MTG Best Tribal Commanders

Humans are MTGs most common creature type. They exist across every slice of Magic: the Gathering’s color pie, though they are centered in White.

On the plane of Innistrad, Humans are primarily printed in the colors White and Green, and it’s from this horrifying world where we get our first Human tribal Commander: Kyler, Sigardian Emissary Kyler, Sigardian Emissary Whenever another Human you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on Kyler.
Other Humans you control get +1/+1 for each counter on Kyler. .

Kyler gets a +1/+1 counter whenever you play another Human and buffs every Human you control for every counter on him. Fill the board with low-cost Humans, and play into Kyler’s +1/+1 counter theme to ensure that even your smallest 1/1 Human tokens pack a punch.

Our next Human tribal Commanders of choice are a partner pair: Trynn, Champion of Freedom Trynn, Champion of Freedom Partner with Silvar, Devourer of the Free (When this creature enters, target player may put Silvar into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
At the beginning of your end step, if you attacked this turn, create a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token. and Silvar, Devourer of the Free Silvar, Devourer of the Free Partner with Trynn, Champion of Freedom (When this creature enters, target player may put Trynn into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
Menace
Sacrifice a Human: Put a +1/+1 counter on Silvar. It gains indestructible until end of turn. . Hailing from Ikoria, this champion and her menacing pet are a killer combination. Trynn gives you a 1/1 Human token at the end of every turn, and Silvar can sacrifice Humans in order to become indestructible and gain a +1/+1 counter. Trynn and Silvar offer you a novel sacrifice-themed Human deck. Silvar provides you with a wide selection of Black and Red sacrifice effects, whilst Trynn lets you access all of the Humans available in White.

Finally, we come to [Tooltips]Adeline, Resplendent Cathar[/Tooltips]. As a mono-white Commander, Adeline keeps things simple. Adeline has four toughness and power equal to the number of creatures you control. She helps give you more creatures by giving you 1/1 Human tokens whenever you attack, equal to the number of opponents you have. In a typical four-player game, Adeline will be giving you three Human tokens every turn. Adeline can go very wide very quickly, as well as being a potent threat in her own right.

Merfolk are Blue’s primary tribe. Lorwyn and Shadowmoor gave us access to Merfolk in Black and White, whilst Ixalan pushed the tribe into Green.

The most popular Merfolk Commander is Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca Tap another untapped Merfolk you control: Kumena can't be blocked this turn.
Tap three untapped Merfolk you control: Draw a card.
Tap five untapped Merfolk you control: Put a +1/+1 counter on each Merfolk you control. . Kumena shows off everything that Ixalan’s Merfolk have to offer. He allows you to tap down another Merfolk to make himself unblockable, three Merfolk to draw a card, and five Merfolk to put a +1/+1 counter on every Merfolk you control. Kumena is useful because his first two effects help you to get in some early Commander damage and draw into your threats in the early game. In the late game, Kumena can keep your amphibious army loaded up with +1/+1 counters. The card Intruder Alarm Intruder Alarm Creatures don't untap during their controllers' untap steps.
Whenever a creature enters, untap all creatures. works wonderfully with Kumena, as it lets you use him to spread +1/+1 counters around multiple times in a turn.

Svyelun of Sea and Sky Svyelun of Sea and Sky Svyelun has indestructible as long as you control at least two other Merfolk.
Whenever Svyelun attacks, draw a card.
Other Merfolk you control have ward {1}. (Whenever another Merfolk you control becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {1}.) is a mono-blue Merfolk God printed in Modern Horizons 2. Svyelun has three impactful effects. With this card in play, your Merfolk get Ward 1, making them harder to target with spells. Svyelun also becomes indestructible as long as you control at least two other Merfolk and she allows you to draw a card whenever she attacks. These three minor effects add up to more than the sum of their parts and come together to make Svyelun a fantastic asset to any Merfolk deck.

Finally, there’s Emperor Mihail II Emperor Mihail II You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may cast Merfolk spells from the top of your library.
Whenever you cast a Merfolk spell, you may pay {1}. If you do, create a 1/1 blue Merfolk creature token. , who was printed as a supplemental card alongside the set Dominaria United. Mihail lets you look at the top card of your library at any time and cast if it’s a Merfolk. Mihail also enables you to generate a 1/1 Merfolk token whenever you cast a Merfolk spell by paying an additional mana. Of the three options presented here, Mihail has the fewest decks to his name on EDHREC. Don’t underestimate this aquatic emperor though! He’s the newest of the three and still has plenty of time to grow. No Commander can fill the board with Merfolk faster than Mihail.

Everyone’s favorite brain-eating baddies, Zombies, appear primarily in Black but have also seen significant support in Blue. A small handful of them exists in other colors, particularly White, thanks to Amonkhet.

Wilhelt, the Rot Cleaver Wilhelt, the Rot Cleaver Whenever another Zombie you control dies, if it didn't have decayed, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token with decayed. (It can't block. When it attacks, sacrifice it at end of combat.)
At the beginning of your end step, you may sacrifice a Zombie. If you do, draw a card. , is a recent Zombie Commander but a very popular one. A four-mana 3/3, Wilhelt gives you a free 2/2 Zombie token whenever one of your other Zombies dies. That token has decayed, meaning it can’t block, and it dies whenever it attacks. Still, Zombies in EDH die so frequently that limitation is probably necessary to step Wilhelt from being game-breaking. Wilhelt also allows you to sacrifice a Zombie during your end step to draw a card. Whether you use this to downgrade a regular 2/2 Zombie token into a decayed one, or you get rid of one of your decayed tokens, this is usually a good deal.

Prior to Wilhelt’s debut, The Scarab God The Scarab God At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent loses X life and you scry X, where X is the number of Zombies you control.
{2}{U}{B}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie.
When The Scarab God dies, return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step. was the undisputed king of Zombie tribal. A 5/5 God for five mana, The Scarab God The Scarab God At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent loses X life and you scry X, where X is the number of Zombies you control.
{2}{U}{B}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie.
When The Scarab God dies, return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step. deals X damage to each opponent at the start of each of your turns and allows you to draw X cards where X is the number of zombies you control. The Scarab God also enables you to pay four mana in order to exile a card from any graveyard and bring it into play as a 4/4 Zombie under your control. This combines graveyard hate with powerful token generation. Finally, The Scarab God The Scarab God At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent loses X life and you scry X, where X is the number of Zombies you control.
{2}{U}{B}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie.
When The Scarab God dies, return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step. lets you cheat around paying Commander Tax by giving you the option of returning it to your hand rather than the Command Zone. This card is a truly terrifying, if somewhat pricey, alternative to Wilhelt for Dimir Zombie decks.

For those who would prefer to keep things mono-black, Ghoulcaller Gisa Ghoulcaller Gisa {B}, {T}, Sacrifice another creature: Create X 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens, where X is the sacrificed creature's power. is a great choice. As a five-mana 3/4, Gisa makes up for her less than impressive statline with her excellent ability. If you tap Gisa and pay one black mana, you can sacrifice a creature you control to create X Zombie tokens where X is that creature’s power. Even in a worst case scenario, this can be used to turn one Zombie into two, which is pretty useful. Gisa can turn your 7/6 Rotting Regisaur Rotting Regisaur At the beginning of your upkeep, discard a card. into 14/14 worth of stats spread over seven different tokens. Combine this with cards like Dictate of Erebos Dictate of Erebos Flash
Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice. , which punish your opponents whenever you sacrifice a creature, and Gisa quickly gets scary.