Though it hasn’t been part of Magic for long in the grand scheme of things, the Treasure archetype has quickly established itself as a serious player in Commander. Stacking up mana in the form of tokens has a ton of uses, from ramping into the format’s haymakers to powering busted artifact synergies. Nowadays there are a number of powerful MTG Treasure Commanders vying for your attention, so we’ve broken down the very best of them.
5 | Smaug, Wicked Worm
The Hobbit was a big set for Treasure overall, with Smaug, Wicked Worm being one of its strongest contributions. The enters ability here, which echoes the now-banned Dockside Extortionist, is a pretty huge deal for the archetype by itself. With how often mana rocks and other artifact tokens are seen in Commander now, this can easily generate double-digit Treasures in many scenarios.
Having access to such huge piles of Treasure lets Smaug pursue Revel in Riches wins, or ping the pod down with Reckless Fireweaver, without much trouble. If that doesn’t work out, however, Smaug is also an incredible draw engine for the Treasure archetype, letting you cash in your Treasures for draw as you cast spells. With recursive options like Asgardian Inspiration, this can keep your hand full all game.
At the head of a Treasure deck, Smaug, Wicked Worm does pretty much everything you need from a Commander. It makes mana, it draws cards, and it even offers a fairly-statted body on the board to boot. While greed was ultimately Smaug’s downfall in-universe, at the Commander table it’ll be your opponents’ instead.
4 | Smaug The Impenetrable
Though it’s expensive at seven mana, Smaug the Impenetrable is nigh-unstoppable once it comes down. Indestructible makes it unbeatable in combat, and lets you leverage big damage effects like Blasphemous Act and Self-Destruct to generate a ton of Treasures at once. This also lets you tank up behind cards like Pariah’s Shield, turning enemy swings into fresh injections for your coffers.
What really makes Smaug the Impenetrable one of the best MTG Treasure Commanders, however, is its range of combos. You can win the game on the spot with either Pestilence or Pyrohemia, provided you have more life than each opponent. Alternatively, you can generate infinite mana with Mayhem Devil or Chain Lightning, finishing everyone off with something like Torment of Hailfire instead.
Taken as a whole, Smaug the Impenetrable is one of the scariest Commanders in general, never mind Treasure Commanders, that we’ve seen recently. Its main weakness, that hefty mana cost, isn’t much of a problem in Treasure decks, either, given all the natural ramp they offer. Really the only problem with this Smaug is its status as a Scene Box card, which means you’ll need to cash in a few real-life Treasures to afford a copy.
3 | Vihaan, Goldwaker
Treasure decks can sometimes struggle with assembling their Treasure generators and their payoffs together. Vihaan solves this issue, however, making generating a bunch of Treasures a win condition in itself by turning them into Hasty 3/3s.
With Vihaan in the mix, big-time Treasure generators like Blood Money and Mahadi, Emporium Master can easily create lethal boards. With an army of Treasure creatures in play, Chrome Dome and Cyberman Patrol help make straightforward Treasure beatdown a viable option. Having access to so many creatures also lets you take advantage of sacrifice outlets like Altar of Dementia and Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter, for some big value swings.
Vihaan also has a bunch of infinite combos to offer, specifically in the ‘infinite combats’ category. It can achieve this alongside Pitiless Plunderer and Aggravated Assault, as well as Breath of Fury and J. Jonah Jameson. With these in tow, in the rare event that your opponents can withstand your affluent assault, you can just go over the top for a swift victory.
2 | Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
While Korvold is one of the most popular Commanders in the entire format, with 20,662 players running it at the helm, it’s particularly good for Treasure decks. Adding a free draw to every Treasure you sacrifice is absolutely ridiculous, letting Korvold tear through its deck with the right support. Cards like Warren Soultrader and Ruthless Technomancer are particularly good here, offering plenty of Treasures while also sacrificing permanents for Korvold.
With a few Treasure generators like these, Korvold can essentially play like a Combo deck, drawing into more Treasure makers and racking up damage with cards like Mirkwood Bats. It also has actual combos, too, like drawing your whole deck with Crown of Flames and Goldspan Dragon, or netting infinite death triggers with Blood Pet and Mortuary.
Korvold is also notable for packing green in its color identity, which most of the top-tier Treasure Commanders lack. This lets you access wild synergy pieces like Tireless Provisioner and Old Gnawbone, giving Korvold an edge over its peers. With all this in mind, it’s hard to deny just how effective Korvold is with a deck full of Treasures behind it.
1 | Magda, Brazen Outlaw
No Commander in Magic makes better use of Treasures than Magda, Brazen Outlaw. Once you’ve amassed five Treasures, which is trivial these days, Magda can cash them in to tutor up any Dragon or artifact from your deck at instant speed. This lets you drop prohibitively pricey bombs, like Ancient Copper Dragon and Portal to Phyrexia, without breaking a sweat.
Magda is also notable for its combo lines, which can cheat out every eligible target from your deck on the spot. You can do this by turning Magda into an artifact with Liquimetal Torque then tapping/untapping infinitely with Clock of Omens, or by using type changers like Maskwood Nexus with Battered Golem. If these don’t quite get you there, Magda can even unlock infinite combat lines with four Dwarves and Aggravated Assault as well.
Thanks to its low cost and combo potential, Magda has actually become a very viable deck in cEDH: one of the few Mono-Colored strategies that thrive there. Equally, it’s a totally fine Commander for lower brackets, where focusing on cheating out big bombs is more viable. Not many MTG legends bridge the bracket divide like Magda does, making it the best of the Treasure Commanders by far.
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