Hello awesome Commander fans! This is the year of the Dragon and I just did my Top Ten Spirits of All Time for Commander so I thought that I would combine them to rank all Dragon Spirits that have ever been printed as legendaries for the Commander format! There are precisely 13, my normal Top Ten List plus my normal three Honorable Mentions!!

Honorable Mention #1. (#13. Overall) - Jugan, the Rising Star

This color wheel breaking six-drop 5/5 flyer in Green has a death trigger to send out five +1/+1 counters as you choose. Sure, giving flying to Green can feel weird and thus make this powerful, but it was always the weakest of the first five from way back when they were introduced since death triggers with +1/+1 counters, while useful, aren't exactly game breaking. For example, if this died in a Wrath effect, there might not be anything left to toss on. If there were just this and it died to Chainer's Edict, then you also wouldn't have anything left either. And then just adding to the kill wasn't exactly dominant in Commander or multiplayer ever, and that triple cost is hard to cast in multicolor decks. That's why Jugan is still the worst one in today's metagame of this ubercycle.

Honorable Mention #2. (#12. Overall) - Ao, the Dawn Sky

This five-drop flying vigilance 5/4 Serra Angel cost and abilities is next. It can swing and hold back for blocking and is a Commander for that purposes and can kill fast with 5 power in Commander damage. When Ao dies, you have two options. You can dig seven and drop, for free, up to four mana of nonlands. Great card free stuff, but limited in size! Then you can toss counters too, just like Jugan, but on everything. That first ability is quite strong with cheap stuff or aggro decks, but it's not as much of a rattlesnake effect like your other ones in this cycle, hence it hitting back here.

Honorable Mention #3. (#11. Overall) - Kairi, the Swirling Sky

Our final Honorable Mention is this six-drop 6/6 Dragon with flying and ward 3 to protect it a bit here and there. Then it has two death triggers to either bounce (nonland) equal to its mana value or mill six and then recur two instants/sorceries from your graveyard like a fancy Mnemonic Wall. So that's bounce that's tempo or card draw of two if you have it, so that's recursion and card draw, so Kairi works well with instant/sorcery matters like Spellslinger, Cantrips, Wheels, or self-mill decks, although they are pricey and hard to pull off, hence hitting our Honorable Mention spot. Also, the ward can work against what you want since you often want people to kill these with a Murder to trigger.

#10. Ryusei, the Falling Star

Ryusei can be a weird option, being very weak or very strong based on the board state. This six mana nets you a 5/5 flyer with no other abilities like vigilance. Then the death trigger will shoot all grounded dorks for five damage killing most. That's nasty good in a deck with flyers and alongside sweepers like Earthquake already or Gruul with Silklash Spider or Hurricane to sweep the sky too. It's very good in all of the cool places! What makes this bad is that it can sweep the battlefield there are times where you might not want to drop it since you'd lose your army but not your foes.

Many players run flyers naturally, so it needs the right brew to work or the right battlefield. But if someone is about to lose out, they won't be attacking into Ryusei and you can get great value from it. The power is strong here!

#9. Yosei, the Morning Star

Ah yes, Yosei, who got a lot of play in Standard when legal as a powerhouse 5/5 flyer to finish with the death trigger to tap up to five things and force someone to skip their next untap step. This is unfair since you can do it when someone expects to untap and tapped out, or otherwise, and while it was strong in Standard, it's downright bonkers in multiplayer since you can tap someone one out and then everyone will attack that person in rounds of attacks and untap prior to that player and keep untapped for blocking or end someone's life. It's like a less powerful Sleep. But there are two issues here - first White doesn't sacrifice so you cannot sacrifice to Greater Good, Goblin Bombardment or Viscera Seer. Secondly, there are spells that are better like the cheaper Sleep. And then a six-drop that doesn't kill, just slows, and only for a turn, doesn't really hold up any more as this beacon of power that it used to be.

#8. Atsushi, the Blazing Sky

Hello Red and Treasure fans! Wow, do I have a fun four-drop 4/4 on curve with flying and trample - double evasion. This legendary dork has two death triggers - make three Treasures so one less than he cost, or Impulse dig and cast two from your library for your next turn - so card draw or ramp. Either works well, and he is strong in all of the decks. The only issue that he has one of the weakest death triggers that no one plays around, so it's good, in every deck, but not great. And hence him hitting the roughly middle 8 spot.

#7. Kura, the Boundless Sky

In my opinion, Kura is the second best of the new cycle of mono-colored legendary Dragon Spirits. They cost a reasonable five mana for a 4/4 with flying and deathtouch. Remember that the death triggers on this group want to keep people from blocking, attacking you, or killing them with Murders. So adding deathtouch to a flyer for a reasonable cost will also stop bigger things like Consecrated Sphinx or Shivan Dragon size things from swinging your way or blocking when you swing. Then Kura's two death triggers are Ley of the Land for three lands of any type, not just basics, or make an X/X token where that's your land count. Either way, that's very strong in land matters, ramp, landfall, and loads more archetypes. You can get all three Urzatron lands for example, or in Golgari Urborg and Coffers. Or with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Gaea's Cradle. See how powerful Kura is? I hope so too!

#6. Kyodai, Soul of Kamigawa

Our lowest scoring multi-colored leader is this four-drop White but all color identity dork, with flash, flying, a 3/3 body, and then when it ETBs you can save another permanent by giving it indestructible, so it's a combat trick to save your thing from dying in combat, removal, or burn. Then you can spend one of each mana to pump it by 5 too. So, it can be a fast Commander Damage Win Con with flying, but need loads of mana of the right type to make that work. Five Color legendaries are always super popular, and Kyodai is no exception.

Ready for the Top Five?

#5. Junji, the Midnight Sky

Welcome to the Top Five! Junji is my top in the new cycle! Costing an on-curve five mana for a strong 5/5 flying menace body with double evasion to slip through. It's hard to keep up two untapped reach/flyers to effectively block a 5-powered dork, so his body and evasion are the best right there before considering his death trigger which will Unnerve your foes and lose life so that's a win con tethered to mass card disadvantage. Or you can Zombify a non-Dragon and lose two life yourself. You can also grab a dork from an opposing graveyard too, by the by. Because of just how flexible and powerful Junji can be, they are my favorite of that cycle and one of the best overall!

#4. Keiga, the Tide Star

Just like Yosei, Keiga dominated Standard with Meloku, the Clouded Mirror. This 5/5 is awesome! When it dies, you steal a dork so that's a swing of the board position that no one wants to mess with, and in a 20-life format duel like Standard you'd have to kill Keiga and then kill your own thing and lose cards, or wait until after killing Keiga to drop your stuff. Then in multiplayer Keiga's power dials up massively since you can steal the best thing from any player, not just who killed it. That means you are much more likely to grab something good! And you can play politics here and team up with a foe to kill your Keiga to grab something your foes cannot kill that is about to win the game. Keiga is splashable, too, by the by, and my second highest charting mono-colored one here!

#3. O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami

Our other five color option! This six-drop has an on curve double evasion trample and flying. Then it has a combat damage trigger, easy to do with both evasions since few can block and not take that damage, like Silklash Spider or Akroma, Angel of Vengeance or Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Many things like Fog Bank, Mulldrifter or five-toughness blockers like Dragons.

Some would stop, but no one would want to lose like Consecrated Sphinx. Then your foes damaged will lose a nonland permanent that's exiled forever gone that you choose. But, only if they attacked you. That's a massive keep away sign since no one will attack you and lose a key permanent that cannot be recurred, they'll just attack elsewhere.

#2. Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm

This six-drop, Temur colored Dragon Spirit is our top multicolored dork and second highest-hitting overall! It's got flying and ward 2 to protect it here and there. Then when another (nontoken) Dragon ETBs, you make a token copy of it that's not legendary, and then note that it sticks around and doesn't have haste either. It's different traditional Red colored copy stuff like this. Because Dragons are the most popular creature type played and since is three colors, it's very good as a Commander. But's not #1. Nothing else could be!

#1. Kokusho, the Evening Star

Nothing on this cycle has dominated casual play like multiplayer or Commander as much as "Koko." It was so good that it was banned in Commander for a good long time! Let's look at why!

This six-drop 5/5 has flying and a simple death trigger. When it dies, everyone else loses five life. But you gain life equal to the total amount drained, not five. So, the more foes you're playing against, the more life you'll gain! Nasty! And then this is a win con that no one wants to kill, since many will die, and you can loop it with Clones to kill and gain that life now. Then this thing will shut down all attacks that would kill it since it's a huge rattlesnake to things like Shivan Dragon. You can kill it yourself instantly with sacrifice stuff like Viscera Seer or Goblin Bombardment or instants like Village Rites to save yourself from damage or in response to exiling removal that would avoid this thing's game winner. It's just so dominant from start to finish!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my rankings!