(Space Beleren | Art by Scooter)

Would U let me be your commander?

The question of planeswalkers as commanders has been brought up in Magic discourse an infinite number of times. People say it would kill EDH as a format, and others say it will do nothing but give more options to an endless pool of commanders. I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle. My name is Nick, and the seventh installment of Myth Realized will cover Azorius (blue, white) cards and how they would each ruin (or not ruin) your favorite 100-card singleton format.

If you have stuck around with me till this article, then you know what cards to look out for in this color combination. If not, check out the individual articles I did on both white and blue to see the cards I've shouted out before in these colors.

• Dovin, Architect of Law  - 4WU

This is one of the better Planeswalker Deck planeswalkers that we have seen up till this point. It does cost six mana, but it has abilities you want to see on a planeswalker, especially in these colors. Drawing cards, gaining life, and locking down a single creature or an entire opponent's board gives you a lot of decisions. I would not be embarrassed to have this as my commander, but I feel this would be an annoying and tiresome deck to play against. Dovin would be very good friends with Ghostly Prison and Propaganda.

• Dovin Baan - 2WU

Similar to one of his other versions, Baan would be a very serviceable planeswalker to lead a deck. The tradeoff for this Dovin is less mana to cast, but less starting loyalty. A bonus is the "lockdown" ability, which is a +1 this time. I think this Dovin is better since if you are able to ultimate this, you get a one-sided Winter Orb. Sadly, counter-doubling cards paired with Planeswalkers do not get you an immediate ultimate, but in UW (blue, white) there are plenty of ways to make it to one more turn around the table.

• Dovin, Hand of Control - 2W or 2U

A fitting name since most of the cards that end up in your opponent's hand are going to be stranded there thanks to Dovin. I think the passive ability on this card is why you would want to run it in your command zone. Doing their best impression of Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, this would be a similar style of deck.

• Narset Transcendent - 2WU

This card is a powerhouse planeswalker. Only four mana and a massive six loyalty to start out with is crazy. Narset features a +1 that lets you get the top card off your deck more often than not (as long as you build right) and a -2 that can make a good spell great by letting you cast it the next turn, thanks to rebound. I have gotten this card to ultimate before, and it is one of the most guaranteed ways to end a game. Locking your opponents to only casting creatures when you have a UW deck, a color combination known for dealing with creatures as its favorite pastime, does not look good for your opponents. I would imagine this card would see a big uptick in play if it were legal to lead a deck.

• Niko Aris - XWUU

One of the most interesting planeswalkers out there and one of the hardest to evaluate. I have talked before about planeswalkers with abilities that do not mesh together to form a game plan. Niko suffers from this same idea. There are a lot of things that can be done with this card. You can reuse enter-the battlefield (ETB) triggers with its +1, make tokens off its cast and its -1, and kill a tapped creature if you draw the right amount of cards. Unless you can find a way to maximize the Shard tokens this card can make, you're going to run this card because you like the character more than the abilities they were given.

• Space Beleren - 2WU

I know what you are going to say. "Nick, this is an un-card; why are you wasting our time with it?" Because the card is legal in the format and, honestly, might be super fun as a commander. This card does something unique by dividing the battlefield into three zones and then having its abilities do things to zones of your choice. Thoughts on un-cards aside, I think this would be a very interesting UW creatures-matter commander, and that is not something often seen in these colors. Bonus if you want to get really weird with this card and slap Luxior, Giada's Gift on it.

• Teferi, Hero of Dominaria - 3WU

Strong. Dominant. Format defining. Hated. These words are often used to describe Teferi, and this card is one of the reasons why. One of the most UW cards to ever exist. A +1 that can draw you into action and give you the mana to cast it or untap a utility land. A minus ability that is both removal and a way people have avoided milling out on their path to victory. Finally, one of the most back-breaking ultimates ever. A guaranteed commander if it was legal, and a very good one at that.

• Teferi, Timebender - 4WU

So Azorius cards might have gotten the "best" Planeswalker Deck planeswalkers we have seen so far. Much like the first card in this article, six mana is up there in cost, but this card is all about gaining you advantage. The ability to untap an artifact and a creature can lead to all forms of combo potential. Any card that can let you take an extra turn is always viable, so having that out of the command zone is welcomed.

• Teferi, Time Raveler - 1WU

One of the best passive abilities ever seen on a planeswalker. This is also a callback to his non-planeswalker version Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Another callback is the ability this card has to let you cast sorceries at instant speed, and if you have never cast Wrath of God during your opponent's combat step, you have never lived. The -3 does put this card into the danger zone of dying to a stiff breeze, but bouncing almost any nonland permanent you or an opponent has and drawing a card is often worth it. If all of this was not good enough, three mana makes this card come down early and lets you possibly have it come down often.

• Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset - 2WU

I underrated this card when it first came out. I looked at the words on this card and laughed. Then I got smashed by this card in 1v1 formats and realized sometimes I am bad at magic. This Teferi is a solid roleplayer type of card. Untapping three different cards you control (or tapping three of your opponent's cards) and gaining two life on a +1 lets Teferi stay on the board for a long time. Getting to have the best of your top three cards and clear unwanted cards allows for a lot of selection. Now, the ultimate on this card does not look "game-winning", but there is a reason that cards like Seedborn Muse and the banned Prophet of Kruphix are/were considered must-kill threats by many. The benefit to Teferi is that if you get to its -7, you get an emblem, which cannot be killed. Plus, unlike Seedborn and Prophet, you get to draw a card as well. This card slows sunsets and slows down Commander pods when it gets to lead a deck.

• Venser, the Sojourner - 3WU

The reason that Karn is able to planeswalk. Lore aside, I have always liked this card, and I will defend myself and say it is with good reason. This is often seen in blink decks thanks to its +2 ability. Like Space, this is another UW planeswalker that cares about creatures. Low loyalty and a five-mana value casting cost makes getting to the -8 emblem tricky but rewarding, since you are almost certain to win the game when every spell you cast comes with a free exile. The first two abilities look strange on the same card, but I will say that designers were playing the long game knowing that Venser was just waiting to get a hold of Luxior, Giada's Gift, or to get animated with Sarkhan the Masterlessalongside other planeswalker friends. They gave Venser the ability to grant unblockable, I suspect, with the knowledge of foresight. Another potential option for a blink commander or another option of the ever-growing UW creatures-matter archetype being discovered in this article.

Wrap Up

Azorius has a reputation for being a hard-control color combination in the game. Years of counterspells and wrath effects preventing players prone to entering the combat step pull their hair out in disgust at what is sitting across the table from them. The planeswalkers available in this color combination do not shy away from this fully, but they might tone it down a bit. Would Teferi, Time Raveler need to be banned? What about Narset Transcendent? Anything is possible, after all.

I think these cards would fit into the same realm as many of the currently available commanders in this color. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV and Lavinia, Azorius Renegade certainly could be argued as more oppressive than anything in the list above, but the majority does not seem to be calling for either of those cards' heads. Many of these cards would be strong, and there would be people who would build a deck with them. However, the vast majority of players will all, without talking to one another, decide they would rather not build decks around these cards, much like many of the overpowered options in Commander out there.

Azorius aside, join me with my next article, where we go over the sneakiest of all the two-color combinations: Dimir.

Nicholas Lucchesi

Player and lover of all Magic the Gathering formats. Forged in the fires of Oath of the Gatewatch expeditions. Always down to jam games with anyone and everyone. When not playing Magic I am doing something else equally, if not more nerdy.