Hello awesome multiplayer afficionados! Wow do I have the Top Ten for you today!

One of the most popular multiplayer-focused mechanics is goad, which applies an effect to a goaded creature. The creature goaded must attack, but it can't attack you or your planeswalkers. This ability is beloved in multiplayer formats like Commander. There are 50 goad cards in print, and we'll look at my favorites in this list!

Honorable Mention #1 (#14 Overall) - Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant

Welcome to our first entry in today's list, a Rakdos colored legendary dork to lead your Commander deck. When you attack a player with anything, not just Karazikar, you will tap one dork to swing past and it's goaded so it'll tap and attack next turn. It's a free goad and a trigger if you attack multiple players. Drop it on your fourth turn with a mana rock and then swing and get the triggers. Then when your foes attack each other, they draw a card and lose a life, and you do the same, so that's card flow for each of you. See how strong this fun thing can be leading a deck with goad to force the attacks or Group Hug to make them want to or Pillow Fort to strongly suggest it? I hope so!

Honorable Mention #2 (#13 Overall) - Kitt Kanto, Mayhem Diva

Also from a Commander product is Kitt this Naya legendary Commander eligible leader. Kitt is a four-drop 3/3 so a bit behind the curve in size for those colors, but has two abilities. The first is a fun enters-the-battlefield (ETB) ability to make a 1/1 dork, which is good for the size and in the color of token enablers like Doubling Season to push that around. Then you'll want to make tokens since her tap ability on each player's upkeep will tap two of your dorks, yours too. One creature will gain in size by two power and toughness and then it gets trample to smash and goad for being forced to attack elsewhere. Goad on your stuff does nothing. That will make Kitt a 5/5 trampler, and is in the color of haste in red, so you can drop her, make two 1/s with a token doubler, have haste with something like Fires of Yavimaya, tap the tokens to pump her to a 5/5, and smash for 5 Commander Damage out of nowhere. Then you can tap other token dorks on future turns to pump and trample and goad too. Love Kitt's power leading a deck loads and in just two dorks I've done red twice and every color but Blue, but we'll get to Blue soon enough before this Top Ten is over! It's next...sorta...

Honorable Mention #3 (#12 Overall) - The Impetus Cycle

Ah yes, the cycle of Auras that give size boosts and attack triggers and goad! Let's turn to them in alphabetical order! Martial Impetus costs three, gives the dork a +/+1 in size and then when it swings the other attackers (attacking your foe) get a +1/+1 boost in size. Goad makes this playable. The Parasitic Impetus costs three too, but gets twice the size in power and toughness boosts. This is played loads more since when it swings, the controller loses two life and you gain it, so it's a win-con.

Predatory Impetus costs two more at five total. It gives a beefy +3/+3 size and plays with combat math since if must be blocked. But it lacks an attack trigger. Psychic Impetus is back to three mana and a +2/+2 boost and you scry 2 when it attacks.

Last is the most played Impetus, the Red one. Shiny Impetus gives the expected +2/+2 boost and then the attack trigger is to make a Treasure. Treasures Matter is the second most played archetype in Commander according to EDHREC.com and then regular artifacts are first. You can ramp, sacrifice to a Goblin Welder or bargain ability, and loads more! It's pretty strong in all of its forms. What red legendary creature is our final spot before the Top Ten begins?

Honorable Mention #4 (#11 Overall) - Kaima, the Fractured Calm

Another goad leader printed in a Made for Commander set! This Gruul 3/3 has just one ability, triggered, in your end step. You goad every creature your foe's control if they are enchanted by your Aura. See how cool this thing builds? Auras are a pretty popular archetype in Commander at #10. So, this is sort of a reverse Aura where you put positive ones them on your foes to pump them up and then swing at each other, not you, like in color Rancor or Colossification or evasive and recursive Dragon Fangs. Love this things unique play and goading loads. Then we have another red card cracking my Top Ten making five in a row, but what?

#10. Komainu Battle Armor

Everyone's favorite Equipment Dog! When this three-mana 2/2 base deals combat damage to a player? All creatures they control are goaded. Note that this is recursive. As long as you are able to smash face, they are goaded. It's "equip" is four mana, a bit high. I love it on a red colored Commander that has another form of evasion, like flying, such as Rith, the Awakener that's flying and wants to deal combat damage to a player as well, so it has the infrastructure like Rogue's Passage there too. Flying + menace means they need two flyers and/or reachers to block which at a multiplayer table not everyone can do. I also love this synergy in loads of places, and as an equippable dork, when your equipped dork is answered, you can swing with this. Love this thing's power level in your stuff loads! We'll move into a Blue card that's legendary and not part of a cycle next.

#9. Kros, Defense Contractor

Our first non-Red spot! Another one made for the Commander format from their decks this is a smaller four drop Bant colored 2/4. Kros gives you two abilities. The first is an upkeep. You put a shield counter to protect once an opposing creature. Note that you have to target it, so shroud, protection, hexproof will stop that. Then when you put counters on opposing stuff, tap it and then goad it and it gets trample until your next turn for a full round of pounding. Nasty and I love how it's in Simic the color of putting +1/+1 counters on things so you can manipulate them around for goads and taps and trampling fun times to commence! It's very strong at the fun stuff!

#8. Grenzo, Havoc Raiser

I love me some Grenzo getting dropped on the second turn from your Command Zone! Note that he is not from a Commander set or deck. This 2/2 Grizzly Bear has two combat damage triggers, both of which are strong. The first is to goad a creature who you smashed. Just one, unlike the Battle Armor. But, unlike that, this is Command Zone eligible and has another trigger option hence it hits higher. You can exile the top card of the damaged player's library and cast it with your red or colorless mana your Mono-Red Commander deck built around Grenzo can run.

I love this in the 99 of aggro decks like Boros Aggro, or goad brews that want to force attacks like the first one for triggers, or cast from exile triggers like Rakdos's Prosper, Tome-Bound or well, you can see the synergies, card flow and forced attacks this little boy can do and he drops before real counters are on line or are immune to them like Swan Song or Negate or An Offer You Can't Refuse. He's also a great second-turn Goblin in a Krenko deck. He's an ideal two-drop in multiplayer that plays havoc with the board state. Next is a another Red legendary dork to run your team from!

#7. Firkraag, Cunning Instigator

Welcome back to Blue and red again too, by the by. This five drop Izzet colored 3/3 Dragon with haste and flying has two more abilities. When you swing with a Dragon at someone, you get a free goad. Unlike other goads in combat, this is not combat damage, but just when it swings. You'll want to increase your Dragon count to ensure that happens with each foe, and note that this is just once per attack no matter how many attack. Then we have the combat damage trigger for any creature that was goaded for smashing another foe. You draw a card, and this grows in size permanently by +1/+1 with a counter. It's very strong at playing havoc with stuff! Love Firkraag loads leading a fun Izzet colored goad brew with Dragons. You will want to add cards to help make them unblockable like Rogue's Passage to get the card flow and player kill. This is a great way to hit our halfway point in 14 cards! Next, just hitting outside of our top five is another group of cards that are in the same genre like the Impetus cycle above but what?

#6. Sorceries that Goad Many Things

Here are the three one shot effects that goad many things to, er...Disrupt that Decorum. That is in my Commander Cube, and is the most iconic and first printed of this trio since it costs just four mana, is mono-red in identity, and then goads everything you don't control. Nasty stuff. The Confluence costs a massive six mana and three in colors, but you can goad one player's stuff three times, so it's Disrupt Decorum in a four player game, or you can use it as removal of a -3/-3 nature up to three times, which will kill indestructible stuff and not exile them so you can recur them later or you can Regrowth a sorcery/instant up to three times. So it's much more flexible, but the extra cost in mana and colors makes it rougher and in a game with more than four players it's weaker since you can only goad three others out there if you just want a Decorum.

The Showdown costs just two to work on one dork,and then a massive seven mana to overload and heavy in that R mana. Then a target dork gets a double strike counter to perma-grow and then goad. Your stuff gets the counters too, so that's nice. Great way to end things but, again, quite the costly thing. These were all printed in Commander Deck brews, by the by. Hitting our Top Five is an uncommon, but which one?

#5. Bloodthirsty Blade

Our only colorless card in today's countdown! This is two to drop, one mana to "equip" to a foe's dork at sorcery speed and it nets +2 power and it's goaded permanently. It's just one dork goaded, but you never have to do anything else, it's permanently goaded and then you also get a power boost too. I love this on opposing Commanders to kill fast with Commander Damage getting swung with two power boosts, also note that Rogue's Passage works here too to ensure it cannot be blocked.

Since its colorless it can make any Commander Deck no matter its color identity or lack thereof, and it fits into equipment decks as well. I also love it in political decks where you are playing havoc with stuff or in Pollow Fort to encourage your foes to swing at each other behind Ghostly Prison effects, or with goad and other forced combat Commanders like Firkraag. It's in my real-life reverse Voltron Xantcha, Sleeper Agent. Just like Shiny Impetus this is a Commander Classic and is in a strong 27,300 decks. Next up is another red card!

#4. Bothersome Quasit

Our penultimate scoring Red card and highest scoring non-legendary dork is this mono-Red three-drop on curve 3/2 with evasion in menace. Then you have two abilities. The first is permanent - your opposing goaded stuff can never block as long as you control the Demon. It's also got a strong triggered ability. When you cast a non-creature spell of any sort, you get a free goad on an opposing dork.

This is great in Red-centered Spellslinger Brews that cast instant and sorceries to trigger things like Young Pyromancer and Guttersnipe like Izzet, Boros or Jeskai. I really like this alongside the token making triggers like the Pyromancer, Talrand, Sky Summoner, Third Path Iconoclast and Monastery Mentor since you can ensure they get their attacks in through defenses by goading potential blockers and then forcing them to attack others for another round of attacks. This Demon is very strong, and since it's in one color, it's easy to slide into red decks with any color combo. It's all Commanders from here! Hitting my three-spot next is another Blue legendary dork.

The Real #3. Alela, Cunning Conqueror

Our third-highest charting card, second highest charting Dimir leader, and leader of the just printed Faerie Commander deck from Wilds of Eldraine! I love her loads, and she just made my list last week of the best cards from that set (which you can find here). where she was my #2 card! Instead of doing her again in back to back sets, let's hit another good card for Commander that's heavily played too, but harder to make work, but more flexible...

The Replaced #3. Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer

Ah yes, the background choosing Baeloth! This five-drop mono-Red lower power 2/5 will goad all opposing creatures with a power less than his, so that's a base with one or zero power stuff is perma-goaded, so you have to work to increase his power to really start the goading. Or just run him in Gruul with Raised by Giants. But that's hard to make work and easy to disrupt with removal of the Commander himself or by the Anthems (Glorious Anthem), Auras (Rancor) or Equipment (Bonesplitter), and if you sweep you really break him with mass removal, and recasting a five cost is rough. That's why he was in the honorable mention section, but he is still run as a Commander in 3714 decks combed with various backgrounds. So, he is loved! Hitting my number 2 spot is our final Red Commander.

#2. Marisi, Breaker of the Coil

Made for Commander in their decks too, and in Naya colors and a beefy four mana nets you a powerful 5/4 body with two abilities. The first is that your opponents cannot cast things during combat, so this Cat Warrior can shut down combat tricks, so it's a bit uncomfortable for foes. Then when your dorks deal combat damage to foes you goad all of their stuff to swing at each other. Marisi is made for sending the damage at each other while swinging yourself and should end the game quite early as a result. This is cheap, but in three colors so harder to cast, but you are in Green for ramp, Red for goad and White for other Hate Bears to shut stuff down while swinging at people's faces. There you go! Our top card is obviously Dimir, but which one?

And Rotting Regisaur

#1. Jon Irenicus, Shattered One

The Big Bad of BG2 himself! He is just so unique in abilities! Your four Dimir mana nets you a smaller 3/3 Hill Giant size body with two abilities. The first is that on your end step, you can give away a creature you control with two +1/+1 counters and then it's tapped and goaded for the game! It also cannot be answered by being sacrificed for the cause by things like Ashnod's Altar or Goblin Bombardment. Then when a creature you own but doesn't control attacks, you draw a card, so he's card draw in the Command Zone, and has an entire archetype of giving away horrible stuff that will draw you the cards while hurting those he give them away too. He's in a massive 4869 decks over at EDHREC.com. My favorite Jon synergy is to give away the Zombie Dinosaur itself Rotting Regisaur. I built around him back in June of last year which you can find here.

I hope you liked my take on the top goad card ever printed for multiplayer! What would yours be?