All Commander players are different but there's one thing we all share: we love a unique, powerful leader. Wizards does a good job taking care of us, but that's made it so there are two distinct camps that our cards fall into.

Some of the format's best cards are really light-on-the-wallet heavy hitters. Others, though, can climb to some crazy prices. Some of the higher priced cards are those with fewer prints, or have become valuable just because of the way they can devastate a table.

Let's check out some of my favorite high-value Commanders.

Top Expensive Commanders

Many of these cards are ones that I would consider too powerful for the majority of tables, but if you don't want to make any friends or pull any punches, these Commanders are the ones I'd say are worth your prettiest penny.

10. Arahbo, Roar of the World

Price: $23-27

Arahbo, Roar of the World, a five-drop in Selesnya colors is up first. He's a 5/5 with Eminence, boosting another Cat +3/+3 for a turn.

If we swing with any Cats on our team, we can pay to give them Trample and double their power for the turn. Even at a premium price point, it's among the top played Commanders in its color identity.

Apart from Black Panther, he's the only one at such a high price in even the top 20.

9. Animar, Soul of Elements

Price: $35-39

Animar, Soul of the Elements comes in at a higher price tag. He comes down as a 1/1 for , which isn't much, but he gains +1/+1 any time we play another Creature. For every counter, we'll get a discount on even more Creatures.

Another big win, as long as this card's in play, we'll get protection from White and Black.

The high price and harder-to-cast mana value suit this card well because he feels a little unfair.

8. Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph

Price: $37-41

Around $40 at the time of writing, Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph is up next.

This is a 3/2 for three in Red and Blue, with perfect Izzet energy in its effects. He has Ward , making him extra expensive to remove or target. He's also got some really fun pinger synergy, tripling the damage any time we can deal exactly one.

That's fun alongside cards like Prodigal Pyromancer or Arc Lightning.

7. Atraxa, Grand Unifier

Price: $14-17

A seven-drop for seventh place, I chose Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Everyone has different budgets and spending so much on a single card when you could get three packs for about the same price could feel pricy to some.

This version of Atraxa is crazy strong as a 7/7 with Flying, Vigilance, Deathtouch, and Lifelink. She'll also let us dig ten cards and keep one of every type when she enters. So, even though she may have a drastic difference in value from the others, I had to include her here.

6. Zhulodok, Void Gorger

Price: $44-45

Zhulodok, Void Gorger is one of the pricier colorless Commanders you can build around, but it's easy to see why. A 7/4 with Cascade, Cascade is already a terrifying threat on its own, and things only get more absurd from there.

Every colorless spell with mana value seven or greater you cast gains Cascade, Cascade, letting your biggest threats chain into even more free spells. If you love casting massive Eldrazi and watching your board explode with value, Zhulodok is one of the flashiest Commanders in the format and you can see why players make the investment.

5. Atraxa, Praetors' Voice

Price: $25-35

Atraxa, Praetors' Voice was among the first four-color Commanders ever printed and went on to become one of the most iconic.

She tends to stay expensive thanks to years of overwhelming popularity. For four mana, we get a 4/4 with Flying, Vigilance, Deathtouch, and Lifelink, making her an incredible threat no matter what we need.

The real reason players love Atraxa, though, is she'll let us Proliferate on every end step. If we're building around any strategy that uses counters, this card can snowball out of control in a hurry. She's powerful, flexible, and still one of the best four-color Commanders you can play.

4. Edgar Markov

Price: $36-45

Edgar Markov is one of the strongest tribal Commanders ever printed, and his price reflects just how sought-after he is. As a 4/4 with First Strike and Haste, he's already an efficient threat, but his Eminence ability is what tips him into potentially unfair territory.

Whenever we cast another Vampire spell, we create a 1/1 Vampire token, even if Edgar is still sitting in the Command Zone. Once he hits the battlefield, he'll also put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire whenever he swings. Even at and pushing $50, he sees tons of play.

3. The First Sliver

Price: $34-37

If you're building Slivers, chances are you've at least considered The First Sliver. This five-color 7/7 has Cascade and gives it to all your other Sliver spells. A 7/7 for is tough but this one of the most explosive tribal Commanders ever printed.

This is one of the cards that runs at a higher price because few were printed. We could cross our fingers for a reprint, but perhaps a card this sort of broken should stay a little out of reach.

2. Vivi Ornitier

Price: $35-37

One of the newest additions to the list, Vivi Ornitier has already climbed to an eye-catching price thanks to overwhelming demand. For just , Vivi rewards you for doing what Izzet decks already want to do: casting lots of noncreature spells.

Every Instant, Sorcery, or other noncreature spell helps Vivi generate mana and grow stronger over the course of the game, making it incredibly easy to chain together huge turns. Between the efficient mana cost, explosive potential, and popularity of the character, it's easy to see why this Commander has become one of the most expensive recent printings.

1. The Ur-Dragon

Price: $35-37

This list and concept began here, with the Ur-Dragon. He's expensive in every way at over $30 apiece to add to your deck, to get on the board, and 10/10 if you're on the receiving end of what he can do.

While The Ur-Dragon is in the Command Zone or on the battlefield, all your Dragon spells cost less to cast, speeding up what you can do in games.

It's the ultimate "big Dragons, bigger value" Commander, and its price reflects just how many players are willing to build around it.

Honorable Mention

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

Price: $90-100

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is only a four-drop but it's pricy. On the board, this is a 4/5 with Deathtouch that changes card draw for the whole time it's on the table. When you draw any cards, you get to gain two life. Your foes? They lose two instead.

This can turn every interaction into a landmine in the right game.

Tiamat

Price: $22-26

Tiamat is one of the cleanest examples of a "build-around payoff" Commander in all of five-color Magic. For seven mana, we get a 7/7 Flying Dragon God, with a God-like tutoring ability. This Legendary lady lets you search your library for up to five Dragon cards with different names and put them into your hand.

Even if she doesn't always sit at the very top of price charts, her demand stays steady because she turns every game into a curated Dragon toolbox straight from the library.

Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness

Price: $28-34

Etali, Primal Conqueror is one of the most explosive Commander threats printed in recent years, and its price reflects just how much players are trying to jam it into decks. A 7/7 with Trample for seven mana already demands an answer, especially one that forces your opponents to exile cards from the top of their library until they hit a nonland card, and you get to cast any number of those spells for free.

Add in the potential to transform into a 11/11 indestructible poison threat, and you've got a Commander that ends games as quickly as it starts them.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, these are just the kinds of Commanders that tend to sit at the top of price lists because people keep coming back to them. Some are obviously pushed, some just do something really unique, and some have been around long enough that demand never really cooled off.

Not every one of these is going to be someone's idea of a "fair" Commander, and that's kind of the point. They either end games fast, generate way too much value, or just make entire archetypes actually function the way players want them to.

Prices will go up and down, reprints will happen eventually, and new legends will probably knock a few of these off lists like this over time. But for now, these are the Commanders that people keep building, keep talking about, and keep paying for -- whether their playgroups like it or not.