Choosing Your Commander - Blue

The next set of Legendary creatures we are going to look at are the mono-blue ones.  Blue is a traditionally powerful color, being able to deal with any type of permanent whether it be through countering it, bouncing it, or just outright stealing it.  Coupled with the fact that blue is the king of card draw and that it is the only color (with a few exceptions) that can counter spells, tapping Islands has long been a recipe for success.  Of the 59 current options for mono-blue commanders (as of Return to Ravnica) there are a surprising number that are considered top-tier and even more that are good enough (and interesting enough) to warrant having a deck built around them.

Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor: Aboshan is actually not that bad if you are mostly interested in locking down creatures, but as you will soon see, blue has plenty of better options.

Alexi, Zephyr Mage: The effect you get is pretty good, but not for the steep price you pay.

Amabassador Laquatus: Milling someone out is an interesting proposition in Commander.  On the one hand, you have plenty of life and time to set up defenses and deploy whatever measures you have in place to mill cards.  On the other hand, you have 2-4 other decks of 92 cards each that you have to get through.  Milling as an overall strategy doesn't have quite the card support yet, and what milling is available is spread accross blue and black.  I think that as more milling cards are printed a mill deck just might be viable, but most likely Ambassador Laquatus' color identity doesn't lend itself to being that commander.

Arcanis the Omnipotent: We all love to draw cards, and few do it better than Arcanis.  However, one of those that does it better also happens to be mono-blue, so Arcanis is often not considered as a general.  I try to include Arcanis in as many of my blue decks as possible even though the triple-blue in the casting cost can sometimes be prohibitive.

Arcum Dagsson:  Arcum Dagsson is one of the premier commanders available in any color.  The ability to tutor up any noncreature artifact for the low cost of sacrificing an artifact creature is very, very powerful when the deck is properly built.  Combined with the fact that it is relatively easy and cheap to creature artifact creature tokens, some awfully frightening things can happen to the board pretty fast.  Throw in the fact that some of those artifacts can in turn creature more artifact creature tokens, and Arcum turns into a machine of card advantage, tutoring, and fast mana all in one package.  If you play Arcum, realize that the name alone will cause your opponents to want to eliminate you first, so consider yourself warned.

Azami, Lady of Scrolls: It takes a pretty good creature to make Arcanis step down from being a general to being one of the maindeck 99, but Azami is just that good.  The undisputed leader of the Wizard tribe, Azami lets you draw tons of cards and allows its controller to take over games in a mountain of card advantage.  Azami is not only the best tribal commander in the game, its one of the best commanders in the game period.  With a large number of already good creatures carrying the Wizard creature type, Azami is a relatively easy commander to build around without sacrificng any card quality.

Barrin, Master Wizard: I like Barrin in that he allows for the reuse of 'enter the battlefield' triggers in a fairly costed ability.  I just see it as too fairly costed compared to some of the other options that are available.

Blind Seer:  With cards like Douse and Hibernation around, Blind Seer has promise.  It's biggest drawback however is that there are too few of these kinds of cards when you are constrained to only playing blue.

Braids, Conjurer Adept:  Braids is a bit of a crapshoot when it comes to the commander format.  Every deck is packing something that they can drop with great impact upon the game, and the fact that you are the last person to do so every round makes it tough to take advantage of such a situation.  Braids has a bit of a bad reputation as being a bad example of a "group hug" general (for those that don't know, a "Group Hug" deck is one that seeks to play spells and permanents that help everyone rather than hurt everyone).  Braids definitely adds a bit of chaos to the game, and if you can build your deck such that you are not only getting the most of of her but also somehow negating your opponent's plays then perhaps you can make a version of the deck that changes the perception of Braids.

Chisei, Heart of Oceans: Removing counters can be a powerful effect, but its unfortunate that Chisei can only do so once an upkeep.

Cloudhoof Kirin:  There would be so much potential here if there were actually some spirit or arcane spells that I would want to play in a deck with Cloudhoof Kirin as the general.

Empress Galina:  Normally, this kind of ability is a rather niche sideboard option, but in Commander being able to steal your opponent's general is a big deal.  What kind of deck you would build around her usually starts and ends with Leyline of Singularity, so until they print some better options to use along with her ability, I personally will be staying away.

Erayo, Soratami Ascendant: Erayo is currently banned as a Commander (you may check out the current banned list here), so it is not being considered here.  In the Commander format, Erayo is way too easy to flip, and it is way too unfun once it does.

Ertai, Wizard Adept:  Apart from how cool this card has always been (from the Art, the flavor text, to Ertai' backstory), Ertai's ability to completely lock-up games with counters is a force to be reckoned with.  His ability is very "fair" on the face of, as 4 mana to counter a spell is a lot.  However once you factor in the zero card cost and his relatively low casting cost, you realize just how much of a bargain you are getting.  Opponents will often have to work together to make sure they can eliminate Ertai from the board, but sometimes people will let him be especially if he is keeping some combo-player in check.

Hakim, Loreweaver: Hakim is a pretty good card with a decent ability that you can build around.  Cards like Eldrazi Consciption and the untap effect from a Treachery can be pretty good, but the pool of aura cards gets fairly thin pretty quick because you are limited to only blue/colorless cards. 

Heidar, Rimewind Master:  I like Heidar on a couple of different levels.  First, he is a good commander to build around for reusing 'enters the battlefield' triggers and I think that when people see him used that way they are usually okay with him.  Second, he is a great catch-all to the various scary things that can hit the board and can be used offensively in a pinch, which I also think most people are okay with.  I think that if he is part of a larger mana denail strategy, people frown on Heidar bouncing their lands turn after turn.

Higure, the Still Wind:  It's too bad that the ninjitsu ability can only be played if Higure is in your hand and not out of the Command zone, but I guess he might be okay in some Ninja tribal deck.  It would be unfortunate to not be able to play some of the black ninjas if that were the case.

Hisoka, Minamo Sensei:  Compared to Ertai this card stinks, but in practice it just doesn't get activated enough to be worthwhile.

Ixidor, Reality Sculptor:  There is a fairly short list of morphs that you would really want to play, and I'm not sure that the incentive that Ixidor provides would entice me to want to play any others.  It would be normally be Ixidor's modus operandi to flip expensive morphs such as Krosan Cloudscraper on the cheap, but that isn't allowed here.

 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur:  Jin-Gitaxias is a certified bad-ass.  There is a huge reason it costs 10 mana, but once you drop him into play his effect is devastating.  Unless your opponents have a Reliquary Tower out their hands are demolished while you are flush with cards turn after turn.  Jin-Giataxias big issue for me personally is that he really doesn't have an ability you can build around and his huge casting cost.  I would prefer to run other commanders that will help me to survive and control the game while Jin-Gitaxias is in my 99 as a finisher.

Kaho, Minamo Historian:  Kaho looks great when you first read him, and the fact that you can play him multiple times in a game as your commander makes him all the more interesting.  But once you start looking at what you want to be doing with him, you end up being disappointed when compared to Ertai, Heidar, or Azami.  So even though Kaho offers the potenital for more variety, I think he's just too inefficient to be used as a commander.

Kami of the Crescent Moon:  This being legendary takes all the fun out of it, and even though I can see it being used in "group hug" decks, some sort of milling strategy, or decks that just want to draw cards I just can't see anyone really wanting to build a deck around it.

Keiga, the Tide Star:  Keiga is a decent enough creature to include, and he's great at deterring people from attacking you or trying to blow up the board with an indestructible creature in play.  I just don't see him as commander material.

Kira, Great Glass-Spinner:  I like Kira and would include her in most blue tribal or otherwise creature-heavy decks that wanted a little bit of added protection against spot removal, but i don't think I would play her as a commander.

Lady Sun:  Lady Sun is pretty good, allowing for you to reuse 'enters the battlefield' triggers all the while making sure your opponent has troube lkeeping a creature on the board.  I wouldn't necessarily use her over Heidar due to the fact that it can only bounce creatures and you have severe timing restriction as to when you can use her ability.

Linessa, Zephyr Mage:  Linessa's true power is in her Grandeur ability, which obviously has no meaning in this format.  If you want to bounce creatures, do it with Heidar.

Llawan, Cephalid Empress:  If you can turn all your opponent's creatures into blue creatures, then you can essentially make it impossible for anyone other than you to do anything on the creature front.  You can also Magical Hack it to the desired color. 

Lorthos, the Tidemaker:  I am a fan of the flavor, but I'm not a fan of the ability.  It's not that its bad per se, but I think investing that much mana to make one or more of your opponents hate you is not not a good investment.

Lu Meng, Wu General:  Esentially unblockable, but way too boring...

Lu Su, Wu Advisor: Other than wanting to say 'Lu Su Wu' over and over again, I see no reason to play this over Azami, even with no other Wizards in my deck.

Lu Xun, Scholar General:  Being essentially unblockable is the kind of thing that makes an "Ophidian" good, but I don't know if its commander material.

Meloku the Clouded Mirror:  Once the bane of several player's existence while it was standard legal, Meloku was a multi-format all-star for a couple of years.  I'm not positive as to why he doesn't see more play, especially in a format where you can really crank up the token production and put them to good use.

Memnarch:  Due to the revised color identity rules, Memnarch is blue for all intents and purposes with regards to the Commander format, so I thought it would be best to talk about him here.  Blue in general plays especillay well with artifacts, and given the color philosophy that blue exhibits this should come as no surprise.  Being able to outright steal pretty much anything for seven mana is quite the beating, and this makes Memnarch quite fearsome just on his own.  If you are trying to make an 'artifacts matter' type deck in blue, then Memnarch should be considered as the commander as he will help facilitate that theme and enable all sorts of synergies and combos.  I think that when you start looking at the various cards blue has to offer that he interacts well with, Memnarch gets pretty exciting as there are cards that do so in many different ways so as to make him not strictly a 'steal everything' commander.  I think that focusing on that gives Memnarch some promise where he would otherwise only draw the ire of the entire table.

Mistform Ultimus:  Mistform Ultimus used to have such a strong following, but the Changleing mechanic has taken a bit of its luster away.  Still, anything that cares about a particular creature type applies to good ol' Misty, and that puts it in a rather unique and fun category.  When run with the various blue and colorless "lords" along with other 'creature type matters' cards, Mistform Ultimus can be a pretty fun commander to build around.

Myojin of Seeing Winds:  You don't get the divinity counter when you play him as a commander, so that kinda defeats the purpose.  For 10 mana, you can just do better with Jin-Gitaxias in my opinion, plus by the time you get the point where you can generate that much mana you would have drawn just as many cards with Azami.

Patron of the Moon:  I really like Patron of the Moon in a deck that uses all the various Moonfolk to bounce lands back to your hand and then uses Patron to put them all back.  The only thing that keeps such a strategy from being really good is that there are only thirteen creatures with the 'Moonfolk' ability, and even less than that that I would actually want to play.  I think that with the addition of the Landfall mechanic, maybe its time to revisit what cards might be good in such a deck.

Rayne, Academy Chancellor:  I'm not a fan of using a commander with an ability that I can't really count on.

Reveka, Wizard Savant:  The untap clause essentially makes this unplayable.

Sakashima the Imposter:  Sakashima gives blue another commander with which to use and abuse 'enters the battlefield' effects, but it does so in a way that is more susceptible to disruption.  Still, he's pretty good at what he does and he enables tons of synergistic interactions that would make for some interesting deckbuilding choices.

Soramaro, First to Dream:  Soramaro isn't bad by any means, but in the end he's really just a big creature in a sea full of plenty of other big creatures.

Sun Ce, Young Conquerer: Pretty decent Man-o'-War, but not what I'm looking for in a commander.

Sun Quan, Lord of Wu:  I've personally never seen the draw to playing Sun Quan, but it does show up once in a while.  Being able to make your team essentially unblockable can be pretty good, although I don't see how using your precious commander slot for that effect has any appeal.  With his printing in From the Vault: Legends, I assume that Sun Quan may have a resurgance in popularity.

Talrand, Sky Summoner:  Talrand is cool because he rewards you for something you already want to be doing anyway; casting instants and sorceries.  It can be brutal on opponents who know you have a grip full of counters or bounce spells that will net you a 2/2 flyer for each time one is cast, letting the Talrand player sit on open mana while still advancing their board.  Coupled with its relatively low cost and the freedom it provides during deckbuilding because you don't have to play all those cumbersome non-Flash creatures, Talrand is a pretty awesome creature to build around.

Taniwha:  Who plays creatures with drawbacks anymore?

Thada Adel, Aquisitor:  You'll almost always have an artifact you can cast off of this, but iy really doesn't appeal to my deckbuilding sensibilities by having to rely on my opponents to having awesome stuff in their decks.  I'd rather have my own awesome stuff in my deck.

The Unspeakable:...

Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar:  Pretty cool creature that allows you to burn through your deck fater to find what you may need, it is unfortunately outclassed by creatures that provide outright card advantage.

Uyo, Silent Prophet:  Uyo has tons of uses, most of which are centered around copying cards like Time Stretch.  It's not very hard to find 20-30 instant and sorcery cards that you would love to want to copy to the chagrin of your opponents, and all sorts of cards that were potentially borderline are all of the sudden potentially broken.  Not to mention that you can get in on anyone else's spells and punish anyone that dares point a removal spell in your direction, making Uyo a force to be reckoned with.  Pair her with cards like Patron of the Moon or Storm Cauldron to make sure you can replay your lands and you are set.

Vendilion Clique:  More of a 1 vs. 1 favorite than a multi-player favorite, but it still has a good following and makes for a decent peice of disruption if you play against a lot of combo decks or decks that love to tutor up a specific card to win.  Clique-ing a player that has just tutored for Herrmit Druid or Ad Nauseum and making them discard it can be game-winning, and just the threat of it can buy you enough time to beat them before they can find a window to combo out.




Venser, Shaper Savant:  Venser is an interesting option in that he provides instant access to ability to stop any shenanigans that an opponent may be up to for the relatively low cost of keeping four mana up, and he does this from the Command zone where opponents have little say over it.  Things get particularly nasty for the opponent once Venser starts to get bounced and replayed or even simply killed then ready to go for 2 additional mana.  With all of these blue Legendary wizards its hard to tell which one is best, but I will say that more often than not Azami ends up as the general and the others all end up in the 99.

Zhou Yu, Chief Commander:  I would want to play this just so I could say "Well Zhou Yu!", after which I would relegate Zhou Yu to the backpage of my trae binder.

Zhuge Jin, Wu Strategist:  The effect just isn't worth using your commander for, but its not bad if your deck is full of effects that trigger off combat damage (Swords definiteyl come to mind).

Top 10 Mono-Blue Generals
1. Azami, Lady of Scrolls
2. Arcum Dagsson
3. Vendilion Clique
4. Talrand, Sky Summoner
5. Ertai, Wizard Adept
6. Heidar, rimewind Master
7. Jin Gitaxias, Core Augur
8. Uyo, Silent Prophet
9. Mistform Ultimus
10. Empress Galina

Choosing Your Commander - White

The first set of Commanders we will look at are the legendary creatures in White.  There are currently 60+ different options as of the writing of this article (post Return to Ravnica).  Many of these are unplayable in this format for one reason or another, but there are some that may lend themselves to being a solid inclusions in many decks of the appropriate color.  As you will soon see, there is no choice that lends itself to being a top tier commander, but we'll at least narrow it down to 2 or 3 options.

Akroma, Angel of Wrath: Akroma used the be the gold standard for what you wanted your 8-casting cost creatures to do, but the time of Akroma's reign as a premier threat has long since passed.  Having her as your Commander could be interesting, but she lacks any sort of ability that you would want to build around.  She is a fine inclusion in any deck that needs a threat of her size and abilities, but unfortunately she just doesn't cut it a lot of the time.

Avacyn, Angel of Hope: Indestructibility is a powerful effect, and granting Indestructibility to everything makes Avacyn an interesting option for your Commander.  She combos well with Wrath, Armageddon or Disk effects and she makes for a decent game-ender.  Overall, I like Avacyn.
Atalya, Samite Master: Atalya is a fine inclusion in any deck that values lifegain, but as a Commander she is outclassed.

Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile: Brigid was barely playable in Lorwyn block constructed (where she was a fine sideboard card in the Kithkin mirror match), but there would be no good reason to play her in Commander.

Celestial Kirin: This is one of those cards that few people even realize exists.  It's usefulness as a Commander is somewhat limited as you are limited to using only white Spirit and Arcane spells, but there are new spirits and sprit-themed cards coming out all the time making this a more and more viable option.  Unfortunately, there will probably be no more Arcane spells ever printed, and Shining Shoal is about the only white Arcane card that you would want to play on its own merit.  With the limitations of what is available in white, Celestial Kirin at least has promise.

Cho-Manno, Revolutionary: What was once a pretty cool ability (that has since been done in a way that totally out-classes Cho-Manno in Dawn Elemental) now seems very underwhelming.  In an environment where creatures will die all the time in ways that have nothing to do with taking damage, Cho-Manno is unplayable outside of a dedicated Rebel deck (see Lin-Sivvi).


Commander Eesha: For a card that has the word "commander" in it's title, you would think that this card would make a decent Commander... Protection from Creatures is cute, but not worth including in any deck.


Crovax, Ascendant Hero: Although you can now have twice the ability for only one more mana with Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Crovax is still one of my favorite mono-white Commanders.  His role will shift from being a Commander to being just another Crusade effect for the types of decks that want it, but he is still a force to be reckoned with and still something you may want to consider as your Commander.

Darien, King of Kjeldor: Darien suffers a little from the color-identity rule in that there are more good cards that damage you in colors other than white.  However, there are still plenty of white and colorless effects that do so, not to mention you have 2-4 other players around the table who are trying their best to deal 40 damage to you.  I also think that any deck that values token production, Darien should be a serious candidate.

Eight-and-a-Half-Tails: There are some people who really like 8.5 tails, especially if they are attempting to assemble some number of combo peices and want to protect them.  I find that the mana you need to keep up in order to do so leaves you very vulnerable and you end up falling behind too quickly. 

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite: All of the Praetors from New Phyrexia are seemingly tailor-made for Commander, and Elesh-Norn is no exception.  Even in a deck that isn't trying to abuse him, Elesh-Norn is a huge tempo swing in your direction.  Coupled with other Crusade effects, even a simple 1/1 token can be swinging for 5 or 6 damage making even the most modest army a force to be reckoned with.  Along with the fact that any opposing creature of toughness two or less gets destroyed, and any future two-toughness creature drawn by an opponent is useless, Elesh Norn has the power to take over a table.  I'm a big fan of Elesh Norn, and I think that if there is a white token deck to be made then it is quite possibel that Elesh Norn is its general.

General Jarkeld: Way too fragile, and you don't get enough for what you are paying for.  Furthermore, the ability is way too easy to play around and has no incentives to want to build around it as a commander.

Gerrard Capashen: I'll have to admit that when this card was released I was quite disappointed that the central character of so many of the Magic backstories at the time was connected to such a crappy creature.  However, in flavor with his namesake card Gerrard's Wisdom he is very good at gaining life, but unlike Atalya it doesn't cost you any mana.

Guan Yu, Sainted Warrior: Some of the best hidden gems of the Commander format can be found in the Portal sets, especially Portal: Three Kingdoms.  This card however is surely not one of them. 

Hazduhr the Abbot: So inefficient, so boring, so useless, so Homelands...

Hikari, Twilight Guardian: Definitely something to consider for a Celestial Kirin deck, but on its own it doesn't really do anything worthwhile to be considered for play.

Hokori, Dust Drinker: If your goal is to bring your games to a screeching halt and draw the wrath and ire of the entire table of players, then Hokori is right up your alley.  Hokori is one of those cards that exemplifies what not to do with your Commander, as even if you are winning you really aren't.

Huang Zhong, Shu General: Some of these P3K legendary creatures fall into the trap of being Legendary in flavor only, as their abilities and stats fall way short of what we would expect.

Iona, Shield of Emeria: Iona is a hard card to evaluate as a commander.  On one hand, she is expensive even for the Commander format, very scary to your opponents, and will likely make you a rather large target if you are getting even close to having her hit play.  However, there is also a bit of political intrigue surrounding her as you can often negotiate with opponents as to what color you intend to name when it falls, and often times just the threat of naming someone's primary color is enough to make them leave you alone for the time being.  It's also a nice "catch-all" for the table to help contain a certain player or keep some sort of combo shenanigans in check while the rest of the players can search for answers.  I think that in general, Iona is better suited as a card in the deck rather than a Commander just so your opponents don't see her coming, but using her as the centerpeice of a deck focused on negotiation and politicking can have some merit.

Ismaru, Hound of Konda: Ismaru has a pretty unique place in the Commander format in that it is one of the few one-casting-cost creatures that are playable as a Commander.  Having access to a 2-power creature on turn one for every single game you play is certainly attractive for aggro decks in normal constructed environments, and I would say that a properly built Ismaru aggro deck may be viable for 1-on-1 matches.  For normal Commander group play, I don't think that kind of strategy is really viable when you are looking at 2-4 opponents each starting at 40 life.

Jareth, Leonin Titan: Jareth is underwhelming at what it does and is just not very interesting in general.

Kataki, War's Wage: Great if you want to hose Affinity... not so great as a Commander.

 Kemba, Kha Regent: I think Kemba has a lot of potential as more and more creatures that play well with equipment are printed.  It seems like that with every set, there are more and more powerful equipment cards being printed that can synergize with her ability without compromizing anything else that your deck wouldn't normally want to do.  The only thing really holding you back is that it has to live until your upkeep, but white has a lot of resources to help with that.  I am interested in seeing if a Kemba "equipment matters" deck is viable.

Kentaro, the Smiling Cat: Not a cat and not very useful as a commander.  I would think that a Samurai-themed Commander deck would be interesting, but they lack a Commander that spans enough colors to make it work.

Kiyomaro, First to Stand: A good card for inclusion in a deck that cares about lifegain, but not a very good Commander. 

Konda, Lord of Eiganjo: A giant roadblock for incoming ground attackers and decent at pecking away at someone's life total and killing them with General Damage.  Not bad, but not very exciting either.

Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon": Another Commander that acts as a Crusade effect, but I would rather go with Elesh Norn or Crovax.  He's definitely going to make most decks based on token strategies, but not as a Commander.

Lietenant Kirtar: This is definitely an interesting choice in the fact that as a Commander he can be reused several times to exile several atackers over the course of the game.  It's too defensive of a strategy for my tastes, but it is at least a plausible option. 

Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero:  Once the bane of existence for tournament players, Lin Sivvi still holds a lot of promise as a Commander.  Granted your pool of possible Rebel cards to include is fairly shallow, but with built-in card advantage and recursion for her tribe there is pretty much nothing to stop you from assembling a large army of Rebels for little card cost.  The primary issue becomes how many Rebels to include in order for her to be worth it, and what do you do with the rest of the deck.  You certainly don't want to be stuck playing things like Steadfast Guard, but there isn't a lot to be excited about past Lightbringer/Lawbringer. 

Linvala, Keeper of Silence: Linvala is an awesome card to have around in your 99, but she's not Commander material.

Liu Bei, Lord of Shu: I doubt anyone is going out of their way to assemble the Guan Yu, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei trinity in order to get the +2/+2 bonus, as there seems like so many better things to do.

Mageta the Lion: I really like Mageta and most of the other spellshapers from Prophecy, but unless you are taking advantage of the cards being discarded then his ability ends up costing more than you should be paying.  It has been my experience that under normal circumstances, the spellshapers don't end up making the cut.

Major Teroh: Not a bad ability, but way too narrow to see play.

Mangara of Corondor: A nice card to have as a "catch-all" removal spell, Mangara plays very nicely as both a normal removal spell and as a Commander.  When exiled as part of his ability, Mangara is put back into the Command zone ready to be played and used again making good use of the Commander rules to take advantage of the ability.  I'm not sure if the sacrifices necessary to run Mangara as a Commander are worth it, but the idea is at least intriguing to think about.

Masako the Humorless: This card is a pretty bad comabt trick if they don't see it coming, so having it sitting face-up in your Command zone doesn't make it any more playable.

Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker: A quintessential "don't mess with me" card at a decent cost, but I don't think its going to prevent people from finding ways to kill Michiko Konda then outright kill you once she's off the table.

Mikaeus, the Lunarch: Of all the various options for a mono-white commander, Mikaeus is the one thta interests me the most.  Being able to play him at pretty much any mana cost and getting a ton of flexibility as to when he hits play are both things going in its favor.  Yes, you need an army of creatures to feed the +1/+1 counters, but there are already incentives for wanting to run token strategies anyway.  Furthrmore, its a gret way of pumping your army without needing to stay on the table the entire time.  There are also cards that can make use of those +1/+1 counters in ways other than just as a power/toughness boost, so we'll keep an eye out for those as we go.  Overall, I think I'd really like to see a Mikaeus "white token" deck.

Myojin of the Cleansing Fire:  Due to the rules for the command zone, you don't ge a divinity counter when you play it as your commander.  It's not a bad card for a maindeck Wrath effect, although white has those kinds of cards in abundance as much lower mana costs.

Nagao, Bound by Honor: This is your commander if you want to run Samurai tribal, but you lose all the red samuari making the deck hard to build.

Odric, Master Tactician: Master Warcraft is a decent ability in Commander, and having it tacked onto a creature when it attacks is pretty cool.  I wouldn't use him as my Commander, but I'd definitely play him in a soldier deck, token deck, or any deck that might want to take advantage of making your opponents block how you want.

Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo: I'm not quite sure what a Yojimbo is, nor why Konda has one, but I do know that Opal-Eye ties up way too much mana for too little effect.

Orim, Samite Healer: Thumbs up for the old-school flavor... thumbs down for the lack of playability.

Oriss, Samite Guardian: So obviously the Grandeur ability is useless in the Commander format, so you are basically just getting a tweak on Orim.

Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens: Would definitely go into a Celestial Kirin deck, but I doubt I would run it as a Commander.

Pang Tong, "Young Phoenix":  A subpar combat trick with a timing restriction that makes it impossible to use profitably...

Patron of the Kitsune: In a deck that wants to attack with lots of creatures and also wants to gain lots of life, then this is your guy.  I just doubt that going that direction is actually profitable in any way.

Pianna, Nomad Captain: In Tokens/Crusade.dec, this might make your 99, but as a commander this just isn't powerful enough.

Radiant, Archangel:  Radiant is one of the few white commanders that can be buffed up to deal 21 commander damage using her innate ability, giving her a "Voltron" feel that people attribute to other Commanders such as Uril or Rafiq.  For the longest time, she was the go-to Commander for Angel tribal (a title that is probably better given to either Avacyn or Kaalia), but any deck that seeks to run tons of flyers can really benefit from having a huge flying Commander for only 5 mana.  I think she's perfect when paired with Spirit tokens, Triskelevite tokens, or other ways to generate flying tokens.  Building around her is a challenge to make sure she is bigger and better than just running Akroma or Avacyn, but the significantly lower mana cost makes that challenge worth it.

Rashka Golden Cub:  Purrrfect for your 'Cat Tribal' deck, but just not worth the seven mana otherwise.

Rashida Scalebane:  One of the more flavorful early legendary creatures, I have a fond spot for Rashida Scalebane.  In the days when your general was one of the Elder Dragons from Legends, this card was a nice rattlesnake to keep those opposing dragons at home.  Nowadays, its better off as a cute way to off opposing creatures in conjunction with blue creature-type changing effects.

Rashka the Slayer:  Great name, horrible card...

Reya Dawnbringer: There are lots of really expensive yet really powerful 8+ drops in white that suggest a reanimator theme, but tacking on a Reanimation effect to you Commander has certain side benefits in that you always have a reanimation effect handy.  Granted, that effect costs 9 mana and there is no way to reanimate or discard Reya from the Command zone, making her a not so optimal choice for a Commander.  Limiting your reanimation spells to only white (instead of white/black) also makes her suboptimal for use as a commander.  I will say that building a WB reanimation strategy is on my list of things to do, and this will be part of that deck.

Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant: In a format where you always start at 40 life, Rune-Tail gives you a unique option to bsically always have access to its flipped side.  Rune-Tails Essence seems like a decent effect, yet I see no real incentive to want to have it all the time.

Sensei Golden-Tail:  I'm not sure I would play this in a dedicated Samurai deck, much less as a Commmander.

Sidar Jibari:  It's looking at cards like this that realy demonstrate how far creatures (especially Legendary ones) have really come.

Soraya the Falconer:  She would be perfect for a bird tribal deck if only a majority of the birds that have been printed were white instead of blue (making Kangee, Aerie Keeper a better option).

Takeno, Samurai General: With the words 'Samurai General' in its name it is destined to be the commander of a Samurai-themed deck, is it not?  Not having a bit of red in its casting cost severely cuts into your available pool of Smurai cards, so I am thinking that such a deck is better off with some generic WR general with Takeno in the maindeck.

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: Thalia is somewhat unique in that its a really cheap peice of disruption available as a Commander.  Only Gaddok Teeg offers a similar amount of disruption fir the cost, and even Then Thalia gives Teeg a runs for his money when it comes to effectiveness.  When combined with other disruptive elements, Thalia can create a very hostile environment for your opponents while you continue to play creature after creature that put further roadblocks in front of your opponent's well-laid plans.  When combined with Armageddon effects, Thalia makes it very difficult for an oppoennt to find enough time and mana to cast a board sweeper.

Tividar of Thorn: Death to the goblins!  Death to the red mage!!  But everyone else is cool to just chill...

Yomiji, Who Bars the Way:  We will be building a 'Legends Matter' when we get to Captain Sisay, and Yomiji will definitely be a part of that deck.  I htink as a stand-alone commander its too limited and really doesn't shine as well as it does there.

Yosei, the Morning Star:  Yosei is a little on the mean side especially if you are abusing it in some fashion, but in the grand scheme of what you can do to disrupt the table this is actually rather tame.  It really doesn't appeal to me as a General due to its lack of any sort of build-around-me ability, but as part of a larger disruption strategy (Thalia, Gaddok Teeg, etc.) it may have a place.

Zhang Fei, Fierce Warrior: Even if this is generally unblockable at most tables, this isn't what I would call General material.

Zhao Zilong, Tiger General: And neither is this...

Zuberi, Golden Feather:  Going Griffin Tribal might give you a good excuse to pull out that Griffin Canyon that you've wanted to use...

Top 10 Mono-White Commanders

1. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

2. Mikaeus the Lunarch

3. Avacyn, Angel of Hope

4. Crovax, Ascendant Hero

5. Radiant, Archangel

6. Kemba, Kha Regent

7. Iona, Shield of Emeria

8. Lin-Sivvi, Defiant Hero

9. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

10. Celestial Kirin