There have been many Big 3's throughout history.

Basketball has MJ, Pippen and Rodman. Anime has One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach. Lord of the Rings has Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli.

In Magic, EDH is chock-full of options for your Commander, but there has been a clear "Big Three" ever since the release of Final Fantasy.

Edgar Markov, The Ur-Dragon, and Y'shtola, Night's Blessed. Y'shtola, though, is the newcomer on the block, and as of August 11, 2026, she has taken over as the #1 most popular Commander of all time on EDHREC.

Who is Y'shtola in Final Fantasy XIV?

Y'shtola Rhul is a character from Final Fantasy XIV, an MMORPG. Like all other entries in the series Final Fantasy XIV is standalone from the other titles in the franchise. It is unique in that XIV is an MMORPG, like World of Warcraft or RuneScape, meaning you can play alongside other players online. Her role in the game is that of a main character / follower that travels alongside the player and gives them some of their primary quests.

More specifically, Y'shtola Rhul is a member of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, a group that works to protect the world from dangerous threats. She is somewhat of a leadership figure, and often one of the first people the other Scions turn to when they need answers. She has been a key part of the story from its early days and remains one of the player's closest allies to this day.

In Magic's Final Fantasy set, she appears in both the main set as her full-named character and also as Y'shtola, Night's Blessed, the face Commander of the precon, Scions and Spellcraft.

Y'shtola as a Commander in Magic: The Gathering

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed is an Esper Commander that has some of the most ideal combinations of words you want on a Commander. Her abilities have made her popular in both casual Commander and cEDH, which is not an easy feat these days.

For anyone that has enjoyed Pixar's Cars, if Edgar Markov is Chick Hicks (Vampires = Bad Guys, sorry folks), The Ur-Dragon is Strip Weathers, then Y'shtola is none other than our favorite racecar, Lightning McQueen. Sure, the other two have been neck and neck going for the the #1 slot, but no one expected the newcomer on the block, Y'shtola, to come out on top.

Her stats as a four mana 2/4 with Vigilance are about average for a four mana Commander, which is fine considering her other abilities make up for it. With four toughness, she blocks relatively well and survives most incidental burn damage.

What Are Y'shtola, Night's Blessed Abilities?

Y'shtola has two triggered abilities. Her first ability lets us draw a card on each end step, as long as any player lost four or more life on that turn. She rewards you on each turn for hurting your opponents, which is the goal of the game at the end of the day. On top of that, even if you're paying the life, using cards like Necropotence, Dismember, or Bolas's Citadel, she'll still trigger, giving you tons of flexibility.

Her second triggered ability helps to fuel the first one, as she'll deal two damage to each opponent and you'll gain two life whenever you play a noncreature spell with mana value three or greater. Between free spells, mana ramp, and your opponents hurting each other, getting to that four life threshold is trivial in a Y'shtola list.

Finally, we should mention accessibility. Preconstructed decks can be hit or miss sometimes in their staples and value, but the Scions and Spellcraft list came from a widely popular release in Final Fantasy Commander and thus helped Y'shtola land into the hands of almost anyone that wanted to try her out.

The History of the #1 Slot on EDHREC

While Y'shtola is the new queen on the block, we should talk about how she got that slot. At the time of writing, she holds the spot with 49,813 decks, compared to the #2 and #3 slots of The Ur-Dragon with 49,665 decks and Edgar Markov with 49,395.

She's only 148 decks higher than the #2 slot, but she has a few things going for her that will probably keep her in there.

First, The Ur-Dragon and Edgar Markov have been clashing with each other for that slot since they were released together in the Commander 2017 precons. This release introduced the Eminence mechanic, one of the coolest ways to design your lists. Typal strategies have always been some of the most popular strategies in Commander, and both of their Eminence abilities constantly reward you for playing creatures of their preferred type.

Y'shtola on the other hand, just rewards you for playing the game. Want to draw extra cards? Deal your opponents damage. Want to deal your opponents more damage? Cast more spells. She's basically her own feedback loop, which gives lots of flexibility in deckbuilding that typal strategies lose from having tunnel vision on one strategy.

Second, The Ur-Dragon and Edgar Markov have had nine years to earn and hold those slots. Y'shtola has been out for a solid year. That means that in just one year, Y'shtola accomplished and beat out two heavyweights that have been at it against each other for nine years. That really goes to show just how much players love building decks around this Commander.

Final Thoughts

Y'shtola is shaping up to hold the #1 slot for Commander for years to come. Someday, at some point in our lives, she may be dethroned, but it's going to take a lot of work for that to happen. Who can possibly do it? Ms. Bumbleflower? Thanos, the Mad Titan? Maybe a future Universes Beyond legend will take her down; we'll just have to see. For now, watch out for that devious cat, she's powerful. And everywhere.