Tom BombadilTom Bombadil | Art by Omar Rayyan

With the new Hobbit set coming soon, we're naturally getting a reprint of Tom BombadilTom Bombadil and plenty of new Sagas, but it would be nice to get an even cooler new Saga commander in this set. We've already got Fíli and Kíli, JoyousFíli and Kíli, Joyous, but its mana dork ability, eh, leaves much to be desired.

To manifest an awesome new Saga commander, let's check out all the ones we already have, and see if we can't find something worth building around in the meantime. Here's hoping!

Barbara WrightBarbara Wright

At first I was confused by Barbara, because there's no Doctor that cares about Sagas. But a quick glance at her EDHREC page reveals that there are a number of Doctors focused on historic cards, which includes Sagas.

I like this design a lot, where the Doctor's broad theme is narrowed by the deck builder's choice of companion. That being said, Barbara's not all that crazy. Giving each Saga read ahead is interesting, and maybe even decent, but in my opinion, it defeats the purpose of Sagas. If we're going to skip to the third chapter, they might as well just be instants and sorceries!

Overall, we're getting less value out of them, and less time with them, too. That means other Saga-centric cards like Chong and Lily, NomadsChong and Lily, Nomads will be weaker. I'm sure we could make a great deck with Barbara if we built around her, but if I wanted to enjoy Sagas as much as possible, she wouldn't be my pick.

Tier: B

Chong and Lily, NomadsChong and Lily, Nomads

At first, I thought these guys were just a throwaway legendary for Bard typal, a theme no one plays, but they're actually quite strong.

Putting a lore counter on any number of Sagas we control is potent acceleration, and then giving the team a huge buff a turn later is even better. Their biggest weakness is that it's a 3/3 that wants to attack, but guess which other Saga commander is a Bard who gives himself indestructible. Yup, Tom BombadilTom Bombadil. Chong and Lily are a must-play in that deck.

Unfortunately, the mono-red color identity restricts the card's own deck pretty hard, but I still have to give these guys credit as amazing support.

Tier: B

Eivor, Wolf-KissedEivor, Wolf-Kissed

Six mana? Yes, Eivor cheats Sagas onto the battlefield for free, but six mana is a huge investment to make, and frankly, I'd rather just cast a six-mana Saga from hand.

I do like the idea of a Saga-Voltron deck built around Eivor, but then I'd want a lot of expensive Sagas that synergize with the Voltron theme, plus evasion, plus some top-deck manipulation, and that already sounds like a cramped and restrictive deck. I think I'd have to see this deck in action to really judge it, but for now, I'm pretty down on Eivor.

Tier: C

Fíli and Kíli, JoyousFíli and Kíli, Joyous

Well, there's not a lot to say here. Fíli and Kíli is an alright mana dork for Dwarves, Equipment, and Sagas, but since Dwarves and Equipment go better together than Sagas do with either of them, I imagine that's the direction most deck builders will go.

That is, if any deck builders pick them up. This card is not a great commander at all, and I doubt a three-mana dork that taps for two is gonna fit in the 99 of any deck.

Tier: D

Garnet, Princess of AlexandriaGarnet, Princess of Alexandria

I think this commander is subtle, but really, really good.

All she does is take counters off of Sagas and grow herself slowly, but if we keep playing Sagas that never disappear while building our commander, the value is gonna get exponential. Every turn we can play more Sagas, grow Garnet larger, and keep getting all the triggers from our other Sagas.

Just imagine how good it gets if we can double the trigger with Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator, and proliferate the lore counters. This commander will roll slowly, but she definitely snowballs.

Tier: A

Guru PathikGuru Pathik

What the heck is this? Lessons, Sagas, and Shrines have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

Lessons are just instants and sorceries with an extra type, Sagas can be anything, and Shrines only care about other Shrines. The only thing these types have in common is that they were all printed in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Maybe the most hilarious part is that the payoff is also unrelated. We can't put +1/+1 counters on Lessons, Sagas, or Shrines! I don't know who thought of this card, but I'm coming to the conclusion that it must be some kind of joke.

Tier: F

Ian ChestertonIan Chesterton

Ian ChestertonIan Chesterton is exactly what I wanted to see in a Saga commander, because unlike Barbara Wright, he lets us play more Sagas, rather than fewer. Giving every Saga replicate is really strong, and they're gonna multiply even more if we're running The Sixth DoctorThe Sixth Doctor.

The more the merrier with this one, and there will definitely be more.

Tier: A

Narci, Fable SingerNarci, Fable Singer

Narci is a neat commander, incentivizing us to churn through Sagas and recur them as fast as possible. The more we do, the more cards we draw, and the more life our opponents lose.

I'm having a hard time judging just how good that is though. If I play a seven-drop and three turns later I draw a card, gain seven life, and my opponents lose seven, is that worth it? It's not bad for sure, but I don't think it beats out some of the other commanders on this list.

Narci is unfortunately a bit slow and underwhelming, but I do like the concept.

Tier: B

Rydia, Summoner of MistRydia, Summoner of Mist

Rydia's another interesting take on Sagas, essentially giving them flashback. Or is unearth a better comparison?

She actually gives them haste, which would've been completely irrelevant before Final Fantasy, but now there are a ton of creature Sagas. I think the haste is a bit of a red herring though, because Rydia is probably better off playing other Sagas that trigger landfall.

That first ability, discarding and drawing whenever we play a land, is really strong. It's solid card selection, and it gives us an opportunity to pitch Sagas and reanimate them later. Those two abilities in tandem make Rydia an absolute value train, but that's not all she can do. Because it's a Saga deck, we're gonna be playing Power ConduitPower Conduit, which can not only remove lore counters, but finality counters as well. Now we've got a graveyard engine, and maybe even a few infinite combos.

Rydia is definitely my favorite Saga commander so far, and she'd be an S tier if it wasn't for her rather limited color identity. Still, there are more than 70 Sagas in red and green, so it's not a real problem.

Tier: A

Satsuki, the Living LoreSatsuki, the Living Lore

Satsuki was pretty much the first ever Saga commander. Before this, the only real way to play Sagas was with Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice, who, come to think of it, was pretty decent.

But as the first dedicated Saga commander, Satsuki was a lot of fun. Accelerating the lore counters was great, and bouncing or reanimating the Sagas was also pretty good. But I think everyone just appreciated having a commander for the theme. Now, Satsuki is still decent, but there are far better options, with stronger abilities and more colors.

But don't worry Satsuki, I still love you.

Tier: B

Sigurd, Jarl of RavensthorpeSigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe

Here's another really unique, really strong take on Sagas.

Sigurd cares all about attacking with that boast ability, and he supports himself quite well with those +1/+1 counters and keywords. If we've got three or four Sagas on the board he'll be growing pretty quickly, and then the boasts will accelerate us even faster.

This card is pretty similar to Garnet, Princess of AlexandriaGarnet, Princess of Alexandria with that game plan, and I imagine they complement each other really well.

Tier: A

Terra, Magical AdeptTerra, Magical Adept

And we've got yet another awesome card design. This is the only commander on the list who is actually a Saga, and it's quite a strong one.

Once we transform Terra, we get Saga clones for three turns in a row, then ten mana. Wow! Of course, we have to invest nine mana into that, and Esper Terra is incredibly vulnerable, given that it's a creature and an enchantment.

But the payoff is pretty darn worth it. That much value is crazy, and I really think the ability to clone other Sagas is a lot of fun, especially if we're making nonlegendary clones of Esper Terra. My sensible side is forcing me to say that Terra is too expensive, but I can't do anything except adore this commander.

Tier: A

Tom BombadilTom Bombadil

Finally, the card we've all been waiting for, the quintessential Saga commander, Tom BombadilTom Bombadil.

I think it's pretty clear that Bombadil was designed to be the perfect Saga commander, and he absolutely achieves that. The card is pretty simple, really. When we're done with one Saga, we get another. It's an infinite stream of value, combined with some protection as well as five colors to give us every option.

It doesn't get much better than that, and if you want an easy commander to play all the Sagas you love, be glad that Tom Bombadil is right here.

Tier: S

Conclusion

I have to say, this is one of my favorite tier list articles I've ever done. Somehow, I've never noticed that almost all the Saga commanders are awesome.

Usually if we're building around a card type the deck is just that, but here we could have Saga Voltron, Saga Reanimator, or even Saga Clones. How awesome is that? I genuinely want to build Garnet and Rydia right now, and they aren't even the best options on the list. I guess the design team has just been cooking like crazy when it comes to Saga commanders.

I do have a question for y'all though. What commanders don't explicitly mention Sagas, but would be great for them, like Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice? I know there's gotta be more, and I want to check them out too.