Cryptic CommandCryptic Command | Art by Wayne England

One of the greatest things about Commander as a format is that it's so huge. It contains over thirty years, over 30,000 cards, and only a few dozen are off limits. It's also the format built around welcoming the widest range of those cards; it was created as a response to the optimization of competitive formats.

Commander players have to be ready for anything; flexibility is crucial. And no type of card embodies flexibility better than modal spells. Modal spells offer choices, letting the caster choose from a range of different effects. The best ones function as answers to a wide array of different situations, and they are some of the backbones of the format.

To see a lot of play, a modal spell needs to be efficient, impactful, and truly flexible. Usually flexibility comes with a cost, but many of these spells ignore that tradeoff entirely, promising to always be an efficient option and never be a dead card. Others of these spells have an outsized impact, often acting as the most important moment in a game, and their flexibility allows them to have that impact in a larger number of games.

But which modal spells are the best? Here are my picks for the 10 best modal spells in Commander.

10. Akroma's Will

Starting off the list is a card that can win almost any combat. Want to get rid of a player? Flying, vigilance, and double strike will deal oodles of damage without exposing you to counterattacks. Need to hunker down? Indestructible, lifelink, and protection can stop removal, most board wipes, and can create some impervious blockers that also create a life buffer.

Akroma's WillAkroma's Will does so much that it can't be played wrong. And a good amount of the time there's no choice to be made, because it gives you everything if you control your commander.

Even so, it opens up tons of interesting choices. When should you use it to press an advantage by going on the attack, and when should you use it to insure your advantage sticks around? When is it better to remove one player, and when is it better to leave them to be an enemy to your enemies for longer? New players and Old FogeyOld Fogeys alike will enjoy having Akroma's WillAkroma's Will in hand.

9. Mystic Confluence

No spell makes you feel safer than holding up a Mystic ConfluenceMystic Confluence. It will almost always be a two- or three-for-one, and can affect the board, the stack, and your own future resources. Most modal spells only have two to four options, but with Mystic ConfluenceMystic Confluence's mix-and-match flexibility, there are a total of twenty-seven different ways this spell could resolve.

For years Cryptic CommandCryptic Command was the blue player's dream, but it was unseated in 2015 by two simple words: "Choose three." One extra mana is a small price to pay for one more choice.

Mystic ConfluenceMystic Confluence gets even better in decks that want to resolve big spells, like Hinata, Dawn-CrownedHinata, Dawn-Crowned or Mizzix of the IzmagnusMizzix of the Izmagnus, where the three generic mana in the cost is easy to eliminate. Even more than ten years after its printing, it remains one of the premiere five-drops in blue, and is never a dead draw.

8. Abrade

At first glance, AbradeAbrade doesn't look exciting. But its simplicity is deceiving; pound for pound, it compares favorably to almost all red interaction, and holds its own even in a multicolor deck. It's made itself a stone cold staple as the seventh most played red card in the format, and with good reason. Of the fifty most played creatures in the format, AbradeAbrade can deal with more than 75%, and it can deal with artifacts of any size.

Two mana is about the going rate for either mode, and getting to pick between them makes it a no-brainer inclusion in over 468,000 decks.

AbradeAbrade is so iconic that there are now multiple cards in its lineage, all of them bangers in their own right. Rip ApartRip Apart adds an additional mode of killing enchantments at the cost of being sorcery speed and multiple colors. SuplexSuplex is also a sorcery, but it exiles instead of destroying, making it a house against death triggers or indestructible permanents.

Even the recently printed GiantfallGiantfall seems to be trying to fit into AbradeAbrade's niche. But these cards are mere imitations of the OG, and AbradeAbrade can rest easy knowing that power creep won't catch up with its understated power for a while yet.

7. Sublime Epiphany

Imagine if Mystic ConfluenceMystic Confluence were printed in 2020, in the height of FIRE design, and this is what you'd get. Sublime EpiphanySublime Epiphany is basically the Questing BeastQuesting Beast of instants: it does so many things that you can never remember what they are, and whichever line you forget in the moment is somehow always the most relevant. It can deal with any spell or ability that goes on the stack, while also bouncing a nonland permanent, copying a creature, and drawing a card.

Its significant mana cost is a factor, but it effects the board enough to be worth spending a whole turn on, and it's a great candidate for the same big Spellslinger decks that Mystic ConfluenceMystic Confluence loves.

The best thing about Sublime EpiphanySublime Epiphany is that because it mixes reactive and proactive elements and is never bad, it's a genuine puzzle when to cast it. If you care mostly about copying a creature, should you fire it off in response to any spell? Or should you wait until it can also counter the pivotal piece in an opponent's plan?

Sometimes it's even possible to set it up so it counters both a spell and an ability, but that often means waiting longer and giving up tempo for that added advantage.

6. Untimely Malfunction

Just like with AbradeAbrade, the "destroy an artifact" mode carries a lot of weight on this spell. But unlike AbradeAbrade the other two modes on Untimely MalfunctionUntimely Malfunction step fully into the realm of shenanigans. Choosing new targets for a spell or ability is a narrow but extremely powerful ability. That can mean anything from protecting a creature from removal while killing something else, to yoinking an Aura on the stack, to stealing a draw spell, to even killing someone with their own Aetherflux ReservoirAetherflux Reservoir.

The final mode is the narrowest, but when you choose it it usually wins the game. Rolled together, these three modes make a card that is never bad but can sometimes be the most important spell in a game.

Untimely MalfunctionUntimely Malfunction has only been around for a little more than a year compared to AbradeAbrade's nearly decade-long pedigree, but it already sees play in 280,000 decks, and that number keeps on climbing. I would be surprised if it doesn't become a top ten red card, and it might even be top five material.

5. Rakdos Charm

This is the oldest card on this list, but when it was printed in Return to Ravnica it was ahead of its time. Rakdos CharmRakdos Charm's star has not yet started to fade, and that's because it fits perfectly into this format.

Once again, the floor of being a two-mana artifact removal spell makes sure it will almost never rot in your hand. Exiling a graveyard is another narrow but game-tilting effect, and almost every pod will have at least one player looking to use the graveyard as a second hand.

The final mode answers the question, "What is the opposite of BiorhythmBiorhythm?" but it can end games just as effectively. No Tokens player will expect it, despite it being the most played card in the format.

This combination of flexibility and efficiency (as well as the raw power of being a clean answer to Splinter TwinSplinter Twin combo) made Rakdos CharmRakdos Charm a sideboard staple in Modern for years, and it lives on in Commander, still catching people off guard for nearly fifteen years.

4. Collective Resistance

Oh, the vast levels of power creep on this card. NaturalizeNaturalize was for a long time the gold standard for artifact and enchantment removal in green. Every new card that improved upon it was and still is a big deal. WiltWilt can cycle in a pinch, Wear DownWear Down can go a little bigger if needed, Seedship ImpactSeedship Impact provides a consolation prize if it hits something small, and Origin of MetalbendingOrigin of Metalbending can protect a creature.

By the way, those are still the only four other cards that are strict upgrades to NaturalizeNaturalize, and most of those improvements are minor. But Collective ResistanceCollective Resistance is head and shoulders above the rest, because you can swap your booleans for each from "or" to "and."

At every combination of modes, Collective ResistanceCollective Resistance is a steal. It can almost always be an efficient two-for-one or even a three-for-one, and it scales with the stage of the game and the power level of the table. It will improve the interaction suite of almost any deck, and it asks nothing of you as a deckbuilder.

So I hope this kind of design doesn't come around often, but since it does exist it would be a mistake not to make use of it.

3. Return of the Wildspeaker

The first mode of this card carries a lot of its weight. Drawing cards equal to the power of your biggest creature is a staple effect in green, and being able to do it at instant speed makes this card much better than some other versions, such as Soul's MajestySoul's Majesty or Garruk, Primal HunterGarruk, Primal Hunter. The non-Human restriction rarely matters, especially as this card excels in decks built around chunky creature types like Dragons or Dinosaurs.

The second mode comes up much less often, but when it does it is the most important spell cast that game. +3/+3 to your whole (non-Human) board can easily knock out a player or two, and again, instant speed is huge both if they've blocked and if they haven't.

Return of the WildspeakerReturn of the Wildspeaker is on this list more for its generic power than for its flexibility, but the two modes are good in different scenarios, and the whole package is enticing enough to make it a must-include in a wide range of decks.

2. Farewell

At the number two spot, FarewellFarewell is the first of the (spoilers!) two Game Changers on this list, and it has earned itself quite the reputation. It's expensive for a board wipe, but it gets the job done, whether you need to get rid of some card types while leaving your own pieces untouched or you need to hit the reset button on the whole board.

My last FarewellFarewell experience involved losing my Darksteel CitadelDarksteel Citadel and Darkmoss BridgeDarkmoss Bridge and ending up with two lands, and I don't think I've recovered. It is a card similar to many others, and yet its flexibility puts it in a class of its own.

FarewellFarewell is the most recent addition to the Game Changers list, and it has earned its spot. Seeing it alongside card such as NecropotenceNecropotence and Gaea's CradleGaea's Cradle is a bit laughable, but even within that list there's a range, and it certainly fits in the same tier as Consecrated SphinxConsecrated Sphinx and Aura ShardsAura Shards.

1. Jeska's Will

The best modal spell in Commander isn't really a modal spell at all. While it's still a respectable card to cast without your commander on the board, most of the decks running Jeska's WillJeska's Will are looking to play it with both modes active. These abilities just work so well together: you get to see three new cards, and you get the mana you need to cast them. For three mana, it is both one of the best card advantage spells in red and one of the best rituals in the game.

Like Return of the WildspeakerReturn of the Wildspeaker, Jeska's WillJeska's Will isn't on this list because of its flexibility. It isn't even an interactive spell, but rather a proactive tool. But it is one of the best cards in the format, and it shines in both casual and cEDH games alike.

But what do you think? Did Boros CharmBoros Charm get snubbed? Is SuplexSuplex better than AbradeAbrade? Does FarewellFarewell betray the philosophy of the Game Changers list? Let me know what you think!