Did you know that Abzan, the Wedge that is a combination of White, Black, and Green is the least popular tri-color combination in commander? As an Abzan-enthusiast, that surprises me as this particular combination of colors is my favorite in all of Magic. My first ever commander was an Abzan one (and it is on this list!) and I have always had a deck from this Wedge in every format of Magic: The Gathering I've played.

There's something about the grindy nature of playing Abzan that I enjoy. And in this article, I hope to infect you with the Abzan bug by showing you the best commanders in the Abzan Wedge.

5. Karador, Ghost Chieftain

Commander released in 2011 was the first set of preconstructed decks that Wizards of the Coast made and it brought with it my first ever commander in Karador, Ghost Chieftain. This 3/4 Centaur Spirit was the best graveyard commander of its time. There are some powerful reanimation style commanders that have since come out but Karador still holds his own because of his ability to subtract his rather high casting cost of 8 for 1 mana for each creature in the graveyard. I've built a deck around him in multiple power levels but most include a combo with Protean Hulk and a sacrifice outlet like Viscera Seer. Karador runs a creature heavy deck and you can toss in every good enters the battlefield and dies triggers such as Sun Titan, Reveillark, and Karmic Guide, and Accursed Marauder. This Ghost Chieftain is an OG commander - and thus deserves a spot on this list.

4. Ghave, Guru of Spores

Another OG legendary from Commander (2011), and a commander I love playing, is Ghave, Guru of Spores. This 0/0 (what?) Fungus Shaman costs five mana and enters with 5 +1/+1 tokens. Ghave has two other abilities that play around with +1/+1 counters. For one mana you can remove one from any creature and make a 1/1 Saproling token. For another mana, you can sacrifice a creature to put a +1/+1 counter on a target creature. See where this is going? Yep, to combo-land. Ghave is one of those commanders that only needs to sneeze to find an infinite loop of a combo. It is downright difficult not to build a combo around this commander! Cathars' Crusade and Ashnod's Altar is an infinite mana machine. Replace the enchantment with Doubling Season or Good-Fortune Unicorn or Anointed Procession and you have the same effect. Generate infinite mana or tokens with Ghave and choose how you want to win!

3. Thalia and the Gitrog Monster

What does a giant frog monster and a beautiful warrior have in common? Give up? Well, they share a card and a spot on this list as our 3rd best Abzan commander. Thalia and the Gitrog Monster is a 4/4 human frog horror that is as good as a commander can be without pushing you into a specific deck archetype. This duo has first strike and deathtouch making it hard to defeat in combat. They also allow you to play one more land on your turn, unlocking the opportunity to run strong landfall cards like Scute Swarm, Felidar Retreat, or Avenger of Zendikar. They also have built in stax by making your opponents' lands and creatures enter tapped. This beauty and beast also has an attack trigger that draws you a card if you sacrifice a land or creature! Wow, a card draw and sacrifice engine in one - errr two?

The possibilities are many with this commander. Want to play land matters? Toss Hedge Shredder, Conduit of Worlds, and Tireless Provisioner in. Want to lean (and be mean) into the stax aspect? Abzan has the best hatebears in Drannith Magistrate, Collector Ouphe, and Dauthi Voidwalker. This beast of a card is such a beauty.

2. Myrkul, Lord of Bones

Aside from having a cool title, Myrkul, Lord of Bones is also one of the three legendary gods from Battle for Baldur's Gate. This 7/5 god for seven mana gets indestructible as long as you have less than your starting life total. It also has the ability to create a token copy of a nontoken creature you control that dies. Myrkul is a great enchantress commander as its ability can enable constellation triggers. You know the list: Eidolon of Blossoms, Setessan Champion, and Enchantress's Presence are making it in! Here's a tip though: get a Devoted Druid on the field and you have infinite Green mana at your disposal. You're welcome.

1. The Necrobloom

2024's Modern Horizons 3 brought with it a number of strong commander cards. The set also gave us the best Abzan commander yet in The Necrobloom. This fat 2/7 plant is a four-mana combination of Field of the Dead and Dakmor Salvage. It has a landfall trigger that either makes a 2/2 zombie or a 0/1 plant depending on how many differently named lands you have in play. The Necrobloom also gives all the lands in your graveyard dredge 2. You're a Magic player - you already know how many busted shenanigans you can pull off with dredge.

The Necrobloom is the ultimate lands matters deck. It plays well with all the best lands suite: Azusa, Lost but Seeking, The Gitrog Monster, Crop Rotation, Glacial Chasm, and the list goes on. I might even call 2024 the year of the Necrobloom because a lot of amazing cards for this deck came out like Walk-In Closet // Forgotten Cellar, Six, Wight of the Reliquary, and Aftermath Analyst. The Necrobloom may just be one of the very few decks in which casting an Armageddon is (arguably) acceptable.

A Winning Wedge

Abzan may not be the most popular tri-color combination in Commander, but it certainly doesn't lack power or versatility. From grinding out value with Karador to going infinite with Ghave, or building an unstoppable landfall engine with The Necrobloom, Abzan offers an array of strategies to the commander player who embraces the grindy and synergistic playstyle that makes this wedge truly exceptional.