Spirits in Magic: The Gathering may not get a lot of hype, but they're one of the most common creature types in the game. There have been roughly 700 spirits printed throughout MTG history, and over a hundred of them have the supertype Legendary.

They are known for evasion, providing protection, and boosting a deck with a lot of supportive abilities. These ghosts are oddly strong, with one even showing up on the Game Changers list.

Let's take a look at the best spirits for Commander.

Honorable Mentions

Today's honorable mentions ultimately didn't make the cut because the top ten have so much good utility that these three just fell short by comparison. We're still going to cover them, though, since they're worth playing.

After all, a Spirits deck is likely to need a bit more than ten anyway.

Kodama of the East Tree

There are 5 Kodamas of various trees, one for each cardinal direction and the center. Debuting in Champions of Kamigawa, each tree has varying abilities as Legendary Mono-Green creatures, but I think the East Tree is the best.

Kodama of the East Tree lets you cheat in permanents whenever another permanent enters, as long as the cost is the same or less than the first one. It also has Partner, making it a solid Green card to pair with a two-color partner for a nice three-color deck. I'm partial to Vial Smasher, the Fierce for this.

It doesn't specify that it must be a non-land permanent, either, so you can use its trigger to just ramp if you don't have other permanents that you want in play yet, making it really versatile.

Supreme Phantom

Supreme Phantom is about as simple as a Spirit can get. It's not as powerful as some of the cards that made the top ten, but it's wonderfully-costed for what it does. For just , you get a 1/3 Flyer that gives all your other spirits +1/+1.

Most lords in Blue usually cost too, so he's easier to get on the board.

Crypt Ghast

If we're being completely honest, this one is more of a secret 11th spot instead of an Honorable Mention; it just sounds cleaner to cap my list at ten.

Crypt Ghast is a Black mana doubler with a built-in win condition. It has Extort, which allows you to pay W or to take one life point from each of your opponents and give it to yourself.

Luckily for Commander players, Crypt Ghast comes with built-in extra mana, giving you an extra whenever you tap a Swamp. Pair this with something like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and your opponents will be cowering in fear of this creepy Spirit!

Best Spirits for Commander Decks

These Spirits have cemented themselves (in my eyes) as the best Spirits you can play in Commander.

Don't get me wrong, though: my top picks will always be different from yours. Mine is influenced by my deck-building style, my playgroups, and my personal experiences. The thing about Spirits, though, is that they all have such solid utility and support that I think anyone who sees this top ten would likely have most, if not all, in their lists as well.

10. Eternal Dragon

Kicking off the top ten is a utility Dragon from Scourge, Eternal Dragon. This Dragon Spirit has Plainscycling for a cost of two, which is a powerful ability that lets you discard it and search for any card with the Plains land type.

On top of that, you can reuse it by paying in your Upkeep, allowing you to either get more lands or play it out as a 5/5 Flyer. There's a ton of utility you can get in a deck by searching out lands, especially in White.

I've used this card often with cards like Brainstorm or Jace, the Mind Sculptor to put cards on top of my deck and then shuffle them away.

9. Deadeye Navigator

Next up is one of Commander's most notorious combo Spirits, Deadeye Navigator.

This ghostly oarsman has Soulbond, which means you can pair it with another creature when either enters, giving each of them a nasty little activated ability: as long as he's paired with another creature, you can pay to exile that creature and return it to battle under your control.

Blinking is well known for being powerful, letting you reuse a plethora of Enter-The-Battlefield and Leave-The-Battlefield Abilities by triggering them repeatedly.

You can pair Deadeye with cards like Solemn Simulacrum for some ramp, or with Peregrine Drake for a two-card infinite mana combo.

8. Ghostly Pilferer

Core Set 2021 brought out this utility-packed Spirit with approximately a thousand words on it. Ghostly Pilferer is a 2/1 for is both a draw engine and a discard engine, finding a home in both reanimator and control shells.

In lower brackets, it's great for fueling your reanimation spells by letting you discard them. In higher brackets, it's seeing play in decks like Green Goblin (the backside of Norman Osborn) because it's a cheap discard outlet that also draws cards when your opponents do things.

This is one of those "more people should be playing this card" Spirits, in my opinion.

7. Karmic Guide

Speaking of reanimation spells, our next Spirit is the guide back from the dead. Karmic Guide is a simple little 2/2 Flyer with Protection from Black for a cost of . It has Echo, though, which means you'll need to pay that same at the beginning of every Upkeep.

While that doesn't seem great, it shines when it enters play. You can use this card to reanimate any creature into play from your graveyard. Our Guide being a 2/2 can also be a huge benefit when you pair it with cards like Reveillark.

You can use your Ghostly Pilferer to discard a great reanimation target, and then Karmic Guide to bring it right into play.

6. Rattlechains

Ending the first half of our Top 10 is Rattlechains, a 2/1 with Flash and Flying that comes with a few abilities that strengthen your board. When it enters, a Spirit you choose gains Hexproof until the end of turn.

The next one is a delightful addition to any deck making use of Spirits: As long as this card is in play, you may cast any Spirits as though they had flash.

Rattlechains, like most other Spirits, is aggressively-costed at and falls under the "auto-includes" list that I've come up with, along with Ghostly Pilferer, and our next winner...

5. Drogskol Captain

You're going to have a hard time convincing me that this guy shouldn't have been a pirate, based on any of the illustrations it was printed with.

Drogskol Captain is the card that booted Supreme Phantom from the top ten. He's a 2/2 with Flying, and he costs just .

Along with pumping all your spirits with +1/+1, the Captain also gives them Hexproof, which means that your opponents have to remove this guy before they can touch any of your other Spirits.

Pair this with Rattlechains, and you have a Hexproof lord that you can flash in.

4. Elvish Spirit Guide Tied with Simian Spirit Guide

Next up is the only pair on our list, the Gruul () Spirit Guides. Both cards are simply 2/2's for three mana, but ideally, you won't be casting these creatures during a game.

Their activated abilities are great, because you can exile them from your hand to add one mana to your mana pool (in their respective colors). They don't see as much play in lower brackets, although I think they should.

Having extra boosts of mana is huge for speed and efficiency, which is what you want in cEDH. This is why these cards have lots of use in higher bracket decks.

3. Brago, King Eternal

Next up is the Blink king himself, Brago, King Eternal. Brago is a Flying 2/4 Spirit Noble that has a formidable triggered ability.

Whenever Brago deals damage to a player, you can exile any number of nonland permanents under your control, and return them to the battlefield under their owner's control. So, you can Blink your own, or your opponents cards, depending on your strategy.

Among the 99, Brago shines in any deck with a lot of ETB triggers; put him in the Command Zone and you can build a whole deck based around Blink. Brago blinks anything from an Aether Channeler or Ichor Wellspring, to something as crazy as Stonehorn Dignitary or Reveillark.

If I were you, I'd include Karmic Guide in this one as well; you won't be disappointed.

2. Wan Shi Tong, Librarian

Our Silver Medalist is the Master Librarian himself from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Wan Shi Tong, Librarian. If you thought Ghostly Pilferer had a lot of words, Wan Shi Tong blows that out of the water for sure.

For , Wan Shi Tong comes in with X counters and draws half of X cards. He's a Bird Spirit with Flash, Flying, and Vigilance; not to mention his flavor-packed triggered ability that alludes to his thirst for knowledge.

Whenever an opponent searches their library, you get to add a +1/+1 counter to Wan Shi, and draw a card. Coincidentally, Thirst for Knowledge was a significant missed opportunity for a Secret Lair from Avatar.

Wan Shi Tong, Librarian has been making huge waves in cEDH, acting as a better Archivist of Oghma that offers solid synergy with Blue counterspells like Force of Will and Force of Negation. It's a pricy card, but you'll understand why when you play it.

1. Seedborn Muse

Taking our winning spot is the only Game Changer Spirit, Seedborn Muse!

In any bracket where she's legal, Seedborn Muse is the best of the Muse cycle from Legions, which had other bangers like Graveborn Muse (zombie card-drawing extraordinaire) and Windborn Muse (Ghostly Prison Muse).

Seedborn, however, is on another level. This card untaps all of your permanents on each of your opponent's untap steps.

This is huge in any deck with literally anything to do at instant speed, from something as simple as a Swords to Plowshares for an opponent's creature to activating a Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy's ability on each turn in a cycle.

This card rightfully earned its place as a Game Changer, and one of the most powerful Green cards ever printed.

Conclusion

Spirits in Magic differ from creature types like Dragons or Wizards because their power comes from their utility and protection, rather than their might or cunning.

They are relatively small, but each Spirit has a powerful effect that will help you go long in any game. Try them out in your next list!