Choosing Your Commander - Red

Next up is the color red, long derided as an inferior color in the Commander format because the things that it does best are either frowned upon (land destruction), don't scale well to multi-player formats where each player starts at 40 life (direct damage), or are hard to predict and control (random and 'chaos' effects).  With that said, players have become more savvy and have embraced the color's limitations and turned them on their head, and Red is enjoying a bit of a renaissance because of it.

Adamaro, First to Desire:  There are very few commanders I would run that are 'just' a big creature, but Adamaro has a few things going for it that others don't.  First, it's super-cheap to play at only three mana.  Second, since a person's hand size will often be at seven cards in this format, he hits the magical 7-power required to kill someone with general damage in 3 hits more often than not.  Third, it really threatens those players who accumulate a ton of cards in hand via Reliquary Tower or Praetor's Counsel and allows you to kill them in one or two shots, which is hopefully before they can put all those cards to use.  Red also has several "Wheel" effects that it can use to make sure that your hand is continuously filled with gas while conveniently getting your opponent's hand back up to seven cards, so he fits well with some of what red is trying to do.  Adamaro can also have an effect on players who want to keep their hand sizes small, so they overextend into the many Wrath effects that red has at its disposal.


Akroma, Angel of Fury:  I personally think that red Akroma is actually better than white Akroma in the Commander format, but even so I don't think she necessarily makes it as a commander. 

 Ashling, the Pilgrim:  Ashling is a damage machine, and with its relly low casting cost and relatively cheap ability is can take over the early game against opponents that come out of the gate a little slow.  My only complaint about Ashling is that your focus often becomes about spending mana on its ability and growing it turn after turn while you are not doing much af anything else in the meantime, so once somebody blows him up you can often not only be behind on the board but you also probably have a lot of enemies at the table.

Balthor the Stout:  Barbarian tribal does not appeal to me, but as we see when we get to Lovisa Coldeyes that we have a better option for such a deck.

Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit:  Ben-Ben is a disgrace to the Hermit name, and Deranged Hermit and Hermit Druid don't like to admit he even exists.

Bosh, Iron Golem:  As soon as the color identity rules were changed, I immediately wanted to find a way to build a Bosh deck.  Playing with a bunch of artifacts and some of the relly good red support cards, Bosh can be a bruising commander to play against.  The interesting thing about Bosh is that he incorporates one of the most fragile cards types (artifacts) with the perceived weakest color (red), yet when you announce to the table that you are playing Bosh people seem to freak out about it.  I think Sharuum and Arcum have a little something to do with that, as people already have vague unpleasant feelings about playing against those other artifact-centric commanders.  In comparison however, Bosh is actually fairly benign and is pretty fun to play both with and against.  He costs 8 mana to bring into play so games usually get pretty far on before he can hit the table, and even then its not like he ends games in one or two turns.  There are also no infinite combos that I know of that use him.  Anyway, I hope that Bosh one day can be perceived as a cool commander and not as some artifact menace that needs to be removed as soon as possible.
Brothers Yamazaki:  In a Highlander format, Brothers Yamazaki loses all attraction to want to play him at all.

Chandler:  For all the hoops you have to jump through to make this decent, its not worth it.  If you have a ton of Sharuum or Arcum players in your playgroup, then he's a potential all-star.

Diaochan, Artful Beauty:  Diaochan is the master of the art of politics, negotiation, cooperation, and deceit all wrapped up into a unique and flavorful package.  If you want a crash course in political machinations, run Diaochan as your commander and watch what happens.  There are a ton of ways to use and abuse Diaochan, but the funnest part about it is that your enemies become willing participants in the fray a lot of the time because they are afraid of not being on your 'good side'.  Just keep in mind that if you want to protect Diaochan, that you have to use something like Lightning Greaves tht grants Shroud versus Swiftfoot Boots that grants Hexproof, since you are the one doing the targeting even when your opponent does the choosing.

Dong Zhou, the Tyrant:  Great creature to blink, but I'm not a fan of it as a general.  It just doesn't impact the game enough.

Eron the Relentless:  I liked Eron when he was standard legal, but he is behind on the power curve with today's sandards.

Fumiko the Lowblood:  Too limited in its scope of what it can do for me to consider as a commander.

Godo, Bandit Warlord:  Godo is really nice because he allows you to play up two different themes at once.  First off, you obviously want to play with some of the better equipment in the game, especially the Swords where you might get double the effect due to the second 'Relentless Assoult' ability.  Second, red has a few good Samurai that would love to be able to smack an opponent around a second time.  Don't forget to pack Tenza, Godo's Maul for maximum beats. 


Heartless Hidetsugu:  Words like 'half' or 'double' always can have a huge impact on a game, and Heartless Hidetsugu doesn't disappoint in the impact department.  Just remember that his ability doesn't count for commander damage, but that shouldn't matter a lot when you are tapping this to damage ALL players to hopefully bring them into range of your other damage sources (especially the obligatory inclusion of Hidetsugu's Second Rite which is much harder to dodge without mana burn).

Hivis of the Scale:  Back when Commander was 'Elder Dragon Highlander', you general was typically a Dragon making Hivis a fairly good stealer of commanders.  Nowadays, you would be lucky to have a target.

Homura, Human Ascendant:  Homura is not bad in red token strategies where you can really make good use of his flip-side +2/+2 ability, not to mention giving your whole team flying for a color that usually doesn't get a lot Flying unless its a huge Dragon.

Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician:  Some people love the "all-in" nature of Ib Halfheart, especially in conjunction with mass land destruction (where you might as well put those Mountains to use befoer blowing them up).  If being a bit reckless suits your style, then Ib Halfheart is not a bad choice.

Iizuka the Ruthless:  Too narrow and not good enough to be a commander, although I would be interested to see how good he can be in a Samurai tribal deck.

Ishi-Ishi, Akki Crackshot:  If it damaged all of your opponents when YOU cast a Spirit or Arcane spell, then perhaps you might have something.  As it is, its practically useless.

Jaya Ballard, Task Mage:  Jaya's attraction is that she provides a consistent source of damage and removal for a relatively cheap price.  Conmined with Squee, Madness cards, or other cards that like the graveyard, her abilities become well worth the cost.  The added upside of being a complete hoser for opposing blue decks (which are some of the best in the game) is just the icing on the cake.  My personal opinion is that jaya is a fine card, but not one I'm very interested in building a deck around.

Jeska, Warrior Adept:  Jeska has some followers who really like having access to a hasty pinger, but I am not one of them.  In the grand scheme of things, her ability is just too inconsequential to matter most of the time.

Jiwari, the Earth Aflame:  It's too bad Jiwari cannot be Channeled out of the command zone, as that would be pretty good.  As he is, he is the red-headed stepchild to Arashi and is one of the worst Earthquake variants we have.

Joven:  Between him an Chandler, they have artifacts completely surrounded... but also just like Chandler, he's too narrow to be of any real use most of the time.

Kamahl, Pit Fighter:  Kamahl is one of the reasons why I don't get the fascination some people have with Jeska, but even Kamahl is a little on the weak side for me. 

Kazuul, Tyrant of Cliffs:  Kazuul is actually kinda cool in multi-player games, giving your opponents a very clear disincentive to attack you, but there is also the case of convincing others to attack you to give you free 3/3 Ogres with which to pummel the percieved biggest threat.  Of course, you could just Mindslaver them or use any of several "creatures your opponents control must attack" effects to make the combat step a mandatory pain in the ass for all of your opponents.  The more I think about it, the more I think I like the idea of a mandatory combat deck.

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker:  Kiki-Jiki is an awesomely polarizing creature.  On the one hand, he's a puny Goblin who is making copies of Seige-Gang Commander or Solem Simulacrum for incremental fun and profit.  On the other hand, he is going infinite with Lightning Crafter or Zealous Conscripts and winning games in dramatic, if not anticlimactic fashion.  I personally like Kiki-Jiki and I try to use him in cool, non-infinite combo ways, but there is always the jerk who is making copies of Sundering Titan (which is thankfully banned now) who give Kiki-Jiki a well-earned but not necessarily well-deserved bad reputation.


Krenko, Mob Boss:  I really like the job that WotC did with the M13 new legends, and Krenko definitely does not disappoint.  I personally like RB Goblins with Wort, Boggart Auntie at the command, but if I were to build mono-red Goblins then Krenko would undoubtedly be my general.

Kumano, Master Yamabushi:  Kumano is a solid inclusion for decks looking for a consistent damage source, but I don't think he's commander material.  I think people overlook him a bit and forget that his ability exiles whatever it damages, so he is decent at keeping graveyard recursion decks at bay.  For a card that was once touted as the next Masticore, he should probably see more play than he does.

Latulla, Keldon Overseer:  Like the other Prophecy Spellshaper Legends, I think that Latulla is decent at what she does but that you just pay too much for the effect.

Lovisa Coldeyes:  Barbarians and Warriors and Berserkers, oh my!  The obvious usage for Lovisa is tribal beatdown, and the effect she gives is definitely worth it.  The key is to not get too crazy by including cards that are medocre or bad just because they have the requisite creature type, but I tink that with three types there are enough decent or good creatures to fill out a deck.

Lu Bu, Master-at-Arms:  Like most of the P3K Legends, this is a vanilla creature with little going for it.

Ma Chao, Western Warrior:  Ditto.

Mannichi, the Fevered Dream:  The ability is decent, but I question as to how applicable it is towards building a fun deck. 

Maraxus of Keld:  For that mana cost, just getting a creature who is potentially large isn't good enough.  Add to it that I have seen people inadventently kill their own Maraxus and you end up with something that is relatively unplayable.

Márton Stromgald:  Márton Stromgald is one of the better token or beatdown generals in red, with his only drawback being that he doesn't pump himself.  It's a good thing that red is already good at making creatures unblockable, but a suitable peice of equipment also does the trick. 

Myojin of Infinite Rage:  With playing this out of the command zone not netting you a Divinity counter, the red Myojin is relegated to the occasional maindeck appearance.

 

 

Norin the Wary:  On the face of it, Norin looks to be one of the most useless creatures in all of Magic.  He can't ever attack or block without jumping through some serious hoops, and during a normal game of Magic he would probably spend more time in exile than on the battlefield.  However, when one is looking for a commander to repeatedly trigger effects when creatures enter play, Norin is your man.  Norin has become a bit of a poster child for what red has to offer with it's various chaos effects, and it puts those effects to good use.  Cards like Pandemonium and Warstorm Surge essentially trigger on every player's turn, and Confusion in the Ranks becomes a creature stealing machine.  There is a very popular thread and primer on Norin that can be found here, so I won't get too far into it.  But be forewarned: don't underestimate the power of Norin!

Patron of the Akki:  For a card that plays so well with what Goblin tribal decks ar trying to do, you would be surprised on how often Patron of the Akki gets passed up because it doesn't haev the goblin creature type.  It may not be good enough to be a commander, but it should see more play than it does.

Rakka Mar:  Being able to churn out 3/1 hasty tokens is actually a pretty good ability, and if you combine it with other effects that pump tokens or allow him to make multiple tokens a turn, then you can build up an Elemental army quite quickly.

Rorix Bladewing:  Rorix is a decent dragon, but its way too boring to be a commander.

Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked:  I would think that the key to getting Shimatsu to work would be to plan on never sacrifcing anything that didn't belong to someone else first.  I would pack the deck with effects that steal stuff, then blink Shimatsu so that you never have to give it back.

Skyfire Kirin:  I think that the biggest issue with Skyfire Kirin is that it seems a lot more likley that you will not have the Spirit or Arcane spell of the correct cost when you need it most and that just dealing with the creature with more conventional means is just so much easier and better.

Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer:  So bad Slobad.... on the surface his ability stinks, but when combined with other effects he can really impact the board.  Sacrificing a couple of mana rocks to keep some artifact creatures alive after an Obliterate can be a game winning move.  When those sacrificed artifacts are Spine of Ish Sah, Mycosynth Wellspring, or a Pentavite token then it hardly feels like a cost at all, and if you are keeping a key artifact alive through an opponents removal spell or one of your own sweepers then its well worth the effort. 

Squee, Goblin Nabob:  Whenever you need discard fodder, Squee is there to be discarded at will only to pop back into your hand turn after turn.  He does little good in the command zone so I wouldn't recommend him as a general, but I always look for ways to squeeze Squee into my decks.

Starke of Rath:  Since the exchange of control of Starke is part of the abilitiy's resolution and not part of its cost, Starke can be played with blink effects in response to activating it in order to keep Starke around for more shenanigans.

Tahngarth, Talruum Hero:  One of the forefathers of the Fight ability, Tahngarth just oozes flavor for thos ethat know his backstory.  Unfortunately for him, red has so many other ways to kill opposing creatures that his services aren't really necessary.

Tarox Bladewing:  With no way to trigger the Grandeur ability, he is probably worse than his cousin Rorix.

Telim'Tor:  Before you get excited, red only has five other creatuers with Flanking...

Tuktuk the Explorer:  Tuktuk is a decent card, but in the context of the Commander format he just represents the possibility of an undercosted 5/5.  That isn't good enough on its own, and the token also being legendary makes it hard to abuse in some way that it profitable.

Urabrask the Hidden:  The lowest casting cost of all the the New Phyrexia Praetors, he's also one of the more straightforward ones as well.  He's not as oppressive and disruptive as the others, but the accelerated speed at which you come at your opponents can make a big difference.  Urabrask is also good at breaking up certain combos (such as anything with Kiki-Jiki) and making some cards much less useful than they would be.  It remains to be seen as to whether Urabrask is well suited as a general or not.

Yuan Shao, the Indecisive:  I can't decide if Goblin War Drums is the kind of effect I want for my commander...  probably not.








Zirilan of the Claw:  Zirilan is one ofbetter early printed generals, and given that you get to play essnetially Dragon tribal I can't say he's not one of the funner options as well.  If you can also pack a way to blink the dragon once its in play, then it gets to stick around and wreak more havoc on your opponent's life totals.

Top 10 Mono-Red Commanders
1. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
2. Zirilan of the Claw
3. Godo, Bandit Warlord
4. Norin the Wary
5. Krenko, Mob Boss
6. Diachan, Artful Beauty
7. Marton Stromgald
8. Bosh, Iron Golem
9. Ashling the Pilgrim
10. Lovisa Coldeyes