MTG: Fulfil Your Oath! – Top Five Bant Commanders
If you want noble paladins, brave knights, and no shortage of armored Rhinos, this is the Alaran Shard for you.
Welcome Planeswalkers and Praetors to our ongoing series about the best casual experience in Magic: Commander. For the uninitiated, Commander is a semi-casual format for Magic: the Gathering, where you use a deck of 100 cards led by a legendary creature, your Commander.
Aside from basic lands, you are only allowed one copy of each card in the deck. Moreover, you can only include cards in your Commander’s “color identity” or artifacts. Each color and color combo has a unique playstyle and a wealth of mighty generals to lead your deck to victory. EDHRec.com is a great source for Commander info and can give you ideas to build your next Commander deck or tune an existing one.
Bant is an idyllic Alaran shard where noble knights and brave squires gain accolades for their heroic deeds. The Commanders in these colors empower your creatures and enchantments, and usually you’ll find Voltron or Enchantress decks floating through here. If you want to live out your Arthurian dreams, you’ve found the right place.
Arcades, the Strategist
Normally, creatures with defender aren’t worth very much. Sure, they have a lot of toughness and can block for you, but that doesn’t do a lot of good to take out your opponent. Well, Arcades wants to take your lowly walls and chuck them at your opponents. One of the OG Elder Dragons, he gives your defenders plenty to do in the combat phase and makes those unassuming walls into deadly creatures.
Chulane, Teller of Tales
Chulane is an interesting Commander, that sits somewhere between card advantage, ETB effects, and landfall. He can certainly get you to land superiority quickly, but his real power comes from his last ability. Being able to double up on your ETB triggers is really strong, especially in these colors. Add in a few things like Elesh Norn or Panharmonicon, and you’ll be taking out your opponent while barely lifting a finger.
Galea, Kindler of Hope
The first of the Voltron Bant decks, Galea is all about buffing herself or your other creatures and getting them to your opponent’s face. With vigilance, she’ll dish out the punishment and still be there to protect your face. This deck can almost survive with no other creatures; just make sure you have some protective enchantments like Propaganda or Ghostly Prison.
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
A creature so powerful it nearly broke everything, Derevi is all about control. It can fly, it can tap or untap things, and it dodges Commander Tax. There’s really nothing Derevi can’t do, and if I’m honest, it’s probably only this low because people feel dirty playing it.
Tuvasa, the Sunlit
Closing out the bunch, we have Tuvasa, a Merfolk enchantress Commander who loves card advantage. She gets stronger the more enchantments you have and lets you draw off the first one you cast each turn. She can get surprisingly huge fast, and with just a few evasion Auras, she’ll be dealing lethal Commander damage in no time.
