If there's one thing players love, it's Commander...and also Limited. Commander Legends was Wizards' way of trying to bring these two play experiences together as one product. While its release came at an inopportune moment where players didn't get much time to experience it (during the pandemic) it still proved to be a super popular set nonetheless. With 27 mighty mythic rares, this set is packed to bursting with powerful cards for us to take a look at. Today, I'm going to rank them all.

Let's dive in!

• 25. Seraphic Greatsword
• 24. Soulfire Eruption
• 23. Triumphant Reckoning
• 22. Mnemonic Deluge
• 21. Profane Transfusion
• 20. Jeska, Thrice Reborn
• 19. Phyrexian Triniform
• 18. Archon of Coronation
• 17. Akroma, Vision of Ixidor
• 16. Kamahl, Heart of Krosa
• 15. Wyleth, Soul of Steel
• 14. Reshape the Earth
• 13. Sphinx of the Second Sun
• 12. Hellkite Courser
• 11. Port Razer

Number Ten

Cascade has proven to be a continually popular mechanic both in the casual and competitive senses, often for different reasons. This was elevated even further when Maelstrom Wanderer saw its first printing in Planechase 2012 with two instances of cascade on it. Now here comes Apex Devastator, a massive creature that brings not one, not two, not even three, but four cascade triggers with it. This card has proven to be a home run of casual design and continues to be a popular favorite to this day.

Number Nine

You might not know it if you're not a hardcore Vorthos, but Tevash Szat is one of Magic's earliest villains, with cards referencing him as far back as Ice Age. Sets like Commander Legends provide excellent outlets to see lesser known characters like this return and his card has turned out to be quite powerful. It doesn't look like much given how weak the card's +2 ability is, but make no mistake: the +1 still grants you some great card draw and the -10 steals away all commanders from all players. That makes this a devastating card in Commander if you can protect it, which has allowed it to be a top option all the way up to cEDH tables to this day.

Number Eight

It's been a bit since we saw one of these, however we are still in the era of buy-a-box mythics that are considered to be part of their respective set. Mana Confluence wasn't a new mechanically unique option, but it was still a fairly pricey five-color land with only one true prior printing in Journey into Nyx. While supplies brought into the economy were minimal due to it being just a one-time print promo, it was still extremely welcome for players everywhere, especially with the burgeoning Pioneer format being so new at the time.

Number Seven

Vampiric Tutor saw a reprint just a few years prior with Eternal Masters, but as Commander continued to blossom, so too did the need for the staples. Vampiric Tutor appearing in Commander Legends provided the best accessibility to players since its Classic: Sixth Edition reprint in 1999. Even then, it wasn't enough to suppress the card's price very much, showing just how badly the card needed more copies in circulation. An outstanding reprint for this set.

Number Six

Unlike Vampiric Tutor, Scroll Rack was a card that had never really seen a true reprint prior to this. Yes it had reprints in Commander's Arsenal, Kaldesh Inventions, and The List, but all of those were extremely rare and scarce reprints. The List printing managed to bring supply up to a considerably greater amount, but not enough to put a big dent in the hunger for the card. The printing here, however, did offer a much greater supply, bringing the card's price to a more modest level and giving players everywhere access to it where they might not have previously before.

Number Five

Typically, I don't like including Commander deck cards, but given the nature of the set, the Commander deck cards were included as part of Commander Legends proper. Given that these are also far more relevant than, say, Planeswalker deck mythics of the past, I'll give these a pass. In short, Aesi rises so high on this list simply because the card has become a juggernaut in the popularity department. Since its printing in this set, it's become one of the top 100 commanders per EDHREC.com, meaning it's no slouch. While it's arguable that some of the reprints in this set are better in a broad sense, I think this being the card's first printing gives it a nice edge over several other cards on this list.

Number Four

For some time, players went nuts over Champion's Helm as a way to protect commanders. Commander's Plate provides a comparable option that gets even better the less colors your commander has. This has made it extremely popular for Commander decks of all kinds, but is especially great in one-color, two-color, and Colorless decks for its ability to ignore most of what the rest of the table is doing.

Number Three and an Honorable Mention

Clones are an incredibly popular aspect of Magic and few cards encapsulate that quite like the powerful Sakashima the Impostor from Saviors of Kamigawa. As a nod to the classic legend, Wizards printed a new take on the classic design, allowing for some truly nonsense partner options to build the clone deck of your dreams. Only most people didn't quite go for clones, but rather would opt to get up to no good with Krark, the Thumbless. The so-called Krark-Sakashima decks have become notorious among Commander circles and remains a top deck of cEDH in particular.

Number Two

While not quite as monumental as its reprinting in Iconic Masters that proved squarely to everyone that any non-reserved list card could - and would - be reprinted, Mana Drain was awesome in this set. It's about as much of a Commander staple as it gets, being one of the only formats the card is even legal in. You can't play it in Legacy and can't even put it into your average Cube due to power level concerns. In a format where big, splashy plays are the way, however, a Counterspell that generates you a ton of mana is perfect. This second reprint may not have been quite as big, but getting more copies of this powerful card into the ecosystem was very needed at the time.

Number One

Could it really be anything else? This is the one and only mythic - and new card - from this set to earn a full-on ban in the format it was designed for. Even if you ignore the ban, the fact remains that jaws were on the floor the first time the card was previewed for the set. Working in a game store, the moment someone said "they're printing Black Lotus but it only works for commanders," everyone in the room raced over to confirm that they didn't mishear what was said. The hype was real from the word "go" and it only went higher and higher as time went on. Without a doubt, this was - and is - the biggest mythic rare of Commander Legends.

Paige Smith

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