Every Commander With Eminence In MTG, Ranked

There are few Magic: The Gathering mechanics that are more powerful than Eminence, which might be why it’s only appeared on five unique cards in the history of the game.

Eminence is an ability that lets your Commander have an impact on the game from the Command Zone. Each Eminence Commander does something a little bit different, but generally, they grant some type of bonus when you cast a spell, or that triggers when conditions are met. There are only five official cards with Eminence, though a sixth card, the predecessor to the mechanic, sneaks onto the list.

We also recently learned that the Heroes in a Half Shell card was originally designed with Eminence in mind, but cooler heads prevailed and the card was ultimately stripped of the mechanic.

Updated on July 2, 2026, by Niall Walsh: Commanders with eminence continue to be a rarity in Magic: The Gathering, but with a ton of new sets releasing since the last update, we’ve taken a closer look at each one through a new lens to see if the rankings have changed. Since the last update, we also learned how close we came to a new Eminence Commander, so we’ve included context on that as well.

6

Honorable Mention: Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

Pre-Eminence, Eminence

While Oloro doesn’t have Eminence as a keyword because it didn’t exist at the time this card was printed, its final ability functions just the same. If Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is in your command zone, you gain two life at the beginning of your upkeep. This ability also triggers if it is on the battlefield, much like other eminence effects.

When Oloro is in play, you can also pay one mana to make your opponents lose a life, and you draw a card. Given his built-in abilities, you can build a pretty strong pillow fort deck, with tons of ways to trigger life drain and slowly drain your opponents’ life total over the course of the game.

5

Arahbo, Roar Of The World

It Won’t Stop Meowing From The Command Zone

A premier Cat-themed deck Commander, Arahbo, Roar of the World, turns all your little kitties into chunky Cats even if it isn’t in play. When combat starts on your turn, Arahbo gives another Cat you control +3/+3 until the end of the turn, whether it’s in play or in the command zone.

However, if you do have Arahbo out on the battlefield, you can turn a Cat you control into an even bigger Cat for just three mana. Arahbo gives your deck some versatility. You can, of course, go to a more token-based or kindred-based deck, with a way to go tall with your strongest creature, making one creature stronger than anything else on the battlefield and trample over with equipment and other abilities.

While its Eminence ability is strong, we can’t help but wonder if it went wider and gave +1/+1 to all Cats until the end of the turn, whether it would see a lot more play in the current Commander scene.

4

Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

The Wizard Queen

The Wizard-themed eminence commander, Inalla, Archmage Ritualist, rewards you for playing more Wizard creatures by turning them into an army of clones. When any nontoken Wizard enters the battlefield under your control, you can pay one generic mana to make a copy of it with haste. That token gets exiled at the start of the next end step, but it is around long enough for you to do some shenanigans with it.

Get enough Wizards out, and you’ll be able to start truly dishing out some incredible damage thanks to Inalla’s second ability. All you have to do is tap five of your Wizards, and you can smack an opponent for five life, letting you break through stalemates on the board or take an opponent out at the end of another player’s turn.

Inalla expands on a sub-theme among Wizards in Magic, following other cards like:

• Galecaster Colossus
• Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• Sigil Tracer
• Supreme Inquisitor

3

Sidar Jabari Of Zhalfir

Say Good Knight

The Knight commander, Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir, excels in keeping cards moving through your hand and brings your Knights back for a second round once it’s in play. With its Eminence ability, Sidar lets you draw a card and then discard a card when you attack with one or more Knights.

With Sidar, you can pitch Knight cards you don’t need or can’t cast right away in exchange for digging through your deck for cards you can make better use of right away. Once Sidar is in play, you can bring back those discarded Knights to the battlefield one by one when he deals combat damage to a player.

2

Edgar Markov

Build The Vampire Swarm

The premier Vampire Commander, Edgar Markov, creates an army of Vampire tokens for every Vampire spell you cast, turning every creature into a two-for-one value-wise. For each Vampire spell you cast with Edgar Markov as your Commander, you get a 1/1 Vampire creature token. You create a token even if the original spell is countered, meaning you’ll always get value from your spells.

As if free creature tokens weren’t enough, Edgar Markov buffs your Vampire army every time it attacks, putting a +1/+1 counter on all Vampires you control. After even just an attack or two, you’ll quickly grow your creatures beyond what most players will be able to handle.

Edgar Markov comes loaded with first strike and haste, too, making sure you can pump your team the turn it comes out and, more often than not, be able to attack through most creatures your opponent controls.

There’s a very strong argument for Edgar Markov being the best Eminence Commander right now, and having played against him multiple times, he can be a real nuisance, but for now, it’s still the Dragons that we fear the most.

1

The Ur-Dragon

The First Dragon

Anyone who has played with or against The Ur-Dragon knows that hitting the required nine mana to cast it is a walk in the park in Commander. Even without casting The Ur-Dragon, it remains one of the most intimidating commanders in the game.

While The Ur-Dragon is in the command zone or in play, Dragon spells you cast cost one less generic mana to play. All your Dragon cards can come down at least one turn earlier, putting you above the curve as far as when players should expect your powerful cards to hit the battlefield.

Once The Ur-Dragon hits the battlefield, you can trigger its final ability. When any Dragon you control attacks, you get to draw a card for each attacking Dragon and then put a permanent card from your hand into play. This ridiculously powerful ability can accelerate you so far beyond your opponents that, short of an immediate answer, it can be near impossible to come back from.

Franchise

Magic: The Gathering

Original Release Date

August 5, 1993

Player Count

2+ players

Age Recommendation

13 years and up

Length per Game

Variable