Best Partner Commanders in MTG: Tier List by Partner Type

The best partner commanders are the ones that make almost any second commander better, and on EDHREC three of them stand well above the rest. If you're building your first partner deck, start with Tymna the Weaver. It tops EDHREC's Partners page, it fits with any other plain partner card, and its card draw gets better the more opponents you hit.

Below that top three, most picks only make sense inside their own partner type, because a partner can only pair with its own kind. Rule 702.124f says different partner abilities "cannot be combined", and our partner commanders guide covers the rest of those rules.

How we ranked them

We read EDHREC's Partners page on October 22, 2026. It lists every commander with a partner ability, grouped by type, with a deck count (num_decks) for each card or fixed pair. We took the top card or pair of seven of its nine groups, plus Malcolm and the Okaun and Zndrsplt pair, read each card's Oracle text on Scryfall, and placed them in tiers by how much a deck gets from them. Two groups are not in the tiers. Father & Son has only two cards, Atreus, Impulsive Son and Kratos, Stoic Father (13,920 decks), so there is nothing to choose between. The top Survivors card, Joel, Resolute Survivor (5,882 decks), has fewer decks than anything in our B tier. The deck count is EDHREC's number on that page, not a win rate.

Data: EDHREC Partners page, num_decks, October 22, 2026. Image: BaseMTG chart.

S tier: the three plain partners on top

Tymna the Weaver (white-black, 45,291 decks). Lifelink, and after combat you may pay life to draw a card for each opponent you dealt combat damage to that turn. Pick it if your deck attacks wide with small creatures. Skip it if you play mostly big, slow threats, because the draw needs hits on several players.

Thrasios, Triton Hero (green-blue, 43,831 decks). For {4}, it scries 1, then either puts a land onto the battlefield or draws a card. Pick it for any deck that makes a lot of mana and wants somewhere to spend it. Skip it if your deck is short on mana, since every activation costs four. Tymna and Thrasios can also lead the same deck, since both have plain partner: together they give you white, black, green and blue, a four-colour identity without red.

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh (red, 42,593 decks). It costs {0} and has first strike, menace and trample. Pick it when you want red in your colour identity and a free commander that leaves room for your other partner to do the work. Skip it if you want both commanders to matter on the battlefield.

A tier: Malcolm and the best of the other partner types

Card images: Wizards of the Coast, via Scryfall.

Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit and Sam, Loyal Attendant (white-black-green as a pair, 27,612 decks). The most-built Partner with pair on the page; Frodo is white-black and Sam adds green. When Frodo attacks after you gained 3 or more life that turn, the Ring tempts you. Then, if Frodo is your Ring-bearer and the Ring has tempted you two or more times this game, you draw a card. Pick it for a lifegain deck. Skip it if you want to choose your own second commander: Partner with only pairs with the named card.

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator (blue, 21,772 decks). Pirates that damage opponents make Treasure for each opponent hit. Malcolm has plain partner, the same ability as the S tier, so it can pair with Tymna, Thrasios or Rograkh; it is fourth among plain partners on the page. Pick it for a Pirate deck. Skip it if you don't want to build around a creature type.

Leonardo, the Balance (15,298 decks). A Character select partner with a five-colour identity, so any Character select partner fits beside it. Pick it if you like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cards. Skip it if you want a plain partner, because Character select only pairs with Character select.

B tier: fun pairs with a narrower plan

Karlach, Fury of Avernus (red, 10,140 decks). The top Choose a Background creature on the page: on your first attack each turn, it untaps the attackers, gives them first strike and adds a combat phase. Pick it for an aggressive red deck with a Background. Skip it if you don't plan to attack every turn. For the Background slot, the most-built one on the page is Raised by Giants (8,413 decks), which makes your commander creatures base 10/10 Giants.

Okaun, Eye of Chaos and Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom (10,117 decks). A coin-flip pair. Pick it if you want games to swing on luck. Skip it in a deck you want to be consistent.

Wernog, Rider's Chaplain (white-black, 9,180 decks). The top Friends forever partner: when it enters or leaves, each opponent may investigate or lose 1 life, and you investigate more for each one who did. Pick it for a Clue deck. Skip it if your table dislikes giving opponents a choice that helps them.

The Tenth Doctor (blue-red, 8,423 decks). The top Doctor on the page, pairing with a Doctor's companion. Pick it for a suspend and time-counter deck. Skip it if you don't want to build around suspend.

What moved: the other partner types

The best cards in the other partner types are well behind the Partner with pair: Leonardo has 15,298 decks and Karlach 10,140, against 27,612 for Frodo and Sam. Leonardo has more decks than any Choose a Background creature on the page, and Karlach's 10,140 decks is ahead of every Friends forever card. For a first partner deck we'd still start in the S tier, since any card with plain partner can pair with any other card that has it.

What players say

In an r/EDH thread in October asking for players' most unique partner commanders, one reply paired two cards from this list's wider pool: "[[Ardenn, intrepid archaeologist]] and [[Alena, Kessig trapper]]," wrote u/360_no_soap. Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist alone has 15,482 decks on the Partners page.

Our take

Tymna is our first pick because it rewards the thing partner decks do anyway: spread out and attack. Thrasios is the better choice if your deck is about mana, and Rograkh is the one to take if you only need its colour. Once you've picked, check the commander tax and commander damage rules for two commanders, and build the rest from our first Commander deck guide.

References

• EDHREC: Partners
• Scryfall: Tymna the Weaver
• Scryfall: Thrasios, Triton Hero
• Scryfall: Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
• Scryfall: Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit
• Wizards of the Coast: Comprehensive Rules, September 25, 2026 (text file)