Path of AncestryPath of Ancestry | Art by Alayna Danner

What Is a Typal Commander?

I have a 70+ episode podcast, based on creature types, called Quote of Arms, so I’ve seen a huge array of typal commanders. When I look at spoilers for a new set, I tend to scan for legendary creatures (and now Vehicles) that specifically reference a creature type, especially those that significantly alter the way a creature type plays, either strengthening and coalescing their existing strategies or providing an exciting new direction.

This approach helps me sift through the deluge of new cards and avoid product fatigue.

For the purposes of this retrospective, I’m going to go in order of major set releases, with no more than two representatives per set. There were a few sets, like Aetherdrift and Avatar, which had several awesome new typal commanders, but only the top couple will be counted here. Preference was given to those that I feel set the standard for the type going forward.

Some of these will have been written about before, but the focus will be on why they’re ideal, rather than what they do.

Aatchik, Emerald RadianAatchik, Emerald Radian

I initially wrote about Aatchik here, focusing on it as an Insect typal commander. Golgari () is built around the graveyard, with a propensity for self-mill, so there’s plenty of support for a build based around burying our buggers and capitalizing on the amount in the yard.

Growing Aatchik when Insects die might not be the biggest game, with its lack of evasion, but causing loss of life on those death triggers gives the creature type reach. Well, not the ability reach, but the capability of winning games through non-combat means, which happens to also be colloquially referred to as “reach.” Magic is complicated!

Saheeli, Radiant CreatorSaheeli, Radiant Creator

Artificers are a relatively new type, favoring the permanent type in their name: artifacts. In fact, Saheeli triggers on both Artificers and artifacts. She provides a bridge between Artificers and a powerful, Pro-Tour-warping archetype, Temur Energy.

By giving Artificers a commander and merging them with a mechanic that had difficulty translating into Commander for some time, Saheeli ensures that Artificers feel unique to the plane of Avishkar. Uniting the disparate elements of the plane is beautiful game design, and Saheeli truly represents what makes it special.

Ureni of the UnwrittenUreni of the Unwritten

While Miirym, Sentinel WyrmMiirym, Sentinel Wyrm might be the gold standard for Temur () Dragons, Ureni provides a solid change-of-pace option for those who wish to play at lower brackets, or who wish to stay under-the-radar, as Miirym is a known commodity these days.

Few decks can significantly change their bracket by shifting their commander and leaving the 99 intact, but Ureni is able to do this by being similarly-costed and similarly able to present multiple flying threats.

Choco, Seeker of ParadiseChoco, Seeker of Paradise

Final Fantasy changed the way that Birds function, focusing on the flightless variety, the ostrich-like chocobos. These Bant () birds tend to be more focused on landfall than the small, evasive Azorius () Birds of previous sets, although Choco helps to bridge the two.

Choco triggers when Birds attack, looking at cards equal to the number of attacking Birds, milling the nonland cards and putting the lands onto the battlefield tapped. As a result, the evasive Birds wind up enabling the landfall ones.

Minwu, White MageMinwu, White Mage

I wrote about Minwu here, highlighting the fact that Minwu cares about the instances of life gain, not the amount. As a result, Minwu provides a means of uniting the Soul Sisters and giving them a way to present a threatening board quickly.

It’s always exciting to see a deck that runs multiple one-drops that aren’t Sol RingSol Rings, and being able to capitalize off of slow starts by using a low curve with a curve-topping win-con in the command zone is an excellent way to avoid the negatives that come with a creature type and strategy based on life gain.

Ragost, Deft GastronautRagost, Deft Gastronaut

Speaking of life gain, while Edge of Eternities didn’t bring a lot of typal support, it did bring a new Food commander. Like Minwu, Ragost gives a life-gain-heavy strategy the ability to present a clock.

Lightning BoltLightning Bolt might not be the best in Commander, but Ragost Lightning Bolts each opponent whenever we activate its ability by tapping it and sacrificing a Food. It also untaps each end step we gain life, which can be each turn if we use something like a Basilisk CollarBasilisk Collar.

Boros () has plenty of ways to capitalize off of artifacts entering and dying, so Ragost might just shift the Food strategy from Abzan (), despite the support from Lord of the Rings.

Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man

The leader of the Spider-Men is a bit of a controversial card. On the plus side, he provides a way to play all of the various Heroes pulled from packs of Spider-Man, and those who love the IP can use this as the one commander to unite them all. On the other hand, he can be seen as a symptom of a greater design issue: generic five-color commanders that provide leadership for set-specific types, but don’t really elevate the cards, provide direction, or work with the abilities.

I intend to explore this controversy in an upcoming article. Still, he is a powerful commander and is one of the few ways to make a Spider-Person theme deck.

Prowler, Clawed ThiefProwler, Clawed Thief

On the other side of the law, but also somewhat controversial, is Prowler. This time, the controversy is more on what qualifies as a Villain, as, unlike other releases, preexisting antagonists, like Nicol BolasNicol Bolas and the Phyrexian Praetors, were not errata-ed to be Villains. Even Heroes were seeded in Final Fantasy before Spider-Man.

Still, Prowler is an evasive threat that connives when a Villain enters, showing that there is some honor among thieves. While there are other options for villainous commanders, Prowler comes out early enough to trigger off of our Villains and smooth out our draws.

Guru PathikGuru Pathik

I wrote about Pathik a bit here, including how he can be used for Lessons, Sagas, or Shrines, but specializes in Sagas. Simic () has a lot of cards that copy permanents or interact with counters, so Pathik provides a new direction for a card subtype that definitely needed one.

Sagas are one of the cooler subtypes out there, as they represent the way that a given plane tells stories, ranging from scrolls to carvings to paintings. Having an ascetic Monk as a multiverse-travelling storyteller is a really cool bit of design.

Katara, the FearlessKatara, the Fearless

We end with what might be the most powerful new typal commander, one which I’ve already written about twice, including before the Avatar set was even released! She is, frankly, so powerful that, even without any other new additions from the set, she already revolutionized the type.

Allies were, like with Cosmic Spider-ManCosmic Spider-Man, hindered by generic five-color legends. Then, everything changed when Katara was printed. While she limits the type to Bant colors, she gives them a PanharmoniconPanharmonicon effect, which works perfectly with the Zendikari Allies, who specialize in ETBs.

Unless you really want red or black Allies, Katara should be the gold standard going forward.

Conclusion

Typal strategies have eaten pretty well this year, from the Dragons and Monks of Tarkir to the Allies and Warriors of Avatar. Regardless of IP, typal decks tend to be the easiest onramp for new players. They help make worlds come alive and add power and utility to bulk, making them some of the more popular commanders in the game.

Articulating expectations in Rule Zero conversations is one of the more difficult skills for new Commander players to master, especially those coming from other games or levels of play. Typal decks make that conversation significantly easier by providing the language to express what the deck does and how it wins.

They also enable players who don’t have as deep a collection to use what they open instead of relying on staples they might not have.

But what typal decks have you built this year? And what are the cards you’re looking to pick up?