1. Snapcaster Mage
What can I say about Snapcaster Mage that hasn’t been said already? Well, let me start with its tournament record.
Snappy has a stunning 22 Pro Tour Top 8 finishes, and it is used in 4% of all Commander decks registered on EDHREC.
Of course, a card has to earn its competitive record, and Snapcaster Mage has. When it enters the battlefield, a target instant or sorcery card in your graveyard gains flashback until the end of the turn. The flashback cost is the card’s original casting cost.
Not only that, but Snappy has flash. Whenever you need it, Snapcaster Mage can get back whatever spell you need – counterspells, removal, even combo pieces. Blinking Snappy is one of the easiest ways to dominate a game.
With this fantastic Wizard card, all of your instants and sorceries have their value doubled.
2. Zur the Enchanter
Zur the Enchanter is a Commander that needs no introduction – it’s EDHREC’s 38th most popular Commander, after all, leading over 3400 decks. Still, we should be all on the same page.
Whenever this legendary Wizard attacks, you can cheat an enchantment card from your library into the battlefield, as long as that card has a mana value of three or less. The sheer versatility of this ability is effectively endless.
You can build Zur as everything from a pillow fort to a control deck and have a great chance of victory.
Arguably, though, Zur the Enchanter shines best as a Voltron deck. Since all Auras are enchantments, you can quickly reach lethal damage by cheating Auras onto Zur whenever it attacks.
This strategy is also one of the best ways to utilize Zur’s flying.
3. Drannith Magistrate
Few cards can shut down as many strategies as this Wizard can.
While Drannith Magistrate was initially designed to counter the Partner mechanic, it has seen unprecedented successes in countering everything.
As long as Drannith Magistrate is on the battlefield, your opponents can only cast spells from their hands. This ability singlehandedly shuts down countless archetypes, especially those that rely on the graveyard or exile for their cards.
It’s hard to list other Wizards with such an oppressive effect.
Drannith Magistrate has seen play in over a dozen decks in the Strixhaven Championship, and it’s a Commander staple – 10% of all decks listed on EDHREC include Drannith Magistrate in the 99.
4. Thassa’s Oracle & Laboratory Maniac
Thassa’s Oracle is a Wizard so potent that it was banned in Historic.
Nevertheless, it and its earlier version Laboratory Maniac remain unique and explosive cards that turn the rules of Magic on their head.
Both of these cards let you win the game if you have no cards in your library. And while this ability might seem absurd – you have to mill yourself, basically – these cards’ track record in the professional play says otherwise. Together, Thassa’s Oracle and Laboratory Maniac have earned over ten Top 8s in the highest levels of competitive play.
Even though it might seem contrary, both of these cards have dozens of combos to exploit their abilities.
Self-mill is relatively easy with cards like Demonic Consultation, after all. And even without that, Thassa’s Oracle is still a strong card with its pseudo-scry ability.
5. Niv-Mizzet, Parun
Niv-Mizzet, Parun, does two things, and it does both very well.
Niv-Mizzet deals one damage to a target creature or player whenever you draw a card. And whenever any player casts an instant or sorcery, you draw a card.
These two things have earned the Guilds of Ravnica version of Niv-Mizzet a truly exclusive rank. Its EDHREC’s 18th most popular Commander is responsible for thirteen professional-level Top 8 finishes. All but one of the 2018 World Magic Cup’s Top 8 decks of played this card.
See, Niv-Mizzet’s abilities work together perfectly. You’ll already be casting instants and sorceries since it is in Izzet colors – fitting for the guild’s leader.
Not only does Niv-Mizzet refill your hand for doing so, but it also hits your opponent. And when they cast spells of their own, they still take damage!
6. Goblin Electromancer
Goblin Electromancer is a favorite of spell-heavy decks, the ideal Wizard when instants and sorceries are your favorite cards. It makes them cost one less mana to cast.
While that ability isn’t as impressive as some others on this list at first glance, it doesn’t have to be. Goblin Electromancer’s cost reduction for instants and sorceries has earned three Pro Tour Top 8s.
It’s a simple, subtle ability that lets you cast a second Lightning Bolt on your third turn, or maybe another Ponder.
Goblin Electromancer has also seen dramatic success in Commander. Every Izzet deck appreciates cheaper spells. It’s no surprise that 10% of all EDHREC Commander decks run a copy of this card.
7. Vendilion Clique
Vendilion Clique is one of the most hated Wizards in Magic, and that’s for a good reason.
This creature functions as an instant-speed hand attack stapled onto a three-power blocker. And both of those things are already pretty solid.
See, when Vendilion Clique enters the battlefield, you can look at an opponent’s hand and choose a card. They put that card on the bottom of their library and then draw a card. They can never get the original card back, utterly destroying many strategies.
The ability to do this trick at instant speed seals the deal. Afterward, you also get a 3/1 flying creature, which is great to surprise your opponents.
These characteristics led Vendilion Clique to achieve an impressive eighteen Pro Tour Top 8 finishes.
8. Trinket Mage, Tribute Mage & Trophy Mage
These three Wizards all do the same thing. They’re pretty similar cards otherwise, too.
Trinket Mage, Tribute Mage, and Trophy Mage are all 2/2 blue Wizards for three mana that search your library for an artifact card and put it in your hand.
The difference lies in what mana value of artifacts they can search. Trinket Mage searches for mana value one or less, Tribute Mage for two, and Trophy Mage for three only. And while these abilities might seem restrictive, they’re incredible if you know what you need.
Professionals have used these cards in four Pro Tour Top 8 decks and seventeen Grand Prix Top 8 decks.
They’re played in over 55000 Commander decks on EDHREC as well.
9. Aven Mindcensor
A perfect Wizard for control players, Aven Mindcensor, limits your opponents to searching only the top four cards of their library.
It’s almost easier to list what Aven Mindcensor doesn’t shut down – tutors, cheating cards into play, and fetchlands are all made useless with this ability.
Aven Mindcensor’s power can be seen in its three Pro Tour Top 8 finishes, plus being used in 9% of all EDHREC Commander decks. And while art doesn’t make a card any better, the Amonkhet Invocations alternate art for Aven Mindcensor is genuinely some of the best in the game.
Not only that, but Aven Mindcensor has flash, too, so that you can cast it like a counterspell.
When played this way, Aven Mindcensor doesn’t just limit your opponent searching their library, but it also nullifies their turn too.
10. Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy // Jace, Telepath Unbound
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy, first seems like a simple, underwhelming Wizard.
It’s two mana for a 0/2 that taps to draw a card, then discard a card. However, if you have more than five cards in your graveyard, Jace can transform.
And while Vryn’s prodigy isn’t remarkable Jace, Telepath Unbound certainly is. This potent planeswalker can lower your opponent’s creatures’ power and let you cast instants and sorceries from your graveyard. His ultimate gives you an emblem that mills an opponent every time you play a spell. Not too bad for a 0/2.
Since getting five cards in your graveyard is effortless, you can always get the Telepath Unbound out.
No wonder this version of Jace has a nearly unrivaled competitive track record – the card saw over thirty-five Top 8 finishes in Pro Tours and World Championships.
