2024 was a huge year for Magic: The Gathering. While there was certainly no shortage of controversy, the positives still shone brightly through regardless. Perhaps the biggest positive among these was the continued dominance of Commander. Seismic bans aside the format went from strength to strength this year, maintaining its status as Magic’s premiere format. Such was the volume of great new Commander cards this year that pretty much every set was jokingly referred to as a “Commander product” at some point. That said, some new Commanders definitely outshone the others. These are our picks for the most popular new MTG Commanders of 2024.
5 | The Necrobloom
Played In 9,756 Decks
- Mana Value: 1WBG
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Plant
- Stats: 2/7
- Card Text: Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, create a 0/1 green Plant creature token. If you control seven or more lands with different names, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token instead.
Land cards in your graveyard have Dredge 2. (You may return a land card from your graveyard to your hand and mill two cards instead of drawing a card.)
Modern Horizons 3 was a landmark set for a number of reasons. It basically flipped Modern on its head, while also injecting a ton of powerful new options into Commander to boot. One of the very best options among these was The Necrobloom. Abzan has always been a fairly popular color combination in MTG, and 2024 gave it one of its best-ever Commanders.
Putting a better version of Field of the Dead’s effect on a body was a stellar start. That card is already played in a huge number of Commander decks, even those without a strong Landfall theme. Granting Dredge 2 to every land in your ‘yard is arguably even more revolutionary, however. Ensuring land drops every turn is the most basic use here, but there are plenty more besides.
Maybe you want to recycle your Wasteland to weaken an opponent’s mana base. Or maybe you just want to fill your graveyard up with fresh cards. Either way, The Necrobloom has you covered. It’s a fantastically flexible Commander and one that slots just as nicely into the 99 of many a list as well. While most remember Modern Horizons 3 for its egregious mistakes, The Necrobloom deserves its gross, undead flowers too.
4 | Obeka, Splitter Of Seconds
Played In 9,789 Decks
- Mana Value: 1UBR
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Ogre Warlock
- Stats: 2/5
- Card Text: Menace
Whenever Obeka, Splitter of Seconds deals combat damage to a player, you get that many additional upkeep steps after this phase.
It wasn’t just supplemental sets shaking up MTG Commander in 2024; some of its very best Commanders were printed right into Standard. This was a bit of a trend, actually. Most mainline sets this year featured one or two three-color legends explicitly aimed at Commander. While this annoyed format purists, it was a big positive for those looking to expand their palette in EDH.
Obeka is a prime example of this trend. She sticks out like a sore thumb among the rest of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, with a color combo and abilities not really used anywhere else in the set. Said abilities led to the creation of an ‘upkeep matters’ deck, which proved very popular in the weeks following Thunder Junction’s release.
Obeka was responsible for a huge number of price spikes, as obscure upkeep effects like the Eldraine Courts skyrocketed to support her. Things have calmed down a bit on that front since, but some of the gains have remained. Obeka is the ideal candidate for a list such as this. She’s powerful, her effect is innovative, and she got a lot of players scouring their collections for weird old cards to support her. Just how Commander should be, in my opinion.
3 | Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Played In 10,806 Decks
- Mana Value: C/W C/U C/B C/R C/G
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Eldrazi
- Stats: 2/5
- Card Text: Devoid (This card has no color.)
Whenever you cast an Eldrazi spell, you may pay CC. If you do, copy all spells you control, then copy all other activated and triggered abilities you control. You may choose new targets for the copies. (Mana abilities can’t be copied.)
The Modern Horizons 3 Commander decks all got their own seats on the hype train, but only Eldrazi Incursion was traveling first class. This was the most popular of the four decks by far, and face Commander Ulalek was a big part of that. It’s really not hard to see why. Offering an Eldrazi-specific Panharmonicon effect, this legend provided a popular effect for a popular creature type.
With all the new Eldrazi support in the Modern Horizons 3 main set, players were keen to try Eldrazi in Commander anyway. Ulalek gave them the perfect reason to do so. The key to its power lies in the nuances of its effect. Since it copies your spells and your activated/triggered abilities, you can get a disgusting amount of value here. Most Eldrazi have cast triggers, so paying a two colorless Kicker for them with Ulalek will get you a token copy as well as an additional instance of said trigger.
The possibilities here are endless. You can create a four-land swing with Sowing Mycospawn, or steal two players’ boards with Emrakul, the World Anew. With all five colors in its identity, UIalek gives you all the deckbuilding options you could ask for, too. It’s hard to picture a better Eldrazi Commander, all things considered.
2 | Voja, Jaws Of The Conclave
Played In 11,750 Decks
- Mana Value: 2RGW
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Wolf
- Stats: 5/5
- Card Text: Vigilance, Trample, Ward 3.
Whenever Voja, Jaws of the Conclave attacks, put X +1/+1 counters on each creature you control, where X is the number of Elves you control. Draw a card for each Wolf you control.
Almost topping our most popular 2024 Commanders list is one of the most controversial MTG cards of the year. Voja is very much in the same boat as Obeka, in that it was a Standard card clearly designed for Commander play. It was also the card that really ignited the discussion on the overuse of the Ward ability. Turns out making a creature this good basically Hexproof will rub some players the wrong way.
Voja is a prime example of how pushed creatures in Magic have become. A 5/5 for five with two keywords and protection is already a decent rate. Throw in an ability that buffs your board and draws you cards, and you have an overtuned monstrosity. Voja’s two-types design is interesting in theory, but in practice, it generally just serves as an Elf Commander that gets extra mileage out of Changelings.
For raw power and efficiency, it’s hard to beat Voja. It’s not the most subtle or nuanced Commander, but most of those will lose to a Voja swing on turn six so it actually works out pretty nicely. For getting players talking, and for giving an iconic type a new build to try, Voja more than earns its silver trophy.
1 | The Wise Mothman
Played In 12,851 Decks
- Mana Value: 1BGU
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Insect Mutant
- Stats: 3/3
- Card Text: Flying.
Whenever The Wise Mothman enters or attacks, each player gets a rad counter.
Whenever one or more nonland cards are milled, put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to X target creatures, where X is the number of nonland cards milled this way.
Now this one may surprise you. The most popular and widely-played Commander of 2024 isn’t one that’s spent a lot of time in the spotlight, nor been the subject of any kind of controversy. It’s The Wise Mothman, one of the four face Commanders from the Fallout Commander decks. All four of these have seen a lot of use this year, but Mothman is on a different level entirely.
It’s hard to see why at first glance. The abilities here are interesting but hardly back-breakingly powerful. It’s the combination of a lot of little things that makes this Commander so good, however. First of all, Mothman is only four mana. This makes it easy to cast early, especially with green’s penchant for ramp. Second, it places rad counters both on entry and on attack. This lets you stack up mill triggers quickly, which is great news for that final ability.
The counter placement effect is really the heart of The Wise Mothman. By itself, it can probably scale up by +1/+1 a turn just based on its first ability. once you get other mill effects involved, like Syr Konrad or Altar of Dementia, things get out of hand fast.
Thanks to its built-in Flying, this is a Commander that can easily push for Commander damage wins. It can also enable a go-wide strategy, or play politics by distributing counters to allies. However you run it, The Wise Mothman is the most popular new Commander from 2024. Long may it irradiate our decks!
