Commanders that Kept Up With Power Creep 

Scion of the Ur-Dragon is from 2006 and it's stronger than the Ur-Dragon himself 😂

i think people dont understand that korvold is a precon commander. he is supposed to be an easy engine to setup. Same with prosper etc etc. The problem isnt that they are easy to build and play ( thats the point of them being in a precon ) its simply a balancing issue.

I'm a college professor grading final papers. I was on track to be done grading before dinner time tonight, then I saw there was a new Trinket Mage video. Students can wait an extra day for grades, I think. Also, I know you said you weren't going to include commanders that draw cards, but special shoutout to my man Reki. I've had a Reki deck for over a decade and he's managed to keep up simply because WoTC keeps printing good legendaries.

I love mentioning Wort. I always find grull a bit strange to play in higher power levels where it isn't yet cedh so winning all of a sudden from hand is frowned upon but leaving my board for a full cycle gets removed. It allows me to use my creatures before they can swing for value and protection

Grand Arbiter is still a powerhouse with very few new cards added to the list. He's him.

Wort, the Raidmother is an incredibly sweet card for the 99 as well, and also gives you access to gold cards in other colors as well. Copying Cruel, Inspired, or Genesis Ultimatum, or heaven forbid Conflux or something is really sweet.

I wanna give a shoutout to Zur for being really flexible for what you can do with him too. I really like him as "Astral Slide Cycling Flicker" deck Commander. But he also works as Voltron and other Enchanter strategies.

The commander I play that came out before the precons is Rith, the Awakener. At one point I was stating towards another player that the deck is casual and he ended up saying that I create 10 1/1s and then win the game by casting an overrun effect.

POV: Mayael the anima is a feared deck at my locals

Augustin IV is what taught me, as a Green player, to always bring a suite of Interaction Shutdown cards to Commander Night. Definitely one of the most frequently seen helmers of Counter-Removal Piles that have become so ubiquitous of late. It’s an interesting presentation, though.

Couple other neat tricks with mage of zhalfir -delay and suspend (the spell) get WAY better with him around. Always love throwing one of those down and seeing opponents realize how it interracts with my commander. -scourge of fleets. Cyclonic fish. -master of waves+Mystic Reflection on the end step just before your turn. With a decent devotion total this is basically fog, rift, or die for your opponents. Edit: oh wait. They can't do the first two. -triskaidekophile. Flash in just before your turn. Then just count to 13 and win.

I recently took apart the deck because of the way it was playing (or not playing), but a commander I really like is Kumano, Master Yamabushi. For those unfamiliar with this jank legend from OG Kamigawa, he's a 4/4 for 3 and double red that let's you pay one and a red to deal one damage to any target. It was a very fun and silly pinger deck that could actually be quite scary if you set it up right. He could burn face, also, give him deathtouch, and suddenly you can just pay one and a red anytime you want to kill target creature. Oh, and if a creature he pings dies in the same turn they get exiled. So one and a red to exile any non-indestructible creature you can target. I also liked throwing in damage doublers and lifelink.

I saw the video and I forgot to comment my favourite from the old sets. Saffi eriksdotter is one of my 2 pet projects right now trying to make a predh non blue deck that is super strong. The normal edh deck is actually really really strong and fairly easy since compared to the predh deck has like double the amount of relevant pieces and like 3 times more card draw. Teysa, orzov Scion is the other. Basically both decks are aristocrats decks with the former being unique by lacking black. Obviously the moment you include blue in the conversation you get tons of cards. The one I haven't finished, but actively working on is niv mizzet firemind(Dracogenius is a card from 2012). The deck is basically just like niv mizzet parrun if you go for wheels and focus on card draw more than control. The only reason I haven't finished it is that I am borderline thinking of using it as an alternative commander for my niv mizzet parrun deck when I need a weaker commander. Finally I haven't build nor played that one but it you want to be really fancy and weird dakkon blackblade is a unique from legends that has power and toughness equal to your lands. So basically you can play a really unique esper landfall deck. And all that while playing a card that it is older than most people playing the game today including myself 😝😝😝

Its a newer card but Lathril still holds up. For older commanders that have survived power creep, you always have Empress Galina, who can steal your opponent's commanders. One thing getting stronger in modern Magic is enchentments. This means Zur the Enchanter has aged like a fine wine. Despite this, Ill stick with Gisa and Geralf Zombie Tribal deck. They were my first commander deck I ever built. They go under the radar due to their power. The deck operates well on its own and can win a game quickly. The commander just acts as a bluff.

I’m not so much into super high power EDH, but Wort would be a great commander in a Slime Against Humanity deck

My oldest commander is Lu Bu, Master-at-arms. It is a 4/3 with horsemanship and haste. The entire deck is ramp, card draw, and permanents that increase the combat damage of Lu Bu. It wins a surprising amount of games.

I’ve had a Chainer, Dementia Master deck for while now, and it’s a powerhouse.

You mentioned the Jhoira deck playing out a Kozilek, but I want to highlight that colorless commanders in general have gotten much better between the eldrazi precon and cards like Geode Golem- The new Fomori Vault & Arid Archway also make the decks better!

This video is tempting me to start assembling a Jhoira EDH Deck haha

Honestly this was a great thing to look at, and one of my personal recommendations for strange options is actually a more recent uncommon commander: Bill the Pony I’ve built it as Voltron, artifacts matter, toughness matters, and food. It’s all different directions that either ability fuel

I love my first Marchesa deck, the Black Rose and it's still going strong

I have an Oloro cEDH deck that I’ve won quite a few local tournaments with, I love that he can keep up with today’s cEDH meta while he just sits in his chair

THANK YOU for this video. what you say in the intro is exactly my mindset on the Elder Dragon Highlander format that has become "Commander" ever since WotC decided to mangle it even though I started playing commander with a precon from C15, and I have precons from C16 and C19 as well, I still find that the powercreep has been getting exponentially worse, especially since 2019.

I firmly believe that my Multani, Maro-Sorceror deck can compete at any casual or higher powered table, and this commander gets even better in pods of 5 or more. This is a commander from Urza's Legacy, and the design had absolutely no thought towards eventual multi-player applications. I love playing this deck, and my friends always groan when I pull this one out. It ramps hardest and draws the most cards of any of my current commander decks and is an absolute total blast to play!

More, please! Very inspiring

I didn't know Balthor the Defiled existed and honestly it looks like one of the most badass cards to play with. I just dunno how i would go about guaranteeing his ability or similar abilities every game? I feel like knowing my luck, I'll mill myself and never get to use him properly.

Sigarda Font of Blessings is still my favourite commander so far

The original partner commanders aged extremely well.

I do love Jhoira. I don't use the land destruction. That's definitely unfortunately, but she is a bit of a boogeyman. I try to use some pillow fort stuff to keep her safe. I've definitely thought about building Wort. So many great options on here. I do plan to put Teferi into a Simic deck and Grand Arbiter into a Azorius Heliod (the phyrexian one deck). The Dwarf is definitely neat. If it was designed after 2011, it would most definitely be Rakdos to make full use of its ability, but he could be great in the 99 of a Rakdos reanimator deck as well.

I have a pet commander, Commander Eesha. 1. Art by Rebecca Guay. 2. Unblockable but also really good at blocking, so vigilance is a must. 3. There are some really nice card combos I like, like Pariah/Pariah's Shield, or Entangler. 4. Giving it +5 power means I can take out someone in three swings. Things like Ogre's Cleaver or Sword of Kaldra, or Blackblade REforged. It's not fast and I'm not too big into Voltron without someone consistent hexproof or shroud, but ti's fun to play, especially if I'm playing against another Voltron deck because I can just block with Eesha and be alright most of the time.

From OG legends Rasputin Dreamweaver still amazing who knew a repeatable and blinkable mana rock that does not need to tap to add seven mana and even without blinking can add some mana is pretty powerful to have in the command zone. It also fogs a little too.

someone i found on Moxfield made a Wort storm deck with Moraug and Ashaya

Great choices! Think I'll change my mono blue deck from Thassa Deep Dwelling to Teferi for a bit

Wort the Raidmother was one of the first commanders I built. The best card? *Possibility Storm*. You get the Conspire copy of whatever you cast AND a new spell *that you get to conspire as well*, and everybody else gets chaos. I was not allowed to play that version anymore, so right now she's being retrofitted a forest typal Awaken The Woods copy Impact Tremors gatling. Coincidentally, Jhoira of the Ghitu was my very first commander, ended up scrapping her too because, like you said, the game plan (any game plan) was the same. Cast her, Suspend nasty stuff, wait. I miss her though. I should call her...

Wort I run as a ponza/land destruction deck and ... well I don't run it too often because pods hate it... since you mentioned Korvold briefly. My favorite commander is Prossh, skyraider of kher, who not only is a free sac outlet and a sac payoff, but he also brings his own gas

you deserve more subscribers, keep up the good work

Trinket Mage my dude, you've quickly become one of my favorite mtg youtubers. Keep it up dude!!

Pre-2011, I have a hyper Aggro Doran deck. Yoked Ox, Tasseled Dromedary, Armored Armadillo, etc. So many great board wipes for this type of deck. Doran itself is a great Voltron clock. Plus, Tangle Angler, Tower Defense, Shadrix, both Oketras. Just a nasty deck.

Wort is absolutely insane, can confirm. I built a mediocre wort deck out of bulk commons and it slaps REAL hard.

I still play Zur the enchanter and adapt the toolbox to the power level of the table. There are so many fun enchantments! My doran deck still wins a surprising amount of games although the commander itself is not as scary as it used to be.

In the same vein as Balthor, Chainer, Dementia Master holds up quite well. A 2024 version would cost 2BB and have ward 2 but could only be activated at sorcery speed and only once per turn. And that worse version would still be a nightmare to deal with.

I recently built Zirilan of the Claw and he’s only gotten better with power creep. Put 100+ damage on the table in one turn my first game with him.

Special shoutout to my girl Phage the Untouchable one of the only commanders people think are unplayable unless the deck is built completely around her when you can use a few cards and tutors to get those cards to get her into your hand then play her. A few examples and even cards that are generally good so you can negate her ETB for ya so you don't lose would Be Command Beacon , Netherborn Alter, Torpor Orb, Sundial of the Infinite (this could be the last action of your turn so it would not be bad), Lich's Mastery, Stunning reversal and or Platinum Angel. Like these few cards do not mean you built the entire deck around Phage as it is just 7 cards that actually allows her to be a playable commander if you play them and some of the cards are good utility that you might opt to run in other decks as well just for the value Now the more tutors and virtual tutors you stuff in the deck the more it looks like you built the deck around Phage. And what i mean by virtual tutors is for example Entomb Gravepurge you pretty much search and get the card you want into your hand but it has to hit the grave first, like virtual card advantage is still really great card advantage which black is really good at as the only thing that would really beat you at that point is graveyard hate that exiles

Could you make a video for a deck that’s budget but can win against more expensive decks? I’d love to have a deck list and an explanation to help me.

I still stand by Brudiclad to this day. One of the most fun and unique Izzet commanders, and he only gets better as creatures and token generation get better. Just try to treat him as a 6 mana sorcery and wait for the perfect opportunity to cast him, as he usually only needs to do his thing once or twice.

I used wort for my slime against humanity deck, and after seeing balthor and jhoira I might buils them too

Not only do I have a Balthor deck, it also does pretty well most often.

I had a great run with my Jhoira Ghitu but had to retire it. It was a bit too powerful and all the extra turn/upkeep made later turns too long.

I've recently built Sisay, deck is a house. Love me the millennium calander

I've had Derevi for more than a decade now. Prossh Foodchain with Undying combos is still nasty.

my favorite pre-commander is probably adamaro. i love aggro in commander

One commander I find that's still powerful, even all these years later is Mayael the Anima. Sure, the activated ability is expensive, but cheating out huge haymakers of the top of your deck is still insane. This means as bigger and better haymakers get printed the stuff he finds off the top is that much better.

I'm using Jhoira as a backup commander in the 99 of Jamie McCrimmon + The Tenth Doctor

I still crush multiple tables with azami wizard typal combo. Yes it's very A typical. But I got to put my premium counter magic in somewhere...

Oh no. I’m building a wort deck now. This is all your fault.

Woooh my first deck was and still is a Rith deck

Man, I have a wort deck that has been collecting dust, maybe it’s time to pull it out and play a few games

So if a Commander has card advantage in the Command Zone it's boring but Zur tutoring for Rhystic Study is fun and exciting? I'm having trouble figuring out how your opinions work

Teysa, Orzhov scion is pretty powerful. I have a fun sekki, seasons guide deck, but it's not quite as powerful.

jhoira is really funny and with de doctor who edition now we can play with suspension with more spell in izzet color

Experimental kraj is powerful and fun too

I think of Maelstrom Wanderer for this

Reaper King is just a brutal commander. 5 color commanders are not very hard to pull off these days and with all the changelings still coming, it will continue to get better.

Kamahl Fist of Krosa: 2024 still blowing up lands in mono green (no one expects mono green land destruction). WOTC wants to keep printing more efficient mana dorks, things that Double/Triple mana and lots of 1+/1+ counter stuff for my Triskelion/Walking Ballista... LOL I even use a Rocket Launcher (That's right MTG has a Rocket Launcher) makes it so Kamahl is still fisting his way to victory ;p

A guy at my locals, (the one whom I've complained about previously) played a Balthor deck a few weeks ago. He kept a greedy 2 land hand all because he had Skirge Familiar. It wasn't until turn 5 or so that he finally drew enough land to cast Skirge Familiar. Then proceeds to dump his entire hand- Vilis Broker of Blood, Razaketh, the Foulblooded, Rune-Scarred Demon, Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Archfiend of Despair. He tutors into Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and on the following turn loops Gray Merchant twice and kills everyone. So, the problem is that none of us had seen that deck before so we weren't really sure what all to expect. Certainly not a suddenly burst turn. He was complaining about how he is mana screwed and how he's low key because he's doing nothing so we left him alone. Then when the game is over he scolds us for not pushing the attack because black pays life to do things.

Babe wake up The Trinket Mage posted

Atla pilani nest tender ( however it’s spelled ) is as strong as you build it. I’m commenting at 2:55 so she might be in here idk

Brion Stoutarm!

Thanks dunkey

Teferi has been haunting me since Time Spiral. And now you tell me he has only grown more powerful?

Korvold is overhated dont @ me

I kinda disagree with some of the picks. The situations you have provided such as with jhoira, are somewhat farfetched, especially you would need to wait 8 turns just to cast a big 8-10 cost card and hoping its already part of your hand. I love the topic of this as there are a lot of old commanders that still hold up, though these were refreshing takes, they're only considere at par good commanders.

I have to disagee with the list, that grull comander is horrible even years ago, now is even worst

First

Do you have a discord server? @the trinket mage

Cringe