While we’re now officially in 2026, it’s hard to say we’re completely done with 2025 yet. Commander players, in particular, likely still have one hell of a backlog to go through. With Wizards releasing 709 unique Commanders throughout the year, it’s no wonder some didn’t get the attention they deserve.
One such Commander with a surprisingly low play rate is Noctis, Heir Apparent. Released as part of the Final Fantasy Holiday Release in the Camp Comrades Scene Box, Noctis seemingly slipped under the radar before the holidays.
MTG Noctis, Heir Apparent
Given that Equipment and Voltron-themed decks are hugely popular archetypes in Commander, it’s wild that Noctis isn’t more widely played. According to EDHREC, Noctis, Heir Apparent only commands around 1,100 decks, and only appears in the 99 of 333. Considering he’s generally useful at worst and an absolute monster at best, Noctis definitely feels underrated.
If you want to go all in on Noctis, it doesn’t take much for him to threaten one-shot kills. All you need is a handful of enchantments and strong support pieces like Pureseteel Paladin and Forge Anew. With these two cards in play, you can easily equip everything to Noctis once he flickers back in.
From here, having Noctis, Heir Apparent deliver one-shot kills to opponents is trivial. Colossus Hammer, and equipment like Fireshrieker will wipe an opponent out with Commander damage, for instance. Alternatively, Grafted Exoskeleton can be used to reduce the power needed even further.
Since Noctis will be unblockable once he returns, there’s little your opponents can do to stop this from happening. Even if they do have removal, all you need is three mana to flicker Noctis again and keep him safe. You can even reduce the cost of this with Training Grounds, to make Warp-Strike more cost-effective as protection.
Even if you don’t manage to assemble the equip combo, Noctis is still a major threat alongside any powerful equipment. Speaking of, with enough mana, Vorpal Sword becomes an obscene threat with Noctis’ flickering. Even without this, just getting to punch in for consistent Commander damage makes Noctis properly powerful.
Equipment for All
Unfortunately, while Noctis is, unsurprisingly, perfectly suited to use his own abilities, he doesn’t give everyone free equipment. Instead, it’s only creatures that enter during combat that will trigger Noctis’ free equip ability. Initially, this might seem like a major downside, but Noctis’ color identity is the saving grace here.
Unlike many Equipment-focused MTG decks, Noctis, Heir Apparent provides access to blue. This means creatures with Flash, as well as generic Flash enablers, are on the table. This includes the recently released The Blue Spirit, which has fantastic synergy with Noctis’ combat-based ability.
Whether you’re casting a creature with Flash, or one that’s been granted it, Noctis can turn them into a major threat. Getting a surprise blocker is always good, but they’re extra scary when suddenly wielding a Colossus Hammer. With enough useful equipment in play, you can easily make attacking you an incredibly risky venture.
Notably, while it does make sense to make your new blockers even more powerful, the free equip doesn’t have to be used on them. This allows you to use Flash creatures offensively on your turn. If you flood your board with a bunch of cheap creatures during combat, you can easily equip Noctis to become a game-ending threat.
Alternatively, if you want to keep piling on aggressive pressure, you can pivot into a partial Ninja Typal build. With Esper colors giving access to most creatures with Ninjutsu, including Satoru Umezawa, it’s easy to make creatures enter during combat. Thanks to blue’s access to unblockable creatures like Slither Blade, setting up this interaction is trivial, too.
Cost-Effective Creativity
With multiple different routes to take Noctis, Heir Apparent in MTG, it feels wild he’s not more widely played. Whether you’re building him as a Voltron Commander, leaning blue with Flash, or Dimir with Ninjas, he’s always a powerful threat. You can even dabble in Agatha’s Soul Cauldron shenanigans if you want to keep Noctis in exile.
Miraculously, all of this utility doesn’t break the bank, either, as copies of Noctis, Heir Apparent are going for around $8.50 on TCGplayer. Realistically, you could even make a budget build out of Noctis if you want lower-bracket fun. Whichever way you want to go with him, Noctis, Heir Apparent definitely seems underplayed at the moment in MTG.
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