With Winter fast approaching, no color pair reminds me more of the oncoming cold like Azorius: W/U. This pairing of Blue and White is often associated with control strategies and is infamous for slowing games down to a glacial pace.

If this makes your frigid heart beat, then these are the best commanders to run to freeze the competition in their tracks.

5. Heliod, the Radiant Dawn // Heliod, the Warped Eclipse

The arrogant Heliod, a god of Theros starts off this list. This is a double-faced card with a rather underwhelming front. It's a four mana 4/4 Legendary Enchantment God that returns an enchantment card from the yard to your hand. At face value, you might think to run an enchantment heavy deck but Heliod is a mullet: business up front, party at the back.

For three mana and 2 life (you ain't paying that Blue Phyrexian mana) he flips into Heliod, the Warped Eclipse. This compleated version of the god is a Vedalken Orrery that also discounts your spells 1 mana for each card your opponents draw. Suddenly, wheels are the name of the game. Windfall, Day's Undoing, Game Plan, and Echo of Eons make it so that everyone draws and that you get maximum value. With all this mana you can drop Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger or Kozilek, Butcher of Truth at instant speed. X spells like Blue Sun's Zenith, Sphinx's Revelation are also great mana sinks to keep you ahead of the game. Gross, right? But we're only at number five.

4. Taigam, Ojutai Master

When you're playing control, you want to be the player that calls the shots. Usually, this is done with permission spells like Counterspell, Force of Will, and Fierce Guardianship. But, what if you find your playgroup who also like firing off counter magic? Well, Taigam, Ojutai Master is the commander for you. This four mana 3/4 Human Monk makes instants, sorceries, and dragon spells you cast uncounterable ensuring that you have the Last Word. If that's not enough, he also makes instants and sorceries you cast from your hand have rebound. Taigam is a crazy strong spellslinger commander.

Find the best spells in Blue and White to keep you ahead (read: card draw): Preordain, Ponder, Brainstorm, and See the Truth. Archmage Emeritus and Archmage of Runes are a pair of wizards that cantrip whenever you counter stuff, keeping your hand healthy passively. Since your spells are uncounterable nothing can stop you from taking over the game with extra turns like Time Warp, Walk the Aeons, Capture of Jinzhou and Time Stretch. If you want to be the real villain, Nexus of Fate will make your opponents raise the white flag.

3. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

If you thought that Taigam was a degenerate commander, you ain't seen nothing yet. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV has been terroizing tables since it came out in Dissension a millenia ago. This 4-drop 2/3 discounts your White and Blue spells by 1 mana and on top of that, taxes ALL spells your opponents cast by 1. Talk about slowing the game down. Running this Human Advisor as your commander means two main things: you're playing Stax and you get the hate of the entire pod by default.

Making the game hell is what Augustin IV is good at. Make your opponents pay more for everything they do like attack you (Propaganda, Sphere of Safety, and Ghostly Prison) or cast spells in general (Aura of Silence, God-Pharaoh's Statue, and Vryn Wingmare).

To twist the knife further, lock them out of doing stuff with pure evil such as Drannith Magistrate, Grand Abolisher, Hushbringer, and Linvala, Keeper of Silence. If this were a ''Top Azorius Commanders that Makes You Lose Friends'', ol' Grand Arbiter takes the cake.

2. Brago, King Eternal

Truthfully, I had to wash my hands after writing about our number 3. I'm grateful that Brago, King Eternal is next on the list as he's a pretty straightforward blink commander. This flying 2/4 spirit noble for 4 can blink any number of nonland permanents you control after he whacks an opponent in the face.

Stacking your deck with great enters the battlefield triggers is the only way to build Brago. Narrow in some ways but this deck plays the value game like few can. Enter triggers on creatures are great since those can double as damage dealers. A few to consider are Aether Channeler, Reflector Mage, Archaemancer, and Loran of the Third Path. Creatures that can also flicker stuff help Brago a lot: Restoration Angel, Flickerwisp, and Soulherder are top choices. But if you really want maximum value, doubling these triggers with Panharmonicon and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines is the way to go. Brago makes for a strong blink deck - just make sure you get rid of Hushbringer type of effects ASAP.

1. Shorikai, Genesis Engine

Sitting atop the frozen throne of the Azorius: W/U Commanders is the king of value and a literal engine: Shorika, Genesis Engine. This 8/8 vehicle for 4 mana has crew 8 and if you pay 1, it can tap to draw two cards. You'd have to pitch that card to the yard but he also creates a 1/1 Pilot too. Whew, he does so much for a 1 mana activated ability. He's a vehicle, so if you don't crew Shorikai, he's already immune from creature removal spells. The fact that he makes his own creatures means you can be liberal in your casting of sweepers.

Most builds dive into the vehicle archetype but Shorikai is a strong generic value engine if there ever was one. Control the game while stocking up on answers and threats is something this Genesis Engine does well. Sweepers like Split Up, Wrath of God, and Supreme Verdict wipe the board clean while Shorikai just stands there menacingly. Leaning into the power of artifacts like Unwinding Clock, Manifold Key, and Voltaic Key lets you activate Shorikai multiple times. Commander Azorius: W/U staples like Rhystic Study, Cyclonic Rift, Swan Song, Swords to Plowshares, and Teferi's Protection ensures that you're protected from almost everything that can be done to you. From here on out, winning is up to you. A spicy way would be to mill yourself to victory via Laboratory Maniac and Thassa's Oracle.

Deep Freeze

You'll have no trouble keeping the table in a deep freeze as you plot victory with these top 5 Azorius: W/U commanders. Shutting down opponents with oppressive tax effects, looping spells and turns, blinking in value, and just countering everything that breathes are at your fingertips here. If you want ultimate control, sleeve these guys up and show your pod why winter season is Azorius: W/U season.