Magic: The Gathering's newest set, Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate is the game's second full-fledged set crossover with Dungeons & Dragons. While the previously released Adventures in the Forgotten Realms was a Standard-legal set, Battle for Baldur's Gate is designed around the Commander format.
The set provides players with a wide range of unique new Commander options, including many who may be paired with special legendary enchantments called Backgrounds, that open up deckbuilding potential in a manner comparable to Partner commanders. With so many great new commanders available, we're going to examine the best of the best that Battle For Baldur's Gate has to offer and see which of these new commanders are the strongest!
5 Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion
Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion is a great new option for those looking to build a counter-based deck or a Superfriends deck. Efficient and potent, Lae'zel is a 3/3 Gith Warrior for three mana that states that whenever one or more counters would be put on a creature or Planeswalker under its owner's control, they put that many counters plus one on that permanent instead.
While this effect pairs well with +1/+1 counters, it can also be used to provide creatures with the likes of additional shield counters. Most notably, this effect allows a player to raise the loyalty of their Planeswalkers faster than they would be able to otherwise, making Lae'zel a great choice for a Superfriends deck. Additionally, though Lae'zel itself is a white card, due to having "choose a background," it can function as a mono-white, Azorious (white/blue), Boros (red/white), Orzhov (white/black), or Selesnya ((green/white) commander based on a player's background choice.
4 Volo, Itinerant Scholar
Volo, Itinerant Scholar is an impressive new Commander that is capable of drawing cards for its controller through the use of a diverse range of creature types. A 2/3 Human Wizard for three mana, upon entering the battlefield, Volo creates a legendary artifact called Volo's Journal. In addition to this artifact being difficult to remove due to its access to hexproof, whenever its controller casts a creature spell, they note its creature type as long as that type hadn't been noted prior.
Once a player has noted a significant number of creature types with Volo, it may be tapped for two mana to draw a card for each type noted with Volo's Journal. While this is already a great combination of abilities, due to having "choose a background," a Volo deck can be mono-blue, Azorious, Dimir (blue/black), Izzet (blue/red), or Simic (green/blue) based on a player's choice of Background.
3 Karlach, Fury of Avernus
While many commanders with "choose a background" can offer a player great value, Karlach, Fury of Avernus is capable of offering a stellar offensive ability that can be used to create great combat-oriented decks. A red 5/4 Tiefling Barbarian for five mana, whenever its controller attacks for the first time each turn, creatures they control gain first strike until the end of the turn, all attacking creatures are untapped, and its controller gains an additional combat step.
Doubling the potential damage output of one's creatures each turn, Karlach can be used to create a mono-red, Boros, Gruul (red/green), Izzet, or Rakdos ((black/red) deck that can make great use out of high-powered and combat-focused creatures. One great element of Karlach, is as this ability triggers whenever its controller attacks, Karlach itself doesn't even need to attack to gain an additional combat step, minimising the chance of opponents removing it in the midst of combat through the use of blockers.
2 Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm
As a Dungeons & Dragons set, Battle for Baldur's Gate contains a notably high number of Dragons and cards that synergize with the creature type. While several legendary Dragons can be found within the set, Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm is easily the strongest new option for a Dragon-Tribal commander deck. Miirym is a Temur 6/6 with flying and Ward 3 for the cost of six mana. In addition to its access to evasion and a solid layer of protection, this creature's primary appeal is its ability to double the value of each of its controller's Dragons.
Whenever an nontoken enters the battlefield under its owner's control, they create a token that’s a copy of it, except the token isn’t legendary if that Dragon is legendary. This is an incredible benefit that can allow even the most potent Dragons in the game to offer a yet even greater boon to their caster, with the wording of this effect even subverting the "Legend Rule."
1 Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
Like Tasha, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes are a new Planeswalker that may be used as a player's commander. A Gruul commander for the reasonable cost of four mana, Minsc & Boo excel at improving one's creatures through +1/+1 counters, dealing direct damage to opponent's and their creatures, and drawing numerous cards.
Upon entering the battlefield and at the beginning of its controller's upkeep, this Planeswalker's controller may create a 1/1 legendary Hamster token with trample and haste named Boo. This card's +1 ability allows three +1/+1 counters to be put on a creature with trample or haste, growing either Boo or another threatening creature to a large size quite quickly.
Additionally, Minsc's -2 can be used to sacrifice a creature, dealing damage equal to its power to any target. While this direct damage is a solid form of removal or a means of breaking through an opponent's defenses, if a Hamster (such as Boo) is sacrificed this way, its' controller also draws a number of cards equal to the creature's power. Due to the reliable manner in which this card can create a Boo token, it can reliably always have a means of utilizing either of its activated abilities.
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