Blink and flicker strategies are some of the most beloved in Magic: The Gathering's Commander format. The idea is simple: abuse creatures with powerful "enters-the-battlefield" triggers by exiling them and bringing them back, sometimes over and over again. Each reset can draw you cards, reanimate threats, or unleash devastating board control.

If you're building around flicker effects like Ephemerate, Conjurer's Closet, or Teleportation Circle, these are some of the best creatures you'll want in your 99.

Mulldrifter: The Card Draw Engine

No blink list is complete without Mulldrifter. This little Elemental may look unassuming, but it's one of the most iconic creatures in all of Commander. Every flicker is essentially a Divination on wings, drawing you two cards. The synergy becomes even stronger when you evoke Mulldrifter for just three mana, then flicker it in response to the sacrifice trigger to keep it around permanently. In Azorius and Bant blink shells, Mulldrifter is the workhorse that keeps your hand stocked full of answers. There are other creatures that draw you cards on ETB but the option to evoke it for a cheaper rate than its mana value is hard to beat.

Karmic Guide: The Recursion Specialist

White flicker decks love Karmic Guide, an angel spirit that reanimates a creature from your graveyard every time it enters. Flicker her once, and you're back in business with a key creature. Blink her multiple times, and suddenly your board is overflowing with threats you thought were gone for good. Pair her with creatures like Reveillark or Avacyn, Angel of Hope, and she becomes a hard-to-stop revival loop. In the right deck, Karmic Guide is both a toolbox and combo piece.

Ertai Resurrected: The Control Piece

Blink strategies aren't always about value - sometimes they're about shutting opponents down. Ertai Resurrected delivers exactly that. With flash and an ETB that either counters a spell or destroys a creature or planeswalker, Ertai provides repeatable answers when you have access to blink effects. Sure, your opponent gets to draw a card, but denying their most impactful plays is more than worth it. Pair it up with repeatable blink enablers like Emiel, the Blessed and Ertai becomes a nightmare for every opponent at the table.

Massacre Wurm: The Board Punisher

If you want your blink deck to double as a control deck, Massacre Wurm is a brutal inclusion. Each time it enters, all your opponents' creatures shrink by -2/-2, usually wiping out token armies and mana dorks on the spot. To make things worse (or better, for you that is), whenever those creatures die, their controllers lose life. With flicker spells, Massacre Wurm becomes a repeatable one-sided sweeper that can grind opponents out of resources and drain their life totals in a hurry. With how popular token strategies are in Commander, don't be surprised if one cast of this Wurm nets you the win.

Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness: The Chaos Bringer

Not every blink creature is about precision... Some are about pure chaos. Etali, Primal Conqueror lets you exile the top card of every player's library and cast nonland spells for free. With blink, you can repeat this wild lottery as often as you like, stealing planeswalkers, board wipes, or someone else's win condition in the process. It's unpredictable, it's explosive, and it's the kind of play that keeps Commander games memorable. Oh, and what's this? On the backside, Etali becomes a Blightsteel Colossus!

Yorion, Sky Nomad: The Team Player

Be it in the command zone or the 99, Yorion, Sky Nomad is one of the best enablers for blink strategies. When Yorion enters, it can exile any number of your nonland permanents, only to return them at the end step. That means you can reset an entire army of creatures, artifacts, or enchantments all at once, reusing every ETB trigger across your battlefield... and putting creatures like Restoration Angel and Flickerwisp to shame. It's the kind of one-card reset that turns an average turn into a game-defining one.

Deadeye Navigator: The Infinite Enabler

If blink decks have a poster child, it's Deadeye Navigator. With soulbond, it grants any paired creature the ability to flicker for just two mana. That alone makes it absurd, but the combos you'll have at your fingertips push it into legendary territory. Pair Deadeye with Mulldrifter for insane card draw, Peregrine Drake for infinite mana, or Eternal Witness for inevitable recursion. Even without combos, it turns every ETB creature you control into a reusable engine. It's so powerful that many playgroups still side-eye it whenever it hits the battlefield... and rightfully so.

Flickering Thoughts

Blink and flicker decks thrive on synergy and value. Every creature on this list showcases the very best of what the archetype can do. There have been more value creatures that have been released but it is hard to beat most of the Commander classics I've included here.

If you're building a flicker deck in Commander, start here. Just be ready for the inevitable sighs from across the table when you cast yet another Ephemerate and say: "I'll blink it one more time."