MTG: Axe Beats Sword – Top Five Warrior Commanders
MTG is full of all sorts of fighters, but none of them get straight to the point quite like these Warrior Commanders.
Welcome Planeswalkers and Praetors to our ongoing series about the best casual experience in Magic: Commander.
Like Soldiers and Knights, Warriors have been a staple of the MTG battle scene since the beginning. However, unlike their tight-laced compatriots, Warriors aren’t afraid to charge into impossible odds to get the job done. As such, you’ll usually see them with higher power than toughness and abilities like haste or trample rather than vigilance. Commanders that run Warrior decks need to help them punch harder, so you’re likely to see a lot of fast aggro decks that believe the best defense is a good offense. After all, player removal IS a form of removal.
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom
One of the most well-known Commanders around, Najeela, is the queen of multiple combat steps. Whenever a Warrior attacks (not just yours), you can give its controller a Warrior token that’s also attacking. That’s a fun piece of group hug, but Najeela’s real power is her Domain ability.
For one of every color, Najeela gives all attacking creatures trample, haste, and lifelink and then queues up another combat phase. Giving everything haste means even creatures that entered the battlefield attacking, like those tokens you made, can participate in the second combat. With enough mana, you can knock out every opponent in a single turn.
Lovisa Coldeyes
While not a Warrior herself, the warlord Lovissa is happy to buff all the Warriors in your army. She dishes out a +2/+2 boost as well as haste, meaning your Warriors can start laying down pain right away. She’s a bit expensive at five mana, but she’s well worth the hit to turn your army of Warriors into a deadly avalanche of blades.
Zurgo Helmsmasher
Zurgo is the consummate Warrior Commander. He doesn’t care what the rest of your creatures do; he just wants to smash. He’s a nasty steamroller of a Commander, and he just gets worse the more he fights. Before long, he’ll have smashed everything in his path, and the game will be over. It’s a good thing the lore has humbled him because otherwise, even the Eldrazi would be in trouble.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
Alesha is the queen of tiny critters, and she’s happy to make sure those creatures never stop fighting. Whenever she attacks, you can pay two to get a creature with power 2 or less back on the field attacking. There are a lot of powerful effects in low-power creatures, so you can get some big payoffs with this ability. Just be careful not to get overwhelmed.
Samut, Vizier of Naktamun
Samut is all about striking first and asking questions later. He is a bargain for three mana, hitting the field as a 2/3 with vigilance, first strike, and haste. Best of all, any time a creature damages one of your opponents, the turn hits the field, and you get to draw a card. Play a lot of low-to-the-ground haste creatures, and you’ll have nothing left but a contrail where your opponents used to be.
What do you think of these Commanders?
What is Commander?
For the uninitiated, Commander is a semi-casual format for Magic: the Gathering. You use a deck of 100 cards led by a legendary creature, your Commander.
Aside from basic lands, you are only allowed one copy of each card in the deck. Moreover, you can only include cards in your Commander’s “color identity” or artifacts. Each color and color combo has a unique playstyle and a wealth of mighty generals to lead your deck to victory. EDHRec.com is an excellent source for Commander info and can give you ideas on how to build your next Commander deck or tune an existing one.
