Spellslinging Fighters

Red, white, and blue are the colors of a very specific group of people: the Jeskai. Why, who were you thinking of? Jeskai are spellslinging fighters, through and through. Wizards, Monks, and other magical adepts populate these three colors. This color wedge invokes the burning damage of red, the card draw of blue, and the control of white. So if you want to churn through your deck while buffing up your creatures to swing in for the final blow, Jeskai is the best choice. Here are 15 of the best commanders in the red, white, and blue.

 

1. Numot, the Devastator

Simply devastating.

Numot the Devastator certainly lives up to his name. A 6/6 body with flying on a six-cost card is alright. When he connects, though, you can pay three mana to have him blow up two of your least favorite lands on the battlefield. So long, Gaea’s Cradle, and good riddance.

While his ability is indeed good, it’s also quite slow. You have six mana just to cast him, and your commander also needs you to pay into his ability. Removing threatening lands is great, but also depends heavily on what your opponents are playing. He’s also just one attack power off the magic seven for a commander damage K.O. Numot takes some work to get going, but can be rewarding if you’re willing to do so.

Pros:

• Repeatable land destruction
• Big offensive and defensive body
• Evasive

Cons:

• Slow
• Very slow
• Power is dependant on what opponents are playing

How to get it: Magic: The Gathering Commander

 

14. Ruhan of the Fomori

"Now, it's your turn!"

Speaking of the magic seven attack, Ruhan of the Fomori’s got it. In fact, that’s pretty much all he’s working with. But at four mana, Ruhan is an aggressive and potentially formidable threat.

Jeskai colors can definitely enable multiple turns, combats, and has many ways to make its creatures unblockable. So it’s possible to to chain attacks together and swing in for lethal commander damage Voltron-style. Another option is to have Ruhan helm your giant tribal deck, which is also well-supported in these colors. 

The downside of Ruhan is that he’s a one-trick pony. You also can’t choose where you’re going to send him. However, this may matter less as the game goes on and the number of your opponents (hopefully) dwindles. If you’re running Ruhan as your commander, just make sure to pack plenty of protection.

Pros:

• Aggressive
• Great stats for the cost
• Jeskai colors support attacking

Cons:

• Few options and directions to take the deck
• Dies easily to removal

How to get it: Magic: The Gathering Commander

 

13. Zerduu the Greathearted

"There's plenty to go around."

Here’s a fun one. Greathearted indeed, Zerduu wants you to run cards that are actively detrimental. That way you can pass them off to your opponents so they can deal with them instead. In return, you get to draw cards and gain life at the beginning of your upkeep. Zerduu is a bit of a gimmick deck, but it can get out of hand if it isn’t respected.

Pros:

• Unique mechanic
• Multiple build directions 
• Low-priority removal target
• Card draw and lifegain on a commander

Cons:

• Gimmicky
• Slow to ramp up

How to get it: Magic: The Gathering Commander

 

12. Gnostro, Voice of the Crags

It's haunting, feral voices could be heard echoing across the mountains.

Gnostro, Voice of the Crags is a Storm mechanic commander through in through. This commander rewards you for chaining together cheap cantrips and then turning it sideways. Gnostro is repeatable card selection, removal, and lifegain stapled onto a creature. It also rewards you for tapping and untapping, which some cantrips can do quite well.

While Gnostro’s effects are good overall, they aren’t busted. You need to chain a lot of spells together to get significant effects from its ability. And since the damaging component of its ability only works on creatures, it struggles to finish off Planeswalkers and players. Gnostro needs a good deal of support, but can be an intricate and rewarding commander deck to pilot in the right hands.

Pros:

• Its ability has various useful effects
• Its buildaround (Storm) is heavily supported in Jeskai colors
• Can support a combo-style deck

Cons:

• Struggles to finish the game
• Weak against Planeswalkers

How to get it: Commander Legends

 

11. Akim, the Soaring Wind

"Fly, my pretties!"

Bird token tribal anybody? Akrim’s got you covered. With the Soaring Wind at your back, you little fliers will peck the daylights out of your opponents.

Again, Jeskai supports this strategy fairly well. Blue and white are full bird tribal support and white loves tokens. Red and white love attacking creatures, and the ability to give your board double strike is no joke. While it’s not the most overtly powerful deck in the world, Akrim has a nice niche carved out for himself.

Pros:

• Bird and token tribal commander
• Can give your tokens double strike
• Color support

Cons:

• Nothing overtly powerful, can do more for the mana cost with other cards

How to get it: Ikoria Commander

 

10. Vadrok, Apex of Thunder

Three truly is a magic number.

Welcome to three-cost tribal. Vadrok has decent stats for the mana cost and flying and first strike make it a strong attacker, especially early-game. This winged beast also enables Mutate mechanics if you’re into that strategy. It’s a bit narrow in what it’s doing, but graveyard recursion is always powerful. Another niche commander, but one that rewards avid deckbuilders with lots of fun combos.

Pros:

• Mutate enabler
• Graveyard recursion
• Decent stats and keywords

Cons:

• Niche strategy, needs lots of deckbuilding to make it work

How to get it: Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

 

9. Dynaheir, Invoker Adept

It's time for trouble. And make it double.

The newest Jeskai commander on the list, Dynaheir is tap tribal. Jeskai has many powerful creatures that love to turn sideways. Running Gnostro in with Dynaheir, for example, will enable it to use its tap ability right away. But to get the most out of Dynaheir, you want to find tap abilities that also cost four or more mana to activate. Cards like Lithoform Engine or Magistrate’s Scepter fit the bill perfectly.

Pros:

• Tap tribal is fairly well supported in Jeskai colors
• Enables creatures with tap abilities immediately

Cons:

• A bit slow and clunky
• Requires lots of set-up

How to get it: Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate

 

8. Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest

"There is more than one path to enlightenment."

Shu Yun enables a mixture of spellslinging and attacking unique to Jeskai. Most commander decks will want you to choose one or the other. But Shu Yun walks the middle path.

Jeskai has lots of creatures that love when you cast spells. Many of these creatures have Prowess, allowing them to grow with each spell you sling. Combine this with double strike for a formidable attack. The downside to this strategy is that it’s mana intensive and weak to board-wipes. It can take a long time to rebuild if your board gets wiped, and by that time it may be too late to recover.

Pros:

• Great color support
• Unique blend of attacking and spellslinging
• High Storm and combo potential

Cons:

• Needs lots of setup
• Weak to board wipes

How to get it: Fate Reforged

 

7. Sevinne, the Chronoclasm

"Remember me?"

Sevinne, the Chronoclasm wants you to fill your graveyard with flashback spells. Flashback spells are already quite powerful since you can effectively use them twice. Sevinne essentially lets you cast a spell for athird time when you flash it back. One of Sevinne’s weaknesses is that, like Gnostro, his strategy doesn’t easily lend itself to actually finishing out the game. So you’ll be pressed to find a way to finish things.

Pros:

• Exceptional value
• Again, color enabled

Cons:

• Slow strategy
• Can be tough to finish out the game

How to get it: Commander 2019

 

6. Pramikon, Sky Rampart

Its iridescent glory is difficult for even the most enlightened to comprehend.

With another incredibly unique ability, Pramikon fundamentally altars the fabric of a commander game. Pramikon decks are hyper-control focused, heavily nerfing the effectiveness of dealing damage through combat. If you’re playing this deck, you’ll likely want to generate absurd amounts of mana and pump it into massive X red burn spells. Other than that, you’ll have a tough time finishing out a game.

Pros:

• Choosing the direction of combat is incredibly powerful
• Great defensive turtle-style commander

Cons:

• Slow
• Might be susceptible to removal
• Difficulty finishing out the game

How to get it: Commander 2019

 

5. Elsha of the Infinite

"I've glimpsed the future. Are you prepared?"

Jeskai loves spellslinger themes, and so Elsha fits right in. Some of the best spells to sling are sorceries, yet they’re balanced by their inherent slowness. Elsha allows you to circumvent this weakness provided the sorcery, or other noncreature, nonland card, is ontop of your library. Jeskai excels at topdeck manipulation, so you’ll be able to do this fairly consistently. With prowess on top of it all, Elsha is a great all-around spellslinging commander, or is also great in the 99.

Pros:

• Greatly increases power of noncreature, nonland cards in your deck
• Grants you information
• Can attack decently well

Cons:

• A bit slow
• Very openended, maybe better in the 99 than as a commander

How to get it: Commander 2019

 

4. Gavi, Nest Warden

"My, what beatiful eyes, claws, and scales you have!"

Ready for yet another unique mechanic that Jeskai loves? Well, so is Gavi, Nest Warden. Gavi’s devoted her life to tending the nest of ferociously cute Dinosaur Cats and you can help her hatch them. Cycling is a mechanic abundant on Jeskai cards, with lots of support to enable it.

One of the great strengths of cycling is how it lets you filter through your deck for the spells you really need. Gavi ensures you’ll be able to do just that on every single turn. You can take this deck in many directions, from drawing cards, to discarding, to tokens, to Dinosaur or Cat tribal, and even more. Gavi is a great commander for deck builders out there.

Pros:

• Mana efficient
• Card advantage
• Good at building the board

Cons:

• Cycling cards can be weak

How to build it: Ikoria Commander

 

3. Kykar, Wind’s Fury

Like fire on the wind.

Kykar may seem simple at first, but it’s really doing a lot for so little. A cursory glance lends these deckbuilding directions: Bird tribal, Wizard tribal, Flying tribal, Spirit tribal, Storm, big mana / big spells, tokens, and more. There are multitudinous directions you can take your Kykar deck and this commander will support them emphatically. It’s both an enabler and a payoff in one card, which is often exactly what you want in a powerful commander.

Pros:

• Firmly supports various strategies
• Both enabler and payoff

Cons:

• Very few, if any

How to get it: Core Set 2020

 

2. Hinata, Dawn-Crowned

The spirit of the sun incarnate.

Frankly, Hinata Dawn-Crowned is insane. She turns otherwise mediocre big multi-target spells into full-blown powerhouses. Hinata lets you do things in the midgame that most players can’t do until the endgame. She also grants light protection to everything you control, taxing your opponents. Not to mention Hinata also has flying and trample on a 4/4 body for four mana. What more could you ask for?

Pros:

• Massive mana cheating
• Huge damage potential

Cons:

• Prime removal target

How to get it: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty

 

1. Narset, Enlightened Master

"Time is my plaything."

If you don’t know about Narset, Enlightened Master, then you haven’t had to face the sheer oppression she brings to the table. Narset decks can take a few extra turns to get going, but they proceed to take so many extra turns once they do that it won’t matter.

These decks are notorious for ending the game after just one attack with Narset by stacking them with extra turns, combats, and other unfair things. And hexproof is really what makes it all possible as it makes removing Narset a significant challenge. The best way to counter Narset is to kill the player before they get a chance to attack. Because it’s likely all over if they ever do.

Pros:

• Insane mana cheating
• Ability to chain extra turns
• Can completely take over games
• Hard to remove

Cons:

• You’ll likely be the arch-enemy at the table just by sitting down to play with this deck

How to get it: Khans of Tarkir

 

Colorful Colors

Jeskai is as just as colorful as it seems. This wedge is heaven for deckbuilders, as these commanders ask you to build unique and often niche strategies. But while some of Jeskai’s power comes in its uniqueness, some of it comes in its sheer ability to cheat mana. Some Jeskai commanders can struggle to finish the game on their own, however. So, put the time and effort into building and refining your deck and Jeskai will reward you spectacularly. 

Also Be Sure To Read:

• [Top 25] MTG Best Auras That Are Powerful
• [Top 15] MTG Best Angel Commanders That Are Powerful
• [Top 15] MTG Best Counterspells Every Player Should Use