Hello, everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel Show, and today, we're diving into the saltiest commanders in EDH. For this list, I'm focusing on the top three things that have been causing players the most frustration lately: excessive removal, denying other players the chance to participate in the game, and excessively long turns. There are many commanders to choose from these days, but we'll be narrowing it down to the top ten. Before we jump into the list, though, let's start with a few honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention #1: Chulane, Teller of Tales

Our first honorable mention comes from the pushed precons designed for the attempted format of Brawl. This commander, along with Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, can easily induce salt due to their ability to do everything, often leading to long, drawn-out turns without a guaranteed win. This overuse of "time equity" in the game is a common pain point for many players.

Honorable Mention #2: Maha, Its Feathers Night

The jury is still out on this particular commander. The main issue with Maha is its ability to create efficient locks that prevent opponents from playing creatures, using cards like Night of Souls' Betrayal and Kaervek, the Spiteful. This can effectively shut down a large number of decks in Commander, which can stir up some salt, but we don't have a lot of data on this commander just yet.

10. Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger

Vorinclex is a very tempting card for newer players. The additional mana from lands is appealing, but locking down your opponents' lands--effectively making them skip their turns--is a surefire way to turn the entire table against you.

9. Jodah, the Unifier

This deck is almost impossible to build at a low enough power level for mid-to-low-power casual tables. Jodah offers everything you could want from a legendary-themed commander: massive creatures and extra value with every spell. This combination of power and time-consuming gameplay can easily leave the wrong pod feeling salty.

8. Zur the Enchanter

Zur has been a notorious commander since the early days of the format. His ability to tutor for any enchantment with a mana cost of three or less each time he attacks makes him incredibly versatile and powerful. Zur decks can quickly set up game-winning combos or lock opponents out with cards like Necropotence or Contamination. The consistency with which he finds the perfect answer or combo piece makes him a frustrating opponent, particularly because many of his strategies are hard to interact with and feel oppressive.

7. Sen Triplets

Sen Triplets excels at generating card advantage, but at the expense of your opponents. Every turn, you select an opponent and cast spells from their hand, effectively making them discard those cards. People generally don't like it when you play with their resources, and Sen Triplets is one of the best at doing just that.

6. Toxrill, the Corrosive

Toxrill, the Corrosive has a well-earned reputation for decimating creature-heavy decks. At each end step, Toxrill places a slime counter on every creature your opponents control, slowly wiping the board while creating a swarm of slugs. The combination of mass creature removal and a growing token army makes Toxrill incredibly difficult to play against, especially for decks reliant on creatures. The slow, inevitable death march created by Toxrill's abilities makes for a very "salty" play environment, where opponents are left watching their boards crumble turn after turn.

5. Narset, Enlightened Master

Narset, Enlightened Master is notorious in Commander for her ability to take over games. Her attack trigger allows her to exile the top four cards of her library and cast any noncreature spells among them for free, often leading to devastating chains of extra turn or extra combat spells. With built-in hexproof, Narset is difficult to remove, especially when equipped with haste enablers like Lightning Greaves. Her decks often include spells like Time Warp and Temporal Mastery, creating a scenario where the Narset player takes multiple turns in a row, leaving opponents unable to interact.

4. Urza, Lord High Artificer

Urza is another name that quickly comes to mind when discussing frustrating commanders. As a powerful artifact-based commander, Urza offers a potent mix of mana acceleration, card advantage, and combo potential. It also has the ability to "switch off" effects like Winter Orb, making them only affect Urza's opponents. His ability to tap artifacts for blue mana enables explosive plays, while his activated ability can provide free spells, leading to extremely efficient and powerful turns.

3. Nadu, Winged Wisdom

Fresh off a recent banning from Modern, Nadu has found a home in Commander--for now. This deck can win, but it takes a painfully long time, exhausting the rest of the table. "Just run more removal" often makes things worse, as it triggers Nadu's abilities. Given the controversy surrounding this card this year, casting it can definitely draw unwanted attention.

2. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

People REALLY don't like paying extra for their spells. The constant reminder of his ability--much like Rhystic Study--can be incredibly grating. Every single spell you cast becomes a conversation about Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. The mana reduction makes him a fantastic commander for a generic Azorius deck, but slowing down your opponents is always going to attract salt from the rest of the pod.

1. Tergrid, God of Fright

Much like a college football team like Ohio State decorating their helmets for great plays, Tergrid builds its board with every card your opponents discard or sacrifice. Not only is it extremely difficult to build any momentum against a Tergrid deck, but the Tergrid player also builds a massive board exclusively off their opponents' losses. This ability to capitalize so heavily on others' misfortune makes Tergrid rise to the very top of our list of saltiest commanders.

I know some readers will read this list and use it as a guide of what to avoid, while others will use it as a personal checklist of what to build in the future. Either way, I hope you enjoy it. Until next time, happy gaming!