Y'shtola, Night's BlessedY'shtola, Night's Blessed | art by Magali Villeneuve

Welcome to EDHREC everyone, I'm Morgan Sanchez, filling in for our traditional newsperson Josh Nelson during a quick break. It's an action-packed day of firsts here for us!

In just a bit more than a year, Y'shtola, Night's BlessedY'shtola, Night's Blessed dethroned a Goblin mob boss, compleatly ended Atraxa's reign, put a stake through Edgar Markov, and slew The Ur-Dragon to get to the top popularity spot on EDHREC with 50,000 decks, the most in our site's history.

How Y'shtola topped the deck(s)

Final Fantasy's (FIN/FIC) popularity goes all the way down in EDHREC popularity; there are ten Final Fantasy set commanders in the top 100 list!

At time of writing those are: Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier (#7), Cloud, Ex-SOLDIERCloud, Ex-SOLDIER (#24), Kefka, Court MageKefka, Court Mage (#25), Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, Kuja, Genome SorcererKuja, Genome Sorcerer (#60), Tidus, Yuna's GuardianTidus, Yuna's Guardian (#70), The Wandering MinstrelThe Wandering Minstrel (#76), Choco, Seeker of ParadiseChoco, Seeker of Paradise (#77), Terra, Magical AdeptTerra, Magical Adept (#81), Terra, Herald of HopeTerra, Herald of Hope (#87).

For Y'stola herself, let's recap the basics. Final Fantasy is one of the most beloved, and long-lived, video game series of all time, with plenty of natural (and actual) crossover into Magic. Not to mention that the game she's from, Final Fantasy XIV, is an incredibly popular MMORPG.

The Scions and Spellcraft precon is still available for a decent price (less so if you're a shameless collector, like myself), and Y'shtola herself doesn't exactly leave you breaking the bank in order to sit her on her command zone throne. To her, life gain, drawing cards, and new decklists all go hand in hand.

Not to mention that new players are getting into Magic in greater droves than ever before, and linking the best shard of all time Esper to a powerful, passively-rewarding commander has been a shoo-in for Y'shtola's enduring popularity. After all, she hit EDHREC's #1 spot just a couple of days ago this week!

How we got to 50k decklists

Of course, I know what you're all thinking. We just did this all ourselves with our hacky, data-side wizardry! Well, in lieu of repurposing what the FAQ itself says, you can read more in detail there about how our decklists are gathered from various MTG deck building sites like Archidekt and Moxfield.

And much more importantly, if it were simply just up to me, Oloro, Ageless AsceticOloro, Ageless Ascetic would forever be sitting the Iron Throne that is the EDHREC #1 most popular (and Esper) commander spot. Huff. A girl can dream.

What's next for Top Commanders?

Whew, that was a good amount of words. Not quite 50,000, but it sure felt like it. I'm sure a lot of internet commenters are cracking their knuckles and getting ready to solve for the next commander to rise to the top.

But who could it possibly be? Another Universes Beyond baddie? A stalwart newcomer? Or just The Ur-DragonThe Ur-Dragon again (anyone but Edgar, please folks, let those vampires rest)? What do you, dearest reader and lovely, cordial commenter, think the road to the next 50,000 decklists will look like?

And more importantly, have you or will you build a Y'shtola deck after this news? Maybe you're thinking of slotting into her traditional archetypes, or you take this news as a challenge to brew up something different.

We'll have your back either way. Let us know what you think down below, and cheers to 50,000 decklists for our Sharlayan Miqo'te sorceress!