Best Group Hug Commanders – MTG

While Magic: The Gathering is a game that is often played one-on-one, the largely popular Commander format is meant to be played with up to four people. For this reason, Commander is home to a unique deck archetype that can’t be found in any other format: Group Hug.

Group Hug decks look to garner favor with other players by offering them helpful effects and bribes, incentivizing your opponents to attack each other instead of you. While some see them as a way of speeding up games and ‘kingmaking’, group hug can be a particularly sneaky archetype that keeps you out of the spotlight until it’s your time to finally win.

Updated on October 16, 2024 by Joe Parlock: Bloomburrow gave us a renewed interest in Group Hug, thanks to both Ms. Bumbleflower and the gift mechanic finding ways to treat your opponent. Group Hug is better than ever, so perhaps pick one of these for your next Commander deck?

19 Angus Mackenzie

I’ll Save You, You Save Me

Thanks to being on the reserved list, Angus Mackenzie may cost a pretty penny, but its ability is definitely a fun one.

For the cost of a green, a white, and a blue, you can tap Angus to prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. This is a repeatable effect that can lock an opponent out of dealing combat damage for the entirety of the game. While not immediately obvious as a group hug commander, being able to tactically save your opponents from combat damage could set you up for some highly political plays.

18 Shizuko, Caller Of Autumn

GIve Everyone A Bit More Mana

Printed in Betrayers of Kamigawa, Shizuko, Caller of Autumn is an efficient option for a mono-green Group Hug commander, notably providing each player with additional mana to spend during their turns, by adding three green at the beginning of each player’s upkeep.

This mana doesn’t empty from your pool between the phases of your turn.

While this effect was designed at a time in which mana burn was still a rule of Magic, causing unspent mana to deal damage to its owner, but now it’s quite helpful for those looking to access political bargaining chips in the midst of Commander games. As this mana is green, a Shizuko deck may include spells that allow you to benefit from it more than opponents, such as Helix Pinnacle.

17 Cirdan, The Shipwright

Diplomacy In Action

Voting is an incredibly underrated mechanic in Commander. While we’ve had some commanders like Davros and Tivit make use of it, Cirdan from the Lord of the Rings Elf Commander deck uses diplomacy to give your opponents lots of treats.

Everyone who gets voted for draws a card, which is neat. But everyone who doesn’t gets to put a permanent into play for free, which is even better. By rigging the vote you can make sure you keep ahead in true political fashion.

16 Xyris, The Writhing Storm

I’ve Had It All These Mother-Loving Snakes In This Mother-Loving Pod

Being hit by a commander is never fun, but at least Xyris turns its combat damage into both yourself and the opponent you hit. Landing hits is even easier thanks to having flying too, so you can force an opponent to collude with you whether they’d like to block it or not. This trigger is great for political negotiations as you’re capable of filling any opponent’s hand with three new cards.

Additionally, Xyris provides you with 1/1 Snake tokens every time an opponent draws a card outside of their draw step. This combos nicely with Xyris’ combat trigger. More importantly though, it punishes your opponents for greedily drawing cards. Commander games are often home to a lot of card draw outside of your regular draw step, so you’ll quickly be drowning in Snakes.

15 Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist

Suddenly, Salamanders

Group Hug might be about sharing the love, but it’s also all about encouraging opponents to attack each other, and Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist is perfect for it. He uniquely provides both you and permanents you control with protection from Salamanders. While this may seem rather niche due to Salamanders being an incredibly rare creature type, at the beginning of your end step, each player who controls the least number of creatures creates a 4/3 Salamander token.

Not only does this assist players who are falling behind in the game to garner political favour, Gor Muldrak provides you and your permanents with protection from these tokens, so opponents have little to no incentive to attack you with them. In other words, you’re giving your opponents big sticks to hit each other with while you wear a suit of armour.

14 Ian Malcolm, Chaotician

Chaos, Er, Finds A Way

Chaos is a controversial deck archetype in Commander, as people generally don’t like having their cards jumbled up and handed to other players. If you don’t care about that, though, Ian Malcolm, Chaotician is a hilarious way to get people to play each others’ cards for them.

If someone tries to draw too many cards, they have to exile a card off the top of their library. This then forms a big pot that any player can dip into, provided they only cast exiled cards they don’t own. Pinching someone’s Cyclonic Rift or Omniscience for your own needs is the definition of chaos.

13 Seizan, Perverter Of Truth

Drawing The Game To A Close

While mono-black decks are typically not associated with the Group Hug archetype, Seizan, Perverter of Truth is a Demon Spirit capable of benefiting every player by letting them draw two extra cards in their upkeep. The downside is that they also lose two life for the pleasure.

While this effect does deal damage to everyone, the card advantage benefit Seizan provides outweighs its life costs. Even moreso, you can throw down a Sheoldred, The Apocalypse to turn the two cards they draw into even more damage. Does it still count as group hug? Probably not, but it’s effective.

12 Mathas, Fiend Seeker

Let Them Fight Among Themselves

Mathas is a Vampire that allows for fun and unique negotiations in a game, urging players to work together so that they might all benefit from a reward by throwing bounty counters onto creatures. When that creature dies, every player but its controller draws two cards and gains two life.

Mathas forces your opponents to work together if they want that tasty card draw, by picking off the creatures you put targets on. And seeing as you can’t put the counters on anything you control, you’ll always be benefitting too, which is the main thing.

11 Karona, False God

We’d Still Worship This Love

While most group hug decks like to give your opponents easier ways to access their own resources, Karona goes a step further by giving them your commander as well. If anyone is playing a kindred deck, they’re going to absolutely love you.

Karona is an Avatar, so if you want to swing out with an 8/8, name Avatar as the type.

On attack, the controller of Karona can pick a creature type to give every one of those creatures +3/+3 until the end of the turn. You’ll need to stock up on ways to protect yourself, but in WUBRG you’ve got everything from Ghostly Prison to Angus MacKenzie to work with.

10 Gluntch, The Bestower

It’s Time For Gluntch

Aside from just being fun to say (Gluntch), Gluntch forces you to spread love across the table by picking three different players and giving them two +1/+1 counters, a card, and two Treasure tokens respectively. Of course, one of those players could be you, giving you an erasy way to both get yourself ahead and curry the favour of everyone else at the table.

Gluntch is a tricky commander to build around, because there’s no outright downside to anything you give your opponents like in a lot of others. Nils, Discipline Enforcer can stop anything you’ve buffed with counters from attacking you, but mostly your goal will be trying to outpace the table with carefully chosen benefits for yourself.

9 Zedruu, The Greathearted

Share And Share Alike

Similar to Karona, Zedruu, the Greathearted is a Commander that allows you to provide your opponents access to your cards. While Karona is put under the control of opponents, Zedruu allows you to gift any permanent you control to other players.

This ability not only helps the player who received said gift, but you as well. At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain an amount of life and draw a number of cards equal to the number of permanents you own that are under your opponents’ control. Presents for everyone!

8 Kwain, Itinerant Meddler

Don’t Think About It, Just Draw

Easily the most efficient entry on this list, Kwain, Itinerant Meddler is a commander that can be cast for the low cost of two mana. A 1/3 Rabbit Wizard, Kwain is a chunky enough Rabbit to block early threats, but his real ability is tapping to allow each player to draw a card, gaining one life if they do.

Comparable to having the likes of a Howling Mine or a Temple Bell in the Command Zone, Kwain can affordably provide you with consistent additional card draw while helping other players in the process.

7 Edric, Spymaster Of Trest

Punishes People Who Roll Dice To Pick Who To Attack

It’s no secret that Simic (blue/green) decks are quite powerful within the Commander format, having access to powerful card draw and mana ramp alike. Edric, Spymaster of Trest is a simple yet scary option, offering a stellar universal benefit while incentivizing opponents to attack each other.

Whenever a creature deals combat damage to one of your opponents, the controller of that creature draws a card. This not only allows you to easily draw many additional cards, but it encourages opponents to make all-out attacks at each other in the name of card draw.

6 Selvala, Explorer Returned

I Have Come To Parley

Selvala is great for anyone who wants the better end of their Group Hug bargain. This Elf Scout can parley by tapping Selvala, forcing each player to reveal the top card of their library. This trigger provides you with a good bit of hand and deck information on its own, but it gets better.

Every nonland card revealed this way provides you with one green mana and one life. Then, every player draws a card. While Selvala does fit the Group Hug criteria by providing all players at the table with card draw, the benefits she provides you far outweigh her functions as a Group Hug Commander. Let’s just hope the other players at the table don’t realize that too quickly.

5 Braids, Conjurer Adept

Cheat Out Permanents For Free

While many commanders offer each player the same beneficial effect, the universal benefit offered by Braids, Conjurer Adept isn’t quite as fair. Decks featuring large creatures and artifacts in particular will find Braids extremely helpful while decks stocked with smaller creatures will feel left out. Braids lets each player put a creature, artifact, or land straight onto the battlefield during their upkeep.

This means that, each turn, each player will often be able to cheat the most impactful and mana-intensive cards directly into play. Ideally, Braids decks are constructed with this in mind, containing a plethora of high-value cards so that you benefit from this effect more than your opponents.

4 Phelddagrif

The GOAT. Or Hippo.

A card synonymous with the Group Hug archetype, Phelddagrif was printed all the way back in 1996. This legend has three activated abilities, each usable at the cost of one white, one blue, or one green mana respectively, that can provide this creature with different keywords and benefits while also giving opponents helpful effects.

As these abilities can be activated several times, a player can effectively use Phelddagrif to convert their mana into benefits for their opponents. Options include offering lifegain, card draw, and 1/1 green Hippo tokens. While this may seem like a detriment to yourself, cards like Reins of Power and Reverse the Sands can allow you to leverage these gifts against your opponents.

3 Kynaios And Tiro Of Meletis

We Built This City On Draw And Ramp

A four-color Commander with every color in its color identity save for black, Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis simultaneously offers card draw and mana acceleration. At the end of your turn, Kynaios and Tiro allows each player the ability to either draw a card or put a land from their hand into play.

However, while your opponents choose between an additional land in play or an additional card in their hand, you have access to both benefits. It’s also worth noting that you get to draw before the second part of the card triggers, meaning any land you find off the top of your library can be put directly into play.

2 Kenrith, The Returned King

Kenrith’s Good At Everything

Kenrith is a WUBRG commander that is good for just about any deck, but it was primarily designed as a group hug card. A white 5/5 Human Noble, Kenrith comes with five activated abilities, each for the five corresponding colors of mana that offer Kenrith a significant degree of flexibility.

While its red ability can provide a creature with trample and haste for one mana, its green ability can provide +1/+1 counters for two mana, and its white ability can gain a player five life for three mana. Additionally, its blue ability can draw a card for four mana and its black ability can return a creature from a graveyard to the battlefield under its owner’s control for five mana. With such a flexible suite of abilities, Kenrith is easily the most multifarious and adaptable commander on this list, able to help both its owner and other players. Hail to the King.

1 Ms. Bumbleflower

Cute But Cruel

The face of one of Bloomburrow’s Commander decks, Ms. Bumbleflower is perhaps the commander that best represents the dichotomy of group hug. Fluffy and friendly on the surface, with her plate of delicious treats, she can put counters on things and let people draw cards. It’s a lovely time for all.

Except Ms. Bumbleflower is secretly a fiend not to be trifled with. Your opponents will be too busy drawing cards and casting spells to notice Forgotten Ancient or Chasm Skulker growing so large, and with blue and white available you can quietly build up pillow fort tools like Propaganda and Ghostly Prison.

Before you know it, she’s swinging out with +100/+100 Hydras and Horrors, and you only have yourself to blame.