Atraxa, Grand Unifier | Art by Marta Nael

Four-color commanders are some of the coolest in Magic, but up until now there haven't been too many of them. Yes, we did get nearly infinite commander possibilities with the partners from Commander 2016, but that doesn't really count. I want commanders that have four different mana pips printed on them, and luckily, we just got seven more with Marvel Super Heroes. That almost doubles our count! So let's check them out and see which ones hold up, and which ones are gonna be big.

Aragorn, the UniterAragorn, the Uniter

We're starting off on a high! Aragorn is currently the most popular Ink-Treader (sans black) Commander, and it's for good reason. He's versatile and strong, but also flexible. If we want, we can focus on a single color, or we can try and cast a ton of multi-colored spells. That leaves us with a ton of deckbuilding options, almost all of which are great.

But my favorite Aragorn build is one that my buddy came up with, that abuses cards like Alter RealityAlter Reality. These cards are used to change Aragorn's text from "red spell" to "blue spell," so that when you cast a BrainstormBrainstorm not only do you scry two, but you also deal three damage to target opponent. If all four are set to blue, it's game over. It's an absolutely ridiculous build, but it's one that works surprisingly well.

Tier: S

Atraxa, Grand UnifierAtraxa, Grand Unifier

Atraxa, Grand UnifierAtraxa, Grand Unifier was the follow-up to the #1 commander at the time, Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice, and this version did basically the same thing: be extremely, generically powerful. While the former commander was great with anything that involved counters, this Atraxa was amazing for any deck that didn't focus on just one card type. We cast it, draw four or five cards, then use one of those cards to blink it and do the same thing over again. It's clearly strong, but the abilities don't really lead anywhere, and six mana is a big cost to pay. Overall, this Atraxa is powerful but dull.

Tier: C

Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice

If I'm being totally honest, I feel the same about this Atraxa as I do about the new one. Yeah, proliferating once a turn is amazing, but it doesn't give us much to do, other than run a deck with some kind of counter. Of course, that's why Atraxa was the #1 commander for so long. She supports a ton of popular archetypes really well, from Planeswalkers to Infect. The options are almost limitless. While I personally find Atraxa a bit dull, I understand why she's so popular, and I know she deserves no less than A Tier.

Tier: A

Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper

Like many of the commanders on this list, I think a lot of Breya's value simply comes from her four-colors. She's still the top artifact commander, and I strongly believe that it's because she fits every type of artifact strategy into her deck. We can run Myr, modular creatures, Treasures, Clones or Tokens in there, and Breya happily supports each strategy with a bit of spot removal and lifegain. For the last time in this article, I'll mention that this commander doesn't point us in any particular direction, but that doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, Breya is a great supporting commander for anything we want.

Tier: A

Crystal, Inhuman PrincessCrystal, Inhuman Princess

Multicolored cards are a theme I've built around in the past with Omnath, Locus of AllOmnath, Locus of All, and let me tell you right now, if you're gonna build this deck, do NOT build it with charms. I was running all of them, the Alara ones, Tarkir ones, the New Capenna ones, anything that had three colors and three options. Talk about decision paralysis! At any point in a game I had 9-12 possible things I could do, and to make matters worse I have a terrible memory. That deck was a nightmare to play, and it was even worse for my opponents who had to wait on my myriad of responses.

Of course, there are other ways to build Crystal, Inhuman PrincessCrystal, Inhuman Princess. We can fill the deck with multicolored cards that aren't too complicated, and we'll probably dole out a good amount of damage throughout the game. But then you're running a bunch of five-color cards just for Crystal's ability, and there aren't really enough of them to make the deck interesting or unique. This commander's quite underwhelming no matter what.

Tier: D

The Fantastic FourThe Fantastic Four

If I'd had to predict what ability The Fantastic FourThe Fantastic Four would have, never in a million years would I have guessed that Wizards of the Coast would make it "four" themed. That's hilarious! But if we're being realistic, isn't the best way to trigger this commander just to run one-mana 0/4s like God-Pharaoh's FaithfulGod-Pharaoh's Faithful?

I mean, to get the most out of this commander, you want to trigger it four times a turn. So that either means casting four four mana spells, for 16 mana total, or casting four creatures with four power or toughness. I guess a deck full of two mana creatures with four toughness isn't actually that bad though.

There are plenty of good options there, plus a lot of great cards with mana value four. I'm skeptical about this commander, but I'm actually starting to like it. I might have to adjust my ranking later, but for now, I have high hopes.

Tier: B

The Fourteenth DoctorThe Fourteenth Doctor

When in the world did this card come out? I totally missed this Secret Lair drop. I suppose it makes sense that Wizards of the Coast would want to print a commander for the other 16 doctors, and I think this card does a good job of that.

Cloning the other doctors while opening them up to graveyard shenanigans is honestly a really fun way of doing it. That being said, this commander's weakness doesn't come from its own design, but rather from the other Doctors. Unfortunately, The Tenth DoctorThe Tenth Doctor, which focuses on time counters, doesn't really synergize with the Historic-themed The Sixth DoctorThe Sixth Doctor.

But I suppose the point isn't to make a strong deck, it's to make a Doctor Who themed deck, and the Fourteenth Doctor does a great job with that.

Tier: A

The Fantastic Four (Individuals)

In addition to The Fantastic FourThe Fantastic Four commander, there are also cards for each character, and I'm a little torn on how these cards are designed. Each one has a triggered or activated ability that gives them a four-color identity, and each of them is Ink-Treader.

I personally think it would've been much more interesting if each had been one of the four-color combinations that isn't Ink-Treader, making these commanders plus The Fantastic FourThe Fantastic Four a complete cycle. But I guess they wouldn't have fit into the precon deck then. Still, there's something to be said about the excess of sans black cards versus the others.

As cards though, I think they're all great. Each one captures the flavor of the characters really well, although I personally think Invisible WomanInvisible Woman should've been blue and Mister FantasticMister Fantastic should've been white. Being unblockable has always been a blue thing, and Mister FantasticMister Fantastic's character had the leadership qualities that are usually associated with white cards. But I like how their abilities all match yet fit the characters.

Overall, my favorite is Human TorchHuman Torch, who has the potential to be one of the strongest Voltron commanders in a while. Giving flying or double strike whenever you play a noncreature spell (including possibly Equipment), is amazing for that archetype, and sending the damage to each other opponent is also fantastic. Plus, imagine what you could do with lifelink!

Human TorchHuman Torch - Tier: A

Invisible WomanInvisible Woman - Tier: B

Mister FantasticMister Fantastic - Tier: B

The ThingThe Thing - Tier: B

Kynaios and Tiro of MeletisKynaios and Tiro of Meletis

Man, these 2016 commanders have a really strong record. Until Ms. BumbleflowerMs. Bumbleflower, Kynaios and Tiro were the most popular group hug commander. They're simple, but they're always a blast to play with and against. Are they the strongest commander? Nah, but they're great for politics and they leave the deck builder with a lot of options.

Tier: B

Omnath, Locus of CreationOmnath, Locus of Creation

There's not much to say about Omnath, other than that this iteration of the jellybean is the best Landfall commander ever. He adds a ton of mana, deals a bunch of damage, and gains a surprising amount of life. Also, he draws a card when he enters for some reason? Anyways, he's far more interesting than Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre StraitAesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait. Man, I hate that card.

Tier: S

Power PackPower Pack

Here's the final new Marvel Super Heroes card! I can kind of see this deck being strong, but it's got to be well built. Ideally, we want only one instant or sorcery in the graveyard at a time, so that we can "choose" what Power PackPower Pack will pick. But if we run typical removal like Feed the SwarmFeed the Swarm or CounterspellCounterspell, then Power Pack suddenly gets way worse.

I will say, building this deck with only permanents and massive instants and sorceries sounds like a fun challenge, but there's no way that'll ever be good. Perhaps it would be better to try exiling unwanted cards from your graveyard. Is it worth a shot, or is this commander a flop? Y'all can find out!

Tier: C

Saskia the UnyieldingSaskia the Unyielding

I hate to say this because Dune-Brood (sans blue) is my favorite color combo, but Saskia is not a great commander. The second you cast her you make an enemy for the rest of the game, and for what? A bit of extra damage?

Once again, this commander is mostly played for the colors, but she only really supports an Aggro game plan while there are a million other themes in these colors. Cool concept, but it's no fun in practice.

Tier: C

Yidris, Maelstrom WielderYidris, Maelstrom Wielder

Yidris is a commander that really embodies all the wild energy of his color combo. No white means no order, and cascade is a great way to show that. But while he's at his best when he's embracing chaos, he can also be pretty strong when you remove that randomness.

I used to run a Shadowborn ApostleShadowborn Apostle deck with him that would mill half the deck then cascade into a Living EndLiving End, bringing back a million Apostles and a bunch of Demons. Now that was a blast, and it proves that he's a versatile commander who can do some surprising stuff.

Tier: A

Bonus: The Nephilim

The first four-color commanders came with Commander 2016, but the very first four-color cards, and the namesakes of the color combos, were the Nephilim. They're not legendary, but if your playgroup is down, they're amazing as Rule Zero commanders.

Each one has a very unique effect, from spawning hordes of tokens for each land you control to copying your spells to each creature on a board. They're strange, unique, kinda good, and certainly eye-catching. I highly recommend giving one of them a try!

Well, that's every four-color commander! While I like the new Marvel cards, I am pretty disappointed that they made seven new Ink-Treader cards while leaving the other color combos completely empty.

Right now I'm crossing my fingers for some new Dune-Brood cards in the future. But what do you think? Are the Fantastic Four living up to their name? Is Saskia as good a commander as Breya or Atraxa? Should I rank every single four-color combination of partner commanders?

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!