non-black commander search advice
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Sept. 7, 2025, 9:13 p.m. by Moondrop
Hello all, I have been having trouble finding a commander I like. I have usually picked commanders with black in them( golgari, rakdos, sultai, and abzan) but I recently have had the itch to branch out and found I like commanders with the gruul(big bulk and burn "how unfortunate",JJ) pairing. However I find myself trying to go back to black architypes(mainly recursion and death triggers). I tried jund but the only one I took any sort of liking to was Ognis, the Dragon's Lash even then still black. any suggestions please I can feel myself going slightly crazy or more than I was. Also for any suggestions I usually only pick cheap/underused commanders usually below a dollar( no fun in the popular/also broke!). If you have any suggestions in black that you think might satisfy I am fine with that too but please to a minimum. also sorry if this sounds demanding.
How about trying to build a bounce/blink deck? It has some mechanical similarities to black recursion/reanimation but you get to play around with a new selection of cards so it doesn't feel like you are falling back on the same old cards.
Some potential cheap commander options that have some synergy with bounce and have both red and green in their costs include:
- Eshki, Temur's Roar (bounce creatures back and recast them for value)
- Loot, the Pathfinder (blink him for value).
- Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer (can search up Norin the Wary as an engine piece to trigger cards with "when a creature enters" effects)
- Duskana, the Rage Mother
(flicker her for card draw) - Ghired, Conclave Exile (flicker him for token production).
September 7, 2025 10:25 p.m.
Blink seems like a cool way to go potentially with Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer. My only hesitation is I feel (and this is just me, not trying to hurt people's feelings here, im talking to you blue) it is a bit cowardly and not really my style of playing( at least that i know of and yes i'm aware this is sounding a little hypocritical) Great suggestion overall I'll see if I can get into that thank you. still looking for other suggestions though.
September 7, 2025 11:31 p.m.
Legondofa I thought about those with Wayta, Trainer Prodigy looking particularly nice. Although decks I played with her had a hard time keeping a balance between attacking, defending, and self-fighting with people swinging in once they realised I would have let my creatures die or not block. Although I will say It started as a could early game deterrent for attack ins.Rienne, Angel of Rebirth seems a bit like etb deck my comments on that in different comment and a big target needing lots!! of protection. I also try not to use universes beyond card as I know some people are particular on it and only certain franchises I like. all that said pretty good suggestions They just don't seem to satisfy that itch. I apologize if this makes me seem picky and demanding.
September 7, 2025 11:50 p.m.
Blink being cowardly is kind of funny. I can kind of see it in that the flavour of blink is permanents quickly teleporting around and dodging. Mechanically in-game it can be used as defensive tool to save creatures. I've always just seen it as a way to generate more value though. It's kind of similar to using clone spells except instead of giving you an extra body on the board it lets you untap a tapped creature, save a creature from removal, or pull a creature out of combat.
I'm primarily a black player so I've used all sorts of decks that repeatedly sac and reanimate creatures over and over to get value out of ETB or death triggers. I don't really see that as much different from blink. I recently build a Bracket 2 level Coram, the Undertaker deck that repeatedly brings big creatures out of the grave to fling at opponents' faces.
Are you looking for more of a "smash face" style commander?
September 8, 2025 12:11 a.m.
Yes I see what you mean about blink it might just be something internal about the flavor my mind/gut/instincts? is going against( someone told me recently that They see me as being very flavor and story driven) I think I most likely am going for more of a smash face commander and playstyle although I do appreciate good burn as well. I tried building a Coram, the Undertaker deck but I think that flavor trigger sent me away from him. I also don't like very simple commanders( sorry feel picky here again) or I would of played Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder also thank you for the help.
September 8, 2025 12:51 a.m.
Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second is a good token commander for a budget. She can turn any type of token into a creature instead, and cards like Raise the Alarm or Hordeling Outburst feel a lot more impactful when they are spitting out 3/1s. If you have Requiem Angel on the board then every one of your cat or dog tokens replaces itself when it dies, which combos to give you infinite creatures to sac if you also happen to have a free sac outlet on the board.
Samut, Voice of Dissent is a few bucks to buy but I had a pretty good deck built around her in the past. Since she has so many keywords you run her with Odric, Lunarch Marshal to amplify the damage your creatures are dealing. Samut giving haste makes Etali, Primal Storm a much more viable inclusion. Her untap ability can let you ramp even more with creatures like Somberwald Sage, get extra protection out of Skrelv, Defector Mite, or let you drop a second creature onto the board with Oviya, Automech Artisan. She offers support for several different playstyles so if you get tired of playing the deck one way you can change it up to focus on a different angle of gameplay.
September 8, 2025 1:27 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #10
Rienne, Angel of Rebirth can fit the bill of while adding . Her ability feels like pseudo recursion since you can re-use etb/death triggers.
I personally went with legendary tribal on top of the multicolor requirement because it unlocked some cool options like Hajar, Loyal Bodyguard, Annie Joins Up, Serah Farron Flip, Eowyn, Fearless Knight, and Rising of the Day.
September 8, 2025 8:28 p.m.
Crow_Umbra says... #11
I feel like I have a similar issue as you Moondrop, but for playing stuff in White/Green/Blue lol. I have a few recommendations from personal experience. The following are commanders that I currently have in my personal rotation, or have had built in paper at some point. All of them are pre-con commanders, so they already have decent starting point built in:
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Gylwain, Casting Director - A new exploration of an Aura based strategy. What initially interested me about him was that his ability focuses more on playing creatures than loading up on Auras or Enchantments, which lent itself to playing a more "Go Wide" version Auras, compared to others which aim more to Voltron up a couple of big threats. I took him apart because I've play lots of Aura/Enchantment stuff and it's grown kinda stale for me, also managing Role tokens on board was a bit annoying at times. He's the least popular suggestion, currently sitting at 745 on EDHRec.
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Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser
- Her pre-con is fairly decent out of the box, and most Goad and forced combat cards are fairly cheap. She's usually the commander I'll play first at any given session, mostly since she helps get the interactive juices flowing. I think she scales decently to whatever table she's at, and rewarding your opponents for hitting each other keeps things interesting. Nelly isn't super popular, as she is currently ranked 347 on EDHRec/ -
Osgir, the Reconstructor
- The first Boros commander that really piqued my interest. I don't have him built anymore, but he's one of the few commanders I'd reconsider bringing back. He was fairly popular around the time Strixhaven dropped, but I think some of that popularity has since faded as he's now ranked 401 on EDHRec. Given your affinity for recursion and reanimation, his ability is adjacent to that, and leaves a lot of flexibility for reanimating artifacts with ETBs like Solemn Simulacrum or Ichor Wellspring. -
Satya, Aetherflux Genius - Speaking of ETBs, Satya is a really fun option for getting additional value out of creatures with ETB effects. His pre-con is more geared towards utilizing Energy, which are fairly cheap cards in general if you wanted to go down that route. I think most builds tend to focus on his Energy aspects and the ETB/Clone effects in conjunction with him are a bit more slept on by comparison. He's more popular than my other suggestions, sitting at 109 on EDHRec
September 8, 2025 9:06 p.m.
Crow_Umbra says... #12
Okay, maybe a couple more suggestions from my rotation, since you are still somewhat open to a bit of Black. The following options have Black in their color identity, but it is more so the secondary or even tertiary support color:
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Goro-Goro and Satoru - They're a blast to play and have a couple of different build paths, depending on your budget and whatnot. Their most popular build option utilizes Ninjutsu and smaller evasive/unblockable threats as Ninjutsu enablers. I went more all in on Haste, Dash, and Dragon support, so the deck is almost Mono Red with Blue and Black playing support. They're a bit over a dollar, and they're currently sitting at 205 on EDHRec.
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Szarel, Genesis Shepherd - The newest addition to my line up and another pre-con commander option. Out of the box, the World Shaper pre-con is probably one of the strongest and well built options out there, and doesn't need a whole lot of upgrading. Most people play Hearthhull, the Worldseed as their commander, since it was the "face" option for the deck (and is fairly strong). Given Szarel's wording, you can lean into Lands Matter, +1/+1 Counter, or Aristocrats/Sacrifice to various sliding scales, or even go for an Insect typal build. From playing him, he feels more like a +1/+1 counter commander that uses the other strats as additional value. Either way, both commander options lean much more heavily Green with Red and Black used for additional support. Szarel is currently sitting at 634 on EDHRec, and Hearthhull is at 184.
September 8, 2025 9:29 p.m.
Crow_Umbra thank you so much. I really like all your suggestions and if I commented on all of them we'd be here a while (which I could definitely do but for the sake of others) out of all of your suggestions I am really going for Satya, Aetherflux Genius. I've not thought of his ability like that and now i'm obsess about building a deck like that. it also remind me of utilising some of white and red's life gain and burn death triggers for when those creatures die and not attacking with them leaves you defenders and constant choice of etb triggers (he's going to make me feel like more of a mad scientist then genius, chaos incarnate here I come) he also allow me to put one of my favorite pet cards in the deck that synergise well and could work as a back up commander of sort Calamity, Galloping Inferno(curse you color identity) also if I a majority of those creatures are artifact creatures I could add Osgir, the Reconstructor
for kicks and giggles. again thank you and if you have any other suggestions for a deck like this please feel free to share.
September 8, 2025 10:39 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #14
You could try taking black in a different direction; like with combat tricks, myriad, extort, deathtouch… stuff like that. Some of the most enjoyable decks I’ve played have been when I make them out of bulk. I enjoy the challenge of making do with whatever is around. There’s a ton of stuff out there so I’d try using some or all of the you’ve got but never actually look at or consider. Embrace the inefficiency- have one or two pro-white guys, maybe someone with shadow, a scuffed up old Howl from Beyond… the deck will never play the same way twice! Build the deck, and then look at mono black commanders you have or that are cheap in your price range. You might suddenly see a few of them in a new light!
September 8, 2025 11:38 p.m.
I think that is a good idea especially for people burned out by the meta unfortunately I didn't start magic until aether drift set with my first deck being the Most Wanted precon(mardu) then Mothman deck(sultai)( I think that might be what shaped my playstyle) so my bulk is a lot less "bulky" but I'll have to remember this. thank you
September 9, 2025 1:22 a.m.
FormOverFunction says... #16
For Christmas I picked up five boxes of bulk from my local shop for my oldest. That way he could sort them into five color-specific boxes, and I’m trying to come up with an excuse to do so for myself ;p You might go that route, if you just want more cards but don’t want to pay through the nose for them. You can do a lot with bulk…
September 9, 2025 7:31 p.m.
hyalopterouslemur says... #20
For a budget one, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed? All you have to do is focus on creatures and maybe some equipment that grants lifelink and there you go.
legendofa says... #2
Interestingly, black shares recursion and death triggers with its enemy colors white and green. Add in some red for big bulky smashiness and you get cards like Rienne, Angel of Rebirth or Havi, the All-Father. Wayta, Trainer Prodigy can feed into some black-adjacent play styles, too.
September 7, 2025 9:44 p.m.