I see you sitting there wondering if you can build an Eldrazi commander deck. The answer is yes, of course you can! It is, however, a bit more complicated. In this article, we’re going to talk about the best commanders, what goes into a colorless deck, how expensive the cards are and much more.
I’ll also be including card suggestions and deck building strategies. Let’s get right into!
Table Of Contents
- Best Commanders
- Best Colorless Spells To Include In The 99
- Best Colored Commanders
- Best Colored Spells
- End Step
Can Eldrazi Be Commanders?
Yes, Eldrazi can be commanders. That doesn’t mean that they should be, however. Most of the Eldrazi commanders are colorless and building a colorless commander deck is a challenge within itself. You can’t use normal basic lands, or cards that have a color in their mana cost or abilities. Colorless cards are going to be your only options so you are going to need to get creative.
One option to combat this challenge is to use a non-Eldrazi commander.
Jodah, Archmage Eternal is a great example of this. He’s five colors so he can use the spells that have a color in their cost. Jodah also lets you cast spells for WUBRG (White, Blue, Black, Red, Green) which can help you cast huge Eldrazi spells like Kozilek, the Great Distortion for cheap.
In a deck like this you can use cards like Forerunner of Slaughter, Herald of Kozilek, and Sire of Stagnation to get some great synergy. Kozilek, the Great Distortion is only a 20 dollar card and the rest of the deck could be rather inexpensive. Remember there are budget options for everything more or less. Instead of Urza’s Incubator (a $35 dollar card) you could use Herald’s Horn (a 10 Dollar card).
Best Commanders
Here are my picks for the very best commanders to lead an Eldrazi deck in the game today!
6. Ulamog, The Infinite Gyre
Ulamog, The Infinite Gyre is usually better in the 99 but he can be devastating as your commander. He destroys a permanent when you cast him. He is indestructible and he has Annihilator, one of the most powerful abilities in magic. Annihilator reads:
Annihilator N (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices N permanents.)
MTG Wiki
It’s an absolutely devastating mechanic that is divisive amongst the player base. When you’re the one using it though, it’s awesome.
| Pros | Cons |
| Indestructable | Reshuffle effect wasted |
| Annihilator | Only 10 power |
5. Kozilek, Butcher Of Truth
Like Ulamog, Kozilek, Butcher Of Truth is better in the 99 but still pretty nasty as a commander. Kozilek draws cards when you cast him, helping to refill your hand. He costs one less to cast than Ulamog which makes a difference. Kozilek also has 12 power and 12 toughness. This puts him at a two hit kill with commander damage. Oh, and he has Annihilator!
| Pros | Cons |
| Card draw on cast | Reshuffle effect wasted |
| 12 Power | Dies to Doom Blade |
| Annihilator |
4. Emrakul, the Promised End
Emrakul, The Promised End is a great commander. She costs less to cast for each card type in your graveyard. When you cast her you take control of an opponent on their next turn. Yeah, you read that correctly. You get to control an opponents entire turn!
She also has Flying, Trample, and Protection from Instants, and she can take a player out via commander damage with just two swings. In short, she’s nasty.
| Pros | Cons |
| Game ending effect | No annihilator |
| 13 power | Focused down on sight |
| Can cast quicker than other Eldrazi |
3. Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Here we have our second Ulamog on the list. This one is still indestructible but it exiles two permanents on cast. It also exiles the top 20 cards of the defending player’s library when it attacks and costs one mana less than the other Ulamog. Can’t go wrong with this choice.
| Pros | Cons |
| Indestructable | No annihilator |
| Exiles two permanents |
2. Morophon the Boundless
Morophon the Boundless is a changeling, which means he’s technically an Eldrazi. The best part about Morophon is that it let’s you include whatever colors you want in your deck. This really removes all of the limitations that the other cards on this list have. Furhermore, Morophon gives +1/+1 to all of your other Eldrazi creatures and reduces all of their casting costs by WUBRG.
| Pros | Cons |
| Relatively cheap casting cost compared to typical Eldrazi | Off-theme |
| Flexible | |
| Supports colored spells | |
| Reduces casting-costs |
1. Kozilek, the Great Distortion
Kozilek, the Great Distortion, in my opinion, is the best choice for a colorless commander in the game today. He lets you draw back up to seven cards when you cast him. He has Menace, forcing your opponent to block with at least two creatures.
His most important ability, however, has to be his ability to counter any spell by discarding a card from your hand. You must discard a card with equal mana value as the spell you are trying to counter but that is easier to do than you might think. Overall, Kozilek, the Great Distortion is a beast of a card, and an awesome general.
| Pros | Cons |
| Card draw on cast | No annihilator |
| Counter all opponents spells | It can be countered |
Best Colorless Spells
First off, you’re probably going to want to include some/all of the above Eldrazi creatures that you didn’t choose as your commander, as well as other strong creatures. Here are some of the best creatures to include.
Creatures
- Conduit of Ruin
- Reality Smasher
- Bane of Bela Ged
- Oblivion Sower
- Endbringer
- Kozilek Butcher of Truth
- Matter Reshaper
- Endbringer
- Void Winnower
- Oblivion Sower
- Endless One
- Emrakul the Promised End
- Eldrazi Mimic
- Thought-Knot Seer
- Ulamog, the infinite Gyre
- Deceiver of Form
- Geode Golem
- Herald of Kozilek
Ugin, The Ineffable is a good option to include as well. He’s a powerful planeswalker that makes all of your colorless spells cost less to cast.
You should also include some colorless instants and sorceries. All Is Dust is an auto include. Not Of This World and Titan’s Presence are also strong choices.
Instants/Sroceries
Next up you have a ton of colorless artifacts to choose from like Thran Dynamo, Mystic Forge, and Forsaken Monument. Artifacts are insanely important for any commander deck, but especially so for an Eldrazi one. They’re especially great if you’re building a colorless deck, since most artifacts are naturally colorless.
Here I’ll list the best artifacts to include. Note: this list won’t include staples that should go in every deck such as Sol Ring and Lightning Grieves
- Fist of Suns
- Mystic Forge
- Urza’s Incubator
- Planar Bridge
- Commander’s Plate
- Quicksilver Amulet
- Herald’s Horn
- Monster Manual
- Horizon Stone
- Manifold Key
- Hedron Matrix
- Mirage Mirror
- Doubling Cube
- Thran Dynamo
- Eldrazi Monument
Let’s talk about lands. Obviously, your mana-base is going to change heavily depending on whether you’re going all-colorless, five-color, or something else. I’m not going to talk about the best lands to choose for a colored mana-base (you can read about that here if you’re interested in getting some tips). Instead, I’m going to give you a list of the best lands that specifically work well with Eldrazi cards.
- Eldrazi Temple
- Eye of Ugin
- Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
- Sanctum of Ugin
- Temple of the False God
- Urza’s Tower
- Urza’s Power Plant
- Urza’s Mine
- Reliquary Tower
- Rogue’s Passage
- Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
- Spawning Bed
- Zhalfirin Void
- War Room
- Buried Ruin
- Ancient Tomb
- Untaidake the Cloudkeeper
- Thespian’s Stage
- Mirrirpool
If you’d like more suggestions, head over to the EDHREC website. It’s an extremely useful resource for building commander decks.
Best Colored Commanders
There aren’t really any Legendary Eldrazi creatures with colors in their costs. There are, however, lots of potential commanders that can help you get the high costing Eldrazi from your deck out onto the field. These commanders tend to also be more budget friendly options.
4. Rakdos, Lord of Riots
Rakdos, Lord of Riots is great for lowering the costs of your Eldrazi spells. When your opponents lose life, Creature spells cost one less to cast for each life lost. He can even reduce your colorless spells to zero making them free to cast. With flying and trample, Rakdos, Lord of Riots is great at getting damage through so your huge spells are cheaper during your next main phase.
| Pros | Cons |
| Lowers the cost of creature spells | Only allows red and black |
| Great at dealing damage | Off-theme |
3. Jhoira Of The Ghitu
Suspending high-costing Eldrazi and casting them for free on a later turn? Sign me up! Jhoira of the Ghitu is a cheap commander that can start suspending your giant creatures right away. The only downside is that your opponents can see this coming and they will prepare for the horde.
| Pros | Cons |
| Free-casts | Everyone sees it coming |
2. Jodah, Archmage Eternal
As I mentioned before, Jodah, Archmage Eternal is an insanely powerful Commander. Jodah is all five colors, and he can make your spells cheaper to cast, making him perfect for our needs. A commander like this is easier to build around, giving you more options than a colorless commander.
| Pros | Cons |
| Access to all five colors | Off-theme |
| Lessens costs of casting spells | No built in protection |
1. Animar, Soul of Elements
Animar, Soul of Elements, like Rakdos, reduces the cost of your creatures, which is huge for us. Green and Blue gives you access to the best mana ramp and card draw spells. Animar’s low cost will help get him out early so you can get those big Eldrazi spells out as soon as possible. Each creature you play will make the next one cost less. This effect can snowball fast.
| Pros | Cons |
| Lets you cast creature spells potentially for free | Off-theme |
| Blue, green and red are great colors | There are better ways to build Animar |
Best Colored Spells
These colored commanders allow you to use cards like Eldrazi Displacer and Catacomb Sifter. It They also give you access to powerful cards like From Beyond, Awakening Zone, Void Shatter and Brutal Expulsion. Even if your commander is a bit off-theme, using spells like Call the Scions or Oblivion Strike will make it feel like an Eldrazi commander deck.
These decks can be built at various power levels. Using a card like Void Winnower or Ruination Guide is completely up to you.
End Step
Eldrazi tribal is surprisingly varied and a blast to play. After all, who doesn’t like playing gigantic creatures from the cosmos?
I’ll leave you with an important word of wisdom: Always remember, when building a deck, make sure to have enough lands, mana ramp, and card draw. This is especially important when building an Eldrazi deck, since our creatures usually cost so much to cast.
Filling the deck with huge creatures will of course seem like fun, but you want to make sure you can actually cast and protect these powerful creatures from your opponents.
Now what are you waiting for? Get out there and start brewing!
