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Playgroup.gg EDH Tracker
Commander archetypes

I want to play

Try tokens, voltron, group hug or tribal.

19 archetypes, measured from the decks people build and from how commanders play at our tables. Pick one, or combine several.

How you deal with the table

Archetypes about the other players more than your own board.

4 archetypes
Politics
Deals, votes, goad and the monarch. You win by steering the other players. Top with 50+ decks: Nelly Borca, Firkraag, and Zedruu the Greathearted Measured in tracked games: spells cast per opponent's turn
Group hug
Gifts for everyone, and a table too comfortable to attack you. Top with 50+ decks: Gluntch, Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, and Kwain
Stax and control
Counterspells, tappers, bounce and taxes. You act on everyone's turn. Top with 50+ decks: Hylda of the Icy Crown, Baral, and Alela Measured in tracked games: spells cast per opponent's turn
Group slug
Damage that hits every opponent at once, turn after turn. Top with 50+ decks: Ojer Axonil, Belbe, and Torbran

How your creatures win

Archetypes built around what your creatures do.

8 archetypes
Big creatures
Power 5 and up, trample and overruns. Win in a few big swings. Top with 50+ decks: The Gitrog, Goreclaw, and Kiora Measured in tracked games: commander damage dealt per game
Fight for the board
Your creatures remove theirs with fight and bite effects. Top with 50+ decks: Maarika, Wolverine, and Wayta Measured in tracked games: commander damage dealt per game
Tokens
Token makers and anthems. Many small bodies, one big attack. Top with 50+ decks: Neyali, Jinnie Fay, and Kambal Measured in tracked games: tokens created per game
Tribal
One creature type, and the lords and payoffs that reward it. Top with 50+ decks: Sliver Gravemother (Sliver), Lathril (Elf), and Clavileño (Vampire)
Voltron
Equipment and Auras stacked on one creature, usually your commander. Top with 50+ decks: Galea, Nahiri, and Light-Paws Measured in tracked games: commander damage dealt per game
+1/+1 counters
Grow your team a counter at a time, then proliferate. Top with 50+ decks: Bright-Palm, Hamza, and Shalai and Hallar
Aristocrats
Sacrifice outlets and death triggers that drain the table. Top with 50+ decks: Teysa Karlov, Sephiroth, and Juri
Blink
Exile and return your creatures to reuse what they do on entry. Top with 50+ decks: Niko, Phelia, and Brago

What your deck runs on

The engine the rest of the deck feeds.

7 archetypes
Spellslinger
Instants, sorceries and payoffs that trigger when you cast them. Top with 50+ decks: Feather, Narset, and Elsha Measured in tracked games: spells cast per opponent's turn
Graveyard and reanimator
Fill your graveyard and bring the best things back. Top with 50+ decks: Mirko, Winter, and Sidisi
Landfall
Landfall, extra land drops and cards that count your lands. Top with 50+ decks: Obuun, Omnath, and Tannuk
Artifacts
Artifacts and payoffs for them entering, treasures included. Top with 50+ decks: Szarekh, Urtet, and Chiss-Goria
Enchantress
Enchantments and the payoffs that draw or grow from them. Top with 50+ decks: Anikthea, Marina Vendrell, and Narci
Mill
Empty your opponents' libraries before they empty your life. Top with 50+ decks: Phenax, Bruvac the Grandiloquent, and The Mindskinner
Lifegain
Gain life and turn it into cards, counters or damage. Top with 50+ decks: Oloro, Bilbo, and Bre of Clan Stoutarm

In their decks

For every commander we count the cards of each archetype in the full decklists people built, and compare that with the average deck in the same colors. What the commander card itself does counts too.

Measured in tracked games

Spells cast per opponent's turn and tokens created per game come from Playgroup Live games. Commander damage dealt per game comes from every tracked game, Live and tracker.

How we check it

Every change is tested against commanders whose archetype nobody disputes, like Teysa Karlov for aristocrats and Omnath for landfall. Card tags come from Scryfall's community tagger. If a card looks misfiled, tell us.