Summary
- Kotis, the Fangkeeper is a strong indestructible commander with an ability to cast spells for free based on combat damage dealt.
- Shiko, Paragon of the Way provides extra value by letting you copy and cast cards from your graveyard for free when it enters the battlefield.
- Taigam, Master Opportunist rewards casting two spells in a turn by allowing you to suspend one, essentially giving you extra cards to cast later.
Each Magic: The Gathering set has its own suite of exceptionally powerful creatures you can build Commander decks around and the Dragon-heavy Tarkir: Dragonstorm is no exception. While the set has plenty of Dragons flying about, there are also some very good Zombies, Humans, and Orcs you can have to lead your deck.

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If you can’t decide which legendary creature you want to lead the charge, we’ve gathered the absolute best commanders in the set to help you decide. Grab your favorite deck boxes and sleeves; we’re going deep into the plane to find ourselves a great new commander to build around.
8
Kotis, The Fangkeeper
Can’t Keep A Zombie Down
Perhaps one of the more unique commanders to come in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Kotis, the Fangkeeper is a black, green, and blue legendary creature that comes with a very strong keyword: indestructible. Having a commander with protection from most removal spells means your opponents will have to dedicate other resources to either exile Kotis or stop it from attacking with an enchantment, which is rare to find.
Kotis comes loaded with a special ability that lets you exile the top cards of your deck equal to the amount of combat damage they deal to an opponent. If you have any spells in those cards with a mana value less than or equal the amount of damage Kotis did, you can cast those spells for free. It won’t do much for you at lower damage values, but if you can Voltron up Kotis and push damage through, you’ll be casting tons of spells for free each turn.
7
Shiko, Paragon Of The Way
Though not as flashy as other Commanders from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Shiko, Paragon of the Way gives you a very strong effect that can be used in a variety of ways. Having Shiko enter the battlefield lets you exile a nonland card from your graveyard with a mana value of three or less. You get to copy that card and cast it for free, giving you two spells in the same turn.

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Perhaps most interestingly, if you copy a permanent spell this way, it becomes a token when it enters the battlefield. Combine it with a few cards like Anointed Procession to give you twice as many tokens, and you’ll quickly have a strong board presence just from one creature coming into play.
6
Taigam, Master Opportunist
Suspend Your Disbelief
The cheapest legendary creature here in terms of mana value, the two-mana Taigam, Master Opportunist comes loaded with a very strong flurry ability that rewards you for casting two cards in a turn. Casting your second spell lets you make a copy of it and then suspend the original spell with four time counters on it.
A suspended card is exile with a number of time counters on it. At the top of your turn, you remove a time counter and once they’re all gone, you can cast that spell for free. Creatures cast this way gain haste. Since you get a copy of the spell as well, you’re never down any cards or spells and get to cast more later in the game.
5
Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree
Token Chaos
The interesting thing about Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree isn’t that it is particularly powerful on its own, but instead it synergizes in some wild ways with tons of other cards. Zurgo has two abilities, mobilize 2, which makes temporary tokens when he attacks, and a neat trigger that makes it so Warrior tokens can’t be sacrificed.
While being restricted to just targeting Warriors limits what you can do with this effect, you still get some neat interactions out of it that make for a unique Commander deck. You can use cards like these to maximize these tokens sticking around:
- Cadric, Soul Kindler
- Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
- Feldon of the Third Path
4
Neriv, Heart Of The Storm
Don’t Be Hasty
A cheaper Dragon with a powerful effect, Neriv, Heart of the Storm is a Mardu commander that has a strong haste-themed effect. With Neriv on the battlefield, a creature that deals damage on the same turn it entered has it dealing twice as much damage instead.

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It doesn’t take much to see how cards like Warstorm Surge, which has creatures deal damage equal to its power the turn it comes into play, and anything with the myriad ability like Blade of Selves, which makes token copies of the attached creature that enter tapped and attacking, become all the more valuable to play.
3
Teval, Arbiter Of Virtue
Dive A Little Deeper
Delve has been one of those very strong abilities that is just a little too good under the right circumstances. Thankfully, Teval, Arbiter of Virtue doesn’t really care about that and just gives all your spells delve, for a cost.
Teval exacts a toll for casting spells, making it so you lose life equal to its mana value, and that’s for everything, not just spells you cast with a delve cost. You can balance it out a little with Teval’s lifelink, but if you get to cast massive spells much earlier in the game, you probably won’t care that much about losing a little life early on.
2
Betor, Kin To All
Reward Yourself
Perhaps the most powerful card to come from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Betor, Kin to All is a white, black, and green Spirit Dragon that rewards you for reaching specific toughness totals out on the battlefield.
Once you have certain thresholds of combined toughness among your creatures, you get an effect. The tiers are:
- 10 toughness: Draw a card.
- 20 toughness: Untap all your creatures.
- 40 toughness: All opponents lose half their life.
The neat thing is, once you reach the next tier, you still get all the benefits below it.
1
Ureni, The Song Unending
Power Unleashed
The massive Spirit Dragon Ureni, the Song Unending is not only a beast on the battlefield, but a pretty significant undertaking in terms of mana. On top of the 10/10 flying body that Ureni comes with, you also have a commander with protection from both white and black, the two colors with the most single-target removal in the game.
As if that wasn’t enough, Ureni lets you deal a ton of damage when it enters split up however you like, to any number of creatures or planeswalkers, equal to the amount of lands you control. Since it’ll take around eight lands to cast Ureni, you can remove a ton of problems from the board. Blink Ureni a few times and there won’t be anything left to stop you.
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