Magic's 10 Best Timmy Commanders
What kind of Magic player are you? Are you a win-at-all-costs Spike constantly tuning your deck to top the latest meta? Maybe you're a Johnny player, here to prove you've found a creative and innovative path to victory that feels uniquely you? Or, maybe you're like me, and you're a Timmy. You just want to tap all of your lands every turn and throw huge haymakers back and forth until someone loses.
Today we'll be listing some of the best commanders for all the Timmys and Tammys out there! These commanders all want to play big cards and turn 'em sideways for value, casting threatening creatures or huge, unstoppable Fireballs. Let's dive in!
What Are Timmy Commanders?
Magic: The Gathering players are divided up into three psychographic profiles that the designers use to determine how and why people play Magic. Today's profile, Timmy/Tammy, is what R&D calls the "power gamer." Timmy wants to win big; he doesn't want to eke out a pyrrhic victory. Timmys and Tammys cast big spells, like Cultivator Colossus and Light Up the Night where X= 100.
As such, we're looking for commanders with a big, splashy effect that'll let us cast other big, splashy effects.
Honorable Mention: Timmy, Power Gamer
Timmy, Power Gamer hails from Unglued, the second set of gray-bordered Un-cards. Since the gray bordered cards are not tournament-legal, I didn't want to rate Timmy, Power Gamer against the other commanders on this list. That said, Timmy is the ultimate Timmy commander. A Quicksilver Amulet in your command zone is no joke!
#10 Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy is both acceleration and payoff, all in the command zone. Kinnan is the Timmy commander for the player who doesn't want their commander to be their beater. They hit the field early and speed up your mana immediately. Once you've amassed your twenty-something mana on turn five and have already run out the Blightsteel Colossus in your hand, why not dump the rest of that mana into Kinnan's ability and just keep digging and digging for more threats until you can't be stopped?
Kinnan goes infinite with just about anything. Most commonly are nonland mana sources, like Basalt Monolith. Try using all this infinite mana to cast a game-ending noncreature spell, like Braingeyser! It's the new Fireball!
#9 Ziatora, the Incinerator
Ziatora, the Incinerator takes the classic Fling and puts it on a 6/6 body, then throws in three Treasure tokens to boot. Ziatora is guaranteed damage the turn it hits the field, and provides compensation to help you replace whatever Inferno Titan equivalent you just hurled at your opponent's face. While your initial gut reaction might be to build Ziatora around aristocrats effects, you'll be much more successful if you double down on Ball Lightning/Groundbreaker-style creatures with big power that we'd lose at the end of the turn anyways.
#8 Surrak Dragonclaw
Surrak Dragonclaw wants to play creatures, stick them to the field, and turn them sideways. His Temur color identity gives us access to all the best Gruul creatures, plus the blue counters we need to protect them on the field. As a five-mana 6/6, Surrak Dragonclaw is on-curve for a creature we can flash in from our command zone; I just wish he had trample himself.
#7 Rakdos, Lord of Riots
Rakdos, Lord of Riots is a cheap 6/6 flying trampler that'll help you cast your other big creatures for cheap. I see this incarnation of Rakdos as a machine that turns your Lightning Bolts into two extra mana for that Grave Titan or Balor or Bloodthirster. Combine Rakdos with static damaging effects, like Sulfuric Vortex and Stormfist Crusader, for free ramp, and your Spear Spewers and Lobber Crews become effective mana dorks.
#6 The Ur-Dragon
It shouldn't come as a surprise that The Ur-Dragon makes the list. This nine-mana 10/10 reduces the cost of Dragons from the command zone (already great), but then draws you into more Dragons and puts them directly into play like it's nothing. From here, there are basically any number of Dragons that'll win you the game. Utvara Hellkite and Scourge of Valkas (or Dragon Tempest), Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient and a Firebreathing Dragon of some kind; pick your favorite flying lizard and go to town.
#5 Mayael the Anima
Mayael the Anima is a classic legendary creature featured in the now-vintage Commander 2013 Naya precon. Mayael's ability to dig through the top five cards of your library and grab a creature from amongst them onto the battlefield is a weather vane for Timmy commanders. A strong start with Mayael can see you activating her as soon as turn three, suddenly dropping a Darksteel Colossus way before anyone can possibly hope to remove it. It's fairly easy to set up the top of your library to get just the card you're looking for, too. Colorless scry and filtering from Crystal Ball to Sensei's Divining Top slot right into this deck.
#4 Wulfgar of Icewind Dale
If there's one thing we know for certain, it's that any time you see the words "triggers an additional time" on a card, it's gonna go nuts. Wulfgar of Icewind Dale hails from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate. Not only does Wulfgar double up those attack triggers from your Kalonian Hydra and Cityscape Leveler, he also doubles up on his own melee trigger.
If we can attack all three of our opponents each turn, Wulfgar's getting a massive +6/+6 each time he attacks. Mix in a couple extra combats with Hellkite Charger and anything that generates mana when you attack, like Grand Warlord Radha, and suddenly you're beating down your opponents with a 16/16 Wulfgar and infinite combat steps.
#3 Zacama, Primal Calamity
Every time I see Zacama, Primal Calamity hit the field, my mind goes to the "Fat Mike" bit from The Office; I can hear Zacama going "BANG! BOOM! CRASH!" as it stomps across the field and blows up my enchantments, creatures, and then punches me in the face. Zacama is sort of a one-trick pony, but the trick it pulls is so exciting and destructive that I can't help but Timmy-out over it.
Next, when Zacama hits the field, you want to use your newly untapped mana and its activated abilities to dominate the pod. If you tapped out to cast Zacama, you'll have another nine mana to use on its abilities. Where it really picks up is off the back of a Mirari's Wake or another mana-doubler, turning Zacama into a veritable machine gun of damage and destroyed permanents.
#2 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
Ghalta, Primal Hunger is almost as Timmy as it gets. A 12/12 trampler that we want to cast for as little as two mana is undeniably the beatdown haymaker creature we've been searching for. Ghalta has no activated abilities, no paragraph of confusing "draw a card, gain one life, scry 2, etc." text; just trample and a lot of power. Ghalta plays best with green creatures with more power than the mana value spent to cast them, so Gigantosaurus, Imperiosaur, and Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig are great investments to get Ghalta on the field sooner.
#1 Zilortha, Strength Incarnate
You knew it was coming. Zilortha, Strength Incarnate is by far the number one Timmy commander on the market. Zilortha takes the power and combat focus of Gruul decks and doubles down, giving that extra bit of survivability to your Dragonborn Champions and making cards like Cyclops of Eternal Fury playable.
The total number of creatures with power greater than their toughness is fairly slim, and we want to lean away from the Ball Lightning-kindred that seems to spring up around Zilortha. But where Zilortha decks really shine is stacked power buffs on otherwise undercosted creatures. Ogre Battledriver, Infinite Hourglass, and the humble Rancor will each churn out value alongside Zilortha.
Best Timmy Commander Payoffs
Now that we've got our deck built with high-powered haymakers, how can we capitalize on these effects to further our gameplan? Here're some great ways to draw cards in Timmy decks and keep the pressure on.
Keruga, the Macrosage
Keruga, the Macrosage makes a great companion for any Timmy deck in the right colors. Keruga the most consistent way to refill your hand after running out every big creature in our hand, and its 5/4 body isn't too shabby for the cost either.
Garruk's Uprising
Garruk's Uprising sees a lot of play in Commander, and for good reason. It's card draw immediately when it comes down, a trample anthem, and it'll replace every 4+ power creature in our hand? Yes, please!
Up The Beanstalk
In a similar vein to Garruk's Uprising, the two-mana Up the Beanstalk draws you a card a turn earlier and triggers on a spell cast rather than a creature entering the battlefield. Whether this or the Uprising is the right card for your deck will depend on your actual list, and what other CMC 5+ spells you're running.
Wrap Up
The Timmy/Tammy planeswalkers out there know what they like, and I can't blame them for it. Nothing hits in terms of instant gratification like sticking several huge threats to the field with Selvala's Stampede, or declaring attackers and getting lost in exactly how much damage you're sending down the field with all those Unnatural Growth and Wild Beastmaster buffs happening simultaneously.
What are some of your favorite Timmy commanders? Are there any essentials I've missed? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading! Check back next time when we dive into what makes a Johnny Commander deck work!
