Magic: The Gathering’s Commander format allows you to select from literally thousands of cards and build a full deck around them. Choosing the right commander can be challenging, but understanding what options are available can help narrow down your decision.

Avoid showing up with an illegal commander at your local game night. And if you're already comfortable building decks, maybe try something other than a creature to throw off your playgroup.

Legendary Creatures

Primarily, nearly any legendary creature can serve as your commander. With legal creatures coming from every black-bordered Magic set, this opens up over 2500 possible choices for your general.

As long as the card is a legendary creature on its front face, it qualifies as a legal commander. This includes cards like Kytheon, Hero of Akros or Extus, Oriq Overlord, even though their back faces may not be creatures.

There are some exceptions, but they mostly include cards that are already banned in the format. These legendary creatures are specifically not allowed as commanders:

• Emrakul, The Aeons Torn
• Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
• Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
• Griselbrand
• Iona, Shield Of Emeria
• Leovold, Emissary Of Trest
• Lutri, The Spellchaster
• Nadu, Winged Wisdom
• Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary

Also, no card with a silver border or acorn stamp can be used as your commander.

Planeswalkers

Though it's straightforward that creatures can be commanders, Planeswalkers can be trickier. They are evaluated individually, rather than being universally accepted or rejected.

To qualify as a commander, a Planeswalker must clearly state so on the card itself. There are currently 20 such cards:

One special case is Grist, the Hunger Tide, which works as a commander even though it doesn’t explicitly say so. Grist functions as a creature when outside the battlefield, making it a legendary creature while in the command zone—thus, it is legal.

Legendary Vehicles And Spacecraft

The last category of potential commanders includes legendary Vehicles and Spacecraft, with the latter introduced in 2025's Edge of Eternities.

However, similar to Planeswalkers, there is a condition. For a Vehicle or Spacecraft to be a valid commander, it must have a power and toughness printed. Because of this, cards like The Eternity Elevator cannot be used.

Of all the types of commanders, Vehicles and Spacecraft are typically considered the weakest. Therefore, they might be ideal for beginner-friendly games, but may struggle to compete against top-tier legendary creatures.

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