(Kastral, the Windcrested | Art by Jesper Ejsing)

It provides what every discerning mage requires—time to think.

Lawful day, dear readers! Nick here, back from a short break to bring you the top 10 most played Azorius cards in Commander! If you're new to the Back to Basics series or need a refresher on how we do things here, feel free to check out my last piece on the most played Orzhov cards. Like the previous list, I've included how many decks each individual card is played in as of writing this article. Of course, EDHREC is constantly being updated by Commander players, so these numbers likely won't be exactly the same as when you browse the list of format staples. Still, I feel the list provides a clear snapshot of which blue and white gold cards tend to make their way into the most decks.

Similarly, as with previous lists, I've merged a few popular cards with similar themes or effects into one list item. This lets me cover more sweet and unique cards. With that light housekeeping out of the way, let's get to what you've really come here for: a well-ordered, clearly-ranked, law-abiding list of Azorius staples!

10. Sphinx's Revelation - 30,280 decks

In 2024, you can play any number of splashy creatures that get you card advantage just by casting it or having it exist in play for a while. But I'm a simple mage. I enjoy drawing cards. I enjoy the mechanical motion of scooping up a clutch of cards from the top of my deck, all at once, and fanning them all out in my hand.

For simple mages and boomers like me, Sphinx's Revelation is the perfect spell. The instant also pays you off with life gain synergy, which Azorius decks can definitely play up. EDHREC users are doing this by playing Rev in decks led Will, Scion of Peace, which helps you cast all the cards you drew, and The Archimandrite, which lets you threaten a lethal attack out of nowhere.

You can also just play this as a refill or catch-up spell without worrying too much about synergy, say in a control deck like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV or a multicolor mishmash like Niv-Mizzet, Supreme. Either way, casting a huge Sphinx's Revelation is one of my favorite experiences in Magic.

9. Cloudblazer - 31,170 decks

Oh, you like Sphinx's Revelation? Well, Wizards of the Coast R&D printed a version where X initially equals 2 and that comes with a free 2/2 flier! I say initially, because Cloudblazer is one of the best value cards for a blink-themed deck. You can go as deep into blink as you want by running commanders like Brago, King Eternal, Roon of the Hidden Realm, or Yorion, Sky Nomad, which all figure near the top of EDHREC's blink theme page.

On the other hand, Azorius as a color pair naturally gets a lot of commanders and some cards that synergize with the blink theme. I'm thinking of cards like Ranar the Ever-Watchful, which does love blink effects but also plays into a Spirits theme, and Isperia, Supreme Judge, which comes in a fliers-themed preconstructed deck whose ability also gives you time to build up blink shenanigans.

8. Lavinia, Azorius Renegade (32941 decks) and The Council of Four (31,557 decks)

We're now moving from the side of Azorius that's all fun, blink, and card draw to the, well, AZORIUS facet of the color pair that loves setting new rules and punishing opponents who didn't get the memo or who try and flaunt them. In Lavinia's case, she shows up early in the game and tells opponents, "oh, did my pilot not tell you before we started that you're not allowed to play mana rocks or cast free spells? How unfortunate."

She slots right into a taxes-style deck that makes Magic difficult for opponents. You can also run other "hate bears" like Grand Abolisher, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and—stretching the definition slightly but still hewing to the spirit of the term—Aven Mindcensor.

As for this deck's commander, popular choices include similarly controlling leaders like the Grand Arbiter or more aggressive creatures that seek to put beleaguered opponents out of their misery quickly, like Harbin, Vanguard Aviator, or Raffine, Scheming Seer.

The Council of Four is a similarly punishing card, though it does its job by bringing you up to parity with your opponents rather than dragging them down into the muck. The 0/8 body can be a surprisingly effective blocker in the format while really making your hesitate to remove it. That's fine though, because if they don't, the Council will net you extra cards and tokens just by sitting there while you play Magic.

7. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV - 36,708 decks

Augustin IV is a pretty popular commander, especially for a controlling, prison or hate bears-style deck. But this 2/3 also sees decent amount of play in the 99 of decks like this headed by different commanders, especially when they want to run a third color. Sen Triplets, Archimandrite, and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician are popular choices outside of the strictly-Azorius color identity. Meanwhile, high-synergy EDH staples for decks with Grand Arbiter include Smothering Tithe, Rhystic Study, Ghostly Prison, and Propaganda.

6. Vega, the Watcher - 36,412 decks

In Kaldheim, Vega was a signpost uncommon that gently nudged white and blue drafters towards picking up Foretell cards. In Commander, she has a ton more synergy. For example, the Bird Spirit complements commanders with Adventure synergies like Kellan, the Kid and Gorion, Wise Mentor. She also powers up commanders that care about the top of your deck, including Errant and Giada and Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign.

Casting stuff from the graveyard also nets you cards, so you can run her in Zethi, Arcane Blademaster or Vadrok, Apex of Thunder. It can be pretty difficult not to draw some extra cards of Vega, so definitely keep her in mind when you're building a deck that uses more than just your hand as a resource.

5. Dance of the Manse - 44,305 decks

I love having access to cards like Dance of the Manse that feel like they fit into the color pair but also do something pretty unique and fun. The white-blue color pair in Throne of Eldraine had an "artifacts and enchantments theme." Building around Dance and playing it late in the game would let you bring back 4/4 versions of Golden Egg, Witching Well, and Scalding Cauldron, among other powerhouses. Trust me, it was a blast.

In EDH, we've got somewhat more powerful cards to reanimate and actual value or combo lines to enable. I particularly love the card's synergy with Sagas like In the Darkness Bind Them and The Horus Heresy, as these are very splashy enchantments that go to the graveyard by themselves. EDHREC players are also using this card to enable wombo Shrine-combos, returning a bunch of these Legendary Enchantments and turning on Sanctum of All.

If artifacts are more your thing, you can do something similar with Mechtitan Core and a bunch of Vehicles in Shorikai, Genesis Engine.

4. Blink All-Stars: Soulherder (51,315 decks), Brago, King Eternal (35,761 decks), and Oath of Teferi (38,875 decks)

I pointed out that this color pair has a lot of blink synergy, and these three most played Azorius cards are among the best enablers for the theme.

Soulherder is the blink mascot, pairing a repeatable flicker ability with the threat of ending an opponent's game with a big swing. It's one of the most important cards in decks from Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward concoctions to Yorion piles.

Brago has very similar upside, while also ranking near the top 100 commanders. You do have to hit an opponent to get the trigger, but flying enables this to a great extent and the reward of flickering as many things as you want makes the juice worth the squeeze.

Finally, Oath of Teferi may look like the odd one out here, but its blink ability can do a lot of work in the multicolor Planeswalker-themed deck that it naturally slots into. Don't get me wrong, you're probably playing it to let you double-dip on loyalty activations, but using it to flicker a Deepglow Skate, Brokers Ascendancy, or even an Oath of Nissa can keep the wheels greased and pose an eventual game-ending threat.

Notably, Oath also lets you combo off in different ways using various Planeswalkers and other enablers, as you can see in its Commander Spellbook entry.

3. Teferi, Time Raveler - 62,177 decks

This Planeswalker is just a great card that slots into pretty much any deck playing Azorius colors. Teferi's abilities are all relevant in a game of Commander, from preventing opponents from messing with your turns to giving you more flexibility during theirs. He acts as removal, too! It's also important to note that his static ability stops effects that cast spells for free when the stack isn't empty. This is especially relevant against Cascade triggers, but it also interferes with abilities that let you cast copies of things.

Planeswalker decks want him, Sisay, Weatherlight Captain-led Legends decks often have room for him, and Grand Arbiter control decks would love to have him as well. Teferi is an EDH all-star.

2. Supreme Verdict (136,256 decks) and Time Wipe (65,642 decks)

Speaking of all-stars, if several of white's most played cards are sweeper effects, then you can expect the same to be true for one of the more controlling white-aligned pairs. Indeed, both Supreme Verdict and Time Wipe see a ton of play in the format. Verdict is simply a better Day of Judgment and often a better Wrath of God when you play blue mana sources, because getting around counterspells is usually going to be more powerful than preventing regeneration.

Meanwhile, Time Wipe is more expensive but offers the huge upside of saving one of your creatures. Controlling decks can run both, while also getting to run the best mono-white sweepers like Farewell.

1. Dovin's Veto - 195,176 decks

At the core of deckbuilding in Commander is the truth that cheap, simple, and efficient cards tend to see more play than splashier options. That's why tutors, cantrips, or card filtering spells often top most played lists of their respective colors. It's no different for counterspells, with Dovin's Veto yet to be unseated as the most efficient and powerful Negate variant in the format.

For just two mana, you can almost assure that your opponents' most threatening noncreature spells won't resolve, even through counters of their own. One thing I do like about the card is that it's much less useful as a way to push through your own stuff, because opponents can just cast another counter targeting the original big spell rather than fighting over the Veto.

It may not be the most fun or synergistic card, but Dovin's Veto is by far the most played Azorius card in Commander!

Only cowards flee from the truth.

That's it for this color pair! I do want to point out some of my favorite Azorius cards that didn't make the list: Fractured Identity and Dragonlord Ojutai. Let me know what your favorites are!

Nick Price