Commander Archetypes: Find the Playstyle That Fits You

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Most Commander decks follow one of a handful of plans. Knowing which plan you want makes every deckbuilding choice easier: which commander to pick, which cards to cut, and which upgrades are worth the money. Use the list below to find a playstyle that fits you, then jump to a precon or the Staples Finder to start building.

Quick overview

Tokens and go-wide

You make lots of small creatures, then make them all bigger at once. One anthem or overrun effect turns a board of 1/1s into lethal damage spread across the table.

• How it wins: A single big attack after an anthem or an overrun spell, or a slow drain from many small triggers.
• What it fears: Sweepers hurt you most, so keep a way to rebuild or protect the board.
• Good first commanders: Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Chatterfang, Squirrel General, Jetmir, Nexus of Revels

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Hail, Caesar, Calling All Angels, Family Matters, Keen Engineering.

Aristocrats (sacrifice)

You sacrifice your own creatures on purpose. Every death drains your opponents, draws you cards or makes more creatures, so a board wipe often helps you more than it hurts.

• How it wins: Many small life drains add up, then one big wave of sacrifices finishes the job.
• What it fears: Graveyard hate and players who exile instead of destroy.
• Good first commanders: Teysa Karlov, Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Wretched Ranks, Witherbloom Pestilence, Hail, Caesar.

Voltron and equipment

You make one creature, usually your commander, huge and hard to block, then win with 21 commander damage.

• How it wins: Three or four hits from your commander. It is the fastest plan against a table with few blockers.
• What it fears: Removal and bounce on your one big threat, so protection spells are not optional.
• Good first commanders: Wyleth, Soul of Steel, Sram, Senior Edificer, Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Limit Break, Scrappy Survivors, Wakanda Forever.

Spellslinger

Your deck is mostly instants and sorceries. Every spell you cast makes a token, copies itself or draws a card, so a turn with three cheap spells snowballs.

• How it wins: Damage from spell triggers, a huge copied spell, or a board of tokens made by your spells.
• What it fears: Taxing effects and counter-heavy tables. Build in enough card draw so you never run out of spells.
• Good first commanders: Talrand, Sky Summoner, Niv-Mizzet, Parun, Veyran, Voice of Duality

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Scions & Spellcraft, Prismari Artistry, Quick Draw, Jeskai Striker.

Graveyard and reanimator

You fill your graveyard on purpose and bring the best cards back. Your graveyard works like a second hand.

• How it wins: Big creatures returned early, or the same value creatures recurring every turn.
• What it fears: Graveyard exile effects. Keep a few threats you can cast from your hand.
• Good first commanders: Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Disa the Restless

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Revival Trance, Death Toll, Graveyard Overdrive, Sultai Arisen, Revenant Recon.

+1/+1 counters

Your creatures grow every turn as you put counters on them, and you double or proliferate those counters for more.

• How it wins: A board of oversized creatures, or one creature that keeps getting bigger and starts flinging counters.
• What it fears: Board wipes reset all that growth, so pace yourself.
• Good first commanders: Ezuri, Claw of Progress, Marchesa, the Black Rose, Ghave, Guru of Spores

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Counter Blitz, Counter Intelligence, Quandrix Unlimited.

Lands and landfall

You play extra lands every turn and get value each time one enters. Your deck has far more ramp than most.

• How it wins: Landfall creature tokens, damage from land triggers, or simply casting huge spells two turns before anyone else.
• What it fears: Land destruction and graveyard hate on your recursion.
• Good first commanders: Lord Windgrace, Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Omo, Queen of Vesuva

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Tricky Terrain, World Shaper, Desert Bloom.

Artifacts

Your deck is full of cheap artifacts that make mana, make tokens or trigger each other. Artifact decks are often the most explosive in the format.

• How it wins: A burst of free artifacts into a big attack, or a damage engine that triggers on every artifact.
• What it fears: Artifact wipes. Spread your threats so one sweeper does not end your game.
• Good first commanders: Sai, Master Thopterist, Breya, Etherium Shaper, Saheeli, Radiant Creator

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Keen Engineering, Living Energy, Science!, Deep Clue Sea.

Enchantress

You cast enchantments and draw a card for each one. Auras and enchantment creatures protect you and win slowly but surely.

• How it wins: Many enchantments working together, often with tokens or a big lifelinking board.
• What it fears: Enchantment wipes. Spread out instead of loading up one creature with auras.
• Good first commanders: Sythis, Harvest’s Hand, Tuvasa the Sunlit, Aminatou, Veil Piercer

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Miracle Worker.

Group hug and goad

You win by steering the table. Group hug gives everyone resources so you are not the target. Goad forces other creatures to attack your opponents instead of you.

• How it wins: Outlasting the table, then winning in a final turn when everyone else is low on life.
• What it fears: Focused combo decks that ignore politics, so keep some interaction.
• Good first commanders: Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, Ms. Bumbleflower, Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Peace Offering, Blame Game, Endless Punishment.

Typal (one creature type)

Every creature shares a type, such as Dragons, Elves or Zombies, and your lords and payoffs make the whole tribe stronger.

• How it wins: A big attack with a board of creatures that all buff each other.
• What it fears: Sweepers and lords dying at the wrong time. Run some type-specific card draw.
• Good first commanders: Lathliss, Dragon Queen, Ghoulcaller Gisa, Lathril, Blade of the Elves

Five core cards (all affordable or widely reprinted):

Precons that play it: Reign of Dragons, Calling All Angels, Wretched Ranks, Eternal Might.

How to choose

• Want simple turns? Tokens, typal and Voltron are the easiest to pilot. You mostly play creatures and attack.
• Like long, interactive games? Spellslinger, enchantress and group hug reward planning and reading the table.
• Enjoy big combo turns? Aristocrats, artifacts and graveyard decks build up to one explosive turn.
• On a budget? Tokens, aristocrats and typal decks work well with cheap cards. Lands and artifact decks get expensive at the top end.

Not sure yet? Paste a list you already own into the free Deck Checker. It shows what your deck does, what it is short on and which cards fit your commander.

Frequently asked questions

Can a deck have more than one archetype?

Yes, and most good decks do. Aristocrats decks usually make tokens, and lands decks often recur things from the graveyard. Pick one main plan and let the second support it.

Which archetype is best for beginners?

Tokens and typal decks. Their plan is easy to see, their cards are cheap, and many precons play them right out of the box.

Which archetype is the strongest?

At the highest power levels, fast combo and artifact decks win most often. At a casual table the best archetype is the one you enjoy and that your group finds fair, so check your bracket before you build.