different MTG formats.
Source: Wargamer
