Best MTG Aggro Commanders

Commander is often regarded as a slower format where players get to utilize big bombs, but aggro decks still play an important role. There are plenty of fun, beatdown strategies available to punish opponents for taking too long to set up their board. While finding the strongest Commander options to lead the charge can be tough given the format’s vast card pool, we’ve luckily come to help narrow things down. Here are the best MTG aggro Commanders.

6 | Arabella, Abandoned Doll

Despite being just an uncommon two-drop, Arabella, Abandoned Doll packs a massive punch and can end games rather quickly with a wide board. The fact that Arabella’s trigger hits each opponent is a big deal in a multiplayer environment, and the lifegain trigger allows you to race other aggressive decks with ease.

To get things started, token makers like Jacked Rabbit and Secure the Wastes Secure the Wastes Create X 1/1 white Warrior creature tokens. are Arabella’s best friend. With the help of token doublers like Anointed Procession Anointed Procession If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead. , it’s easy to build out a big board in no time. From there, you really just need ways to ensure Arabella can keep attacking unscathed, making cards like Dolmen Gate and Whispersilk Cloak worthwhile inclusions.

Once you start attacking, you can increase damage output further via trigger doublers such as Delney, Streetwise Lookout Delney, Streetwise Lookout Creatures you control with power 2 or less can't be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater.
If a triggered ability of a creature you control with power 2 or less triggers, that ability triggers an additional time. , or Kirol, Attentive First Year. With the help of Impact Tremors Impact Tremors Whenever a creature you control enters, this enchantment deals 1 damage to each opponent. , Agate Instigator, and other synergistic damage-dealing sources, you should be able to end games in short order. Given how trivial it is to build around Arabella, this legend easily makes the cut.

5 | Bello, Bard of the Brambles

In order to maximize Bello, Bard of the Brambles Bello, Bard of the Brambles During your turn, each non-Equipment artifact and non-Aura enchantment you control with mana value 4 or greater is a 4/4 Elemental creature in addition to its other types and has indestructible, haste, and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, draw a card." , you need to play a high density of beefy artifacts and enchantments. While this may seem like an unorthodox game plan for an aggressive archetype, Bello’s triggered ability enables you to turn the corner very quickly. All the while, the card advantage Bello provides for connecting in combat with your animated threats ensures you can keep adding to the board.

With this in mind, your best artifacts and enchantments to play are those that push damage. Berserker’s Onslaught and Aggravated Assault Aggravated Assault {3}{R}{R}: Untap all creatures you control. After this main phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase. Activate only as a sorcery. are particularly powerful since they help you draw extra cards by dealing multiple instances of combat damage. When combined with stat boosters like Unnatural Growth and Coat of Arms Coat of Arms Each creature gets +1/+1 for each other creature on the battlefield that shares at least one creature type with it. (For example, if two Goblin Warriors and a Goblin Shaman are on the battlefield, each gets +2/+2.) , your opponents will end up on the back foot very quickly.

The only thing Bello lacks is the ability to grant evasion, but any Trample enabler from Garruk’s Uprising Garruk’s Uprising When this enchantment enters, if you control a creature with power 4 or greater, draw a card.
Creatures you control have trample. (Each of those creatures can deal excess combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.)
Whenever a creature you control with power 4 or greater enters, draw a card. to Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma solves that problem. In this sense, Bello decks really check all of the boxes, so it’s no wonder there are over 26,000 Commander decks to the Raccoon’s name.

4 | Isshin, Two Heavens as One

Isshin, Two Heavens as One Isshin, Two Heavens as One If a creature attacking causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time. revolves around its replacement effect, easily creating tons of pressure and value, to boot. Doubling the attack triggers of token generators like Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon and Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin is the easiest way to do this, creating a wide board with ease. This compounds with Aurelia, the Warleader, creating multiple extra combats.

If your onslaught of early tokens doesn’t kill your opponents, bigger bombs like Etali, Primal Storm Etali, Primal Storm Whenever Etali attacks, exile the top card of each player's library, then you may cast any number of spells from among those cards without paying their mana costs. , and Sun Titan Sun Titan Vigilance
Whenever this creature enters or attacks, you may return target permanent card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. can pull you ahead on resources later on. You can even double up on triggers from equipment like Sword of the Animist Sword of the Animist Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Whenever equipped creature attacks, you may search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Equip {2} and enchantments like Chivalric Alliance to pull further ahead.

Of course, since you need to attack for these triggers to work, you’ll want cards like Reconnaissance Reconnaissance {0}: Remove target attacking creature you control from combat and untap it. (If you activate during end of combat, the creature will untap after it deals combat damage.) and Ankle Shanker to protect your creatures. Plus, unlike Arabella, Isshin itself never needs to attack for you to get your money’s worth, so there’s a lot less risk involved. With over 30,000 Isshin decks out there according to EDHREC, this legend has become one of the most popular Commanders, period.

3 | Winota, Joiner of Forces

When it comes to pure explosive potential, few Commanders come close to Winota, Joiner of Forces Winota, Joiner of Forces Whenever a non-Human creature you control attacks, look at the top six cards of your library. You may put a Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. It gains indestructible until end of turn. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. . During the early turns, you’re primarily just looking to go wide with non-Human creatures, best accomplished with cards like Raise the Alarm and Hordeling Outburst.

This way, when you slam Winota, you can immediately attack and get a bunch of looks for beefy Humans to put into play. Angrath’s Marauders Angrath’s Marauders If a source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage to that permanent or player instead. and Blade Historian Blade Historian Attacking creatures you control have double strike. are great options for increasing damage, while Captain of the Watch Captain of the Watch Vigilance (Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap.)
Other Soldier creatures you control get +1/+1 and have vigilance.
When this creature enters, create three 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens. and Geist-Honored Monk net you additional tokens to attack with next turn.

Notably, some Winota decklists also emphasize Human hatebears such as Magus of the Moon Magus of the Moon Nonbasic lands are Mountains. and Drannith Magistrate Drannith Magistrate Your opponents can't cast spells from anywhere other than their hands. to keep opponents off-balance. This is quite common in cEDH, where Winota remains a somewhat fringe but decent Commander option. In either case, so long as you have cards like Boromir, Warden of the Tower Boromir, Warden of the Tower Vigilance
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, if no mana was spent to cast it, counter that spell.
Sacrifice Boromir: Creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn. The Ring tempts you. to protect your squad from removal, Winota will quickly create an insurmountable board presence.

2 | Edgar Markov

What makes Edgar Markov Edgar Markov Eminence — Whenever you cast another Vampire spell, if Edgar is in the command zone or on the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Vampire creature token.
First strike, haste
Whenever Edgar attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire you control. stand out is its ability to generate a big board without asking much, so long as you’re playing Vampire Typal. Thanks to this legend’s broken Eminence ability, Edgar continues to generate value during the early turns even when it’s not in play. This is particularly useful for facing down board wipes, since Edgar can rebuild with little effort.

Given that you have access to a consistent token engine, Edgar shells make great use of token doublers like Mondrak, Glory Dominus Mondrak, Glory Dominus If one or more tokens would be created under your control, twice that many of those tokens are created instead.
{1}{W/P}{W/P}, Sacrifice two other artifacts and/or creatures: Put an indestructible counter on Mondrak. ({W/P} can be paid with either {W} or 2 life.) , and payoffs like Caretaker’s Talent Caretaker’s Talent (Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
Whenever one or more tokens you control enter, draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.
{W}: Level 2
When this Class becomes level 2, create a token that's a copy of target token you control.
{3}{W}: Level 3
Creature tokens you control get +2/+2. . Your flow of small creatures also does a great job synergizing with cards like Welcoming Vampire Welcoming Vampire Flying
Whenever one or more other creatures you control with power 2 or less enter, draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn. or Sanctum Seeker Sanctum Seeker Whenever a Vampire you control attacks, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. .

Eventually, after building out a wide battlefield, you then have the luxury of casting Edgar Markov and buffing your whole team. Throw in some trigger doublers like Roaming Throne Roaming Throne Ward {2}
As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
This creature is the chosen type in addition to its other types.
If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time. , and your opponents are in a world of trouble.

Thanks to its ability to cover all bases, Edgar Markov’s extreme popularity at 50,000 decks according to EDHREC makes complete sense. Notably, this makes Edgar Markov the 3rd most popular Commander overall.

1 | Krenko, Mob Boss

Krenko, Mob Boss Krenko, Mob Boss {T}: Create X 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens, where X is the number of Goblins you control. is an absolutely terrifying Typal Commander that needs no introduction. Thanks to Goblins’ aggressive nature, its easy to build a quick board out of the gate, and double it with Krenko. Since this Commander’s ability is exponential in nature, creating a lethal board out of nowhere is surprisingly easy.

By using cards like Goblin Lackey Goblin Lackey Whenever this creature deals damage to a player, you may put a Goblin permanent card from your hand onto the battlefield. or Warren Instigator, you can get off to extremely fast starts with Krenko. Follow that up with token generators like Legion Warboss and Siege-Gang Lieutenant, and going wide is a breeze. Then, when you’re ready to activate Krenko, cards like Umbral Mantle Umbral Mantle Equipped creature has "{3}, {Q}: This creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn." ({Q} is the untap symbol.)
Equip {0} and Illusionist’s Bracers Illusionist’s Bracers Whenever an ability of equipped creature is activated, if it isn't a mana ability, copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy.
Equip {3} can double up on value. You can even win with attacking by using cards like Impact Tremors Impact Tremors Whenever a creature you control enters, this enchantment deals 1 damage to each opponent. and Goblin Bombardment Goblin Bombardment Sacrifice a creature: This enchantment deals 1 damage to any target. .

To this day, Krenko remains one of the most popular Commanders out there, accounting for 43,000 decks according to EDHREC. Given just how quickly Krenko’s army can spiral out of control, Krenko earns the title of best MTG aggro Commander.