<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Immortal Sun" href="#" target="_blank">The Immortal Sun</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.kieranyanner.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kieran Yanner</a></em></p>
<p>The idea for today's article about "generic commanders" comes from a deck that doesn't exist. More precisely, about a deck that should have existed but was never completed. But, let's not skip ahead, and first answer a crucial question: how did I end up in this situation?</p>
<h2>The Origin: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krang, Utrom Warlord" href="#" target="_blank">Krang, Utrom Warlord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krang, Utrom Warlord"></div></div>
<p>Some time before the writing of this article, I came across this card and it initially fit perfectly my idea of a janky and stompy commander. All in all, it's a nine-mana colorless legend with a bunch of keywords slapped onto it and an over-the-top effect. It checks all my boxes for a fun casual deck and I was ecstatic to build it.</p>
<p>I soon felt something was off about it: I couldn't really figure out how to craft a list around such a generic effect. You really want to buff as many creatures as possible with it, so I imagined a go-wide strategy. But then I'd be giving a ton of keywords to small bodies that can't do anything with it.</p>
<p>Hence, I thought about going tall with similar heavy-hitting permanents. In this case <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krang, Utrom Warlord" href="#" target="_blank">Krang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s impact on the board would be limited by the low number of permanents it'd affect.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I wasn't going to let this small inconvenient discourage me. I was going to find a good strategy for it and everything would be fine.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hangarback Walker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chronomaton"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Patchwork Automaton"></div></div>
<p>So, I came up with the idea of using small, self-buffing creatures like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hangarback Walker" href="#" target="_blank">Hangarback Walker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chronomaton" href="#" target="_blank">Chronomaton</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Patchwork Automaton" href="#" target="_blank">Patchwork Automaton</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. They could be cast early in the game, grow in the mid game and be game-enders when <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krang, Utrom Warlord" href="#" target="_blank">Krang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> finally hit the board.</p>
<p>I also thought it would be nice to give them a jump-start in stats. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut" href="#" target="_blank">Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Capitoline Triad" href="#" target="_blank">The Capitoline Triad</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> could really help with it. In this way, even the meeker creatures would benefit from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krang, Utrom Warlord" href="#" target="_blank">Krang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s keywords.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Capitoline Triad"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krang, Utrom Warlord"></div></div>
<h2>The Breaking Point: What Is an "Original Deck"?</h2>
<p>After I was done with these initial inclusions, I had put around 20-25 cards in the deck. And I was already starting to feel out of ideas.</p>
<p>But I wasn't letting this emotion take over. <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/recross-the-paths-winotha-joiner-of-forces" target="_blank" rel="noopener">My first article ever for EDHREC</a> was a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winota, Joiner of Forces" href="#" target="_blank">Winota, Joiner of Forces</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/myr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Myr typal</a> deck: it wasn't any good, but it was a legal 100-cards deck list. I <em>do</em> know how to build a gimmicky deck.</p>
<p>So I kept going, and I started adding mana rocks and other synergistic cards, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unwinding Clock" href="#" target="_blank">Unwinding Clock</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Clock of Omens" href="#" target="_blank">Clock of Omens</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to activate my self-buffing creatures multiple times, and some more wacky ones like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lux Artillery" href="#" target="_blank">Lux Artillery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Unwinding Clock"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Clock of Omens"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lux Artillery"></div></div>
<p>I then caved in and put in the list some more simply good artifact creatures-matter cards, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyberman Patrol" href="#" target="_blank">Cyberman Patrol</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cryptothrall" href="#" target="_blank">Cryptothrall</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cybermen Squadron" href="#" target="_blank">Cybermen Squadron</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cyberman Patrol"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cryptothrall"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cybermen Squadron"></div></div>
<p>The deck list grew until I hit the actual breaking point for the deck, the point where I gave up, which is also the origin of this article: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Immortal Sun" href="#" target="_blank">The Immortal Sun</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Immortal Sun"></div></div>
<p>I've always considered this card to be the epitome of a "generic" card. Just look at its effects: Are they good? More or less. Do they work together? Not in the slightest.</p>
<p>These two factors make <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Immortal Sun" href="#" target="_blank">The Immortal Sun</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> blunt and somewhat uninteresting. It's not a bad card, but it isn't good either. It could be played in many decks, but none is interested in four random lines of text stapled onto the same artifact. It's so average and forgettable in everything it does it almost hurts.</p>
<p>Clearly, if I got to the point of including this card, something about the deck overall must have been off. And I think I managed to understand what that "something" is.</p>
<h2>The Problem of Generic Commanders</h2>
<p>Just like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Immortal Sun" href="#" target="_blank">The Immortal Sun</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krang, Utrom Warlord" href="#" target="_blank">Krang, Utrom Warlord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> isn't inherently a bad card. Sure, it isn't competitive or absurdly strong, but neither does it aspire to be so. It clearly is a fun casual card that promises to be the center of someone's game highlights.</p>
<p>So, what was the problem with it? I didn't want to build a competitive deck either, so, what stopped me?</p>
<p>The lack of direction.</p>
<p>Sure, a generic effect gives you a blank sheet to draw and imagine on, but it also takes away any kind of guidance during the deck building process. There's no trace of possible synergies, nor some nod to a specific creature type. It doesn't push the builder towards any particular direction, but it doesn't pull either.</p>
<p>It's always nice to work with "open" commanders, those that you can build in many different ways. You may be tied to a clearly specific theme but, although there may be a preferred way to conceive said card, you're never truly out of options for customization.</p>
<p><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-192649.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-175600 " src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-192649.png" alt="The six most popular commanders at the time of writing." width="1212" height="331" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-192649.png 1564w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-192649-300x82.png 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-192649-1024x280.png 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-192649-768x210.png 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-192649-1536x419.png 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1212px) 100vw, 1212px" /></a></p>
<p>If we look at the top six most popular commanders at the time of writing, they all are "open" in their own way.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Edgar Markov" href="#" target="_blank">Edgar Markov</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krenko, Mob Boss" href="#" target="_blank">Krenko, Mob Boss</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are typal commanders. This means that there are a number of staples for each of their creature types, but no build is ever the same as someone else's. The vast majority of players includes <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm" href="#" target="_blank">Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Artist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goblin Warchief" href="#" target="_blank">Goblin Warchief</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in their decks, respectively, but the other creatures they're paired with change from person to person.</p>
<p>Someone might even exclude them all, wanting to tune the originality of the deck to the max.</p>
<p>Is there a clear traced line to follow? Yes, indeed. But this doesn't mean you can't make your own choices. You're given some guidelines, but you're free to execute them as it pleases you.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blood Artist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Goblin Warchief"></div></div>
<p>The same applies to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kaalia of the Vast" href="#" target="_blank">Kaalia of the Vast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and the three creature types it represents. In <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s case, you're most likely building around a specific type of counters, with +1/+1s being the most popular, but you may also do charge or poison counters. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Y&#039;shtola, Night&#039;s Blessed" href="#" target="_blank">Y&#039;shtola, Night&#039;s Blessed</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the most generic of the bunch, with no clear tie to any strategy. Still, it gives out some big hints: You want to cast expensive spells, possibly during each player's turn.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kaalia of the Vast"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Y&#039;shtola, Night&#039;s Blessed"></div></div>
<p>All of these commander have one thing in common: they give the player agency in deck building without concealing the most popular strategy. They present you near-endless paths, but they all branch from a clearly-designed one you can come back to at any moment.</p>
<p>You don't have to make up a strategy, because there is one within the card itself. But you're also still free to explore and try new things, free to explore any of those branches laid in front of you.</p>
<p>With this in mind, let's have a look at two commanders closer to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krang, Utrom Warlord" href="#" target="_blank">today&#039;s case study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avacyn, Angel of Hope" href="#" target="_blank">Avacyn, Angel of Hope</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sokrates, Athenian Teacher" href="#" target="_blank">Sokrates, Athenian Teacher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Avacyn, Angel of Hope"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krang, Utrom Warlord"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sokrates, Athenian Teacher"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avacyn, Angel of Hope" href="#" target="_blank">Avacyn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> came to my mind because it was at the helm of the first deck a friend of mine ever built. Also, it was his first time ever playing <em>Magic</em> in general. And it showed.</p>
<p>He basically copied and pasted the most popular inclusions into his list and called it a day. Now, maybe he was simply a new player that didn't know what he was doing, but I also think it was symptomatic of a lack of direction. Although I love <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avacyn, Angel of Hope" href="#" target="_blank">Avacyn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and how it represents the history of the format, it's undeniable how hard it is to build.</p>
<p>It's an extremely powerful card, but that's it. No connections to any game plan at all (no, I <em>don't</em> consider mass land destruction a game plan).</p>
<p>On the other hand, I tried to build <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sokrates, Athenian Teacher" href="#" target="_blank">Sokrates</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> myself, but to no avail. I really liked the card, and I still do, but its design simply doesn't tell me anything. It invites the player to build a Political deck, but nothing else. And trust me, that's not a lot to work with.</p>
<p>In the end, none of these three cards is bad, <em>per se</em>. They can, and will, do a lot of work when they hit the battlefield. The problem is, they don't lead you in any direction. There's no starting point to branch from, so it's hard to justify running them over any other commander in the same color combination.</p>
<h2>The Conclusion</h2>
<p>From the super casual deck made of random pet cards to the spicy tech in a cEDH deck, personal taste is what truly makes Commander a kaleidoscopic format. And that's why I fell in love with it in the first place. There is no right or wrong. Your deck doesn't have to be optimal if you don't want to and "Because I like it" is the most valid response to "Why do you run this card?"</p>
<p>Still, it's crucial to recognize that not all commanders are created equal. Some of them come with an additional burden they can never get rid of: being generic. Too much freedom stifles creativity, especially when building Commander decks. Looking for synergies where there is none leads you to forcing them, creating a list that could probably be lead by any other general.</p>
<p>It's also important to notice how these commanders could be tricky for new players. What draws you towards a certain general as your first one is, most likely, how much you like the card. You don't really care about strategies, synergies, and all of that stuff, maybe also because you don't know any other card.</p>
<p>And this is totally fine.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, getting stuck on a inherently difficult-to-build commander might take away some of the lovely initial emotion that should fill every game you play.</p>
<p>So, if you're a new-ish player, but also if you're a seasoned veteran trying your hand at building some new decks, be careful with generic commanders. If you're not 100% sure about the deck you want to build, try and look for some more popular options with a clearly-designed strategy.</p>
<p>There's plenty of time to brew and innovate, so enjoy every game you take part in. Even those where you simply cast yet another <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>


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