The Eminence keyword was first officially utilized in the 2017 Commander preconstructed decks, and has only been printed on a handful of Magic cards. It was believed to be unlikely to be seen on future cards due to these cards being fairly oppressive, effectively granting the player a free Enchantment effect even when in the Command Zone, where they cannot be interacted with. However, a new Commander with the Eminence keyword was printed into the March of the Machine Commander precons, which shows that Wizards may print more cards with this ability. Let’s take a look at the current Eminence commanders, and compare them:
- Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir
- Sidar was printed in 2023 in the March of the Machine Commander deck, marking the return of the Eminence keyword. His ability is less oppressive than others on this list; it requires the player to attack with one or more knight creatures to trigger to trigger a loot effect (draw a card, then discard a card). Looting can be incredibly powerful if built around, and is generally not seen as frequently in the Esper color pie; however, this effect is not powerful enough for him to be even remotely as powerful as others on this list.
- Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
- While not technically touting the Eminence keyword, Oloro was the first card printed that contained an Eminence-style effect; his ability allows the player to gain 2 Life at the beginning of your Upkeep whether he is on the field or in the Command Zone. While this effect is powerful (it allows a large number of value cards to be played based on life being gained), gaining a marginal amount of life is typically not going to win a game of Commander. That being said, there are fringe cEDH decks which utilize Oloro effectively and utilize prison effects to outvalue the opponents’ board states.
- Arahbo, Roar of the World
- Officially moving onto the 2017 Eminence Commanders, Arahbo’s ability provides a free Titan’s Growth effect for one of your creatures each turn. While this is definitely useful, Arahbo’s second triggered ability is actually what makes it powerful, doubling a creature’s power and providing it with Trample. Since the non-Eminence ability is what really provides value to your creatures, Arahbo places lower in the list than other’s, since we are specifically discussing their Eminence abilities.
- Inalla, Archmage Ritualist
- Inalla is an interesting commander which allows you to create token copies of Wizards entering the battlefield. This can lead to huge value with cards like Tribute Mage, Trophy Mage, or Spellseeker; it can also enable a number of infinite loops with cards such as Dualcaster Mage and Ghostly Flicker. This can also be paired with The Master, Multiplied or Sundial of the Infinite to prevent the tokens from being sacrificed.
- Edgar Markov
- Edgar Markov is an incredibly powerful card, creating 1/1 black Vampire creature tokens anytime you cast another Vampire spell. This can get out of hand quickly with cards such as Coat of Arms, Mana Echoes, and Ashnod’s Altar providing huge amounts of mana or making your creatures massive and swinging for lethal damage very early in the game.
- The Ur-Dragon
- Dragons in MTG tend to have high mana values, which The Ur-Dragon reduces by simply being your commander. The player also has access to all colors, allowing you to utilize every tutor, ritual and recursion card you could want in the deck. Due to The Ur-Dragon having less deckbuilding restrictions and a passive Dragonlord’s Servant in the Command Zone, this card takes the cake for being the most generally oppressive Eminence Commander currently available.
- Honorable Mention: M’Odo, the Gnarled Oracle
- This card was printed as a Heroes of the Realm card in 2017, and is not legal for constructed play and is pretty much impossible to find even if your playgroup were to allow it. Pending a Rule 0 conversation with your table, you could proxy this card to play with friends.
