Spellslinger decks, or those that aim to cast a ton of noncreature spells for profit, are incredibly popular in Commander, and for good reason. The archetype provides the exciting, game-action-rich turns of Combo decks, but with less deterministic, more skill-dependent outcomes.
As a result, the archetype has received a ton of support over time, with a lot of legendary creatures in particular being printed to represent it. If you’re struggling to choose between all of these excellent options, then these are our picks for the best Spellslinger Commanders in MTG.
Honorable Mention | Y’Shtola, Night’s Blessed
Y’shtola is unusual among Spellslinger Commanders in that it asks you to cast spells that cost three or more in order to receive your payoff. While that forces a different direction for this Commander, it’s easily built around with ‘free’ spells like Frantic Search. Since it only cares about cost and not mana spent, cost reducers like Lyse Hext and Valeria Richards, Precocious are a great help, too.
Once you get your spells going, Y’shtola offers a reasonable drain effect, which, in an unusual twist, actually damages your opponents. This lets you use cards like Curiosity and Ophidian Eye as insane draw engines, converting every spell cast into three cards drawn. Factor in Y’shtola’s built-in draw, which you can trigger on opponents’ turns as well, and you’ll rarely find yourself empty-handed.
While it’s powerful, Y’shtola’s ‘mana value 3 or greater’ clause and her unusual color identity ultimately make her a lot less widely useful. For that reason, she’s only an honorable mention here, though it is notable for offering a non-Izzet Commander option for the archetype.
5 | Niv-Mizzet, Parun
While six-mana Dragons in Magic are rarely serious Commander options, Niv-Mizzet, Parun is the exception. Once it’s in play, all of your cheap spells like Ponder and Into the Flood Maw become damaging cantrips, letting you control the board with ease.
Niv-Mizzet’s ability also unlocks combo lines with cards like Curiosity and Tandem Lookout, which let you draw your whole deck. This will often be enough to burn the table down in one fell swoop, especially alongside damage multipliers like Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph. Even if it isn’t, however, emptying your deck is an easy way to set up a swift Thassa’s Oracle win.
Because of these explosive combo options, and the fact that its ability triggers on opposing spells too, Niv-Mizzet, Parun is a regular in cEDH. It’s also a terror in lower brackets, where it punishes fair creature decks hard with every turn it remains in play.
4 | Storm, Force Of Nature
Many Spellslinger decks in Commander end up as Storm decks, such is the power of that notorious mechanic. Storm, Force of Nature offers the absurd ability of granting it to any instant and sorcery you’d like, which opens up endless busted avenues.
You can multiply burn spells like Boltwave for an instant kill, for example, or cheap draw like Preordain to sculpt the perfect hand. If you can give Storm Double Strike with something like Assault Strobe, you can even give these spells two instances of Storm, making quick wins even easier. Extra combat cards, like Genji Glove, are great here too, letting you multiply multiple spells each turn.
While you’ll need Haste granters like Lightning Greaves to get around Storm’s lack of immediate impact, once it gets going it’s incredibly difficult to stop. By greatly diversifying the payoffs open to MTG Spellslinger decks, Storm easily earns a spot as one of the best Commanders for the archetype.
3 | Veyran, Voice Of Duality
We’ve seen plenty of riffs on Panharmonicon over the years, but Veyran, Voice of Duality is one of the most unique. This eager Efreet doubles any triggers that result from spells being cast, meaning cards like Guttersnipe and Archmage Emeritus go absolutely wild with it. It works with copied spells, too, meaning engines like Thousand-Year Storm will push your payoffs even further.
This alone would make Veyran a fantastic Spellslinger Commander, but it also gets a nice bonus in the form of its pseudo-Prowess ability. This makes it possible to build up Veyran into a legitimate threat and push through Commander damage wins with cards like Slip Through Space. If you really manage to pop off in a turn, you can use Chandra’s Ignition to wipe out the whole table as well.
Factor in some funky combo lines, such as exiling each opponent’s library with Paradigm Shift and Hive Mind, and Veyran has a ton to offer as a Commander. It even sees some use in cEDH, as an excellent leader for Spellslinger decks aiming for a big Storm finish.
2 | Stella Lee, Wild Card
As with many of the best MTG Commanders, Stella Lee puts card advantage in the command zone, in this case through its impulse draw ability. Casting two spells is trivial for Spellslinger decks, where cantrips like Gitaxian Probe are commonplace, so this can easily ‘draw’ you a card per turn. With cast from exile support like Passionate Archaeologist and Fortune Teller’s Talent, you can gain additional advantage here, too.
While this helps keep Stella Lee going, the real draw for this Commander is that tap ability. One copied spell is already strong, but you can use untappers like Thousand-Year Elixir to push for more. This ability even allows for some combo lines, like infinite tokens with Dragon Fodder and Intruder Alarm.
Taken as a package, Stella Lee is pretty much ideal as a Spellslinger Commander. Not only can it keep the cards flowing to address the archetype’s big weakness, but it can help pay you off when it comes to the big turns, too.
1 | Vivi Ornitier
As one of the most notorious MTG Commanders of the last few years, Vivi Ornitier is an easy pick for the top spot here. Dishing out damage with each spell cast makes Vivi a viable win condition in itself, especially paired with cards like Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might to ratchet it up. Since Vivi damages each opponent, this also pairs wonderfully with Curiosity and friends to draw you a ton of cards.
Vivi’s activated ability is even better, providing big bursts of mana that can be accelerated with cards like Haste Magic. You can then invest this mana into another stream of cheap spells, or sink it into an X spell like Crackle with Power in a way Spellslinger decks usually can’t do. While this can only be used once per turn normally, Quicksilver Elemental gets around that problem and unlocks some infinite combos, to boot.
Vivi’s power lies in its flexibility; as long as you’re casting cheap spells, there’s very little this diminutive Wizard can’t do. The card even sees regular play in cEDH, where its Curiosity lines can lead to surprisingly quick kills. Given that, and its boogeyman status at lower-bracket tables, it’s a clear choice for the best of the Spellslinger Commanders in MTG.
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