Since their introduction at the very dawn of Magic, +1/+1 counter decks have been a consistently popular part of the game. Through these counters even the humblest of tokens can become a legitimate threat, to say nothing of the many combo lines they enable. If you want to build around +1/+1 counters in Commander, there’s a dizzying range of legends that allow you to do so. To help narrow down these overwhelming options, we’ve assembled the best +1/+1 Counter Commanders MTG has to offer.
Honorable Mention | Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian
Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian is an excellent +1/+1 Counters Commander based on its second ability alone. Getting to draw and Proliferate when a countered-up creature gets in is fantastic, especially on a Commander that can come down so early in the game.
Naturally, this plays well with evasive creatures like Ledger Shredder and those that grant evasion like Rikku, Resourceful Guardian. As you sneak your creatures in, they’ll become bigger threats over time, letting you win through sheer force of arms. Since Tidus lets you Proliferate so easily, it’s also possible to bring in Infect cards like Blighted Agent as a legitimate secondary win condition.
While this ability is the star of the show, Tidus’s counter-moving ability is no slouch either. With +1/+1 counter boosters like Hardened Scales, this can make you a profit just by shifting those around. It can also do much funkier things with rarer counter types, moving Arwen, Mortal Queen’s Indestructible counter onto Tidus itself, for instance.
5 | Voja, Jaws Of The Conclave
Voja is an utterly terrifying Commander, capable of turning mediocre boards into lethal threats in a single swing. Elves are notorious for their ability to go wide, and Voja lets them go tall as well, making token generators like Elvish Warmaster serious problems. It even offers incidental card draw by itself, and more if you throw in cards like Huntmaster of the Fells and Howling Moon.
Add in Ward 3, which really pushes Voja over the edge as a hard-to-kill engine in the command zone, and you have an excellent foundation for a +1/+1 Counters deck. You can take it even further with attack trigger doublers like Firebender Ascension and extra combat cards like Genji Glove, too.
Though Voja is held back by how type-specific it is, there are workarounds available. Cards like Maskwood Nexus and Mirror Entity can guarantee you maximum counters and/or card draw, for example. You can also invest in Changeling token producers, like Springleaf Parade and Belonging, to build a double-triggering army from the off.
4 | Ezuri, Claw Of Progress
Where most +1/+1 Counter Commanders focus on spreading the love across multiple creatures, Ezuri is all about going all-in on one. It’s not hard at all to rack up a ton of experience counters on Ezuri, whether it’s through token producers like Iridescent Hornbeetle or self-bounce creatures like Shrieking Drake. You can also bring in Proliferate cards like Thrummingbird to bump up your experience even higher.
Once you’re properly experienced, Ezuri can start making absolute monsters out of your creatures. Since you’re dealing with large quantities of counters here, doublers like Branching Evolution and Doubling Season will do a ton of work. You can also double Ezuri’s start-of-combat trigger with cards like Strionic Resonator to really take your beaters to the next level.
From here, all you need is some evasion granters like Herald of Secret Streams and Zegana, Utopian Speaker to win the day. Though Ezuri is a bit of a blunt-force option, it’s also a highly effective one.
3 | The Wise Mothman
In addition to being a very popular Mill Commander, The Wise Mothman is fantastic at the helm of +1/+1 Counters decks, too. Its second ability is the big draw here, getting out of hand incredibly quickly alongside mill pieces like Mesmeric Orb and Mindcrank. As this lets you place counters on multiple creatures at once, it’s great with boosters like Winding Constrictor.
What’s particularly nice about Mothman, however, is the fact that it fuels itself with its enters/attacks trigger. Dishing out rad counters all but ensures you a +1/+1 counter or two per turn cycle, on top of the other Mill shenanigans you’re pulling off. This also lets you tap into a secondary Reanimator plan if you so wish, making Mothman one of the more flexible +1/+1 Counter Commanders out there.
2 | Shalai And Hallar
As payoffs for placing +1/+1 counters go, Shalai and Hallar is one of the best there is. Whether you’re going wide and buffing your whole board with Abandoned Air Temple or stacking a single creature like Mossborn Hydra up high, it offers a ton of extra damage. You can make this even better by giving Shalai and Hallar Lifelink via Basilisk Collar or employing damage boosters like Uncivil Unrest.
By itself, this ability puts a pretty tight clock on the game, but it also goes infinite laughably easily. Simply pair Shalai and Hallar with The Red Terror or War Elemental, and you can ping the whole pod down in one turn. You can also pair it with Heliod, Sun-Crowned, for a Naya take on the classic Walking Ballista combo.
These combos let Shalai and Hallar compete at high-bracket tables, where +1/+1 Counters tends to fall off as an archetype. It’s also the rare combo Commander that won’t immediately draw fire at casual pods, which makes it a fine option in the lower brackets, too.
1 | Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice
As the fourth most popular Commander on EDHREC’s all-time rankings, Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice needs little introduction. While a lot of this popularity is down to its flexibility, it’s undeniably a great Commander for +1/+1 Counter decks specifically.
Getting a free Proliferate every turn is massive, essentially doubling your counter production, or more with cards like Loading Zone in play. This makes Atraxa particularly good when you’re going wide and placing counters en masse with cards like Cathars’ Crusade. With creatures that gain advantage from extra counters, like Fathom Mage, in the mix, this becomes a truly terrifying engine to face.
Throw in an excellent color identity and a ton of incidental synergies with other counter-based mechanics, and it’s easy to see why Atraxa remains popular. Though it’s an incredibly simple design, it’s hard to deny that it’s the best +1/+1 Counter Commander Magic has ever seen.
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