MTG Salvation

See title. There are favorite leaders, then there are favorite second-in-command, even third-in-command. Which legends do you find to be your favored subordinate in deck making?

Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - My go to 2nd/3rd in command when I build any creature deck involving red. I just love the versatility it grants (beyond goblins), allowing red decks to manipulate battlefield and cover its behind with cards of other colors. I use him in all my red, Boros, and Jeskai decks with token generation. The same could be said about The Locust God in any deck with U/R, needless to say the two work wonderfully together.

Haakon, Stromgald Scourge - 2nd-in-command for my Varina deck, to be a zombie, a sac target, and casting Knight/Tribal spells from graveyard (often came from Varina's discard). God-Eternal Oketra and The Scarab God are also powerful allies but they're usually not my tutor target since Haakon can do more control with your own graveyard.

Ephara, God of the Polis - I enjoy creature-based strategies (as you might've noticed) so her ability to bring longevity to war is a treasure.

God-Eternal Kefnet - Leader worthy, but also easily abusable in command zone, so I prefer using him as a 99 in spell focused decks.

The tutoring commanders in your 99 are often overlooked. The thing is that you only need to activate them a couple of times to get value. People think that unless you specifically have millions of cards they can target, they are not good.
Captain Sisay..ba.ba.broken.
Zur the Enchanter is often not thought about as part of your 99 if you didn't end up playing him as your general. Remember you don't actually need that many targets.

I guess Xantcha, Sleeper Agentin Nekusar. I added her quite recently and she has done so much damage and impact on the game the few times she resolved. She does what I want her to do. Take some focus off of me, gets the game going and she can be a 1 for X. One game she did like 30 damage. And she isn't my wincon or anything, she's one in the 99.

EDIT: Otherwise, Sakashima the Impostor that copies Nekusar is pretty darn good!

Invisible Stalker in my Shu Yun, The Silent Tempest.

Daxos of Meletis and Gonti, Lord of Luxury function beautifully to compliment/take over from Merieke Ri Berit if I can't get her out for some reason. If damage needs to be done, Geist of Saint Traft has been stupidly awesome so many times.

If Thraximundar gets too expensive, Gisa and Geralf have a great deal of fun taking over in the interim. If I need a rush job, Sedris, the Traitor King is another fun one.

I really like to use Kefnet the Mindful (edited because the masterpiece version is ugly IMO) and Thassa, God of the Sea in any decks that have blue.

• Ghoulcaller Gisa in my Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder deck. She is able to generate tons of fodder to feed the rest of the deck.
• Pia and Kiran Nalaar in my Bosh, Iron Golem deck. They don't do as much damage, but its still nice to have a way to turn artifacts into damage.
• Phenax, God of Deception in my Oona, Queen of the Fae milling deck. Phenax is an excellent way to mill players out if you don't have Oona out.
• Krenko, Mob Boss in my Wort, Boggart Auntie Goblin deck. Both are cards that can help fill the board with creatures when the deck is going right.
• Ghost Council of Orzhova in my Obzedat, Ghost Council deck for obvious reasons.
• The Locust God in my Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind deck, also for obvious reasons.
• Thrun, the Last Troll in my Uril, the Miststalker enchantress deck. Thrun wears all the same auras and is a fine Plan B if Uril gets killed too many times.
• Lathliss, Dragon Queen in my Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Dragon deck, as the ability to double on on Dragon production is game breaking when left unchecked.
• Crosis, the Purger in my Nicol Bolas discard deck. The ability to do a good impression of Persecute in a deck full of The Rack effects can be amazing.
• Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest in my Ghave, Guru of Spores +1/+1 counter deck. Being able to completely spam the board with counters can get insane with Mazirek running loose.
• Multani, Maro-Sorcerer in my Damia, Sage of Stone Maro deck, mostly because it gets huge once all the card draw kicks in.
• Maelstrom Wanderer in my Riku of Two Reflections deck. Wanderer is just such huge value that it feels like I'm getting free Riku activations.
• The Scarab God in my Varina, Lich Queen Zombies deck. Both generate a lot of tokens and create big armies for little investment.
• Pir, Imaginative Rascal and Reki, the History of Kamigawa are tied for second in command in my Atraxa, Praetors' Voice Superfriends deck, as both are amazing once the Planeswalkers start dropping.

Honestly, I picked my commanders because no one else can do what they can do. I do build in redundancy if I can but is often hard to find in a single card.

Glissa, the traitor - Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Dragonlord Ojutai - err if anything it's one of the decks many Planeswalkers... I guess Vendilion Clique
Deveri, Empyrial tactician - Kangee, Aerie Keeper They do completely different things and Deveri always costs 4
Zirilan of the claw - lol nope no back up is ramp to 14 mana and just keep recasting him.

Patron of the Orochi in my Reki, the History of Kamigawa

I use Haakon, Stromgald Scourge as my backdoor commander in WB canigits. I've got insane amounts of card and board advantage from him recurring Dauntless Bodyguard.

Venser, Shaper Savant - Great for lots of blue decks. Not only can it bounce any permanent of yours or an opponent's, it can also stop spells even if they say 'uncounterable'.
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma - Good for any green deck running big creatures.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - Good in many decks that contain red and etb creatures.
Braids, Conjurer Adept - Show and Tell on a stick. I think it can fit in well in most chaos or theft-focused decks.

Others that are more niche that I use in the 99 of my decks that may not have places in most other decks:
Surrak Dragonclaw - Decent sized body, makes my creatures uncounterable and serves as one of several trample enablers for my Maelstrom Wanderer deck.
Seizan, Perverter of Truth - Helps out my Nekusar deck.
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind - Along with Curiosity and Psychosis Crawler, it is an alternate win-condition of sorts. I can also combine it with Notion Thief if I don't want to kill my opponents with their own cards, though doing so is very situational and I'd only do it if I'm not hurting myself with my own Spiteful Visions.

Krav, the Unredeemed is definitely Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder's VIP. My deck largely consists of three broad spheres of need: card draw, mana production and life gain, in service of my overarching need for sac outlets.

Zetalpa, Primal Dawn tends to be the combat monster that closes out the last opponent in my Gishath, Sun's Avatar Dinosaur deck.

thrasios
daretti pw
ravos

actually, lots and lots

• Multani, Yavimaya’s Avatar in my Nissa build. They do different things but he’s such a tank he either dominates or gives me space to get things together.
• Thalia, Heretic Cathar in Bruna. Sounds weird because I run a few angels, but she helps put me ahead of the curve and keep me there.
• Jin-Gitaxias, Core augur in Dralnu. Often Jin is the lockout I’m after to give me the space to win.
• Meren of Clan Nel Toth in Glissa. She does different things, but close enough to Glissa to keep the wheels on.
• Damia, Sage of Stone in Ur-Dragon. When you run out of dragons she gives you more.
• Thada Adel, acquisitor in Lazav. She’s just strong. She nets you mana and/or controls your opponents tempo.
• Kydele, chosen of Kruphix in Yidris. The mana she can generate is crazy.

Varina doesn’t really have a lieutenant per se. Ghoulcaller Gisa is in there but I haven’t playtested it enough to know if she’s reliable enough to be 2IC. God-Eternal Oketra is in there too, but again, early days. Realistically, the true MVP of Varina's deck is Tombstone Stairwell - that card is bonkers.

Not a legend in the rules, but Grozoth is a legend in my heart, and Jodah, Archmage Eternal was finally the commander to make it happen.

I have no favorite second in command cards per se.
I have some in decks I build (slimefoot in ghave,) but not ever deck has that one creature.

That said, spike weaver has been in every green deck i have run (except my dragon deck)

In my red decks, the secret "commander" is actually: Repercussion.

I misunderstood the question with my first reply.

I suppose Doubling Season is an undercover commander for my Marath, Will of the Wild deck.

Quote from Outcryqq »

I misunderstood the question with my first reply.

I suppose Doubling Season is an undercover commander for my Marath, Will of the Wild deck.

Huh? You answered correctly in your first reply. The topic is talking about LEGENDS who could be your second-in-command/secret commander. Your current reply is actually the one that's a little off.

Shirei, Shizo's Caretakerin my Meren deck. Shirei used to be my commander until Meren was printed and the black half of the deck was all in Shirei. It just made sense to involve a second color since black has certain.... deficiencies.

My Progenitus dredge deck aggressively reanimates Azusa, Lost but Seeking to abuses Life from the Loam

After shirei, shizo's caretaker dies twice, Balthor the Defiled brings him back with friends to kill the table

Damia, Sage of Stone runs 35 1-drop creatures. Honestly, Damia is more of a second-in-command to Gaea's Cradle than actually being the general.

The Ur-Dragon with Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign makes every changeling cost 3 less and minor fact or fiction.

Chromium doesn't have a second in command. He's above needing assistance. Sharuum the Hegemon, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Sheoldred, Whispering One and Thada Adel, Acquisitor all wish they're as cool as him but sadly fall short.

Emrakul, the Promised End in any deck where it can fit and be feasibly castable.