Just like that, another year in Magic: The Gathering has come and gone. 2025 has been a turbulent one, as the game pushed deep into Universes Beyond territory, to many players’ chagrin. It also reaffirmed Commander as the game’s flagship format, with a whopping 479 new legendary creatures dropping this year in total. While many of these are just bulk uncommons, there are plenty of legitimately powerful new options here, too. Today, we’re going to bring you the best new MTG Commanders of 2025.
As a quick caveat, this list is approaching the topic with a competitive mindset. We’re looking for Commanders that can hold their own in the upper echelons of the format, cEDH included. That said, it’s important not to forget the importance of fun in the format, so we’ve included an honorable mention that speaks to that. We’re also taking every release this year into consideration. Whether a Commander comes from a mainline set or a precon, it’s eligible here.
Honorable Mention | Ragost, Deft Gastronaut
Plenty of Commanders have appeal not because they’re competitively viable, but because they’re just strong, flavorful designs with interesting play patterns. Ragost, Deft Gastronaut is the epitome of this idea from 2025.
Being a legendary Lobster Citizen is a pretty great start for this card right out of the gate. On top of this, its abilities are pretty unique, too. Turning all of your artifacts into Food opens up a ton of synergy, not least of which is hurling it at your opponents with Ragost’s second ability. Grant your Lobster Lifelink with Basilisk Collar, and you’ll start burning through the table at turbo speed.
You can run Ragost as an all-in AOE burn Commander, or play a bit more balanced and use it as a nice supplement to Boros Artifact Aggro. Either way, it offers a ton of utility, on axes that Magic Commanders rarely explore. Ragost is the kind of design that made me fall in love with Magic in the first place. It may not win you many competitive games, but it will win the hearts of your opponents.
5 | Aang, At The Crossroads
In a seriously meta flavor win, Aang, at the Crossroads is a real last-minute addition to our list. Not only did the card itself only release about a month ago, but it’s also only started making moves in cEDH over the last couple of weeks.
Now that it’s here, however, the Bant Aang is making a hell of an impression. Turns out its enters trigger actually makes it the perfect card for a deck full of Clones, since each one can enter as Aang and repeat it to dig deeper into your deck. With this engine, you can assemble a number of powerful combos. The classic Food Chain/Misthollow Griffin line is one many players favor. If you want to get a bit more complex, you can rope in Preston, the Vanisher and Felidar Guardian instead, which can go infinite alongside mana producers like Supportive Parents.
The back half of Aang isn’t hugely relevant in cEDH, but it does make the card a more well-rounded package across all brackets. It’s simply a great Midrange digging tool in a great color combination, giving you access to combo wins as well as fair plays when needed. With its strong breakout performance over the past weeks, Aang has definitely earned its spot as one of the best new MTG Commanders of 2025.
4 | Norman Osborn//Green Goblin
Spider-Man was a bit of a let-down in most respects, but it did bring us one seriously powerful new Commander. Norman Osborn//Green Goblin is an MDFC legend done right, with both halves capable of contributing to a competitive game plan.
Naturally, the Green Goblin side is where most of the action is. The combination of blanket Mayhem for your nonland cards and a two-mana reduction on them opens up a ton of cool lines with cards like Frantic Search and Attunement. Perhaps more importantly, it also plays perfectly with some of the best existing win conditions in Commander. Underworld Breach and Lion’s Eye Diamond is a classic combo, but both halves also have a ton of independent synergy with Green Goblin.
Norman Osborn is less exciting, but it still has plenty to offer. It’s a fine early card selection engine for slow starts, and it even turns on Mox Amber for explosive turn three Green Goblin plays. Together, this duo has established a solid niche for itself in cEDH, which should only grow deeper as we get more discard support in future sets. This card is also a great example of the effect color identity can have on a Commander’s viability. The fact that it’s Grixis does a ton of heavy lifting here, as it’s the best color combination in Commander for combo plays.
3 | Kefka, Court Mage
While we’re on the subject of excellent Grixis legends, Kefka, Court Mage is another one we were graced with in 2025. Much like Aang, this is a Commander all about its enters ability. Whenever Kefka comes in, you get to force everyone to discard before drawing a few cards yourself. If you can repeat this effect, you can easily put yourself in a winning position.
There are various ways to accomplish this on the cheap. Clone effects, like Phantasmal Image and Molten Duplication, are probably the best route to take. Alternatively, you can rely on reanimation or blink effects to achieve the same end. Either way, Kefka, like Etali, Primal Conqueror before it, can effectively win the game with this trigger alone.
Of course, being in Grixis colors, you also get to enjoy using the Demonic Consultation/Thassa’s Oracle combo alongside Underworld Breach, giving you many efficient ways to win. Kefka has firmly established itself as a player in cEDH thanks to these qualities, and I don’t expect it to slow down any time soon.
2 | Hashaton, Scarab’s Fist
You might’ve forgotten about Hashaton, since it arrived so early in the year, but it’s actually one of the best new MTG Commanders of 2025. It has everything the modern Commander needs: it’s cheap, it has a strong color identity, and it packs a unique ability.
Said ability unlocks some interesting combo lines by itself. With Tortured Existence, you can set up discard loops using creatures like Peregrine Drake to create infinite 4/4 Zombies. Throw in Altar of the Brood or Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and this can easily close games on the spot. Pair this with the innate combo potential of Dimir, and you have a seriously explosive Commander.
Hashaton also provides an interesting new direction for both Discard and Zombie Typal strategies. Even when played fairly, there’s a ton of value in just copying the creatures you discard, even for three mana a pop. This was probably the first Commander from 2025 to really get competitive players excited, and it’s easy to see why. As cool as it is to rag on Aetherdrift, it’s hard to hate the set that gave us a gem like this.
1 | Vivi Ornitier
If you didn’t see this one coming, I’d wager you haven’t been following Magic at all this year. Vivi Ornitier is the rare card that managed to perform well in pretty much every format it touched. It even caught a ban in Standard for pushing things a bit too far there. Fortunately for those who bought into the card, it’s still absolutely fantastic in Commander.
In cEDH, Vivi offers an explosive new way to play a Storm strategy. Every noncreature spell you cast builds up Vivi’s mana reserve, which lets cantrips like Gitaxian Probe shine. The card is also uniquely powerful with Curiosity effects. Slap one of these on Vivi, and every noncreature spell you cast will draw you three cards. Paired with all the fast mana in the format, this makes it easy to execute early instant wins with the card.
The crazy thing about Vivi is that it’s also a banger outside the command zone. If you’re playing Izzet in a reasonably high-level pod, chances are Vivi will make your deck better. The combination of immediate damage, a scaling threat, and ramp is just too efficient to ignore. This is to say nothing of the incidental combos the card offers, with pieces like Quicksilver Elemental.
While it’s a bit of a boring result, it’s hard to deny that Vivi is the best of the new MTG Commanders we got in 2025. It’s powerful, it’s splashable, and it has made a tangible impact at the highest level of play. Hopefully, next year’s Universes Beyond offerings scale things back a bit: there are only so many legends this good the game can take.
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