As much as Standard has been growing in popularity recently, Commander is still Magic’s biggest format on paper. With unmatched creativity, freedom, and support on offer, it’s no surprise that Wizards prioritizes this format. Each modern MTG set is loaded with plenty of cool new Commanders and options for the 99.
Out of all the new Commander cards that get creatures, arguably the most interesting are the five-color Commanders. Offering access to every single card in Commander, the gameplay implications of these cards are huge. Previously, these cards used to be a rarity in MTG, though recently Wizards has been making more and more.
As much as these five color cards do stir up excitement, Wizards has definitely been overdoing it. Recently, in fact, we’ve gotten to the point that new five-color Commanders are just plain boring.
Suspect Set Commanders
Since 2024, five of the nine new five-color legendary creatures have served the same purpose. This trend is most evident across Marina Vendrell, Infinite Guideline Station, and Cosmic Spider-Man, who are all five-color set mechanic Commanders. While each of these cards does have interesting mechanics, it feels like they’re being forced into existence.
When Wizards creates a brand new mechanic, like Rooms or Spacecraft, it’s only natural that MTG players want to build around it. Sadly, due to the lack of blocks and repetition of new mechanics, there are rarely enough cards to do this. In total, there are only 26 Commander legal Spacecraft, and those are split fairly evenly across the color pie.
For better or worse, this forces Wizards to create a five-color Commander to make the mechanic playable as a deck. This also appears to be the reason behind Marina Vendrell’s existence, since there are only 28 Rooms. Technically, Cosmic Spider-Man isn’t as mandatory thanks to the density of Spider Man cards, but he nonetheless feels forced.
So far, each main Universes Beyond MTG set has had at least one five-color Commander for players to build around. Final Fantasy had Terra, Magical Adept and The Wandering Minstrel, Assassin’s Creed got Ezio Auditore da Firenze, while The Lord of the Rings got Tom Bombadil. While Terra and Bombadil both support Sagas, the others are clearly set mechanic Commanders.
In theory, these cards aren’t bad per se, as they do fill a role that MTG players are looking for. Without these options, MTG players might struggle to make an appropriately themed or flavored deck around a new set. That said, it feels like these cards go against the spirit of Commander somewhat, or are just plain boring.
Culling Creativity
As much as they serve a purpose, five-color Commanders take away one of the most exciting parts of Commanders: the creativity. Instead of having to choose a Commander that restricts what you can play, you can simply slap all the best cards into one deck. As mentioned, this is mandatory for some archetypes that don’t have enough support, but it’s still not exactly creative when you only have one option.
Sadly, this creativity-dwindling problem isn’t just seen in the recent five-color set mechanic-based Commander. A lot of Magic’s past five-color Commander options suffer from simply being too strong. Not only do these cards offer insane abilities, but having WURBG at your disposal is always a massive plus.
Cards like Ulalek, Fused Atrocity, Jodah, the Unifier, and The Ur-Dragon are all best-in-class options for their specific archetype. If you’re building an Eldrazi, Legends, or Dragon deck, you’d be downright foolish not to play these cards. You’re not forced to, of course, but these cards can be hard to ignore unless you’re in love with a specific Commander.
As if it weren’t bad enough that five-color Commander cards can limit the creativity in the format, their strength encourages power creep. Once a five-color Commander has been created, Wizards need to go above and beyond with more restrictive options to make them playable. If this doesn’t happen, then that card immediately gets relegated to the 99 of decks and forgotten almost immediately.
We’ve seen this happen multiple times already to cards like Narci, Fable Singer. Even though her design does feel pushed and perfect for the archetype, she’s nothing compared to Tom Bombadil. As a result, while she does see some play as a Commander, she’s vastly more popular in the 99 of more all-encompassing decks.
A Few Good Eggs
Personally, I think getting fewer five-color Commanders would be a good thing for Magic: The Gathering. That said, I do understand there’s a demand for these cards, and that they’re a necessary evil thanks to modern set design. Even if I’m not a fan of those cards, there are a few diamonds in the rough.
For starters, Garth One-Eye is genuinely an interesting MTG card that just so happens to be five color. The same is true of the various Niv-Mizzet cards, like Niv-Mizzet Supreme, which offer five-color themed options. Similarly, Jared Carthalion and Jenson Carthalion, Druid Exile are both interesting Domain-themed options.
Even Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch gets a pass for being the only legendary option for a themed Myr deck. Admittedly, I’m definitely biased here, especially making an exception for Urtet, but these cards are just so much more interesting than Morophon, the Boundless. Sure, Morophon is useful to build otherwise restrictive decks, but restriction is part of Commander’s charm.
They might be adorable anyway, but Cats and Dogs are a good example of this specific charm. Cards like Rin and Seri, Inseparable are powerful, but other options are genuinely worth considering. Arahbo, Roar of the World and Ajani, Nacatl Pariah are worth building around, even if they’re more restrictive.
If Wizards of the Coast were to print a five-colored cat legend, there’s a good chance it’d become dominant. The only way this wouldn’t happen is if the card were significantly worse than existing options, making it nigh-unusable. Neither of these situations is great, so it’d be better to avoid them entirely.
Less Is More
As a result of this, if you ask us, Wizards of the Coast should tone down the number of five-color legends they’re making. Restrictions breed creativity, after all, while also allowing more room in the future. If Wizards continue to go down the current route, it may not be long because each archetype has an undisputed best-in-class boring ol’ option. Sadly, we doubt this article is going to change much.
As mentioned, modern set design principles and Universes Beyond encourage more five-color Commanders than ever. If we do have to put up with these, it’d be better if they stay in their lane as set mechanic Commanders. At least this way they’d enable building around new archetypes, rather than making existing options less exciting. Whether or not Wizards will actually do this, however, remains to be seen.
Throughout recent years, we’ve seen how quickly tastes and design principles can change. As a result of this, predicting the future is harder than ever, but that’s not all bad news. We’ve seen Wizards repeatedly follow the wants of players, especially regarding the set release calendar and volume of products produced. In theory, if this sentiment becomes strong enough, Wizards might actually tone down five-color Commanders. Personally, I’ll certainly hope this will happen, even if I’m not optimistic.
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