Choosing Your Commander - Green

Last of the mono-colored options, but definitely not least, we look at green.  Long lauded as the worst color in tournament magic, green is making a big comeback as one of the cornerstone colors of the Commander format.  Green is very versatile, very good at accelerating resource gathering, can handle any permanent type besides creature with relative ease (and even then, green's creature control capabilities are getting better), and has some of the most unique build-around-me kind of effects in the game.  As you will soon see, green has some of the more intesresting generals capable of taking over a game when unchecked, and is probably only second to blue in overall card advantage.  Couple all that with the fact that green allows for running a lot of mana ramp cards that not only accelerate your plays but also fix your colors, and you can see why many people gravitate towards the color.

Arashi, the Sky Asunder:  Arashi is a great card to have in a lot of green decks looking for defense against flyers as its Channel ability is very hard for most decks to stop.  On top of that, Arashi is a decent creature on its own as opposed to its cousin Jiwari, the Earth Aflame.  I wouldn't play Arashi as my commander, but I would definitely consider him for maindeck duty.

Autumn Willow:  There are much better options for creatures that your opponents cannot target, which is unfortunate as Autumn Willow holds a lot of nostaligia for me (one of my first decks I played in a tournament was Willow Geddon).

Ayumi, the Last Visitor:  Ayumi isn't actually that bad as there are tons of very playable Legendary lands that almost every deck wants to run.  I just wouldn't think that most people would ever open themselves up to getting hit by an unlbockable Ayumi until they had a way to deal with it, making him a poor commander choice in my opinion.

Azusa, Lost but Seeking:  Azusa is a premier commander in this format as she allows for lightning quick starts and really puts your game into turbo mode.  Running her as your commander allows you to not only run the normal ramp spells that put lands directly into play, but also to run some less-used options that put them into your hand.  One of the main faults behind a lot of so-called ramp decks is that they will sometimes not draw their ramp spells early and be stuck with expensive and uncastable threats in hand.  Azusa makes it so that you always have access to a ramp spell whose only drawback is that you often will want to play a higher land count to take full advantage of her ability.


Baru, Fist of Krosa:  Baru is probably the best of the Future Sight Grandeur creatures for Commander, and is probably the only one that I would have interest in playing.  Korlash and Linessa are at least interesting, but Baru is the only one with an actual build-around-me ability that doesn't require the activation of the Grandeur ability.  Baru's most obvious direction is to create tokens then use spells that accelerate putting Forests into play, both of which are things that green is good at and wants to do anyway.

Bounteous Kirin:  Other than the novelty of him being one of only two mono-green commanders with Flying (the other being Jugan, the Rising Star), Bounteous Kirin is pretty much unplayable in Commander.

Daughter of Autumn:  Due to the rules for color identity, Daughter of Autumn is a green/white commander, and will be reviewed there.

Dosan the Falling Leaf:  Dosan is a good card if you are trying to make sure that your spells resolve, but you need to be careful because it means that your opponents have equally free reign during their turns.

Eladamri, Lord of the Leaves:  It's a bit of a shame that Hexproof hadn't been invented yet, because if Eladamri granted Hexproof instead of Shroud then he would be playable.  As it is, there are things that you want to target your own Elves with, making him disruptive to your own gameplans if you are not careful.  I also think that there are now better options for an Elf commander.

Ezuri, Renegade Leader:  Right on cue, we come to Ezuri who I believe is the best commander for an Elf-tribal deck.  Always having access to an Overrun effect is awesome, and the Regeneration effect is key to being able to overextend without making you too vulnerable to sweeper effects.  Ezuri pretty much has everything an Elf-tribal deck really wants from its Commander.

Glissa Sunseeker:  Glissa is nice because a) her ability is pretty much free, and b) there are almost always targets for her ability.  My issue with Glissa is that there are few ways outside of Liquimetal Coating that allow for her to really shine and be able to take out anything.

Hua Tuo, Honored Physician:  Hua Tuo allows for some really interesting creature recursion tricks, but the timing restriction is a major drawback that makes him frustrating to try and use.

Iname, Life Aspect:  If there was a mono-green Spirit tribal deck out there, then iname would be its commander.  The issue is that the quality of your Spirit options in green is severly limited.

Isao, Elightened Bushi:  Not good enough to see play.

Iwamori of the Open Fist:  The good news is that opponents cannot put their commanders into play from the command zone when you play him.  The bad news is that every color has legendary creatures that they want to run that are not their commanders, and every one of them is going to be way better than Iwamori.  The risk you take is not worth the upside of a 5/5 for 4 mana.

Jedit Ojanen of Efrava:  There are many worse things you can play, but Jedit Ojanen just doesn't have enough oomph to really make it as a commander. 

Jolrael, Empress of Beasts:  One of Jolrael's actual uses in multi-player games is to threaten to punish any player who dares to play a mass creature remvoal spell when you have 3 mana open and two cards in hand as you threaten to Armageddon them in response.  There is some merit to running her as a commander just based on that, although it will win you no friends.

Jugan, the Rising Star:  Jugan is not bad, but its not necessarily good either.

Kamahl, Fist of Krosa:  Kamahl is a nice double-duty general in that he provides a good disruptive ability along with a good offensive capability.  Turning lands into creatures is often used as a deterrent to opponent's casting Wrath effects (like Jolrael, but not as good), but you can also now use it for some pinpoint land kill in conjunction with Disk effects, colorless damage sources, or the new breed of creatures with the Fight mechanic, and you can do so without the steep price Jolrael requires.  On the other side, the Overrun effect is quite good not only with token strategies but with your own ramp spells when you send in your lands for an alpha strike.

Kaysa:  Kaysa is an interesting creature in that she pumps herself and that she has been eratta'd to have a creature type of Elf Druid.  She isn't commander material, but she will often make the cut in any deck that wants either creature type.

Kodama of the Center Tree:  The green Spirit deck is just not viable, and if it was then Iname, Life Aspect or Kodama of the South Tree would probably be a better commander for it.

Kodama of the North Tree:  Great tournament card when it was Standard legal, not so good in Commander.

Kodama of the South Tree:  If there was a card that made me think there was an incentive to playing lots of spirits in a deck, this is that card.  I personally don't think those incentives are good enough to go that direction.

Lady Zhurong, Warrior Queen:  Not good enough to see the light of day.

Masumaro, First to Live:  One thing Masumaro has going for it is that it isn't too hard to make him really big with little to no help making him pretty good for getting in kills with General damage.  Without any evasion however, he doesn't connect as often as you would like and at 6 mana he is too expensive for what you get most of the time.

Melira, Sylvok Outcast:  There are some obvious combos with Melira that include sacrifice shenanigans and Persist creatures (mostly Woodfall Primus) and the coolness that is Cauldron of Souls, but given a good enough sac outlet even Aerie Ouphes can become part of an infinite combo kill.  I'm not particularly a fan of Melira, but I cannot deny how powerful a deck she can become or the fact that she is one of the few mono-green generals that actually facilitates infinite combo.

Meng Huo, Barbarian King:  One popint of power better than Kaysa, but without the good creature types.  Keep it in mind if you are looking for another anthem effect, but otherwise its not commander material.

Mirri, Cat Warrior:  My allergy to cats has nothing to do with my aversion to Mirri...

Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer :  Molimo is probably a step up from Masumaro due to having Trample, even if it costs one more and might be smaller most of the time. 

Multani, Maro-Sorcerer:  Multani is another in the similar class of commanders that can get very large and kill in one or two attacks with general damage.  In a multi-player game, he will sometimes be lethal in a single hit.  I think that the key here is that he is difficult to kill with having Shroud, and that makes all the difference playability-wise.  Just surround him with non-targeted effects that grant Trample or other evasion, and Multani can be a player killing machine.

Myojin of Life's Web:  Like the rest of the Myojin this one is also virtually unplayable as a commander, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would play this for its ability to put creatures into play when for the nine mana it cost you to play the Myojin you could have played those creatures the normal way.





Nemata, Grove Guardian:  Nemata is all about Saprolings and the various effects that produce them.  There are tons of cards out there that help with churning them out and helping to pump them to behemoth sized monsters.  Things get really crazy when you add in cards like Earthcraft or Gaea's Cradle and the ability to churn out tons of tokens turn after turn.








Omnath, Locus of Mana:
Omnath is one of the top green commanders for two primary reasons; first, he can actually help ramp you into more expensive spells by allowing you to store up what would otherwise be unused mana.  Second, he is probably the biggest bang for the buck commander in the game where he can often one-shot kill an opponent with how big he gets and he only costs three mana to play him.  Decks built around Omnath usually play up both themes and play right into not only Omnath's strengths btu also what green's most powerful cards already want to do.



Patron of the Orochi:  I really like what Patron of the Orochi does, and the fact that they had to put a 'once a turn' restriction on it is probably a good thing to avoid completely degenerate situations (even if it didn't untap itself, which it does).  Seedborn Muse is already a feared card in multi-player games, but having access to that effect from your command zone can be really good.  Snake Offering is a little awkward, but thanks to Kamigawa block green has some decent snake and snake-themed cards to work with (all of which would highly benefit from being able to untap every turn).  I don't think people think of Snakes when they think of green tribal decks, but having something like Patron of the Orochi at the helm makes me think otherwise.  I also think that even if you use a minimal Snake theme, that you can focus on maximizing the benefit of the multiple untaps.

Reki, History of Kamigawa:  Reki is a great card and one that might make a decent commander, however I would rather run Captain Sisay as my 'Legends Matter' commander and have Reki in that deck.

Rhys, the Exiled:  Due to the rules for color idenity, Rhys is a black/green commander and will be reviewed with the other Golgari legends.

Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary:  Rofellos is currently banned as a commander in this format, however you can still use him in your maindeck.  The combination of being inexpensive and generating large amounts of mana very quickly makes him too good in the eyes of the Rules Committee.

Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro:  Whether its in a Shaman deck or in a Snake deck (where incidentally, all the best ones usually have the Shaman type as well), Sachi can be very useful as a man generating machine.

Sakiko, Mother of Summer:  I love Sakiko's ability, but she's a tad on the expensive side (relative to how good the ability is) to be commander material.

Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant:  We often talk of "mana doublers" in Commander with respect to cards that effectively double the amount of mana you have available.  Once flipped, Sasaya is way more than a mana doubler; she's a "mana exponentializer".  With four Forests in play and a flipped Sasaya, you have access to 16 mana.  Play another Forest and that goes up to 25!  The only thing holding sasaya back is the relatively strict circumstances needed to flip her in the first place, but with cards like Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top, Scroll Rack, and various land search spells, you can manipulate your hand to get to that point without having to jump through too many hoops that you wouldn't normally want to jump through anyway.

Sekki, Season's Guide:  A perfect card to combo with Doubling Season or Parrallel Lives and a repeatable self-damage source (Blasting Station being the best), but three-card infinite combos with your general aren't necessarily the most interesting commanders.

Seshiro, the Annointed:  Granting a +2/+2 bonus to a tribe is good enough to build a tribal deck, but also granting Keen Sense to all your Snakes is pretty awesome.  There are definitely lots of options for who should be the Snake commander, but I think that for straight Snake tribal Seshiro is the choice (putting Patron of Orochi into a less Snake themed deck, and more of a Seedborn Muse deck perhaps).

Seton, Krosan Protector:  Druid tribal is an interesting concept to consider, especially since there is so much overlap with Elves.  It's a little awkward that a lot of those creatures already tap for mana on their own, so Seton is really only giving them the ability to tap for mana when they are summoning sick.  Other than a normal Druid subtheme in an Elf deck (centered around Elvish Archdruid) , I don't see a huge draw towards wanting to play Druids in particular or Seton as my commander.

Shisato, Whispering Hunter:  With a particulalry nasty ability, it will be rare that Shisato will be allowed to connect, but if you can drop him when an opponent is tapped out and give him Haste he can almost lock a person out of the game while you hit them for general damage turn after turn.  That's not a particularly fun way to win or lose a game, so I would personally only play Shisato against a player who was way ahead or about to combo off.

Shizuko, Caller of Autumn:  Shizuko has an awesome ability that is practically suicide to actually use due to the fact that it affects all players.

Silvos, Rogue Elemental:  He's big, he Tramples, and he Regenerates, but he puts me to sleep as a commander.

Sosuke, Son of Seshiro:  Fathers are always supportive of their sons, but Seshiro must be disappointed in Sosuke.  Perhaps he should have followed the way of the Shaman like his sister Sachi instead of the way of the Warrior.

Thelon of Havenwood:  Due to the rules for color idenity, Thelon is a black/green commander and will be reviewed with the other Golgari legends.

Thriss, Nantuko Primus:  It's not a bad ability, especially if Thriss was given Vigilance somehow.  It's just not commander material as far as I'm concerned.

Thrun, the Last Troll:  Thrun lends himself to being a good 'Voltron' type general, given that very few decks have a good way to try and get rid of him.  Load him up with Equipment, Auras, or Pump Spells and smash your opponents into submission.  There really isn't a ton of strategy involved, but running other hard to kill, regenerating threats can be a theme unto itself when combined with some colorless sweepers such as All is Dust, Nevinyrral's Disk or Oblivion Stone.

Verdeloth, the Ancient:  It's really close as to which general you should choose between Verdeloth and Nemata for you Saproling Tribal deck, but I think Nemata is the better choice.  I would not hesitate to run Verdeloth in a Nemata deck however, as once the mana starts flowing then Verdeloth can really add to the party.





Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger: Vorinclex probably draws the most hate of all the New Phyrexia Praetors, maybe even moreso that Jin-Gitaxias.  Players will tolerate losing creatures or cards, but few will tolerate having their mana being messed with.  I think there are some better options for generating a lot of mana in the early game that don't cost 8 mana and that don't draw the collective ire of a table of players in your direction.  I think that including him in some of the big mana green decks as another "mana doubler" makes sense, but I personally would not run him as a commander.  He is definitely powerful enough for players to want him as a commander, so be careful when you see him.




Yeva, Nature's Herald:  It's a shame that Winding Canyons is on the Reserved List and cannot be reprinted, but its good to see that we can get such an effect stapled to a creature.  Some creatures are just better with Flash and just being able to dodge mass removal for a round of turns can be good.

Zuo Ci, the Mocking Sage:  The only thing he should be mocking is himself.

Top 10 Mono-Green Commanders
1.  Azusa, Lost but Seeking
2.  Omnath, Locus of Mana
3.  Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4.  Baru, Fist of Krosa
5.  Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
6.  Thrun, the Last Troll
7.  Patron of Orochi
8.  Seshiro the Annointed
9.  Nemata, Grove Guardian
10. Multani, Maro-Sorcerer