Here we are fellow magicians. The absolute best walkers in commander, according to some nerd on the internet anyway. It's been a few weeks in the making where we looked at some that were criminally terrible, some that are just ok, and others that just barely didn't make the cut. Every card on this list should be considered in decks if they fit the colors and once we get closer to number one they're cards that are fairly mandatory for decks to be optimized.
Anyway, let's get to the good stuff and start with number 10
10: XENAGOS, THE REVELER
There was a good amount of people wondering why on Earth I'd put Xenagos over Karn and Daretti but the fact of the matter is Daretti is fairly easily hosed and outside of red artifact decks (which is still fairly new) he doesn't have much room. Granted he's great in those decks but they're few and far between. Karn is 7 mana removal that often will die before your next turn. He's great when you can get him out early turn 2/3 or when ahead but often he will anguished unmaking one card and then die himself.
Xenagos doesn't have any of those problems. He can provide a blocker or attacker when needed and best of all will often add insane amounts of mana in the decks he's in. The most obvious good spot for him is Prossh in which he will often net you at least 3 mana and even more the following turns. That insane possibility seems far better than the walkers we've looked at before. Even without that, he's placed in decks with lots of creatures to abuse this. You can easily get him out turn 3 and then net 3-4 mana and even more afterward. Being able to cast finishers like Prossh, Craterhoof, Emrakul, or whatever and net loyalty is why I have him above the rest and at the number ten slot. Agree or disagree I don't think there are many people who think Xenagos isn't a fantastic card.
Score: 90/100
Played in: Everything Green/Red+
9: UGIN, THE SPIRIT DRAGON
Ugin here is easily better than Karn. For one mana more (Really nothing in the decks that make huge mana) you can easily wipe the board of most threats when behind or nuke a creature or player when ahead. Excluding massive game-enders, like Omniscience, there is virtually nothing Ugin can't wipe from the board in competitive games where the average CMC is low. Afterward, it's not unlikely that he will stay on board (or someone storms out) so you can keep putting pressure with bolts until you can ultimate. If your deck is running Ugin it is likely you can either win after an ultimate by dropping more walkers or stax pieces in a Teferi build or flooding massive amounts of threats in things like Selvala. If your deck can get to 8 mana easily turn 3/4 then Ugin may be something you should consider.
Score: 91/100
Played in: Big mana decks (Teferi/Selvala)
8: ELSPETH, SUN'S CHAMPION
While Ugin may fit in more decks than Elspeth I think that overall Elspeth is a better card. They both fit in similar decks with big mana and both can wipe up the board but the reason Elspeth placed a little higher is her ultimate and plus seem stronger. Her plus will prevent pretty much anything that isn't flying or unblockable from hurting Elspeth, a couple of turns of Elspeth in the right deck leads to opponents either winning right then and there or losing to her ultimate which means all those tiny 1/1's she's been making those last few turns will be taking out the board. Playing against Elspeth pretty much comes down to taking her out right away or combo out before she ultimates otherwise get ready to die to tons of flyers.
Score: 94/100
Played in: Stax, tokens, Attrition
7: DARETTI, INGENIOUS ICONOCLAST
I can't believe how few people have played this card. Granted red/black isn't a powerful color combination but we're talking about repeat kill spells for creatures or artifacts, completely unrestricted kills too. If something needs to die Daretti can take card of it. If something doesn't need to die he can make blockers and make people think twice before playing that creature or artifact. If it isn't gonna impact the game right away then it's often a waste when there is a Daretti free. Most of the best decks in commander are already running tons of low CMC rocks like Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Sol ring, Crypt, Mana vault, and so on so having an extra artifact isn't difficult if you don't have any tokens to sacrifice. Furthermore, this guy is only three mana which means it's not hard to land him turn one or two and have players think twice before playing artifacts or creatures. If you're in red black there is often no reason not to play Daretti.
Score: 97/100
Played in: All Red/Black Variants
6: GARRUK WILDSPEAKER
And finally, we reach the best of the original Lorywn planeswalkers. The only non-mythic Garruk is the only one that fills many roles in commander. In stax decks he untaps your lands and isn't restricted to basics, you abuse cards like Gaea's Cradle very easily with him. If you need to have Garruk Survive you can put down a decent sized Beast token to protect him. Now you can easily net extra mana every turn and if you're running a creature based deck you have an ultimate that can do tons of damage to your opponents. And on top of that, you can do it the turn after Garruk lands. All these things propel Garruk past the other cards listed and make him the best non-blue walker in commander (Yes all the rest are blue, surprise).
You could argue that Xenagos is better since he can often net more mana with his ability but Garruk can fit in every deck that Xenagos can and much more on top of that.
Score: 98/100
Played in: Stax, Creature decks, often anything with green
5. JACE, THE MIND SCULPTOR
What's there to say about Jace that hasn't already been said? He's one of the only walkers that comes down with three relevant abilities. You can brainstorm and then fetch/tutor away those two irrelevant cards. So we're talking about a constant draw three if he's kept alive. Walkers don't often stay alive long in commander so it's unreasonable to think you will get tons of activations off him but if you do you'll likely win. If your opponent lands a threat Jace can easily just bounce it back to hand. If you want to trigger an enters the battlefield from your own creature you can also just do that. If your opponent is missing land drops or you're in a good position you can start peeking at what they draw and prevent them from getting relevant cards until you ultimate and bitch slap that player out of the game. But what puts Jace behind the other cards? Well, he's good when you're ahead and when in a tied game he will put it in your favor. The problem is he often will be a four mana brainstorm and then he will die. You could get two or three brainstorms off him before he dies which is fantastic to net up to nine cards off four mana but in worst case he's a draw three for four mana. Not terrible by any means but doesn't quite do enough. But in those situations,
there aren't many walkers that can save you.
Score: 99/100
Played in: Combo, control, stax
4: TEFERI, TEMPORAL ARCHMAGE
It's really difficult to put cards in slots when the remainder are pretty much staples in decks. Jace and Teferi could be swapped for spots but it doesn't change that both are fairly insane. Teferi is used in about the same amount of decks but the reason I placed him higher is because he is the only planeswalker that is the general of a tier one deck. Teferi as a general, combos out with Chain Veil for infinite activations and then you can generate infinite mana and infinite draw to play your deck and win via storm or other planeswalkers with infinite activations. Outside of a general, he has use untapping up to TWELVE FUCKING MANA with his second ability. No other walker generates that much mana. On average it's closer to 6 but again, it's very rare to generate that much mana. In dedicated stax decks, he can untap your cards and so cards like Static Orb, Winter Orb, Stasis, and Trinisphere aren't hurting you at all while making sure that opponents are pretty much out of the game. This isn't even mentioning his first ability that gives you the best card of your top two. While not as impactful this is essentially another planeswalker/general that can draw you cards into quicker lockdowns. There are very few cards that have insane tier one decks behind them and this is the only one that is a planeswalker.
Score: 99/100
Played in: Teferi, Stax, Combo, Control.
3: JACE, VRYN'S PRODIGY/JACE, TELEPATH UNBOUND
Take notes Tibalt, this is how you do a two mana planeswalker. Jace is the only walker that decides when he flips. So if your opponent is targeting him with removal or attacking you can block and the flip him afterward to negate the damage. Now you have a walker that can play the best spell from your graveyard again. What other two mana blue staple is in every combo deck? Hmmm...yeah this is pretty much a second snapcaster mage but this one serves as a draw outlet before becoming a walker. Now you can decide which cards you want in the grave for Jace to play and better yet you don't have to play that two mana investment you had to for snapcaster now. If you need to make sure your combo is protected for the turn target a dispel, if you need to tutor, you have demonic/vamp or whatever in the yard, if you need a rock to die pick nature's claim. It isn't difficult to flip Jace whenever you want and it's even easier to keep him alive if you toss a Toxic Deluge or whatever in the yard. After opponents rebuild with a creature you can make them weaker with his plus ability and then use his snapcaster ability again to play whatever you want from the grave. There's a reason this card has become a staple in every blue deck. Give him a try, you won't be disappointed.
Score: 100/100
Played in: Decks with blue mana symbols.
2: TEZZERET, THE SEEKER
Surprise, Tezzeret isn't number one. Well....you could argue that any of the top few cards could be number one and you'd be right. They're all super powerful and fill in slots that decks need easily. Tezzeret (Like Teferi) untaps your rocks so you aren't hurt by stax effects as bad as opponents. Tons of decks already play the basic Mana crypt, sol ring, chrome mox, mana vault or whatever but with Tezzeret you have access to a whole lot more. You can land him and with his minus, you can lock down opponents lands for -2 (Winter Orb), copy the best rock on the board for -3 (Sculpting steel), copy the best creature on the board for -4 (Phyrexian Metamorph) or ramp heavy by getting mana crypt. The amount of options Tezzeret gives you makes him a threat at all times. Even without the built-in tutoring, you can untap mana to help you hard cast game-enders like Forgemaster or Mindslaver. Better yet you can lock down the board and keep opponents from untapping and then kill them all with his ultimate which he can do the turn after he lands. With plenty of high-powered decks running a decent artifact suite, Tezzeret is often one of the few higher CMC cards that people will include.
Score: 100/100
Played in: Every deck with artifact options
1: DADDY DACK FAYDEN
I don't think it could have been anyone else. The greatest thief in the multiverse tops the list and this really shouldn't be much of a surprise. We've talked about how artifacts are powerful and Dack doesn't just kill the best artifact he takes it for you to abuse. Someone lands a turn two gilded lotus? Now it's yours. Opponent mulled to a sol ring and four mana spells? Good luck playing this game sucker. The benefit of bringing yourself to six mana the next turn while bringing your opponents down to one or two is absolutely massive. On top of that if he lives a turn he can filter your hand into better spells. Pair him with a Notion theif or Uba mask to start crippling hands and end the game there and then. Afterwards steal more artifacts and keep the pain coming. There is literally no reason to not have him in any deck that he can fit in. For three mana Dack does more than any walker could and while I think any of the top five could have been placed anywhere on the list there is no question that Daddy Dack Fayden is number one for me.
Score: 1000/100
Played in: Every deck he can
Well, that's that. We went through all 82 walkers in commander over the last few weeks and now you have what I think are the best of the best.
What's that? You don't agree with some of these?
Well let's hear what you have to say:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-XRdr40P6UDAe8o6h-L2eKlMhuzq5rM_ekUYgxcaMRc/edit?usp=forms_home&ths=true
Please take the time to select your bottom and top planeswalkers for commander and afterwards I'll take what you guys said and write it out.
Until then, this is DoomBlade, Signing out.
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Any chance you might update the list with the influx of new walkers?
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