There's something iconic about Wizards in Magic. The creature type dates back all the way till Alpha with the inclusion of Prodigal Sorcerer, and accounts for some of the most popular cards and commanders in the game. Even if they do feel somewhat overlooked by some of the more whimsical creature types, like Elves, Goblins, Zombies, and Vampires.

While many of Magic's most popular creature types are known for specific themes and abilities that continuously build on past precedent - namely mana dorks in elves, sacrifice fodder in goblins, recursion in zombies, etc - there's no one specific tradition that MTG Wizards have to abide by.

Sure, they're often paired with abilities that mesh with noncreature spells, or card draw, or outright winning the game, still tons of Wizards across Magic's history fit no apparent mold. In turn, making them one of the most diverse and useful creature types in a wide variety of strategies, especially in Commander.

When looking at the top MTG Wizards to consider for your Commander decks, the creature type can be broken into three useful categories: Wizards that win you the game, Wizards that care about other Wizards, and Wizards you can put in any deck for value.

Let's review some of the best Wizards cards in each of these three categories, and how they can play a role in your favorite Commander decks.

Wizards That Can Win You the Game

Thassa's Oracle

Who hasn't found themselves deep in the late game of a grindy Commander match, when suddenly one of the Blue players casts something followed by a Thassa's Oracle, and just wins the game on the spot? Thassa's Oracle has become a genuine staple in competitive and casual Commander for its cost effective and simple ability to win the game outright when combined with a host of powerful card draw and deck manipulation effects. She's the perfect companion to cards that rapidly deplete your library, such as Demonic Consultation, Tainted Pact, Hermit Druid and Leveler. And in decks with additional bounce, or recursion effects, you can play her early to help find important situational cards or combo pieces.

Viscera Seer

While Viscera Seer might not seem particularly flashy at first glance, if you ever see it on the battlefield, it's a must-kill as quickly as possible. Its value lies in its role as a low mana value combo piece that can synergize with tons of game winning loops or offer incremental value just by sitting on the board. The simple fact that it lets you sacrifice cards at no cost makes Viscera Seer an integral part of many infinite combo loops, especially with recursive creatures that return from the graveyard, like the classic Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Kitchen Finks combo. The scry ability can be useful too, since it makes opponents' removal spells awkward when you can sac the removal target in response, including Viscera Seer itself.

Dualcaster Mage

Dualcaster Mage offers a unique and powerful win condition through its ability to copy spells at instant speed, making it a sometimes unexpected win condition in red-based spells decks.

When Dualcaster Mage enters the battlefield, you can copy an instant or sorcery spell of your choice, allowing for both creative or even game-ending synergies. Among the most notorious combos involves pairing Dualcaster Mage with Twinflame or Heat Shimmer to create an infinite number of hasty, attacking creatures. By copying the original spell, you continually create new Dualcaster Mages, each of which copies the spell again. This combo can turn a seemingly innocuous mid-game board state into an instant alpha strike. You can even do it at instant speed with Saw in Half, making an infinite number of 1/1s to attack with at the end of your opponents' turn.

Wizards That Care About Other Wizards

Azami, Lady of Scrolls

Azami, Lady of Scrolls is one of the premier typal commanders for Wizard-themed decks. Her ability to tap any untapped wizard you control to draw a card transforms a field of random Wizards into an incredible card advantage engine that isn't even affected by summoning sickness. With a critical mass of Wizards, you can easily outdraw your opponents, find important interaction or hate pieces, and assemble a dominant board state or combo. Both great as a commander or just a creature in your deck, if you find that your Blue deck has a lot of Wizards within it, Azami is a crucial inclusion.

Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

Inalla, Archmage Ritualist, brings a unique blend of aggression and combo potential to wizard typal bal decks. Her eminence ability allows you to pay one mana whenever another nontoken wizard enters the battlefield under your control to create a token copy of that creature with haste, which you exile at the beginning of the next end step. This ability enables explosive turns where you can double up on powerful enter-the-battlefield effects or generate disposable threats if your other creatures are too vulnerable to attack with. Paired with cards like the aforementioned Viscera Seer, Village Rites, or Victimize, Inalla can even turn those extra tokens into ongoing card advantage. Plus, Inalla's tap ability to deal damage to opponents provides a useful win condition, synergizing well with cards like Intruder Alarm that can repeatedly untap her for exponential damage.

Naban, Dean of Iteration

Naban, Dean of Iteration, is a linchpin for decks focused on maximizing enter-the-battlefield effects from Wizards. His ability to double the triggers of such effects can lead to overwhelming value, especially when paired with Wizards that draw cards, interact with spells, or make extra tokens. He also unlocks powerful instants or sorceries that let you flicker or bounce creatures for repeat value. For instance, Naban plus Archaeomancer, Ghostly Flicker, and High Tide can generate insane amounts of Blue mana and even rack up your storm count to cast giant finishers or just mill your opponents out with Brain Freeze.

Wizards You Can Put in Any Deck for Value

Archmage Emeritus

Archmage Emeritus is a powerhouse of card draw, fitting seamlessly into any deck that relies on instants and sorceries. His magecraft ability, which triggers to draw a card whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, all but ensures you never run out of cards in hand. This ability is invaluable in spellslinger decks, providing consistent card advantage and enabling you to keep up the pressure on your opponents. He essentially turns all your interaction into two-for-ones, letting you maintain card advantage in just about any Blue control, midrange, or combo deck.

Drannith Magistrate

Drannith Magistrate is such a disruptive force in Commander, it's borderline rude to cast him. His ability to prevent opponents from casting spells from anywhere other than their hands means other players can't even cast their commanders from the command zone. Not to mention shutting down cards with flashback, cascade, or adventure. A potent hate bear, Magistrate's style of disruption can slow down the game plan of many decks, giving you the time needed to establish your own board state or find answers to other threats.

Snapcaster Mage

Snapcaster Mage has earned its reputation as one of the most versatile and powerful Wizards in all of Magic,in Commander and beyond. Its ability to give an instant or sorcery in your graveyard flashback until end of turn provides unparalleled flexibility and value, especially when you flash him in to recast a counterspell or removal, while leaving an extra body behind for your troubles.

New Wizards to Watch

Stormsplitter

One of the newest Wizards from Bloomburrow, Stormsplitter makes a copy of itself until end of turn for every time you cast an instant or sorcery. Which means the number of Stormsplitters doubles for every subsequent instant or sorcery you cast that turn. The ability to grow exponentially in a dedicated spellslinger deck seems like a low bar to meet, positioning Stormsplitter as a potential new win-condition in Red decks waiting to be broken.

Twenty-Toed Toad

Another new wizard from the Bloomburrow Commander deck, Twenty-Toed Toad not only has a hilarious name, but also an important line of text: Whenever Twenty-Toed Toad attacks, you win the game if there are 20 or more counters on it or you have 20 or more cards in hand. Getting to 20 cards in Commander isn't hard at all, in a strategy designed to enable that. And when paired with staple like Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots, he can often win the game the turn he's cast.

Nadu, Winged Wisdom

Modern players have already figured out that Nadu is a deceptive card, whose built-in limitation is merely a suggestion and not an actual drawback. When paired with cards like Shuko, Lightning Greaves, or Umbra Mantle, you can repeatedly trigger Nadu at no cost, which puts lands on the board to trigger token generators such as Scute Swarm or Springheart Nantuko - both of which practically reset Nadu's text that its ability triggers twice per turn. The loops Nadu creates are long and kind of annoying, but that's kind of par for the course in Commander, right?