Best Commanders Under $5 That Actually Win Games

Some of the most powerful commanders in EDH cost less than a sandwich. While people argue about whether Tymna the Weaver is worth $30 or Rhystic Study is worth $50, budget players are quietly winning games with commanders that cost a few bucks.

I've played against (and lost to) every commander on this list. Price doesn't determine power in this format. Strategy does.

Mono-color commanders

Starting with one color keeps your entire mana base cheap. Basics are free and you don't need dual lands at all.

Talrand, Sky Summoner

Talrand, Sky Summoner turns every instant and sorcery you cast into a 2/2 flying Drake token. Build your deck with 30+ cheap instants and sorceries, counterspells, cantrips, bounce spells, and card draw. You'll generate an air force while controlling the board. Games where Talrand sticks for two or three turns get out of hand fast.

The deck practically builds itself from bulk commons and uncommons. Pongify, Rapid Hybridization, Brainstorm, Preordain, Counterspell. You probably have most of these in a box somewhere. Total deck cost can sit under $25 easily.

About $1.50.

Krenko, Mob Boss

Krenko, Mob Boss taps to create Goblin tokens equal to the number of Goblins you control. Do the math on that for a second. Turn one you have Krenko plus maybe two other goblins, so you make three. Next turn you have six goblins, so you make six. The turn after that you're making twelve.

Krenko demands removal or he takes over the game in three turns. Pair him with Goblin Bombardment (sacrifice goblins to deal damage), Skirk Prospector (sacrifice for mana), or just attack with forty goblins. The redundancy in cheap goblin cards is wild.

About $3.

Syr Konrad, the Grim

Syr Konrad, the Grim deals 1 damage to each opponent whenever a creature dies, leaves a graveyard, or goes from your library to your graveyard. That sounds incremental until you realize how many creatures move around in a commander game. Board wipes become one-sided. Mill effects become burn spells. Someone exiling their own graveyard for a Bojuka Bog trigger hits the whole table.

Build around self-mill and sacrifice. Altar of Dementia, Mesmeric Orb, Dread Return. Syr Konrad doesn't go infinite often, but he grinds games to dust through pure value.

Under $1.

Feather, the Redeemed

Feather, the Redeemed returns any instant or sorcery you cast that targets your own creatures back to your hand at end of turn. A single Defiant Strike becomes "draw a card every turn forever." Shelter is permanent protection that keeps recycling. Reckless Rage kills a creature every single turn.

Feather turns fifty-cent combat tricks into an engine. The deck is aggressive, interactive, and surprisingly resilient because you never run out of cards. People underestimate her until they realize they can't keep up.

About $2.

Two-color commanders

Adding a second color opens up more powerful strategies while keeping costs reasonable.

Tatyova, Benthic Druid

Tatyova, Benthic Druid draws a card and gains a life whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control. In a format where you're playing a land every turn at minimum, that's guaranteed value. Add ramp spells like Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and you're drawing two or three extra cards per turn.

Tatyova is one of those commanders that feels fair but isn't. The card advantage snowballs until you're seeing ten cards a turn while your opponents are drawing one. Finish with Avenger of Zendikar tokens or a massive Finale of Devastation.

Under $1.

Meren of Clan Nel Toth

Meren of Clan Nel Toth gets experience counters when creatures die, then reanimates creatures from your graveyard during your end step based on those counters. She's a recursion engine that gets stronger every turn.

Sacrifice Sakura-Tribe Elder to ramp. It dies, Meren gets a counter, brings it back at end step. Sacrifice it again next turn. You're ramping while building toward reanimating bigger threats. Once you hit five or six counters, you're pulling back Gray Merchant of Asphodel or Kokusho, the Evening Star every single turn.

About $2.50.

Wyleth, Soul of Steel

Wyleth, Soul of Steel draws cards whenever he attacks equal to the number of Auras and Equipment attached to him. Suit him up with three cheap equipment pieces and you're drawing three cards every combat. The card advantage is absurd for a commander that costs three mana.

Budget equipment like Bonesplitter, Explorer's Scope, Mask of Memory, and Haunted Cloak all cost under a dollar. The whole deck runs on the same cheap equipment we covered in our budget equipment guide.

About $1.

Three-color commanders

Three colors means a slightly more expensive mana base, but the commanders here are worth the effort.

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher creates Kobold tokens when he's cast, with more tokens for each time you've cast him. Built-in sacrifice fodder attached to a hasty flyer. Add Goblin Bombardment or Zulaport Cutthroat and those tokens become damage. Add Food Chain if your budget allows and the deck goes infinite, but even without the combo, Prossh grinds through games with raw token advantage.

About $1.50.

Animar, Soul of Elements

Animar, Soul of Elements gets a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast a creature spell, and your creature spells cost one less colorless mana for each counter on Animar. After casting three or four creatures, everything costs two or three mana less. Your five-drops become two-drops. Your eight-drops become five-drops.

The deck wants cheap creatures that generate value when they enter. Mulldrifter, Fierce Empath, Solemn Simulacrum, Man-o'-War. Bounce creatures, recast them cheap, keep the counters growing.

About $4.

Kess, Dissident Mage

Kess, Dissident Mage lets you cast an instant or sorcery from your graveyard each turn. Your graveyard becomes a second hand. That Counterspell you used three turns ago? Cast it again. The Chaos Warp that saved you? It's back. Every spell in your deck has double the value.

Kess control decks are a nightmare to play against because they always have answers. They've already used their removal and they still have it available. Budget builds run stacks of cheap interaction and card draw.

Under $3.

Build your next budget deck

Every commander on this list proves the same point: you don't need expensive cards to win commander games. You need a plan, synergy, and the willingness to build around what your commander does best.

Looking for budget staples to fill out your deck? Check our guides to budget mana rocks, budget card draw, and budget board wipes.

Build and track your budget deck for free with GrimDeck. See exact prices for every card in your list and keep your whole collection organized.