In Magic: The Gathering's Commander format, players construct decks around key legendary creatures that are selected as a deck's "commander." A readily available card that can be cast from your command zone, not only does your choice of commander influence your deck's strategy, but it has a significant impact on which cards may be legally included in the deck.
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Your deck can only contain cards within its commander's color identity, and for that reason, five-color decks are a popular choice for those who wish to have access to every card legal within the format, accessing every cross-color synergy available.
Updated by Chris Stomberg on May 20, 2023: There aren't many five-color cards printed in regularly released Magic sets for Standard. However, other releases such as Commander products and crossover sets are a perfect place for these often difficult-to-cast cards to see print. As Magic continues to grow, more and more of these alternative sets are released, resulting in a larger pool of five color commanders for players to choose from. Consequently, it's time to revisit the best five-color commanders available to players as well as take a look at how five-color commanders of old measure up to the new kids on the block.
This commander is a fan-favorite Magic story character as well as a surefire way to make certain that you don't run out of cards in hand. However, Niv-Mizzet does require some pretty strict deckbuilding requirements in that you need to fill your deck with cards that feature all kinds of different color pairs, or his enter-the-battlefield trigger effect won't be reliable.
Thankfully, many of the best cards in Magic are dual-colored or more. Typically, cards become more powerful the harder they are to cast which really works in our favor when using Niv-Mizzet as a commander.
While this Dragon will provide you with an unending stream of card advantage, he doesn't necessarily lend himself to any kind of coherent strategy. For that reason, he's at the bottom of the list.
Ramos, Dragon Engine is perhaps the most underrated five-color commander option in all of Magic. For six mana, Ramos is a colorless legendary artifact creature that enters the battlefield as a 4/4 dragon with flying.
While this rate may not seem too economical, whenever its controller casts a spell, they put a +1/+1 counter on Ramos for each of that spell's colors, meaning this dragon can grow quite quickly.
Furthermore, these counters can be converted into an impressive five-color mana ramp. By removing five counters from Ramos, its controller can produce ten mana, specifically two of each color, allowing for massive and game-changing spells to be cast with ease.
Though Jodah, Archmage Eternal is a Jeskai creature, the fact that the mana symbols of each color appear in its ability allows it to be used as a five-color commander. A 4/3 human wizard with flying for four mana, Jodah states that when its controller would cast a spell, they can ignore that spell's mana cost and pay one mana of each color instead.
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While five mana is still a respectable cost, Jodah decks often contain massive spells with mana costs exceeding ten mana. This means that Jodah allows such spells to be cast far earlier in a game than they would normally be available.
Unfortunately, this commander is rather susceptible to removal which makes it easy for opponents to prevent you from going off.
Slivers are a creature type synonymous with five-color decks, with the creature traditionally serving as legion, providing each Sliver with the same benefit it gives itself. A straightforward yet powerful option for a Sliver-Tribal commander, The First Sliver is a 7/7 sliver for five mana that has cascade.
This means that upon being cast, this creature likely will bring another Sliver with it. Most notably, the First Sliver states that all other Slivers under its owner's control also have cascade.
This means that by casting a single Sliver, you may be able to chain several Slivers together with minimal effort. We have become Sliver.
Printed in Kaldheim. Esika, God of the Tree is a modal double-faced commander that can be played as either a Mono-Green creature or a five-color enchantment, The Prismatic Bridge. Effectively two cards in one, Esika's first side is a 1/4 God with vigilance for three mana that allows each legendary creature under your control to be tapped to produce one mana of any color.
This allows Esika and every other legendary creature in your deck to double as both mana ramp and mana fixing. While Esika can provide substantial mana-based value, its alternate side - the Prismatic Bridge - is a five-mana enchantment that states that at the beginning of your upkeep, you reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature or Planeswalker, putting that card directly into play.
Through this enchantment, you can reliably cheat cards into play for you each turn while ignoring mana costs. Between its two forms, this commander can be flexibly used to provide either massive amounts of mana or free creatures and Planeswalkers.
For the low cost of three mana, Sisay, Weatherlight Captain is a commander that synergizes in decks with high volumes of legendary permanents. A white 2/2 for three mana Sisay gets +1/+1 for each color among legendary creatures you control.
Most notably, Sisay's activated ability can be used if you pay one mana of each color, tutoring for a legendary permanent with a mana value less than Sisay's power, putting that card directly into play. This means that not only can key cards be tutored for by paying five mana, but their mana costs are also ignored as these cards are directly put into play.
Like the aforementioned First Sliver, Sliver Overlord is an excellent option for a five-color Sliver-Tribal commander. While The First Sliver provides each Sliver you cast with additional value, Sliver Overlord ensures that you will always have the exact Slivers you need.
A 7/7 for five mana, Sliver Overlord's activated ability allows you to pay three mana to tutor for any Sliver in your deck, putting that card into your hand. This makes this commander notably consistent, as key cards can be searched for each game, allowing for sliver-based combos and synergies to be reliably assembled.
A unique option for a five-color tribal commander, Morophon, the Boundless can distinctly be used as the commander for any creature-type deck. For seven mana of any color, this 6/6 is a Changeling, meaning it counts as every creature type.
Upon entering the battlefield, Morophon's controller chooses a creature type, not just providing creatures of that type with +1/+1, but causing those creatures' mana costs to be reduced by one mana of each color.
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Due to the extreme flexibility of its mana cost and abilities, Morophon can efficiently serve as a creature-type commander for any deck looking to utilize all five colors, offering an offensive boost and a mana cost reduction for your favorite creature type.
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom is a hyper-aggressive commander option for a five-color Warrior deck. An efficient red 3/2 Human Warrior for the low cost of three mana, Najeela states that whenever a Warrior you control attacks, you can create a tapped and attacking 1/1 white Warrior token.
This allows you to create a massive army of Warriors quite quickly. Most notably, by paying one mana of each color, you can untap all attacking creatures, providing them with trample, lifelink, and haste.
In addition, you also gain another combat step after your first. When paired with infinite mana, Najeela is notoriously capable of providing you with infinite combat steps.
In other words, she makes for a combo that can end a game of commander on the spot.
This iteration of Jodah is the closest thing we have to a lord for legendary creatures. As a result, you want to fill your deck with all the biggest and baddest legendary creatures Magic has to offer.
Notably, Jodah's lord boon of +X/+X becomes better the more legendary creatures you have on the battlefield so the cheaper the creatures you have the better.
Jodah's other ability compounds with this boon as every time you cast a legendary creature you get to cast another one of lesser mana value from the top of your library for free. In other words, once Jodah hits the battlefield he will quickly allow you to fill your side of the board with legendaries that all benefit from one another's presence.
The one drawback of a deck like this is that it can be hard to include enough removal in your deck as you need tons of legendary creatures. For this reason, creatures with enter the battlefield effects that act as removal are especially useful.
Shrine cards come from both the original Kamigawa as well as the more recently released Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Go-Shintai not only combos incredibly well with all of the Shrines available but also matches up nicely with enchantments as well. As it just so might happen, Shrines happen to be enchantments as well making this combination even more potent.
Shrines have recurring triggers that happen at different parts of your turn and become stronger based on the number of Shrines you have under your control. Seeing as Go-Shintai pumps out Shrine tokens every time you cast it from the command zone, it's easy for these recurring triggers to quickly get out of hand.
Players who enjoy combo decks and recurring, and rather eclectic to be honest, abilities ought to gravitate towards some Go-Shintai action.
Dragons are arguably the most popular creature type in the commander format and are characterized by their offensive power and access to evasive flying creatures. While the Commander format offers several options for Dragon commanders, The Ur-Dragon is a stellar five-color option that allows you to access every Dragon printed throughout the game's history.
While The Ur-Dragon is a massive and expensive 10/10 with flying for nine mana, it can impact a game from the earliest turns thanks to its eminence ability which reduces the mana costs of all Dragons you would cast by one no matter if the Ur-Dragon is simply chilling in the command zone.
Once in play, this devastating Dragon states that whenever you attack with one or more Dragons, you draw that many cards and can play a permanent from your hand without paying its mana cost. This means this impressive Dragon can help cut down on mana costs, draw cards, and cheat high-value cards into play. What more can you ask for?
Kenrith, the Returned King is a flexible and multifarious commander that is easily one of the most popular general options in the entire format. A five-mana 5/5, Kenrith comes with five activated abilities, one for each color.
These abilities can each be activated at instant speed and provide you with varying types of utility, making him extremely adaptable.
Kenrith is a commander capable of providing creatures with haste, putting +1/+1 counters on creatures, gaining life, drawing cards, and returning creatures from the graveyard to the battlefield. This means that Kenrith can function as a commander for a litany of deck archetypes, simultaneously allowing you to access all five colors when building your deck.
To put it simply, Kenrith embodies why many players look to play five colors in the first place: he allows access to all of the best cards in the game as well as the endless utility they provide.
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