Hello tribal MTG Fans! Wow do I have a fun thing for you to read! Today we are looking at the Top Ten Kor ever printed from their first appearance in Stronghold to places like Mirrodin and then a deep dive in the plane of Zendikar and more! There are 80 Kor that have been printed, but what are the best of all time! Earlier this week on Tuesday I published a Kor mono-White combo Commander deck for you to look at which you can find here. I tossed in all six redirect Kor that were printed and the mono-White Standard legal Kor combo that gained you infinite life.

Ready the best of this creature type? Let's kick this thing off loads with a common!

Honorable Mention #1 (#13 Overall) - Kor Cartographer

The mana ramper! This common four-drop 2/2 ETBs and you grab a Plains and ramp it tapped. Note that this is any Plains, not just a basic, and then there is no "only when a foe controls more lands" language here either like other White ramps like Knight of the White Orchid. This always ramps and can get you other colors with dual lands and then two others with tri lands and then also always nets you the ramp. It costs one more than Commander Classic Wood Elves for a +1/+1 body.

Honorable Mention #2 (#12 Overall) - Skyclave Apparition

The heavily played Standard legal answer during its era. This three-drop rare is a 2/2 body. When it ETBs, you exile an opposing non-land, non-token permanent with a cost of four or less. Note that this will work on any non-land not just creatures that folks will normally play. Unlike other things in this genre like Oblivion Ring, what was exiled won't come back when the Apparition leaves play. Instead, they'll get a token dork with size equal to its mana cost, so no more than 4/4 in size since it exiles up to that cost in size. You can see why it was heavily played in Standard since it removes anything and exiles so it cannot be ignored with indestructible and when answered, it doesn't come back. I like this in midrange to answer and not give feel bad moments since they'll get a token when this leaves play. It's also the Commander Classic that the Kor Cartographer is, since it's in a bigger 48,347 decks. Next is an uncommon and all three cards in Honorable Mention are every rarity other than mythic. We'll get those later.

Honorable Mention #3 (#11 Overall) - Kor Firewalker

The dominant Modern two-drop that's played in sideboards against Burn brews. As you can see, this costs two for an on curve 2/2 with protection from red. Whenever any player casts a red spell, you gain a life. That's better in Commander since you are playing against more foes to cast spells, but worse since you start with 40 life so it's harder to invest a card that cares. Where I like this in Commander are a few places. First, this includes your stuff, so if your deck is built around recasting a Red spell over and over again, this can be a combo piece. Here I'll give you an example I call "Koboldstone"

• One zero-drop Kobold
• This
• Cloudstone Curio

Have in your hand a Kobold. Cast your Kobold. Trigger the Firewalker for a life. Bounce the in play Kobold with the ETB trigger of the Kobold. Repeat and make infinite life.

Another way to make that work is with Storm triggers where you recast the same spell over and over again or the same genre of stuff. It's fun stuff in all of the decks out there. Secondly, I like this with lifegain decks which are hugely popular in Commander as the third most played archetype.

#10. Orah, Skyclave Hierophant

Let's turn to the first Commander-eligible legendary dork on our list! Most are here! He costs four mana for a lifelink 3/3. Did a Cleric you control die? Great! Bring one back that costs less mana! That means you can get back that four-drop Cleric from your dying five drop. Note that Orah's trigger does include himself. Clerics have been in Orzhov colors ever since wayyy back in Onslaught block. That's really far, but that means that the infrastructure for a Cleric brew is already in his colors. I love him with sacrifice effects like the one that sacrifices Clerics called Starlit Sanctum or Vampiric Rites for cards or a generic mana free way in your colors like Phyrexian Altar. Orah leads a fun 3,021 decks and is the biggest Cleric leader by far with more than half of all Cleric decks running him. Ready for the only Blue printed Kor next? (There is no Green in case you wondered).

#9. Looter il-Kor

This two-drop 1/1 shadow body used to get heavy play in Commander and is still in 17,345 - not as much. One is in my Commander Cube from start to today! Then this usually unblockable shadow dork has a combat damage trigger. It turns combat damage on a foe into Looting for one card. (You draw and then discard, named after Merfolk Looter). Since it gets involved in combat damage to swing, it's way better than a tap Looter that just sits back and does nothing to add to the game. Love this awesome two-drop common loads! Next is our first Red dork, and she is also White too!

#8. Nahiri, Forged in Fury

This six-drop on-curve 5/4 rocks affinity for equipment, so she wants to be in that archetype. Nasty! Then she is card flow when you attack with an equipped dork to cast the top spell of your library this turn after exiling it. If it was an equipment, it's mana free. Nastyx2! Note that's per attack not once so they'll stack. Also if you're going wide with equipment to get her cost reduction will also increase the likelihood of getting free equipment with her trigger. I like her with equipment that ETBs on a token since they can swing as an equipped creatures without spending mana like Batterskull with living weapon or For Mirrodin! She's very strong at rewarding your dedication to equipment. Good jorb Nahiri! Next is back to mono-White, and this time our first one-drop! All of the remaining stuff costs three or less!

#7. Giver of Runes

The one-drop rare from a Modern-only set. That lets you print only powerful stuff that doesn't pass by the gates of Standard. This 1/2 taps to give protection of any color or colorless to another dork. This is both better and worse than the Mother of Runes it is obviously homage-ing. It has a bigger body with a two toughness, so that's nice. Then you can give colorless protection too, not just colors, that's a good boost too. But it cannot protect itself so it's a common target at the kitchen table when it arrives with kill even after it can tap. I like it loads here as a Top Ten Kor hitting our list! The Giver is in a strong 43,357 decks! Next is another Orzhov legendary Kor to lead your next Commander deck!

#6. Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim

This two-drop on-curve 2/2 with deathtouch uncommon is our final spot before the Top Five! He has two other abilities. The first is to gain a life when a dork ETBs on your side of the battlefield. He's a Soul Warden for just your stuff but twice the size and deathtouch to keep people from attacking and trading down. Then his other trigger fires with another dork you control dies, each foe loses a life. So, he's a win con and life gain in one package. He's brilliant leading an Orzhov Aristocrat brew where you have your death trigger in the Command Zone! Aristocrats wins with a mana-free sacrifice engine, a self-recursive dork, and then a death trigger to win from like Blood Artist. But you have the win con in the Command Zone. I also like him leading an Orzhov Life Gain brew since you will regularly do that, but there is a better Kor for that later. He's running a strong 4,596 Commander decks, so he's loved, and he is in another 54,745 decks in the 99, so Elas is also worth this spot! Next hitting our first spot on the Top Five is another Boros colorless legendary dork, but which one?

#5. Akriri, Fearless Voyager

This is our second of four two color three or fewer legendary leaders with White in their cost. This is the only one that costs three. She is card draw in the Command Zone since when you attack someone with an equipped dork, you draw a card. Note that this is just once per attack no matter how many swing, but also note that this is actual card draw, not flow like the impulsive exiling card flow you can cast that turn or the rummaging discard and draw in the color of Red this shares too. You can also spend a mana to make a creature you control tapped and indestructible for the turn if you remove an equipment from it. That's almost always worth it.

Then note that your three mana here nets you another on curve 3/3. This three-drop wants to also lead a Boros colored Equipment deck, but one with one attacker, like her, not the living weapon or For Mirrodin! before. She's strong stuff with two sold playable abilities on an already on-curve 3/3. She is leading just 1,574 decks and in a powerful 24,641 other decks in the 99. Fewer than Elas in either spot, since she's in a denser but more beloved archetype. Next is another two-drop White colored two colored legendary dork, but which one?

#4. Akiri, Line-Slinger

Just two mana for a 0/3 base with power equal to your artifact count. She rocks two evergreen keywords in first strike and vigilance - both strong - first strike since has a high power but low toughness and then vigilance to swing at an open player in multiplayer and then block and with that high of power and first strike, who would attack you? Then she has one more ability to really break things around...partner! Wow that's a rough four set of abilities and power making. With the partner she has tons of Commander Tag Team options!

By herself she can lead a Boros Treasure deck to pump her massively, or equipment like this color loves or artifact token creature makers. She's bringing those two colors to any other color combo that cares about artifacts in other colors like Blue or Black. With other partners, she leads a massive 4,320 decks and then she's in the 99 of very few more - just another 3,891 - where she's awesome is with partner in the Command Zone. She's awesome and just outside of my Top Three, but all of those are bombs! Hitting the next spot is our final two-drop, legendary White and another color dork in a row! But...which one? Let's find out together!

#3. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim

Our final two-color legendary dork is Ayli everything else from here is mono-White. Ayli is the Orzhov Kor Commander I alluded to as leading a life gain brew. She leads a strong 1,243 in an archetype even more popular than equipment and then a fun 14,887 decks in the 99. She has deathtouch and two other abilities. Both are sacrifice options for other creatures that cost you mana. The one cost sacrifice option will gain you the sacrificed dork's toughness in life. Then the three cost will exile any nonland permanent if you have as least 10 more life than you started with, so fifty in Commander and thirty in other formats. So, you gain massive life form the first sacrifice and then an exile option for the second, so she's good for life gain brews and then she's also a Command Zone eligible sacrifice trigger for one mana for Aristocrats. See why she's here? She can be one of two Top 10 archetypes and then also combine them, into one powerhouse. I love her so much, and that's why she's my top non-mono-White Kor to hit my list!

#2. Stoneforge Mystic

The penultimate card of 80, the top two-drop and non-legendary critter and rare is the overpowered Mystic that dominated Standard when legal and still does in Modern and then casual play too. When this two-drop 1/2 ETBs you Tutor for an Equipment and put it into your hand. Note that unlike many other cheap tutors on bodies this puts it into your hand not on top of the library, and has no restrictions other than the subclass of card named Equipment. And then you can spend two mana, tap it, and then put any equipment from your hand onto the battlefield for free without paying for its cost. The Mystic was already broken just as a two-drop Tutor on a body to blink, bounce, recur and abuse, but then the free drop for two mana tap is just really unimaginable. She's in a massive 44,416 decks which is just so strong in Commander in a beloved archetype. Only a massively better card could beat this card! But what...? And it's a mono-White legendary Kor, but which one...

#1. Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist

The classic uncommon three-drop partner in mono-White! Could there be anyone else here? I doubt it. He's in a massive 10,812 decks leading as a Commander with a partner. No one else has his numbers in Command Zone play with the Kor creature type. He is a great friend to Aura decks (#10), Equipment (#5) or Voltron which combines them into one. Two Top Ten Archetypes in one uncommon with partner? It has to be here! At the beginning of your combat get a free equips or retarget auras you control to any permanent or player, note that last one can be another. You cannot move other stuff onto you or yours, but you can reload your stuff onto others. Nasty! He turns all of the winning into one giant body to win in the red zone or with a partner Commander damage. Answer the dork? He'll move again. Drop him in the precombat main phase and move that turn. He's just way too good and popular in two beloved archetypes to not be here at the top spot!

Great! And there we go! I hope that you enjoyed this take on the Top Kor ever printed! Anything else you like that's missing or in the wrong order? Every Kor legendary made it save for the Boros Ally lover Munda, Raid Leader who was too limited to my mind. Disagree? Let me know!