Tribal decks are some of the most popular to build within Magic: The Gathering’s Commander format. Flavorful and synergistic, tribal decks provide an overall theme to a given strategy. Every tribe comes along with its own strengths, weaknesses, and identity that one can expect to see when playing against a deck of a given tribe.
There are plenty of factors that go into what makes something powerful in Commander, so today we’re going to delve into the strongest tribes the Commander format has to offer!
19 Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are a relatively new tribe in the grand scheme of Magic. They were officially made a creature type with the release of the Ixalan set, and a few older creatures, such as Regal Behemoth, were errata’d to become dinosaurs with this release. The small creature pool did give dinosaurs some trouble getting traction, but Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan, and Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, combined do provide a solid spread of dinos to choose from.
Red, Green, and White, aka Naya, remains the ideal choice for a dino tribal deck, with either Zacama, the Primal Calamity, or Gishath, Sun’s Avatar, being the best legendary dinosaur for the job. Zacama is just an all-around nasty creature, but Gishath lets you dig through the top few cards of your deck to free-play some dinosaur reinforcements, so the choice is yours, planeswalker. Whichever you opt for, it’s worth mentioning that many dinosaurs have Enrage as an ability, so they actually want to take some damage regularly. Marauding Raptor, Forerunner of the Empire, and some low-damage Red board wipes are ideal to trigger Enrage.
18 Elementals
Elementals have always had a strong footing in Commander, but they’ve been even more on the rise since Core Set: 2020 and received a big boost from the recent release of Commander Legends. Elementals benefit from a lot of ramp, with many having Landfall triggered abilities. Elemental tribal players are spoiled for choice when it comes to their Commander, with Horde of Notions, Maelstrom Wanderer, Animar, Soul of Elements, Omnath, Locus of the Roil, and Omnath, Locus of Creation all being strong and viable choices for their Commander. That said, Horde of Notions (five-color) and Omnath, Locus of the Roil (Temur) have the most synergy with an Elemental tribal deck out of that selection. So, make your choice, pack your deck with Elementals and ramp spells, and dominate.
17 Eldrazi
The apocalyptic threat known as the Eldrazi has made an impact in both the game and lore of Magic: The Gathering. The Eldrazi are otherworldly beings of great hunger and power that all-but annihilated the planes of Zendikar and Innistrad, and that power can be yours (in Commander)! The Eldrazi titans Ulamog, Kozilek, and Emrakul each provide great choices to head up your Eldrazi deck (though Emrakul, Aeons Torn is banned). There’s not really a wrong choice here, but Kozilek, the Great Distortion is the most popular selection by a mile. Your deck is most likely going to be colorless, but that’s far from a hindrance. Great colorless cards are in abundance, and your Eldrazi will more than make up for it with their Annihilator ability. Stack up your pile of Eldrazi, your mana-producing artifacts, and your All is Dust so you can wipe everything but your creatures and decimate your opponents (or at least their dreams of victory).
16 Angels
Angels have a long and storied history in Magic, with Serra Angel often considered one of the game’s first great creatures (though it pales in comparison to the creatures of today). Angels provide flying and are often equipped with lifelink, vigilance, or even first strike. Most angels are white creatures, but there is a handful that reaches out across the color pie. Lyra Dawnbringer is a great choice for Commander and has synergy with angels. Sephara, Sky Blade does as well with flying creatures writ large, but Avacyn, Angel of Hope gives all of your permanents indestructible, and that’s hard to argue against. If you want to dip into the red, Aurelia, the Warleader and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight bring some downright gnarly and aggressive abilities to the table as well.
15 Rats
Rats are a highly underrated mono-black tribe that has access to an impressive commander in the form of Marrow-Gnawer. Rat decks have access to several potent tribal cards that can quickly help generate sizable swarms of rats such as Ogre Slumlord, Piper of the Swarm, and Packrat.
Additionally, the tribe uniquely has access to not one, but two cards that allow a player to break the singleton rule of commander, as a deck can contain any number of copies of Rat Colony and Relentless Rats respectively, allowing for very consistent builds.
14 Spirits
Though spirits are a creature type that can be found within each color of mana, Spirit-Tribal synergies are most often found within Azorius. Receiving most of its tribal support within sets that take place on the Plane of Innistrad, Spirits tend to be quite evasive, often having access to flying, and they often pair well with control-based effects. While the tribe has received many potent spirits over the years that offer synergistic effects, it long lacked a proper tribal commander. Luckily, with the recent printing of Millicent, Restless Revenant, it’s looking like Azorius Spirit-Tribal decks are finally going to be able to come into their own.
13 Werewolves
Werewolves are a traditionally Gruul creature type that’s characterized by a double-sized nature. They most often enter the battlefield as a somewhat weak human, but later transform into a potent and undercosted werewolf once a condition has been met.
Despite their popularity, the tribe lacked a proper unifying commander for roughly a decade. Luckily, with the release of the commander Tovolar, Dire Overlord in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, werewolves now have a commander that can allow them to reliably transform, making werewolves one of the definitive tribes of the Gruul color identity.
12 Cats
Most often appearing within the Selesnya color identity, cats are a surprisingly synergistic and potent creature type. Often exemplifying traits of the Selesnya color identity, cats can serve as solid offensive threats in combat whilst also having access to token-based strategies as well as life-gaining effects. The tribe has access to several solid commander options such as Rin and Seri, Inseparable and Arahbo, Roar of the World that can provide solid value whilst also having access to powerful lords such as Regal Caracal, Feline Sovereign, and King of the Pride.
11 Rogues
Within the span of a mere few years, Rogues have gone from one of the most obscure tribes in Magic to one of the most popular tribes within the Dimir color identity. Rogues are characterized by their evasive and hard-to-block nature as well as their synergies with mill-based effects, often able to steal cards from an opponent’s graveyard.
Thanks to the printing of the premier Rogue-Tribal commander, Anowon, the Ruin Thief, Rogues now have access to a commander that not only increases their power but directly converts it into mill.
10 Humans
One of the strengths of humans as a tribe comes in their sheer versatility. Over the course of Magic’s history, there have been over two-thousand humans printed. While there is a multitude of strong cards that synergize with humans such as “Sigarda, Heron’s Grace” (which provides all humans with hexproof), there are countless powerful humans that can provide utility for nearly any scenario. This allows cards that do possess tribal synergies to make already-strong human cards even more powerful.
9 Merfolk
Whether a player is playing mono-blue, Simic, Azorius, or even Bant, Merfolk possess numerous strong options and strategies. No matter the color identity a merfolk tribal deck takes, its strengths are often consistent.
Merfolk decks are able to benefit from numerous “lords” that buff all merfolk under a given player’s control, whilst also taking advantage of islandwalk and numerous cards that can turn other lands into islands in order to push damage through. Additionally, blue being a consistent and integral part of merfolk decks allows the tribe access to numerous cards that are capable of drawing significant amounts of extra cards.
8 Walls
While initially appearing lackluster due to low power and the inability to attack, Wall tribal is a very powerful option in Commander due to the tribe’s strong potential commanders in the form of “Doran, the Siege Tower” and “Arcades, the Strategist.” Each of them is able to weaponize the defenses of their creatures, making them assign damage via their toughness rather than power, with “Arcades” even enabling creatures with defender to attack. Due to the low power of walls, there are plenty of walls that provide a great deal of toughness for a low mana cost. With the right commander, walls can form an efficient and low-cost army with a strong offense to go along with its defensive capabilities.
7 Wizards
While many other entries have made their way onto this list due to potential combat capabilities, Wizards have done so through their powerful “enter the battlefield” effects and other abilities. While wizards often possess lackluster power and toughness, they often function similarly to instants and sorceries that can then be used as blockers.
Commanders like “Naban, Dean of Iteration” and “Inalla, Archmage Ritualist” provide means of triggering such abilities additional times, providing yet even more value, while “Azami, Lady of Scrolls” allows for wizards to be tapped at any time in order to draw a card.
6 Goblins
Few tribes are as synonymous with Magic: The Gathering as goblins, and these miscreants are incredibly capable in Commander. Often utilized within mono-red decks, Goblins are a tribe that encapsulates the concept of quantity over quality, capable of creating a plethora of goblins in a matter of seconds with commanders like “Krenko, Mob Boss.” Goblins are incredibly aggressive and can often make the most out of sacrifice outlets and cards that can easily convert creatures into direct damage, whether it be through entering the battlefield or the death of a given goblin.
5 Dragons
Enormous and iconic, Dragon decks have numerous powerful ways in which they can be built, having been printed across each color in Magic. However, this is a huge benefit for dragons as a tribe, as they have access to the hugely powerful “Ur-Dragon” which allows for all colors be used in a Dragon deck whilst reducing the cost of all dragons by one mana — even if the “Ur-Dragon” isn’t in play.
Dragons benefit from their combat capabilities and evasiveness, as the vast majority of dragons’ high power and toughness pair with flying to avoid many blockers. Additionally, Dragons have numerous means of reducing their mana costs and mana ramping, assisting in the endeavor of playing high-costed dragons quicker than one may expect.
4 Vampires
Flavorful and aggressive, Vampires are often characterized by their ability to drain health from opponents while gaining health for their controller. Being printed primarily within Black, red, and white, the printing of the “Mardu vampire commander, Edgar Markov” in 2017, Vampires were brought to another level entirely.
Capable of playing any and all powerful vampires within the Mardu color identity, Vampire decks are more aggressive than ever. With “Edgar Markov” as commander, vampire players are provided with a 1/1 vampire token every time they cast a vampire spell. Vampire-tribal is also flexible, containing targeted removal and means of gaining control of opponents’ creatures, all whilst bolstering the quality and quantity of vampires one controls.
3 Zombies
Perhaps one of the most popular tribes in Commander, Zombies can be built in pretty much any combination of colors that includes black. A reanimation player’s dream, Zombies are a tribe often characterized by their ability to be repeatedly recast and returned from their controller’s graveyard.
Many zombie decks contain spells that provide a beneficial ability when creatures are sacrificed, which works wonders with zombies that can be repeatedly returned. Additionally, zombies have access to numerous “lords” that raise the power and toughness of all zombies under their owner’s control, as well as means of creating zombie hordes through the utilization of tokens.
2 Elves
One of the strongest abilities a player can have consistent access to in Commander is the ability to produce additional mana, and elves have mana acceleration in spades.
A tribe featuring numerous commanders and creatures capable of tapping for additional mana, elves are a tribe that can often ensure that a player’s mana base is kept on track while assisting to play key pieces to their strategy much earlier than opponents may anticipate. Elf tribal also possesses a great deal of variety across numerous color identities such as mono-green, Golgari, Selesnya, and Gruul, with each bringing something different to the elvish table. Whether a strategy seeks to create numerous elf tokens to attack with or create massive amounts of mana, players can count on elves being a consistently strong tribal choice in the Commander format.
1 Slivers
No matter how much other tribes may try, no tribe possesses synergies to the level found within slivers. With nearly every sliver in existence providing a universal buff to all slivers, slivers function like legion and are incredibly difficult for opponents to deal with. Residing with all four colors, Slivers can adapt to nearly any scenario and provide themselves with any ability under the sun, whether it be a buff to strength, flying, or the ability to tap into any color of mana. The longer a game progresses, the more powerful a sliver deck becomes.
As if that weren’t enough, Slivers have numerous impressive five-color commander options ranging from “Sliver Overlord,” which allows its controller to search their library for any sliver of their choice for the cost of three mana, or “The First Sliver,” which provides all slivers with the terrifying cascade ability.
NEXT: 10 Creatures With The Most Power In Magic: The Gathering
