March of the Machine: Top 10 Two Colors Commanders Duos

The new set March of the Machine gave us the conclusion of the Phyrexia saga, bringing the downfall of Elesh Norn and the multiverse resistance's victory.

This victory was possible thanks to many factors and among them the union of iconic legendary creatures of history, which perhaps if it weren't for a crisis in the multiverse and in their own plane, would never have united.

Thinking about it, here we bring all the pairs of combinations of two colors, with 10 possible. And as they are legendary creatures, they call the attention of one of the most beloved formats today: Commander.

We're going to show all the two-color creature duos and rank them in this Top 10, commenting on why each one is in their position, and also detailing the top 3 with decklists!

In tenth position, Kogla and Yidaro. Unfortunately, in the Command Zone, they don't work as well as they should.

Yidaro, Wandering Monster is the main cause of this, as its single version was only functional in the discard, and after that came the duo in the Gruul combination.

It's a bit disappointing, as Gruul commanders tend to be aggressive. Taking up space in your command zone with a commander that has an ability that depends on it being in your hand to work and then goes back to the library is frustrating.

Kogla, the Titan Ape in its standalone version is definitely the best of the three cards mentioned, considering that the ability to fight another creature came from it, and the ability to destroy an artifact or enchantment as well.

Of course, in Commander, almost anything is possible and with some well-crafted decks, it's possible to use Kogla and Yidaro and just ignore the second ability, as it's still a 7/7 with trample and haste.

But in these colors, we have better options, even lower cost, and each one with different mechanics, such as Xenagos, God of Revels, Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients, Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed among others. For this reason, Ikoria's kaiju duo ranks tenth.

In ninth place, we have Rankle and Torbran. Another combination that in terms of aesthetics is well done, but doesn't meet the expectations as a commander.

The combination of Rakdos colors also fits perfectly in the union and effect of the two, but it is a lot of mana for a very fragile body.

In their separate versions, Rankle, Master of Pranks and Torbran, Thane of Red Fell both are fair for their effects and cost only 4 mana. But in its duo version, 5 mana in a 3/4 doesn't seem like something effective or threatening, despite its effects.

Here's another case of a card that would be better at 99 than the zone, because if used as a commander, it takes almost twice as much effort to become what a commander in the Rakdos combination would normally be.

Prosper, Tome-Bound, Chainer, Nightmare Adept, Rakdos, Lord of Riots, Olivia, Crimson Bride, Grenzo, Dungeon Warden and even Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar are more viable and intimidating options, even when not on the battlefield.

In eighth position, being the lowest cost of two-color commanders, Errant and Giada. A really great addition to the Azorius Flying archetype in Commander, replacing Kangee, Sky Warden and adding the Flash factor to the deck. This archetype is a lot of fun, but it tends to be slow and takes a while to build your field.

It is also possible a tribal construction of angels in honor of Giada, Font of Hope, but for her duo Errant, Street Artist there isn't much space in the deck.

It's even a little unfair to consider putting this duo here, as they are an archetype that is a sort of weak n Commander. Obviously, the goal is for you to play the way you want and have fun with it, and they are perfect for that.

However, unfortunately compared to the others, Capenna's duo is in eighth place. For them, it is preferable to show cards that are normally used than alternatives, as they are very specific cards that have found a home, such as Kangee, Sky Warden, Vega, the Watcher, Sephara, Sky's Blade, Skycat Sovereign, Empyrean Eagle, Thunderclap Wyvern, Jubilant Skybonder, Watcher of the Spheres and Warden of Evos Isle.

Ranking seventh, directly from Kamigawa, Hidetsugu and Kairi. Somewhat unusual for this position, but it occupies it for a specific reason: the blue color offers several creature cloning spells.

This pair of commanders in the Dimir combination makes constant use of the Legends rule: when a player controls two legendary permanents of the same name, they choose one to keep and the other is instantly sacrificed, resolving that effect even before the stack resolves. Then the death trigger takes place, and then it enters the battlefield. The fact that it can arrange the top as a Brainstorm upon entering the battlefield can cause its abilities to trigger multiple times in the same turn.

Strange to think that Hidetsugu comes from a red ogre in Heartless Hidetsugu, and then Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos with the identity of a Rakdos card, only to use its black color in the end. But its life-loss essence remains the same.

Kairi, the Swirling Sky offered us flying, the trigger when dying, and probably the Brainstorm. It could also have Ward 3, but that would be asking too much.

This theme of several clones is very similar to Gyruda, Doom of Depths, being even a little easier to manage, since you choose what will be on top. Topdeck damage is also similar to Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow. So, if you want to combine the best of both worlds, Hidetsugu and Kairi are a good choice.

Cloning spells like See Double, Quasiduplicate, Cackling Counterpart shine here and high-cost spells like Mnemonic Deluge even more, or even Sublime Epiphany which do both.

Although the deck seems very strong, it is heavily dependent on the commander in play, in addition to knowing how to manage both the top and the order of triggers, and thus it requires greater attention to the game. Hence, Hidetsugu and Kairi are in seventh place.

Another unusual combination coming directly from Ixalan: Ghalta and Mavren. It's not every day you see a vampire riding a dinosaur.

In the construction of these two, some trends can be followed, but the one that seems to be preferable is with tokens, a very striking feature in the Selesnya color combination.

There are even better token creators than Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle. And we can't dismiss Ghalta, Primal Hunger for entering for only 2 mana and providing a possible 12/12 dinosaur token on the battlefield, thanks to the commander.

Ghalta and Mavren's token creation effect can even be called a bonus, as we have a 12/12 creature with trample for 7 mana. The green color allows playing this monster on the field as soon as possible.

Its ability to trigger on any creature's attack is another interesting addition, as it lacks haste (but nothing a few cards can't fix). It's a very raw and consistent deck, managing to create quantity and power in a short period of time.

Unnatural Growth and Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus can help to kill a player with commander damage, while Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Anointed Procession make even more creatures. It's ironic to have two Phyrexia Dominus in a resistance creature deck, isn't it?

And with this brutality, the vampire and dinosaur occupy sixth place. Its sheer power becomes its counterpoint as well: you need to have good token creator cards to work without the commander, in case they remove it or even if it hasn't been cast yet. And it's a deck almost entirely focused on combat damage, so it tends to suffer against Control players and sweepers.

And in fifth place, with absolutely no abilities, Yargle and Multani. On the one hand, this duo is unfair, as the only one without text is Yargle, Glutton of Urborg, while Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar has several good abilities.

But let's face it, 6 mana in an 18/6 with reach and trample would be a bit too much, so we are left to accept the buff in power and toughness.

Despite appearing to be a pretty meme commander, a well-constructed Yargle and Multani deck can be daunting. The aforementioned Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus empowers the commander to a possible 36/12, which, if granted trample with cards like Rancor, for example, kills any opponent in one hit. That's not counting several cards with power-based effects, like Essence Harvest, Traverse the Outlands or Rishkar's Expertise.

The green color ensures that even if countered or destroyed, we can play it again, or even reanimate thanks to the black color. And speaking of which, sacrifice engines that also cares about power are welcome, such as Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar, Ghoulcaller Gisa, Ruthless Technomancer and Disciple of Bolas. But the finisher that makes this deck stand out is Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, which needs no comment for its ability.

But since not everything is great, here's another case of totally relying on the commander. So, some additions like Lord of Extinction, Yargle, Glutton of Urborg or creatures like Ghalta, Primal Hunger and Daemogoth Titan are essential in deck building.

It's important to pay attention to everything the deck needs: synergy, evasion, other creature alternatives, recursion and ramp. With all this, Yargle and Multani occupy fifth place in our top 10.

In the near-podium position, Drana and Linvala, from Zendikar. Even though they appear to be stronger as one of the 99 and not as a commander, Drana and Linvala have strong potential in a Stax build. Definitely not the most fun for your opponents, but we're talking about power, which is where Zendikar's duo excels.

With the ability of Linvala, Keeper of Silence at the same cost and power, plus an additional buff to use the stolen abilities, vigilance, and the addition of black color by Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, Drana and Linvala are an underrated duo with great potential to become a headache for your opponents.

Since we're talking about Stax, remember Drannith Magistrate, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Hushbringer, Aven Mindcensor, Opposition Agent and those various cards that definitely won't make your opponents smile will be available. There is an infinity of cards that would go into the construction of Drana and Linvala, as they are in a versatile color combination for what they do.

But not all creatures will suffer from the team's effect, as it only affects cards with activated abilities. And playing with stax is characteristic for playing against yourself too: you need a concrete strategy, like a combo or some solid finisher, to quickly end the game that will probably be long and drawn out.

For these reasons, they occupy the almost deserving bronze medal in this top 10.

Baral and Kari Zev are our bronze medal winners. 3 mana on a creature that provides two spells for one in the Izzet color combination is a lot of value, and even advancing the combo as soon as possible to end the game while controlling your opponents.

Baral, Chief of Compliance is a great engine and also a looting source to speed up your game. Kari Zev, Skyship Raider doesn't seem to be that interesting in this build, as it only offers aggression while we're looking for speed here.

Decklist - Baral and Kari Zev

The deck is a typical Izzet Spellslinger, that is, focused on winning with several spells or with some combo. Here we have Dualcaster Mage and Twinflame, or Niv-Mizzet, Parun with Curiosity as finishers. In general, the deck consists of controlling and taking advantage of the Commander to cast more spells, or take advantage of them to cast spells with no cost, such as Ancestral Vision, Inevitable Betrayal or Wheel of Fate.

Cards with Delve also work well for their high cost, so Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise are also included. Low-cost cantrips like Ponder, Preordain, and Serum Visions are wonderful. It's also interesting to think about the possibility of casting a Fact or Fiction along with a Counterspell in response to something that could be problematic.

They occupy third place for being another Izzet commander who advances the game for whoever is piloting. Two spells for one are always going to be interesting, and even if it's not another spell, a 2/1 blocker can be created to save you.

But like every deck in this color combination, dealing with enchantments can be problematic, and there's also the famous factor of being unable to control everyone. It's a deck that requires focus on your actions, so you don't lose your breath and stay in the game.

With the silver medal, Djeru and Hazoret. It's a duo that can easily say that if they had one coin for every extraplanar invasion on Amonkhet, they would have two coins. Which isn't much, but it's weird that it happened twice.

In this deck, Djeru, With Eyes Open and Hazoret the Fervent aren't synergistic, but the combination of the two resulted in a strong and fun commander.

Decklist - Djeru and Hazoret

A deck focused on the commander, but interesting enough to take the effort to keep it on the battlefield as long as possible. Basically, a tribal of legendary creatures in the Boros color combination, which gives us a range of options that are great for this build, especially if they provide extra combat in some way, such as Aurelia, the Warleader, Karlach, Fury of Avernus or Moraug, Fury of Akoum.

Apart from this option, we also have creatures with great utility, such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Urabrask, the Hidden, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Avacyn, Angel of Hope. And why not also some gods, like Iroas, God of Victory, God-Eternal Oketra and Ilharg, the Raze-Boar?

The deck is pretty aggressive, and in the worst case, casting creatures in the normal way is also an option. Protections are also essential to maintain your field, such as Teferi's Protection, Cosmic Intervention, Clever Concealment, and Flawless Maneuver. Also, the god subtype gives us access to Tyrite Sanctum's indestructible counter.

Definitely a very underrated duo, considering that a good build like this can make quite a mess with your opponents. And due to the effect of the commander hitting just legendary creatures and, moreover, casting without paying their cost, we can take advantage of the Eldrazi titans Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, to trigger their respective effects.

We also have other ways to be further aggressive, with Etali, Primal Storm, Cadric, Soul Kindler, and cards that control the top like Penance, Scroll Rack, Hidden Retreat and Brainstone, which put the creatures from your hand back into the deck, and can help you with their effects in some specific situation.

In addition to combat damage, we have other alternate winconditions, such as the combo of Helm of the Host with Aurelia, the Warleader or Karlach, Fury of Avernus. Warstorm Surge also helps as a possible finisher, and Passionate Archaeologist fills that role as well. Still on the exile mechanic, we also have Wild-Magic Sorcerer.

However, a problem with this deck is the lack of responsiveness, which makes it fragile in this regard. With these points shown, Djeru and Hazoret win the silver medal in the top 10, almost reaching the gold medal.

In the first place, from Kaldheim and in the Simic color combination, Inga and Esika. A deck with a lot of potential, considering being very fast due to its mana generators and winning quickly based on that.

Both Inga Rune-Eyes and Esika, God of the Tree are not present in the deck for respectively not doing much and not having a compatible color identity. However, their combination provided the top 1 on our list!

Decklist - Inga and Esika

This deck is completely focused on its various infinite mana and infinite draw combos, which engage in stalling your opponents or winning with combat damage. The vast majority of them rely on Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy, Freed from the Real or Pemmin's Aura, making infinite mana with those two pieces and another mana generator, like Birds of Paradise, Ilysian Caryatid or Maraleaf Pixie.

Gyre Engineer, Bloom Tender or Incubation Druid now work with fewer parts. With infinite mana, it is possible to have almost all creatures in the deck with Kinnan and finding Temur Sabertooth, it is possible to have infinite draw with the commander or return all opponents' permanents with Venser, Shaper Savant or Hullbreaker Horror.

Still with Temur Sabertooth, along with Circle of Dreams Druid and Concordant Crossroads or Thousand-Year Elixir and at least six creatures, it's another way to have infinite mana. There is more diversity of combos in the deck, mainly with Intruder Alarm.

Along with Inga and Esika and Venser, Shaper Savant and something that takes away the summoning sickness like the cards mentioned before, it's an infinite draw engine. And on top of that, with Intruder Alarm, Beast Whisperer and Man-o'-War you can generate infinite mana with other creatures that generate mana while drawing infinite cards.

It's a deck with many different combos with different pieces, which allows you to win by several means, and it has a lot of redundancy since you can go to other lines if any piece is removed.

Some creatures like Mystic Snake or Frilled Mystic give a certain security, along with Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Negate, An Offer You Can't Refuse and Swan Song.

Heroic Intervention and Cyclonic Rift are other great answers, and in addition to the commander who has the potential to provide a lot of draws until the combo arrives, Rhystic Study fits well at the beginning of the game can help you get to victory faster.

Some cards with effects like Murkfiend Liege and Seedborn Muse are very interesting for you to do what you need on your turn and have blockers. And with the Seedborn Muse makes the combination of the famous and banned Prophet of Kruphix alongside Alchemist's Refuge.

But like every deck mentioned here, this one isn't unbeatable: it relies too much on the commander to draw cards quickly, otherwise, if poorly piloted, there will only be several mana dorks on the board that cannot be used as blockers since they might work as combo pieces.

Considering its pros and cons, and that it is a deck with many combos, and since it is so easy to achieve synergy with these colors, Inga and Esika wins the gold medal in our top 10.

Honestly, it was hard to choose a few positions here. By far, a list I would particularly play is Djeru and Hazoret, but I recognize that Inga and Esika have even greater potential for being faster.

Errant and Giada is also one of my favorites. I really like Azorius Flying, but despite liking the archetype, the color combination is by far my least favorite. Hidetsugu and Kairi also have a pretty cool potential in Commander.

And you, what did you think of our top 10 ranking? Would it change anything? Do you have any different deck builds? Share your opinion with us!