Locations
Planeswalkers in Commander live in a strange tension. They come down with a few loyalty counters, then the table collectively looks at them like a group of hungry Eldrazi deciding which adventurer to devour first. So when a walker actually survives long enough to matter or affects the game states with their mere presence... you know it's doing something powerful.
2025 didn't drown us in new planeswalkers, but what we got are fascinating experiments. One is an Equipment that moonlights as a planeswalker. One doubles tokens like she's been waiting her whole life for this moment. One is Ugin being Ugin. And one is Tezzeret finally embracing his full artifact villain era.
Let's talk about the big four.
The Aetherspark
Ok, see that type line? Legendary Artifact Planeswalker Equipment. Indeed, The Aetherspark might be the strangest walker of the year, but it's also one of the cleanest fits for multiplayer. Because it's an Equipment when attached to a creature, it can't be attacked, which neatly sidesteps the biggest issue planeswalkers face in EDH. Even the smallest token becomes a loyalty vault, storing combat damage as extra counters and turning routine swings into fuel for future abilities.
Despite the unusual frame, The Aetherspark plays incredibly. The +1 ability strengthens the equipped creature, giving your attacker a small but meaningful boost. The -5 draws two cards, something blue decks never say no to, and the -10 is a ritual that jumps you into 10 mana of any color. Equipment decks and voltron strategies will treat The Aetherspark as a value engine that eventually hands them explosive endgame turns. It's one of those designs that looks experimental on the surface but makes perfect sense once you play with it.
Suggested Commander decks:
Elspeth, Storm Slayer
Elspeth arrived this year with one mission: make tokens matter even more. Her static ability doubles any token you would create, which boosts every Soldier maker, Clue factory, and Spirit generator into premium gas. Even without the static, she would be a solid planeswalker. But with it, she becomes the centerpiece of any go-wide strategy.
Her +1 continues the pressure by producing a Soldier token every turn. The 0 ability turns your entire team airborne for a full round, enabling surprise lethal swings that can knock out a player from nowhere. Her -3 destroys a creature with mana value three or greater, giving White decks targeted removal that slots neatly into their existing toolkit.
Token decks in particular will see her as a perfect blend of pressure, protection, and payoff.
Suggested Commander decks:
- Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- Mondrak, Glory Dominus
- Caesar, Legion's Emperor
- Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon
Ugin, Eye of the Storms
Ugin shows up like he always does, with the calm confidence of a being who can rival Nicol Bolas's schemes. This version of Ugin rewards decks built around colorless spells, letting you exile permanents with one or more colors simply by casting the cards you were already planning to cast. In the right shell, that means every artifact, Eldrazi, Thopter, or mana rock becomes spot removal on a stick.
His loyalty abilities carry the same gravity. The +2 gains life and draws a card, smoothing out the turns where you need stability more than fireworks. The 0 generates three colorless mana, which is exactly what decks with high-cost artifacts want. And the -11 ultimate is the kind of finale that Commander tables talk about afterwards. Exiling your nonland cards and then casting them for free creates a tidal wave of momentum that is almost impossible to answer. Eldrazi lists, artifact-heavy brews, and colorless commanders from 2025 slide Ugin into their decks without hesitation. He does everything they want without ever needing to overextend.
Suggested Commander decks:
Tezzeret, Cruel Captain
Tezzeret's latest incarnation is a love letter to artifact players. His static ability gives him a loyalty counter every time an artifact enters under your control, which in Commander might as well read as whenever you play normal Magic. This self-charging mechanic means Tezzeret rarely sits at low loyalty for long, and every turn cycle brings him closer to the ability you want.
His 0 ability is a flexible control tool, letting you untap key artifacts for mana or utility, or power up an artifact creature with a +1/+1 counter. The -3 tutors for cheap artifacts, which lets him assemble engines, fetch combo pieces, or pick up essential glue cards like Skullclamp or Sol Ring. And his -7 emblem creates an escalating wave of +1/+1 counters that lets your artifacts overwhelm the table even without going infinite. He's not a flashy walker, but he is deeply reliable, and Commander decks built around recursion or artifacts will find him indispensable.
Suggested Commander decks:
- Breya, Etherium Shaper
- Urza, Lord High Artificer
- Iron Man, TItan of Innovation
- Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
Planeswalking Out of 2025
Planeswalkers in Commander need a special kind of engineering. They can't be too fragile, too linear, or too oppressive. This year's batch shows that Magic: The Gathering designers are still trying new angles but with a more focused output.
Not many were released, but each one explores a different slice of design space that Commander players will delight in tinkering with.
