Duty. Honor. A penchant for expensive swords. Samurai are well-known for these three things and more. Their interpretations inMagic: The Gatheringreflect this, presenting a series of powerful warriors who excel in combat and can wield equipment with startling efficiency.
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Despite being Plane-locked to Kamigawa, and therefore only receiving new additions in a handful of expansions, the Samurai type has a solid base of creatures to work with. Among these lie a perhaps unsurprising number of legendary options, given the illustrious nature of their real-world order. Of these storied Samurai, the following are the ten you should choose to lead your forces to victory in Commander.
10Goro-Goro, Disciple Of Ryusei
Despite the problematic ideas of elitism often associated with Samurai, it’s good to know that, on Kamigawa at least, the order is an equal opportunities employer. This is illustrated perfectly in Goro-Goro, a humble Goblin who ascended the ranks to Samurai greatness, becoming one of the best Commander options the type has to offer in the process.
Not only does he come down early and buff your subsequent Samurai with haste for just one mana, but he can also create on-rate 5/5 flyers for five mana if you’re attacking with a modified creature: a condition which, given theirnon-literal affinity for equipment, is incredibly easy for a Samurai deck to satisfy.
9Fumiko The Lowblood
A sneaky addition to the feudal ranks of your deck, Fumiko is capable of sowing political dissent at the table faster than an elderly relative at Christmas. Her ability forces all creatures your opponents control to attack each turn if able, creating huge problems for decks built around keeping specific utility creatures alive turn after turn.
In addition, she also packs a scaling bushido ability that makes her more powerful the more creatures are attacking, which discourages your opponents from aiming their mandatory attacks at you. The combined result of these two abilities will be an endless war, fought among your opponents but not involving you, giving you ample opportunities to plot, scheme, and pick the bones of your fallen foes for card advantage.
8Kosei, Penitent Warlord
Despite taking a lot of work to get going, Kosei can become one ofthe best Voltron-style commandersout there if you build your deck right. Requiring an enchantment, equipment, and counter to finally break his vow of non-violence, Kosei gets back in the game and then some with a devastating card draw and AOE damage effect.
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With enough buffs stacked up on him, Kosei can deal huge damage to all of your opponents and draw you a huge number of cards with every swing. These effects address two of the most crucial weaknesses of Voltron decks: an inability to focus on multiple targets and an inability to recover well after the Voltron creature itself is removed. Put it all together, and Kosei is truly an Ogrewhelming force in Commander.
7Iizuka The Ruthless
Five mana for a 3/3 creature isn’t attractive in any format, but three mana to grant your whole board double strike certainly is. This is the package deal offered by Iizuka the Ruthless, a Samurai who defies convention by not-so-honorably sacrificing his peers for selfish gain.
Sometimes underhanded tactics are the most effective, however. When you’re watching an opponent doing desperate maths in their head to try and avoid an inevitable double strike-fuelled finishing blow, honor will be the last thing on your mind. A great option for go-wide Samurai decks and go-tall equipment strategies alike.
6Tetsuo, Imperial Champion
A creature that truly embodies the idea of weapon mastery associated with Samurai, Tetsuo offers a choice of two excellent effects whenever he swings in with a piece of equipment in his hands. Either he can deal a lump sum of damage equal to his most expensive equipment to any target, or he can cast a free instant or sorcery spell from your hand, assuming, of course, it costs less than his most expensive equipment.
These two abilities offer two distinct ways to build around Tetsuo: either burn-focused or instant and sorcery-focused. Either way, you’ll want to fill your deck with the priciest equipment you may find: an exercise that finally gives a reason to dust off those overcosted pack-filler equipment from years gone by.
5Isao, Enlightened Bushi
While Isao doesn’t have much in the way of explosive potential, he does act as one hell of a support card for a dedicated Samurai deck. Not only is heimmune to countermagic, ensuring he’ll always be around when you need him, but he can also regenerate any Samurai, including himself, for just two mana at instant speed.
This works perfectly with an equipment-focused Samurai deck, letting you build up buffs on a single target, safe in the knowledge that Isao is always on hand to save them from removal. And while his 2/1 body is fragile, it grows to a respectable 4/3 in creature combat, which will give your opponents second thoughts about attacking him during a game.
4Takeno, Samurai General
Bushido isn’t the most well-regarded mechanic among Magic fans, owing to its underwhelming simplicity, but it becomes a lot more exciting when paired with Konda’s right-hand man, Takeno. Granting an additional permanent buff on top of the extra stats bushido adds in combat, this mighty General can turn a ragtag group of low-cost Samurai into a lethal fighting force by his presence alone.
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Sadly he doesn’t benefit from his own effect, which would have softened the blow of paying six mana for a 3/3 somewhat, but that doesn’t stop him from being a great top-end to an aggressive deck. Pair him up with Sensei Golden-Tail for a stat-scaling Samurai smackdown.
3Isshin, Two Heavens As One
Bringing not just two heavens but two attack triggers as well, Isshin joins the renowned ranks of Panharmonicon-esque Commanders in Magic. While his effect isn’t as universally applicable as the likes of Teysa or Elesh Norn, it can still generate a lot of value for you, particularly when paired with the attack-trigger-heavy Samurai creature type.
From getting two buffs out of Nagao, Bound by Honour, to crafting a mini board wipe with two triggers of Ronin Cliffrider, the potential of this ability is boundless. It also plays great with equipment that grants attack triggers, such as Argentum Armor and Armory of Iroas, adding another string to your dual-trigger bow.
2Chishiro, The Shattered Blade
An on-rate creature that rewards you for both playing aura and equipment and for using them, Chishiro is a fine leader for any Samurai Commander deck. You can create powerful chains with him, wherein you play an aura on Chishiro, thus creating a token, then play an aura on the token, creating another, and so on.
Pursuing chains like this will also lead to significant creature buffs as well since Chishiro grants a +1/+1 counter to all of your modified creatures each turn. It’s a unique take on a Samurai commander, encouraging a buff-based go-wide playstyle, and one which will undoubtedly catch a few opponents off guard.
1Toshiro Umezawa
Samurai aren’t well-known for casting spells or for dealing with dark arts involving the graveyard, but Toshiro Umezawa offers both of those things, simmered together in a sinister subversion of the Samurai scriptures. Whenever an opponent’s creature dies, he gives you the chance to cast an instant or sorcery from your graveyard, with the caveat that it’s then exiled afterward.
This can create chains where you use a cheap spell to get rid of a creature, then recast another to do the same, getting double value out of the kinds ofone-for-one removal spellsthat rarely see play in the format. For expanding the horizons of Samurai as a type and Commander as a format, Toshiro Umezawa has more than earned the ‘legendary’ in his text box.
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