#Magic: The Gathering – 20 Finest Wizard Playing cards for Commander – Destructoid
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The Wizard creature sort is a populous one throughout the historical past of Magic: The Gathering. Debuting in Magic’s first set, Alpha, in 1993 with the ever-present and not-quite-omnipotent “Tim” (aka Prodigal Sorcerer), Wizards have since turn out to be one thing of a mascot creature sort for the sport.
With over 1,000 Wizards now populating Magic, blue dominates the kind with over 500 Wizards of their ranks. Inexperienced brings up the rear when it comes to sorcerous sundries with solely 32 Wizard creatures. However all colours function no less than 30 Wizards, so it’s a creature sort that you simply’re positive to run into when taking part in Commander – however what are the very best Wizard playing cards for the format?
Seize your floppy pointed hats, a wand, a workers, a spellbook, or no matter talisman it’s essential to assist hone your spellcasting skills, and let’s discover the best Wizard playing cards for Commander.
Honorable Mentions
Voidmage Prodigy
A revelatory card upon launch, in addition to Magic Corridor of Famer Kai Budde’s Invitational card, this Wizard lord turns your whole Wizards into strolling Counterspells (the capitalization is merited, because the activation value for the flexibility is double blue. Whereas the sport has seemingly handed this card by, as a participant who got here of age in the course of the launch of Onslaught, I couldn’t stay with myself if I didn’t no less than point out this mighty morphing powerhouse Wizard.
Arcanis the All-powerful
Talking of Onslaught and highly effective Wizards, how does Omnipotence sound? No, not the one you’re pondering of. This legendary Wizard from Onslaught has a fairly unhealthy price (5 mana for a 3/4 with no evasion), however the bonus is which you can faucet it everytime you need to Ancestral Recall your self. Once more, the ability stage of this card shouldn’t be ultra-high, but it surely did retain its rarity upon being reprinted in 2024’s Foundations, and it additionally makes for an ideal reanimation goal for the primary card on our record correct.
High 20 Wizards for Commander
20. Bloodline Necromancer
Whereas nearly all of this record will function blue creatures, we’ll kick issues off with a premier black Wizard. Combining the black ingredient of reanimation with the wizarding ingredient of necromancy, this Vampire Wizard made its debut within the Commander 2017 launch.
Whereas 5 mana is pretty steep for a mere 2/2 flyer, it’s this creature’s triggered potential that basically sings, particularly when paired with playing cards that duplicate triggered skills corresponding to Panharmonicon. Merely gently place a threatening, mana-intensive Wizard or Vamp in your graveyard, then play this nifty little Wiz to get it again – no questions requested. Pairs properly with beefy Wizard lords corresponding to Cyclone Summoner and Galecaster Colossus.
19. Talrand, Sky Summoner
This legendary Merfolk Wizard hails from the core set Magic 2013, and it has lengthy been a favourite for spellslinging Commander decks. Whereas this card has turn out to be a bit out of date – playing cards are far stronger now than they have been in 2012 when this card debuted – the speed of manufacturing a 2/2 flying Drake token for each prompt or sorcery spell you play continues to be a nifty payoff for Wizard decks.
Talrand actually shines when paired with playing cards that double (and even triple) your token era, in addition to playing cards that double up your triggered skills, of which Wizard decks can fortunately apply multiples of. Nonetheless, that is an iconic card that may nonetheless be an essential cog in spellslinger Commander deck archetypes. Additionally, this card merely has an ideal identify, and “Sky Summoner” is an objectively cool title. It additionally occurs to precisely describe this fishy fellow’s creature-generating potential. When type meets operate, one can’t assist however smile.
18. Niv-Mizzet, Parun
There have been a complete of seven Niv-Mizzet iterations over time, with 4 them being Izzet-colored and the opposite three costing WUBRG (all 5 colours). This model of Ravnica’s legendary Dragon Wizard hails from 2018’s Guilds of Ravnica. This card is a Commander basic, because it permits you to draw a card each time any participant – not simply you – performs an prompt or sorcery.
This could activate fairly ceaselessly for you if you happen to’re the proprietor of this card, and this beefy Parun makes for a superb choice as your Izzet commander. Past that, a number of totally different variants of Niv-Mizzet go infinite with each other in addition to with Curiosity-style results that draw you playing cards upon damaging foes.
17. Docent of Perfection / Ultimate Iteration
The one true typal “lord” discovered right here is that this five-mana reworking Insect Horror from Eldritch Moon. Whereas the entrance aspect of this card is actually spicy for spellslinger Wizard deck variants, it’s really the cardboard’s bottom (Ultimate Iteration) that delivers a really spectacular enhance to energy and toughness in your myriad Wizards on the battlefield, together with those which are produced everytime you solid an prompt or sorcery spell.
Past the Docent’s sheer energy, this can be a singularly flavorful card that instantly references – and even options – a famend card from a previous associated set. Delver of Secrets and techniques stays a favourite archetype within the high-powered Legacy format, and its flipside, Insectile Aberration, is proven right here because the upgraded Docent, after which, in the end, the Ultimate Iteration, finishing the Delver’s transformation from devious Wizard to all-consuming Insect god.
16. Step By means of
Whereas not a Wizard creature, this five-mana sorcery incorporates a spicy little activated potential that’s completely suited to Wizard-focused Commander decks. Generally, there’s a selected Wizard you’re in search of, and also you merely haven’t been capable of finding it by way of the varied card-drawing mechanisms you could have in place all through your well-brewed Wizard deck. Enter Step By means of’s wizardcycling potential.
Pitching this card out of your hand and paying two mana to nab any Wizard you need out of your library is great utility, and retaining this card in hand for particular events can generally spell the distinction between utter defeat and clear victory. Moreover, it additionally works as an emergency double bounce spell as a final resort, however you’d undoubtedly favor to make use of it as a two-mana tutor spell.
15. Goblin Electromancer
A staple Goblin Wizard in Wizard decks and spells-matter decks of all stripes is that this Izzet card that initially launched in 2012 as a part of the Return to Ravnica set. Whereas it won’t be probably the most overpowered card within the historical past of Magic, the flexibility to easily decrease the price of your whole prompt and sorcery spells by one colorless mana is commonly sufficient to rework Wizard decks from plodding, finicky piles to well-oiled machines.
Wizard decks are sometimes targeted on reaching a important mass of spellcasting, and even when they’re not, the flexibility to decrease the price of counterspells, bounce spells, or different extra control-oriented performs makes this two-mana Wizard a jack-of-all-trades that matches neatly into virtually any deck that options its colours.
14. Flame of Anor
Launched in Universes Past: The Lord of the Rings from 2023, this card represents one in every of Gandalf’s most interesting moments: his defeat of the Balrog after the Fellowship traipsed by way of the Mines of Moria. Seeing as Gandalf is among the many strongest and iconic Wizards all through popular culture historical past, it’s no shock to see one in every of his signature moments captured with a terrific Magic prompt.
After all, Gandalf being the adept Wizard that he’s, this card’s modality is more practical while you management a Wizard as you solid it; as an alternative of selecting one in every of three choices, you get to decide on two of three choices – a supreme improve, particularly when one of many choices is drawing two playing cards. Probably the most used modes chosen in Commander are prone to be drawing two playing cards and dealing 5 harm to focus on creature, although the artifact destruction can also be a nifty choice if one in every of your opponents has a very annoying trinket on the board.
13. Balmor, Battlemage Captain
Wizard decks have gotten many boosts over time, particularly ones focusing on casting prompt or sorceries. Playing cards with prowess, or playing cards that present +1/+1 counters everytime you solid an prompt or sorcery are good suits inside a “spells matter” Wizard shell. One card that was first printed in 2022’s Dominaria United that completely suits into this theme is Balmor, Battlemage Captain.
This Izzet Fowl Wizard offers your whole creatures trample and a +1/+0 enhance everytime you solid an prompt or sorcery. The trample addition is essential right here, as merely boosting energy and toughness is commonly not sufficient for a gang of Wizards to recover from the end line – until they’ve flying, after all. Balmor additionally serves as a terrific finances choice as a Wizard deck commander, because it’s solely an unusual and was additionally reprinted in Foundations.
12. Wizards of Thay
An intriguing and extremely synergistic Human Wizard, Wizards of Thay hails from the Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate set, which unveiled your complete group that was featured within the award-winning RPG from Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3, alongside this 3/3 Wizard with the fairly uncommon myriad key phrase (solely 32 playing cards in Magic’s historical past function this potential).
Debuting in Commander 2015 on the cardboard Broodbirth Viper, this potential permits the creature that hosts the flexibility to duplicate itself and assault one another participant in your Commander pod. With Wizards of Thay, that is particularly helpful, as which means it may possibly decrease the price of your prompt and sorcery spells by a whopping 4 colorless mana. Oh, and this card additionally permits sorcery spells to be solid at instant-speed. As such, fight can really turn out to be a nightmare for foes to take care of while you’re swinging away with Wizards of Thay.
11. Archmage Emeritus
This card initially launched in Strixhaven: College of Mages from 2021, and it options the magecraft potential. Not like many different Wizard playing cards, magecraft permits gamers to profit from not solely casting spells, but additionally from copying them. It is a notable bonus, as different Wizards on this record in addition to a bevy of spells can copy your instants and sorceries with ease.
Having the ability to draw playing cards upon taking part in or copying your spells is huge recreation, as Wizard decks at all times need to have a number of solutions in hand lest their foes purpose to quash their well-laid plans. Not too long ago reprinted in Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander, this card is gearing as much as be a Commander staple, as its common worth level above $4 throughout all printings signifies.
10. Ertai Resurrected
Ertai has been a notable a part of Magic lore for many years, and his identify is featured on a complete of seven playing cards, together with three distinct playing cards of the person himself. Whereas the unique Ertai card, Ertai, Wizard Adept from Exodus, is considerably underpowered by at the moment’s requirements and his follow-up card, Ertai, the Corrupted from Planeshift is barely a distinct segment Commander choice, it’s 2022’s Ertai Resurrected from Dominaria United that really shines throughout a number of codecs.
Whereas a 3/2 for 4 mana isn’t nice, the flexibility to counter a variety of results (spells, activated skills and triggered skills) or destroy a creature or planeswalker when Ertai enters makes this card an incredible Swiss Military knife that may reply plenty of “kill-on-sight” threats, typically in a stunning manner, as the truth that this card counters triggered skills can actually stymy a foe’s recreation plan in sudden methods.
9. Thassa’s Oracle
Whereas Laboratory Maniac can also be a Wizard, it’s this two-mana Merfolk Wizard that deserves a spot on this record. Positive, the skills are comparable, however Thassa’s Oracle permits you to have no less than a couple of playing cards in your library for its instant-win situation, whereas the Maniac leaves you fully denuded of something in your library.
Past that, in case your board is affected by loads of blue pips after taking part in playing cards corresponding to Future Sight, Arcanis the All-powerful, Azami, Woman of Scrolls or some other playing cards with blue of their casting value – which, if you happen to’re taking part in Wizards, will possible be most of them – then the flexibility to win the sport on the spot turns into even simpler, making this difficult little Merfolk an unassuming but powerhouse menace for Wizards.
8. Basalt Ravager
This enjoyable finisher hails from the Kaldheim set, which launched plenty of Large typal synergies. After all, this Ravager simply occurs to be a Large Wizard, so this card’s potential may also be used to good impact in Wizard decks that need to stack the board with Wizard tokens or different cheap Wizard playing cards.
The true enjoyable of this card is if you happen to can duplicate the flexibility with playing cards corresponding to Naban, Dean of Iteration, Harmonic Prodigy, or Strionic Resonator (or, if you happen to actually need to get loopy, all three). Having the ability to blast any goal – possible an opponent – for, let’s say, eight harm three or 4 occasions will virtually actually be sufficient to complete them off. This card is a ravager, certainly.
7. Riptide Laboratory
One other solution to re-trigger a few of your Wizards’ finest skills is with this nifty little utility land. Initially releasing amidst the typal cornucopia of 2002’s Onslaught, this nonbasic permits you to faucet it and pay one colorless and one blue mana to return any one in every of your Wizards to your hand. After all, this can be utilized to save lots of that creature from removing, or to easily ambush your foes with the varied robust ETB results that Wizard playing cards are residence to.
For instance, return your Ertai Resurrected to your hand for future countering skills. Or convey again your Basalt Ravager to dome your foe for large harm primarily based on the variety of Wizards you could have. Or return your Bloodline Necromancer to your hand to reanimate one other big-time menace out of your graveyard. The chances are practically limitless, so toss this land in your subsequent Wizard-based Commander deck and don’t look again.
6. Adeliz, the Cinder Wind
With a capability much like Balmor, Adeliz is definitely the marginally stronger choice, although she lacks the useful trample key phrase, and he or she is barely restricted to boosting Wizards – not all creatures. Nonetheless although, in a Wizards typal deck, that needs to be just about all of your creatures anyway, in order that limitation shouldn’t adversely have an effect on the influence this unusual Izzet legendary from the Dominaria set has on the sport.
This card having haste makes it fairly the potent menace, as you possibly can throw it down after which instantly assault. Then, subsequent flip, the enjoyable can actually start. Whether or not you could have a deck stuffed with powerhouse purple fight methods or different enjoyable shenanigans, your whole Wizards going ahead will get a +1/+1 enhance everytime you play an prompt or sorcery. Mix that with cost-reducing playing cards like Wizards of Thay or Goblin Electromancer, and also you’ve received the makings of an unstoppable freight practice that your opponents higher act shortly to cease or they’ll be toast.
5. Dualcaster Mage
This enjoyable three-mana Human Wizard debuted within the Commander 2014 set and is a notable piece of tech for spellslinger decks, particularly people who make use of a important mass of Wizards. This card is notable for with the ability to go infinite in a wide range of methods, like with Twinflame, Molten Duplication and even Noticed in Half from the “Un-set” Unfinity.
This card pairs fantastically with Archmage Emeritus, as you’re in a position to attract a card on the casting in addition to on the copying of the spell you select to duplicate. It might probably additionally put you far forward on board when paired with one other notable legendary Wizard…
4. Naban, Dean of Iteration
Top-of-the-line methods to maximise the plethora of ETB triggers that Wizard playing cards make use of is through this legendary Human Wizard from 2018’s Dominaria set. Having the ability to double up any skills that pop upon your Wizards getting into the battlefield is definitely going to be a large swing in favor inside your well-crafted Wizards deck.
Do observe that this potential consists of playing cards’ skills which are already on the battlefield (corresponding to Docent of Perfection’s or Talrand, Sky Summoner’s) in addition to playing cards with the precise ETB impact (corresponding to Basalt Ravager or Ertai Resurrected).
3. Azami, Woman of Scrolls
Initially printed in 2004’s Champions of Kamigawa set, this legendary Human Wizard options an incredible activated potential: Merely faucet an untapped Wizard you management to attract a card… that’s it! It is a good impact, as Wizards typically care about drawing a card or function playing cards which are in a position to go infinite through card-drawing combos (taking a look at you, Niv-Mizzet).
Definitely, Azami can go infinite with a number of totally different playing cards, corresponding to previous fabled combo-enablers like Thoughts Over Matter and Intruder Alarm, however maybe Azami’s finest infinite combo companion is The Locust God from 2017’s Hour of Devastation– as you may get infinite card draw, infinite draw triggers and different candy payoffs together with plenty of playing cards that play with creature varieties.
2. Inalla, Archmage Ritualist
Maybe the most suitable choice to decide on as your Wizard commander is that this legendary Grixis Human Wizard that was initially launched within the Commander 2017 set. That includes the eminently uncommon eminence potential (see what I did there?), this Wizard permits you to duplicate any nontoken Wizard that enters the battlefield underneath your management by paying one colorless mana, although these tokens are exiled at finish of flip.
Nevertheless, with the proper combos of playing cards – corresponding to playing cards with impactful ETB triggers – Inalla is usually a nightmare matchup. As a commander, Inalla is a top-flight alternative for Wizard decks as she opens up the very best choices in that creature sort’s most populous colours: blue, black, and purple. After all, whereas her eminence potential is the eyebrow-raiser, her different potential is the one that may finish video games shortly with some spicy combos, as tapping 5 untapped Wizards to power the goal participant to lose seven life is fairly trivial in the proper circumstances.
1. Harmonic Prodigy
Most of the playing cards on this record function game-breaking triggered skills or stupendously highly effective ETB skills and others, like Naban, Dean of Iteration, can double up these triggers as long as they’re ETB skills. What if there was a two-mana Wizard that would double up any triggered potential, whether or not they be ETBs or static ones? You’d get Harmonic Prodigy.
This card pulls double obligation as an incredible enabler for each Wizard and Shaman typal methods, however in a Wizard-focused deck, Harmonic Prodigy is the engine that makes your total deck hum. Wish to draw one other card through Archmage Emeritus? Positive factor. How about doubling up tokens created by Docent of Perfection, Talrand or Inalla? You bought it. Doubling up the ability and toughness enhance Wizards obtain from Adeliz? Harmonic Prodigy’s received you. This card’s supreme utility and energy can’t be overstated, and to prime all of it off, it’s received prowess, so it will get a +1/+1 energy and toughness enhance (really +2/+2 as a result of it’s a triggered potential) everytime you solid an prompt or sorcery spell. A tremendous creature from Fashionable Horizons 2, and undoubtedly the very best Wizard card for Commander ever printed.
Wizards For the Win
Maybe it’s as a result of the Wizard creature sort shares a reputation with the mother or father firm that’s been answerable for Magic: The Gathering since its founding in 1993, Wizards of the Coast. Or maybe it’s merely that followers of the fantasy style take pleasure in a personality who can make use of magic to succeed. Both manner, Wizards will stay a preferred and essential a part of Magic perpetually, and I hope you loved studying about the very best studious spellslingers in Commander.
