1. The Scarab God
The Scarab God is everything you want in a win condition.
It combines scrying, ability-based life loss, reanimator strategies, and powerful recursion into one excellent 5/5 package.
Most notable with The Scarab God is how all its abilities fit together. As well as creating 4/4 zombie tokens with the abilities of any creature in a graveyard, it also punishes your opponent based on the number of zombies you control.
Not only is The Scarab God one of the best Commanders out there (42nd most popular on EDREC), but it’s seen its fair of competitive play too.
Since its release in Hour of Devastation, The Scarab God has seen use in four Pro Tour top 8 decks and seven of the top 8 decks of the 2017 World Magic Cup, including the winner.
2. Tiamat
Magic‘s first Dragon God, Tiamat is a bomb in every sense of the word.
Not only is this creature a 7/7 flying beater, but it also has an excellent ETB ability too.
When Tiamat enters the battlefield, you can search up another five dragons and add them to your hand if you cast it. That way, even if this God dies, you still have all the tools you need to close out the game.
Tiamat’s tutoring abilities and access to all colors of mana have made it a staple of Dragon Tribal decks.
On EDHREC, it’s the 218th most popular Commander creature, and that’s not counting how many other WUBRG decks run it in the 99 too.
3. Valki, God of Lies // Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor
Few Gods have been as influential as Valki, God of Lies.
Valki is, after all, the only God so far to cause a rules update. It is that busted. And here’s how. See, regardless of what Valki does, it only costs two mana, the lowest of any God.
As such, you can cascade into it with Shardless Agent or Bloodbraid Elf. However, instead of casting Valki off the cascade, you cast Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor.
A seven mana planeswalker on turn three can utterly unbalance a game, hence the rules update. You can no longer do this, but both Valki and Tibalt are still great cards that cause havoc with an opponent’s game plan.
Valki’s flagship deck, Sultai Yorion Ultimatum, dominated the Strixhaven and Kaldheim Championships, picking up a total of three to 8s, including a 2nd place.
4. Erebos, God of the Dead
Erebos, God of the Dead, remains one of the best mono-black Gods of all time, and for a good reason.
Even when it isn’t a creature, Erebos is still an indestructible enchantment that can draw you a card for only two mana and two life. Talk about advantage.
If your devotion to black is high, though, then Erebos transforms into a 5/7 creature. With stats like that, its second ability shines. Your opponents can’t gain life. And they probably can’t get rid of Erebos either.
A cornerstone of the infamous Theros Standard’s Devotion to Black deck, Erebos was used in the winning decks for Grand Prix Louisville 2013 and Grand Prix Alberquerque 2013. It picked up a Pro Tour top 8 that year too.
5. Thassa, God of the Sea
One of the most aggressively costed God creatures ever, Thassa, God of the Sea, does everything a blue deck wants to do.
Not only does it scry one at the beginning of your upkeep, but you can also pay two mana to make any creature unblockable until the end of turn.
This combination of abilities makes for a strong enchantment even without Thassa’s devotion trigger. When your devotion to blue is five or higher, Thassa becomes a 5/5 creature. And yeah, you can target it with its ability.
Thassa’s low casting cost and extraordinary abilities meant it saw immediate professional-tier play.
It picked up three top 8s at Pro Tour Theros, including first and second-place decks.
6. Hazoret the Fervent
Hazoret the Fervent is the perfect aggressive God.
For four mana, you get a 5/4 creature with indestructible, haste, and an ability to deal direct damage to the opponent.
And while some of the Amonkhet Gods had restrictive conditions to let them attack or block, Hazoret did not.
It can only attack when you have one or fewer cards in hand. And its ability enables you to discard your excess cards anyway. And because it’s in red, there are loads of rewards to discarding cards too.
Of course, a God card like Hazoret had to impact the competitive scene. It saw use in the decks that won Pro Tour Dominaria, Pro Tour Hour of Devastation, the 2017 World Magic Cup, and Worlds 2018!
7. Purphoros, God of the Forge
Red likes playing creatures and dealing direct damage to the opponent.
If you want that too, Purphoros, God of the Forge, is your Magic God of choice. Because whenever you play a creature, Purphoros hits each opponent for two damage.
Purphoros can pump your creatures too. For three mana, they all get +1/+0 until the end of turn. This mass firebreathing is a great way to spend excess mana, and Purphoros’ own 6/5 stats are no joke either.
With its creature-focused abilities and rewarding gameplay, it’s unsurprising that this version of Purphoros is a famous Commander (208th on EDHREC). It’s seen play in a top 8 Pro Tour deck also.
8. Klothys, God of Destiny
Few Gods are as versatile as Klothys, God of Destiny, giving you graveyard hate, ramp, life gain, and direct damage – all for the low cost of three mana!
And, like all the Theros Gods, if your devotion is high enough, Klothys also turns into a creature. While a 4/5 isn’t incredible, it’s more than enough for Klothys’s low casting cost and aggressive abilities.
Since its release in Theros Beyond Death, Klothys has become a staple in both Historic and Commander. It was used in the winning decks of the Kaldheim League and being the 210th most popular deck on EDHREC.
9. Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector’s Shield
Reidane, God of the Worthy, does everything you need in a low-cost mon-white God.
Not only does it have flying and vigilance, but it also punishes your opponents for casting high-cost nonceeature spells. This God also hoses snow lands!
Its flipside is no less impressive. Valkmire, Protector’s Shield is an excellent protection option. It effectively gives you and your entire board Ward 1, and it soaks the first point of damage you or your side takes too.
Due to its creature type and low mana value alongside its versatile suite of abilities, Reidane has been a mainstay of the Winota decks that dominated 2021 Standard.
Because of its similar power in White Weenie decks, it also saw use in one of the top 8 decks of the Magic World Championship XXVII.
10. Pharika, God of Affliction
Pharika, God of Affliction, is an archetypal Golgari bomb with high stats and excellent graveyard synergy.
It lets you pay two mana to exile any card from a graveyard, giving its owner a 1/1 Deathtouch snake in exchange.
Not only is this solid graveyard hate, but Pharika’s indestructible ability also makes it immune to any snakes you end up giving to your opponent. You can also use the ability on yourself, turning your graveyard into an army of annoying creature tokens.
What’s best about Pharika, though, is its constellation synergies. Since the snake tokens are enchantment creatures, you trigger Constellation every time you generate one.
This powerful synergy had Pharika decks taking four of the top 8 spaces of the 2014 World Magic Cup.
