MTG: Top Five EDH – Green Commanders
Sometimes caring for the little guys is just making sure they get big enough to crush your enemies. Let’s talk EDH Green Commanders.
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, tune an existing one, or build up your first library from scratch.
Green is the color of nature, community, and growth on the MTG color wheel. Unlike their Red counterparts, Green commanders don’t need to overwhelm you with speed and fury. They’re content to wait, building up their armies and summoning massive creatures. Once they’re prepared to attack, they’ll overrun your army with an unstoppable stampede. Don’t think that makes them slow, however; being the color of nature has its perks. While there are as many Green commanders as there are trees in the forest, these five stand at the top of the food chain.
Fynn, the Fangbearer
Starting us off, we have a Kaldheim uncommon that brings one of the scariest keywords in Magic; Deathtouch. A deathtouch 1/3 for two mana is already plenty powerful, but Fynn’s second effect is where the real terror lives. Whenever one of your creatures with deathtouch (Fynn included) deals combat damage to a player, they get two poison counters. So, on top of having a creature that can kill their favorite blocker no matter how big it is, you get to turn it into a time bomb. If a player gets ten poison counters, they’re out, and with all the proliferate, trample, and evasion in Green, Fynn can become a massive problem surprisingly fast.
Ayula, Queen Among Bears
Legendary meme and leader of the multi-platform Bear Force One EDH deck, we have Ayula, the best of the bears. Bear typal was not a common playstyle, but Ayula makes it not only feasible, but viable and (dare I see) incredible. As long as Ayula is on the field, whenever another Bear enters the battlefield, she either makes another Bear bigger or lets an already yoked Bear fight an enemy creature. If you pack your decks with Changelings or trample and deathtouch enablers, you can wipe the field every few turns. Ayula gives new meaning to the term “hatebears”.
Marwyn, the Nurturer
Speaking of creatures making your stuff bigger, we have Marwyn. This elvish nanny combines the two things Green is known for; she gets big, and she makes mana. Every time another Elf hits the battlefield, you put a +1/+1 counter on Marwyn, and then she can tap to make Green mana equal to her power. Elves are almost as easy to get on the table as Goblins (maybe a little easier), so you’ll have a massive commander in no time. Once Marwyn is suitably juiced, tap her for bunches of mana and Finale of Devastation your opponents into the concrete with your Elf army.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
Another Elf lady that likes big creatures and big mana, Selvala also has the added punch of card advantage. Whenever you play a creature, if it’s the biggest boi on the battlefield, then you get to draw a card. The reason she isn’t higher on the list is probably because she extends the same courtesy to everyone. Once you have beefy monsters out, tap a Forest to add mana of any color equal to their power, then throw out a massive X spell to devastate your enemies.
Omnath, Locus of Mana
The most famous elemental in all of Magic, this is Omnath in his original, uncorrupted form. He is the biggest of the big mana gents, and he lets your stock up all your Green mana. Even better, the more you have, the bigger he is. He’s like a one-man Finale of Devastation that just needs a little trample to become a monster.
