Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory | Art by Eric Peterson

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Reaper KingReaper King is the only five-color commander that can be cast with only colorless mana?)

So, the long crisis is finally over. Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory got unbanned.

Which raises the question... How good is it? The large takeaway by the Commander community at large has been rather dismissive, hence the reasons for its unban, but I must admit to some dubiousness in that regard. The original reason for Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory's banning was because it was inherently a two-card combo with any five-color commander, and the other restriction of having all five basic land types has gotten easier and easier with each passing year.

Failing the not-legal Unfinity addition Nearby PlanetNearby Planet, or Omo, Queen of VesuvaOmo, Queen of Vesuva and Prismatic OmenPrismatic Omen shenanigans, there's not yet a single land that can give you all five basic land types. With fetches, duals, and Triomes, however, it is still very easy to achieve all five basic land types by turn two or three, even without running any additional cards outside of your perfect five-color mana base.

So, the only remaining challenge is the casting of Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory itself, which does cost eight mana with five pips. I wouldn't call that easy, but I would say that it's also getting easier every day:

Adding to our perfect five-color mana base is two WUBRG lands that will just let us cast our five-color commander or take care of the pips in Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory. Yes, they both require you to have five generic, but that's easily achievable through fast mana shenanigans like Sol RingSol Ring, Mana VaultMana Vault, Grim MonolithGrim Monolith, or Gaea's CradleGaea's Cradle. Throw in some alternate casting options for Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory, and it's fairly achievable to threaten a turn-three Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory... victory.

Which leaves the question: if you were going to try for just that, what would be the best five-color commander to get you there?

Top 10 Five-Color, Five-Mana (Non-Sliver) Creature Commanders

There are 26 Commander-legal five-color commanders which qualify you for Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory's win condition. There is an immediate trend you notice, however:

1. [REDACTED] (On actual list)
2. Sliver HivelordSliver Hivelord
3. The First SliverThe First Sliver
4. [REDACTED] (On actual list)
5. Sliver LegionSliver Legion
6. [REDACTED] (On actual list)
7. Sliver OverlordSliver Overlord
8. Sliver GravemotherSliver Gravemother
9. [REDACTED] (On actual list)
10. Sliver QueenSliver Queen

Almost a full third of them are Sliver commanders. And from Sliver HivelordSliver Hivelord all the way down to Rukarumel, BiologistRukarumel, Biologist, none of them do much to help you out with a Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory. There's an argument to be made that The First SliverThe First Sliver could feasibly provide some backup by allowing you to cascade into something like Fallaji WayfarerFallaji Wayfarer or just various multi-color Slivers, therefore allowing you to not have your Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory swept out from under you with a timely Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares, but I don't think it's very serious.

So, what are we to do? We'll have to get more specific, of course! Having already considered all of the five-color Slivers, let's dismiss them out of hand and move on.

Also on the chopping block are the expensive five-color commanders. This is less unanimous, at least in my own mind, because there are some decent candidates among the more expensive options (more on this in the Honorable Mentions), but overall I think the simplest "the cheaper the better" mantra is probably the way to go here. We're already trying to cast two WUBRG spells to win, we don't need to tack on more generic mana to the first one.

So, with that, let's take a look at the list and see what our best options are for a relatively cheap commander that can help us cast a monster of an eight mana spell and get it to resolve successfully.

Criteria: Commanders which are five-color creatures, and are castable as such for five mana or less, but are neither a Sliver nor mention Slivers. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme

(Helms 2,346 Decks, Rank #693; 3,660 Inclusions, 0.99% of 369,003 Decks)

If we could create the perfect Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory commander in a lab, it would do three things: be cheap, yet also still five colors; help cast Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory; protect itself so it couldn't be removed in response to the casting of Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory.

Well, one out of three ain't bad? Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme isn't cheap, costing the standard WUBRG, and it does nothing to help you cast (or even recast) Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory. What this version does very well, however, is protect itself from instant speed removal.

Top 10 Instant-Speed Removal Spells

1. Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares
2. Path to ExilePath to Exile
3. Beast WithinBeast Within
4. Chaos WarpChaos Warp
5. Cyclonic RiftCyclonic Rift
6. Generous GiftGenerous Gift
7. Assassin's TrophyAssassin's Trophy
8. Deadly RollickDeadly Rollick
9. PongifyPongify
10. AbradeAbrade

Of the top ten removal spells, there's only one that could target Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme, Assassin's Trophy. Going further down the list, it doesn't get a whole lot better, either. I would go out on a limb to say that the average deck plays maybe one spell that could remove Niv-Mizzet at instant speed. I like those odds.

In other words, there's a Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory deck to be had. With Niv-Mizzet's ability to jump-start two-color spells from the graveyard, I would build it as a control deck, including as much good two-color interaction as possible while also having the full gamut of top-dollar ramp spells to get you to Niv-Mizzet and Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory mana.

All that said, do I think this is the best version of a Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory deck you can make? Nah, we can do better.

9. Niv-Mizzet, GuildpactNiv-Mizzet, Guildpact

(Helms 3,152 Decks, Rank #545; 3,721 Inclusions, 1.33% of 278,889 Decks)

As more or less just established, the words "hexproof from multicolored" might as well be flavor text. While Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme protects itself for more or less every removal spell that's played in the game, there are almost none at all that Niv-Mizzet, GuildpactNiv-Mizzet, Guildpact protects himself from. It'd be something here if it was protection, as then we'd be able to block a lot of relevant commanders and such, but as it is, this just doesn't do anything for the Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory game plan. And while there's probably a really juicy deck here for the lower brackets, given the amount of card draw and removal Niv-Mizzet, GuildpactNiv-Mizzet, Guildpact's ability can provide, that's not what we're trying to do today.

8. Marina VendrellMarina Vendrell

(Helms 7,600 Decks, Rank #168; 1,385 Inclusions, 0.79% of 174,443 Decks)

While I do think that Marina VendrellMarina Vendrell is being slept on as both one of the most feasible Enchantress and Food Chain commanders available, the fact is that Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory isn't an enchantment, nor does it care about them. So if you're into cEDH, give that list a look, as I think it might give your typical Atraxa, Grand UnifierAtraxa, Grand Unifier Food ChainFood Chain brew a challenge. If not? Well then let's move on to the next contender for our Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory nonsense!

7. Garth One-EyeGarth One-Eye

(Helms 4,389 Decks, Rank #396; 5,548 Inclusions, 1.5% of 370,440 Decks)

Of our three things that we want a Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory commander to do, Garth One-EyeGarth One-Eye is yet another that scores on one of the three. While he doesn't protect himself, and isn't cheap, he does provide a Black LotusBlack Lotus the turn after you cast him to immediately ramp you into Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory mana. Combine that with him also providing a RegrowthRegrowth in case your Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory gets countered or otherwise dealt with, and this is probably the most resilient option we've seen yet.

This version runs a lot fewer dead cards than Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme. While it still feels a little clunky with the "get every basic at all costs" mana base, things feel almost inevitable once you get your commander down. With Garth One-EyeGarth One-Eye's ability to pivot between multiple game plans, you can go for Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory immediately upon untapping if you have it and a means to protect it. If not, then you can instead try to play the longer game and draw into it, either directly with BraingeyserBraingeyser or indirectly while you bog down the table with the interaction of TerrorTerror and DisenchantDisenchant.

6. Child of AlaraChild of Alara

(Helms 6,577 Decks, Rank #212; 3,075 Inclusions, 1% of 370,440 Decks)

While there is some temptation to call Child of AlaraChild of Alara an option to control the board so you have the time to set up a Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory win, the fact is that it has to die to do anything. That means that you not only set the table back with your Planar CleansingPlanar Cleansing, you also set yourself back as well. Combine that with having to have a sac outlet to do it in the first place, and this was never really even an option.

5. Niv-Mizzet RebornNiv-Mizzet Reborn

(Helms 4,211 Decks, Rank #416; 7,290 Inclusions, 1.97% of 370,440 Decks)

In addition to Slivers, I thought about taking Niv-Mizzets out of contention for our list, as I knew that the list would be substantially made up of them. With that said, I do think that Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme was worth consideration, even if it's not the best of the Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory options. That said, none of the other versions really do anything for us, including Niv-Mizzet RebornNiv-Mizzet Reborn. If he could grab all multicolor spells, then we'd be talking. Even in that case, however, I think that he'd still be one of the worst commanders available, as playing five-color in the no-holds-barred brackets means you have access to every tutor in the game.

4. Tom BombadilTom Bombadil

(Helms 16,418 Decks, Rank #34; 280 Inclusions, 0.08% of 370,440 Decks)

At first glance, I was similarly dismissive of Tom BombadilTom Bombadil. But on second read, we do at least have to consider the fact that we might have a five-color commander who is even better at protecting himself than Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme. The only question is: are there enough reasonably good, cheap Sagas that you could have Tom be online by the time you cast him and/or Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory?

Top 10 Three Mana or Less Sagas

1. Urza's SagaUrza's Saga
2. Fable of the Mirror-BreakerFable of the Mirror-Breaker
3. The Restoration of EiganjoThe Restoration of Eiganjo
4. City of DeathCity of Death
5. Of Herbs and Stewed RabbitOf Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
6. Song of FreyaliseSong of Freyalise
7. Azusa's Many JourneysAzusa's Many Journeys
8. Michiko's Reign of TruthMichiko's Reign of Truth
9. Scroll of IsildurScroll of Isildur
10. Jugan Defends the TempleJugan Defends the Temple

There are some promising prospects on this list, not least of which is cEDH staple Urza's SagaUrza's Saga. Song of FreyaliseSong of Freyalise also provides all sorts of mana and mana diversity so that you can cast both Tom BombadilTom Bombadil and Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory. Ditto for Azusa's Many JourneysAzusa's Many Journeys. All that said, I just don't think that Tom BombadilTom Bombadil is doable in a cEDH, or even Bracket Four environment. Four lore counters is a lot, often meaning having three different Sagas on the battlefield, which means that no matter how you swing it, you're going to have to dedicate a quarter of your deck to Sagas. And unfortunately, that is just way too much deck space dedicated to subpar cards to survive in a high-powered environment.

3. Scion of the Ur-DragonScion of the Ur-Dragon

(Helms 3,375 Decks, Rank #516; 16,054 Inclusions, 4.33% of 370,440 Decks)

If Scion of the Ur-DragonScion of the Ur-Dragon wasn't restricted to permanents, it's really possible that there would be a brew here involving Arcane AdaptationArcane Adaptation and the like. I'm not sure exactly what that card would look like, however, as it would have to put itself on the stack somehow? That's probably why we live in the world we do, where there's really no reason to be playing Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory with Scion of the Ur-DragonScion of the Ur-Dragon.

2. Omnath, Locus of AllOmnath, Locus of All

(Helms 14,252 Decks, Rank #52; 10,031 Inclusions, 2.71% of 370,440 Decks)

And finally, we arrive at the only five-color commander that fulfills more than one of our goals for being a Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory commander: Omnath, Locus of AllOmnath, Locus of All.

In addition to being cheaper than the rest due to its black Phyrexian pip, it also aids in casting Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory by holding onto unspent mana through turns and phases. While this probably doesn't mean much when it comes to trying to go turbo, as you'll just have as much mana as you have the turn after you play OmnathOmnath, if you're looking to do a bit of waiting and setup to make sure your Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory lands, then it makes it a full four mana cheaper as you hold up not only the black pip but also all of the generic mana through turns. That makes what's usually a bit of a chore of getting to eight mana into a fairly easy thing to achieve -- in fact, it makes it into a feat you already achieved when you cast OmnathOmnath in the first place!

So, does that mean we've found the best Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory commander? Well, let's take a look at the list and find out, shall we?

For those of you lamenting that these decklists all look a bit samey, I don't know what to tell you except welcome to most cEDH brews. The best cards are the best cards, and five-color decks specifically will be trying to capitalize on the fact that they can play more of them than any other brews can.

With all that said, OmnathOmnath's black mana ability does allow for us to run a lot of multi-pip black spells that would otherwise be off-limits for five-color decks, meaning that both NecropotenceNecropotence and Bolas's CitadelBolas's Citadel are on the table. And while OmnathOmnath can't protect itself like Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme can, we are in white, which means that we can play every SilenceSilence effect we can find the room for. This most notably includes Teferi, Time RavelerTeferi, Time Raveler, who will even let us win on top of another player's win attempt by casting our Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory at flash speed, once we're reasonably sure that the player trying to win can't interact anymore.

In other words? We've still got number one and the Honorable Mentions to go, but I'm dubious that we're going to find a Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory commander better than this one.

1. Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier

(Helms 20,668 Decks, Rank #16; 16,137 Inclusions, 4.36% of 370,440 Decks)

At first glance, I thought we had a contender here with JodahJodah. After all, he makes things easier to cast, right?

Well, no. That would be the other Jodah. Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier instead cares about legends, Cascading into more of them with each one you cast. That would be all well and good if Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory was a legendary spell, but it's not. In other words, our top slot is yet another dud, Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory-wise. Still, there's always the Honorable Mentions, right?

Honorable Mentions

First off, we carelessly cast aside the expensive five-color commanders. Was there anything there that was actually worth taking a look at, though?

ProgenitusProgenitus would be a real consideration if it were even a little bit cheaper, but the fact is that, for the purposes of Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory, we don't really care about all the other things protection from everything provides. We would be just as happy with hexproof, which Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme already more or less has for five mana less.

That said, Reaper KingReaper King might have a real advantage. Generic mana is a lot easier to come by than pips, and it's very possible that we'll be more able to pay more mana to not have to find that pesky white pip that we'd have to for any of these other commanders. The only issue is we're going to have to find that last pip to cast Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory anyhow. Combine that with Reaper KingReaper King not really doing anything unless we go full Scarecrow or Changeling, and this one isn't really worth building, either.

But what about the other 14 five-color commanders we haven't talked about? Any contenders there?

Top 26 Five-Color Commanders

1. The Ur-DragonThe Ur-Dragon
2. Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier
3. TiamatTiamat
4. Sliver HivelordSliver Hivelord
5. The First SliverThe First Sliver
6. Omnath, Locus of AllOmnath, Locus of All
7. Sliver LegionSliver Legion
8. Scion of the Ur-DragonScion of the Ur-Dragon
9. Sliver OverlordSliver Overlord
10. Sliver GravemotherSliver Gravemother
11. Tom BombadilTom Bombadil
12. ProgenitusProgenitus
13. O-Kagachi, Vengeful KamiO-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami
14. Sliver QueenSliver Queen
15. Niv-Mizzet RebornNiv-Mizzet Reborn
16. Child of AlaraChild of Alara
17. Garth One-EyeGarth One-Eye
18. Reaper KingReaper King
19. Marina VendrellMarina Vendrell
20. Rukarumel, BiologistRukarumel, Biologist
21. Niv-Mizzet, GuildpactNiv-Mizzet, Guildpact
22. Niv-Mizzet, SupremeNiv-Mizzet, Supreme
23. Horde of NotionsHorde of Notions
24. Karona, False GodKarona, False God
25. CromatCromat
26. AtogatogAtogatog

To be frank, not really. There's almost the possibility of cute Arcane AdaptationArcane Adaptation things with TiamatTiamat, Sliver OverlordSliver Overlord, and Horde of NotionsHorde of Notions, but it turns out that all of those various ConspiracyConspiracy optionsoptions specify creature spells, meaning you can't make Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory into a Dragon, Sliver, or Elemental to be searched up. Combine that with the fact that, once again, we can play every tutor in the game, meaning that finding Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory isn't really much of a hurdle, and there's not really anything extra here.

Is there a list we haven't considered, however?

There are now a few different partner pairings you can play that will get you to five colors. Prior to Doctor Who coming out, the only options were Othelm, Sigardian OutcastOthelm, Sigardian Outcast and Cecily, Haunted MageCecily, Haunted Mage, but now you can pair up the only four-color partner with any black Doctor's Companion to also get five colors. That leaves you with The Fourteenth DoctorThe Fourteenth Doctor and either Vislor TurloughVislor Turlough, or Clara OswaldClara Oswald. So, five creatures worth of options. Do these do anything with Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory?

In a word, no. They all end up being a lot more expensive than just casting a WUBRG commander, and don't do anything to protect themselves or make Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory cheaper.

As such, I'm forced to say that in all likelihood, Omnath, Locus of AllOmnath, Locus of All is just the best option there is for competitive Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory.

The question is... Is it competitive?

After playtesting things a bit, I think I have to say, not yet. That's not the same thing as saying no, mind you. But the fact is that while the deck can probably keep up with boards of cEDH decks, and maybe even win a couple games, I think another four- or five-color good stuff commander not trying for Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory at all would be more competitive.

With that said, I do think that Omnath, Locus of AllOmnath, Locus of All is close as a cEDH commander, being only the four mana and providing card draw in addition to ramp. If there is a bit more tech printed that makes Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory a bit less clunky to cast and resolve at a cEDH table, then I think this might actually be a real avenue in the future.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

What I think isn't important, though. What do you think?

And finally, what do you think of the Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory unbanning? Do you think you'll end up playing it at all, and if so, at what power level?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table where everyone looks dubious about this working, and it's all actively exploding in the background, but apparently we're winning?