@dfbenj: You're way to focused on the Tier list here... The Tier list doesn't mean anything if nobody is playing the optimal deck with the commander... please read the description... The way you describe your meta (without infinite combos) you can easily win with a high power commander against tier 0-3 commanders. You can win with almost any commander even without an infinite combo, it depends on what you do with your commander. Tier 0-3 are mainly competitive commanders, as they can be used to execute "I win-combos" in any form as quickly and efficiently as possible, regardless of whether they are infinite or not. The question is actually not which commander is OP or strong enough to beat your friend, but what should your deck do and what do you like to play? And once you've found out, we can recommend commander for your strategy. Do you want to play control, tokens, burn, big spells, stax, voltron, mill, storm, gaveyard/reanimation, aritocrats, turns, landfall, tribal, spellslinger... etc ?