Welcome to 2026, Magic fans! A new year means a brand-new Magic set, and Lorwyn Eclipsed is officially here. Maybe you spent the weekend battling it out at a prerelease event at your local game store, or maybe you’re planning to crack open a booster box and draft with friends. And if Limited formats aren’t really your thing, Commander players are eating especially well this time around.
One of the things Lorwyn Eclipsed does exceptionally well is its return to tribal-focused design. From Faeries and Elves to Merfolk and beyond, the set is packed with exciting new legends that breathe fresh life into classic creature types. Below, I’ve rounded up what I believe are the 10 best new commanders from Lorwyn Eclipsed, highlighting the standouts that are most likely to make an impact at Commander tables.
Mono-Color commanders in Lorwyn Eclipsed
I usually try to feature at least one mono-colored commander for each color in these lists. However, Lorwyn Eclipsed is a bit of a unique case—there simply aren’t many mono-color legendary creatures designed specifically with Commander in mind. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, as it makes narrowing down the best options much easier.
Rhys, the Evermore — Mono-White
Rhys, the Evermore is a fascinating and slightly unsettling commander to play against. Giving a commander Flash creates a constant sense of pressure because your opponents always know Rhys could hit the battlefield at any moment, forcing them to play cautiously. On top of that, Rhys functions as a pseudo–graveyard recursion engine by granting Persist to a creature when he enters the battlefield, while also offering a way to remove persist counters from your creatures later on.
Because Rhys’s enter-the-battlefield trigger is so powerful, the ideal build leans heavily into ways to reuse it. Effects that return Rhys to your hand are especially valuable, allowing you to flash him back in repeatedly for maximum value. Hard blink effects that exile Rhys until end of turn are generally less effective here, as they limit your ability to control when he re-enters the battlefield.
An interesting bonus interaction is pairing Rhys with the Airbending mechanic from Avatar: The Last Airbender, which still allows you to operate at instant speed and maintain flexibility. In practice, Rhys often works best when he isn’t sitting on the battlefield for long—keeping him mostly in hand and striking at the perfect moment is the key to getting the most out of this commander.
Dual-Color commanders in Lorwyn Eclipsed
Once we move into the dual-color commanders, Lorwyn Eclipsed really starts to show its strength. This is where the set’s tribal identity shines brightest, with legends that reward you for fully committing to a specific creature type or mechanical theme. These commanders feel much more traditional in the best way possible: clear game plans, strong tribal payoffs, and plenty of room to customize depending on how focused or flexible you want your build to be.
Bre of Clan Stoutarm — Boros (Red/White) — Giant Tribal
Bre of Clan Stoutarm is a Boros lifegain commander that feels tailor-made for Giant tribal. Giants are famously expensive, but Bre turns lifegain into a way to cheat those massive threats onto the battlefield without paying full price. As long as you can consistently gain life, Bre lets you bypass mana costs and start dropping haymakers far earlier than your opponents expect.
Thankfully, Boros has no shortage of ways to grant lifelink to your Giants. Cards like Basilisk Collar, Ajani Steadfast, Bond of Discipline, and Rune of Sustenance help ensure your attacks fuel even more Giants. Once Bre sticks and you’ve established a steady lifegain engine, the deck snowballs quickly and becomes very hard to keep in check. Bre feels like a fusion of Hope Estheim from the Final Fantasy set and Ureni from Tarkir: Dragonstorm—a perfect blend of value and brute force.
Brigid, Clachan’s Heart // Brigid, Doun’s Mind — Selesnya (Green/White) — Kithkin Tribal
Brigid, Clachan’s Heart is a go-wide player’s dream commander. Every other turn you’re either generating tokens or ramping mana, which creates an incredibly smooth and consistent game flow. Lorwyn Eclipsed is already packed with Kithkin support, and when you combine that with the broader tribal tools baked into the set, Brigid-led boards can spiral out of control very quickly.
This is a commander that really rewards leaning fully into tribal synergies. Cards like the Kindred enchantment from Lorwyn Eclipsed and Militia’s Pride help flood the board with 1/1 Kithkin tokens, giving you the wide battlefield presence Selesnya excels at. From there, finishers like Chronicle of Victory and Kinbinding turn an army of small creatures into a legitimate and immediate threat. Left unchecked, Brigid can overwhelm the table faster than most players expect.
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight— Orzhov (Black/White) — Persist / Sacrifice
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn stands out as one of the strongest Persist-focused commanders in the set, especially when compared to mono-color options. Orzhov is naturally well-equipped for graveyard recursion and sacrifice strategies, and Eirdu fits cleanly into that space. You can even treat Rhys as a sort of “secret commander” within the deck, leaning further into Persist synergies.
Eirdu is one of the dual-color flip commanders, allowing you each turn to pay either white or black mana depending on which side is active to trigger its enter-the-battlefield effect. One side grants Convoke, while the other grants Persist, giving you flexibility depending on the game state. While Convoke pairs nicely with Elemental strategies, building Elementals in Orzhov can get pricey. Instead, Eirdu truly shines as a classic Orzhov sacrifice commander, where Persist allows you to repeatedly trigger enter-the-battlefield and death effects for steady, grinding value.
High Perfect Morcant — Golgari (Green/Black) — Graveyard Elves
If you’re looking for a straightforward but incredibly powerful Elf commander, High Perfect Morcant delivers. This commander punishes your opponents simply for you doing what Elf decks already want to do—play more Elves. The game plan is simple: load your deck with as many Elves as possible and let Morcant apply pressure just by existing.
Where things get especially interesting is when you lean into Lorwyn Eclipsed’s Graveyard Elf archetype. Using the Proliferate and Blight mechanics, you can dump Elves into your graveyard, recur them repeatedly, and stack Blight counters on opposing creatures. Doubling those counters quickly wipes boards or leaves enemy defenses severely weakened. Golgari already has some of the best graveyard support in Commander, and Lorwyn Eclipsed adds even more tools that make this strategy both resilient and oppressive.
Kirol, Attentive First-Year — Boros (Red/White) — Ability Copies
Kirol, Attentive First-Year is one of the more flexible and creative Boros commanders in the set. Boros tap-based strategies recently received support in Edge of Eternities with the Station mechanic, and Kirol can absolutely take advantage of that. However, the more explosive build focuses on token generation and attack triggers.
By creating expendable tokens, you gain reliable ways to tap creatures during combat, letting Kirol copy powerful attack triggers. Whether you’re doubling token creation, card draw, damage pings, or lifegain, Kirol rewards tight sequencing and aggressive play. This commander feels especially strong in midrange combat-focused metas where repeated value triggers can quickly bury the table.
Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom // Sygg, Wanderbrine Shield — Azorius (White/Blue) — Merfolk Tribal / Voltron
Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom returns as one of the set’s standout flip legends and serves as Azorius’s premier Merfolk commander. Sygg is surprisingly versatile, offering multiple viable build paths depending on your preferred playstyle. You can lean into classic Merfolk control, pivot into evasive Azorius fliers, or even take Sygg in a Voltron direction.
Thanks to Sygg’s built-in evasion and access to blue interaction, Voltron builds in particular can become dangerous very quickly. Auras and Equipment stack up fast, and being unblockable means opponents are forced to rely on removal—which blue is excellent at protecting against. Sygg is flexible, resilient, and quietly one of the most dangerous commanders in the set.
Tam, Mindful First-Year — Simic (Green/Blue) — Multicolor Matters
Tam, Mindful First-Year is honestly absurd in the best way. Granting creatures hexproof from all of their colors is already powerful, but Tam takes things a step further by allowing you to tap and make a target creature all colors. This creates a unique protection-based strategy that’s incredibly difficult for opponents to interact with.
When building Tam, the focus should be on multicolored creatures to maximize the amount of protection your board receives. The more colors your creatures have, the harder they are to remove. Simic already excels at ramp, card draw, and creature-based value, and Tam turns all of that into a near-impenetrable battlefield once your engine is online.
Tri-Color commanders in Lorwyn Eclipsed
At this point in Magic’s design, three-color commanders are becoming increasingly common, and Lorwyn Eclipsed is no exception. While the tri-color legends in this set lean less heavily into strict tribal themes, they more than make up for it with unique mechanics and flexible playstyles. These commanders feel designed for players who enjoy expressive deckbuilding and layered decision-making—and they’re easily some of the most fun legends in the set.
Doran, Besieged by Time - Abzan (Green/White/Black) - Toughness Matters
Abzan has been absolutely thriving lately, and Lorwyn Eclipsed continues that trend in a big way. It feels like every recent set has pushed toughness-matters synergies, and Doran, Besieged by Time slots perfectly into that growing archetype. If you picked up the Abzan Armor precon last year, Doran feels like an immediate upgrade—either as a new face commander or a powerful inclusion in the 99.
Doran rewards you for doing what Abzan already wants to do: play resilient creatures with high toughness and grind out value over time. The deck naturally becomes difficult to attack into, while still applying steady pressure. Whether you’re turning defensive bodies into legitimate threats or simply outlasting the table, Doran is a commander that’s almost guaranteed to see consistent play going forward.
Maralen, Fae Ascendant - Sultai (Black/Green/Blue) - Faerie / Elf Tribal / Card Theft
Maralen, Fae Ascendant is the Faerie commander of Lorwyn Eclipsed. While she technically bridges both Faerie and Elf creature types, her identity is unmistakably Faerie-first. In fact, Maralen may very well be the strongest commander in the entire set. She fits cleanly into Lorwyn’s overarching tribal focus while also carving out a completely unique playstyle of her own.
Maralen enables an aggressive, card-theft-focused control strategy that feels perfectly on-theme for Faeries. You’re not just disrupting your opponents—you’re actively profiting from their decks, turning stolen cards into your own win conditions. Building Maralen with a heavy Faerie core keeps the tribal synergies intact, while additional payoffs for playing cards you don’t own—similar to those seen in Outlaws of Thunder Junction—push the deck into truly oppressive territory. If you’re looking for a commander that blends flavor, power, and a strong identity, Maralen checks every box.
Final Thoughts
Lorwyn Eclipsed is a big win for Commander players, especially for anyone who enjoys tribal decks and clearly defined strategies. While mono-color options are limited, the set more than makes up for it with a strong lineup of dual- and tri-color commanders that feel intentionally designed for the format. From classic tribal builds like Giants, Kithkin, Elves, and Merfolk to more mechanical strategies built around Persist, toughness matters, multicolor protection, and card theft, there’s a wide range of compelling options.
What really makes these commanders shine is how well they capture Lorwyn’s identity. Most of them reward you for simply playing to their theme, without forcing overly narrow deckbuilding choices. Whether you’re eyeing powerful standouts like Maralen and Tam or explosive tribal engines like Bre, Brigid, and Morcant, Lorwyn Eclipsed offers plenty of commanders that will leave a lasting impact on Commander tables.
Looking to take your Lorwyn Eclipsed experience even further? If you’re picking up one of the Commander precons, be sure to check out our full upgrade guides for Blight Curse and Dance of the Elements, where we break down the best cards to add, what to cut, and how to tune each deck to really shine at the table.
