The Best MTG Cards from the Warhammer 40K Commander Decks

Initially released back in 2022, the Warhammer 40K Commander precons marked Magic’s first major step into Universes Beyond. What a step it was, too, bringing nearly 170 all-new cards, many of them bangers, into the game. Now that four years have passed, supply issues are starting to drive the prices on these cards up, but a recently-announced reprint could solve that. When this reprint drops, and the markets shift, these are the best MTG Warhammer 40K cards you’ll want to pick up.

8 | Bloodthirster

While it’s a little expensive at six mana, Bloodthirster is as scary as it sounds once it gets going. As a 6/6 with Flying and Trample, it’s pretty much guaranteed to get in for damage, at which point it can untap and smack the next opponent in line. Paired with Vigilance creatures, or untappers like Reconnaissance, this can result in a huge amount of damage on each of your turns.

As with similar cards like Port RazerPort RazerWhenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, untap each creature you control. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
This creature can't attack a player it has already attacked this turn., Bloodthirster also has several infinite combat combo lines available. If you can keep copying it with something like Rionya, Fire Dancer or Mirage Phalanx, you can bypass that pesky final clause and attack all your opponents infinitely for the win.

With all this potential, Bloodthirster is one of the more popular Warhammer 40K cards in current Commander, showing up in around 63,200 decks. Whether it serves as a great Typal option in Demons-matter decks like Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the VastFlying
Whenever Kaalia attacks an opponent, you may put an Angel, Demon, or Dragon creature card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking that opponent. or a top-end finisher in Aggro lists like Kratos, God of War, this banger has no shortage of homes.

7 | Commissar Severina Raine

With deck slots getting tighter and tighter every year, flexibility is king in the current Commander format. Commissar Severina Raine excels in this department, providing a veritable Swiss Army knife of effects for aggressive Orzhov lists. The attack trigger here is pretty strong on its own, guaranteeing damage from your creatures even if they get blocked. Alongside trigger doublers like Isshin, Two Heavens as One and Firebender Ascension, this can be a legitimate win condition on its own.

Alternatively, Severina is also a very passable sacrifice outlet. Two mana is a steep rate, but getting to cash in your creatures at instant speed is a big deal. This lets you respond to opposing removal for extra value, or trade in your blocked creatures after they’ve already contributed to Severina’s first ability. With top-tier Aristocrats decks like Caesar, Legion’s Emperor and Zurgo Stormrender running the card regularly, Severina is one of the more widespread MTG Warhammer 40K cards, and certainly one of the best.

6 | Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch

Spellslinger decks have plenty of payoff options these days, with bangers like Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier{0}: Add X mana in any combination of {U} and/or {R}, where X is Vivi Ornitier's power. Activate only during your turn and only once each turn.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Vivi Ornitier and it deals 1 damage to each opponent. and Gandalf, Goblins’ BaneGandalf, Goblins’ BaneWhenever you cast a noncreature spell, Gandalf gets +1/+1 until end of turn and deals 1 damage to each opponent. doing a ton of work. Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch is one of the more exciting options in this category, however, largely due to its first ability. One of the major hurdles Spellslinger decks face is running out of cards, and this answers that nicely by grabbing you a spell back every turn, a la Charmbreaker Devils.

Like this Innistrad classic, Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch enables easy infinite turn combos if you can get something like Time WarpTime WarpTarget player takes an extra turn after this one. into your graveyard. As long as you have no other instants or sorceries in there, you’ll get it back at the start of each turn, letting you cast it repeatedly to keep taking turns. This should win you the game by itself thanks to Flamer’s second ability, but even if it doesn’t, it’s not hard to close things out given infinite turns.

Given its versatility and game-ending potential, it’s no surprise that Exalted Flamer sees play in over 50,800 Commander decks at the present count.

5 | Shadow in the Warp

Carrying on the theme of Warhammer cards bundling multiple useful effects into one, Shadow in the Warp brings a unique ramp-and-burn combination to the table. Though it only discounts colorless costs on creatures, getting a two-mana boost for three mana is a pretty great deal. This lets you easily drop six-mana bombs like Ancient Copper Dragon on turn three after a mana dork start, or colorless utility creatures like Metallic Mimic for free.

On top of this, Shadow in the Warp also offers a nice noncreature punisher effect, Shocking each opponent for their first each turn. While this is less brutal than similar effects we’ve seen before, tacking it onto a great ramp effect is excellent. With both effects together, Shadow in the Warp has earned spots all the way up in cEDH, where pricey Commanders like Etali, Primal Conqueror and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers can make excellent use of both sides.

4 | Biotransference

One of the more unique Warhammer 40K cards, and indeed recent MTG cards in general, Biotransference offers a truly game-changing effect. Turning all of your creatures, everywhere, into artifacts unlocks all kinds of synergies, whether it’s getting a mana discount with Foundry Inspector, or expanding your tutor options for cards like Repurposing Bay. It goes especially hard with Goblin Welder, which can sacrifice itself to reanimate any of your fallen creatures with this funky enchantment in play.

As you’d expect from a card like this, Biotransference offers a ton in the combo department as well. There are countless lines available here, whether it’s using Clock of Omens to untap Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter for infinite tokens, or netting infinite mana and death triggers with Summoning Station and Ashnod’s Altar. Factor in its very strong playability as a token generator in fair artifact decks, and Biotransference is a wacky experiment which more than pays off.

3 | Sceptre of Eternal Glory

Given how low Commander curves have gotten lately, mana rocks above the two-mana mark need to do something special to be worth running. Sceptre of Eternal Glory passes this bar handily, essentially serving as a repeatable Black Lotus if you’re packing three lands with the same name. Naturally, this works best in one- and two-color decks, where basics can easily meet this condition, but it still works in three-color lists with enough land-fetching effects.

Once it’s online, Sceptre is about as good as rocks get, providing the acceleration of Thran Dynamo while also fixing your mana as well. This is great for powering out big, pip-intensive Commanders like Valgavoth, Terror Eater, or single-handedly casting engines like NecropotenceNecropotenceSkip your draw step.
Whenever you discard a card, exile that card from your graveyard.
Pay 1 life: Exile the top card of your library face down. Put that card into your hand at the beginning of your next end step.. As with Thran Dynamo there are plenty of infinite mana combos here, too, such as animating Sceptre with Karn, the Great Creator then untapping it repeatedly with Voltaic Construct.

Thanks to its myriad applications and its colorless mana cost, Sceptre of Eternal Glory sees a ton of play in Commander. According to EDHREC data, in fact, it’s the most-played card from Warhammer 40K, appearing in around 69,400 decks overall. Given how easily it outperforms most other big rocks in Magic, I expect this figure will only grow more formidable over time, too.

2 | Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph

Warhammer 40K brought a ton of great new Commanders to the table, and Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph is clearly one of the best. Adding 2 extra damage to every ping you land on a permanent or player is a simple ability, but it’s ripe for exploitation across a range of decks.

First and foremost, Ghyrson Starn is fantastic in most Spellslinger lists. With pingers like Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier{0}: Add X mana in any combination of {U} and/or {R}, where X is Vivi Ornitier's power. Activate only during your turn and only once each turn.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Vivi Ornitier and it deals 1 damage to each opponent. suddenly dealing triple damage, sudden Storm-esque wins are very much possible here. It also greatly improves cards like End the Festivities, which become one-mana, one-sided board wipes with Starn in play. Since Starn itself deals the additional two damage in each case, you can also get funky by equipping it with cards like Basilisk Collar, letting you easily ping down every creature in play and gain a ton of life in the process.

Unsurprisingly, these potent lines have quickly made Ghyrson Starn one of the most popular Commanders in Magic, leading 19,840 decks by the current count. It’s also a popular pick in the 99, with decks like Nekusar, the MindrazerNekusar, the MindrazerAt the beginning of each player's draw step, that player draws an additional card.
Whenever an opponent draws a card, Nekusar deals 1 damage to that player. and Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, ParunThis spell can't be countered.
Flying
Whenever you draw a card, Niv-Mizzet deals 1 damage to any target.
Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, you draw a card. using it heavily. Ghyrson Starn is clearly one of the best MTG Warhammer 40K cards, and perhaps the one most in need of a reprint price-wise.

1 | Marneus Calgar

For the most part, Warhammer 40K had a big impact on regular Commander but did little in cEDH. The big exception is Marneus Calgar, a genuine meta contender in that format from these precons. While it’s a little pricey at five mana, Marneus provides both a draw engine and an infinite mana outlet in the command zone, which gels perfectly with how cEDH plays.

With cEDH staples like Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff, Smothering TitheSmothering TitheWhenever an opponent draws a card, that player may pay {2}. If the player doesn't, you create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color."), and Orcish BowmastersOrcish BowmastersFlash
When this creature enters and whenever an opponent draws a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, this creature deals 1 damage to any target. Then amass Orcs 1. all making tokens, it’s trivial for Marneus to draw you a ton of cards each turn cycle. You can take this even further by running an infinite mana combo, like Forensic Gadgeteer and Basalt Monolith, which lets Marneus make a ton of tokens and draw through your entire deck.

Once you’ve done this, Marneus’s Esper color identity gives it access to Thassa’s OracleThassa’s OracleWhen this creature enters, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is your devotion to blue. Put up to one of them on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If X is greater than or equal to the number of cards in your library, you win the game. (Each {U} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.) for an easy win, and you can run Demonic Consultation and friends to close sooner, too. Add in a ton of play as a regular Commander, too, and Marneus Calgar is the clear best, most impactful MTG card from the Warhammer 40K precons.

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