Secret Lair in 2025: The 10 Most Fun Commanders

2025 was full of new releases as well as, admittedly, some consumer fatigue and lots of arguments about the number of sets on the calendar, but still, Commander fans got some very fun cards.

Secret Lairs brought us Sonic, PlayStation, Marvel, and even Jaws (yes, the movie Jaws). When it came to deckbuilding, we had a variety of new legendaries with interesting mechanics in our roster.

In this article, we'll show you our 10 most fun Secret Lair commanders. Please note that, since we're discussing new creatures, we won't cover any reprints.

1. Deadpool, Trading Card

What could be more fun than a card that swaps its text box with the text box of another creature in play?

Facing a Deadpool, Trading Card is probably not fun, but playing this legendary Rakdos creature to "steal" an enemy creature's text box is quite unusual. Imagine using him on a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse!

2. Knuckles the Echidna

The Sonic crew invaded Magic: The Gathering when Secret Lair x Sonic: Friends & Foes came out. That's how the honorable warrior Knuckles showed up:

Knuckles the Echidna is what every aggro player loves.

This small fighter has haste, double strike, and trample, and also creates treasures when one or more creatures on your side deal combat damage to a player. He also gives you the win if you control thirty or more artifacts in your upkeep step.

As your commander or one of your 99 cards, Knuckels is definitely impossible to ignore.

If you'd like to know more about Knuckles, click here!

3. Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima

Esper is one of the most consistent color combinations in Commander. Nonetheless, there are also many Esper commanders around who are known for their strength.

Another legendary Esper creature that is great for casual Commander pods is Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima!

Jin is very flexible. You can use him in a deck centered around ninjas/ninjutsu, a non-red Voltron list like Ayesha Tanaka, Armorer, or even in a deck centered around infect/toxic and proliferate next to fearsome creatures like Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.

Regardless of what you do, Jin Sakai's blade is sharp and ready to bring you many victories.

4. Shadow the Hedgehog

If you thought Deadpool, Trading Card was going to be the only Rakdos mercenary in this list, you thought wrong.

This dark hedgehog is so nimble that he interacts with one of the strongest mechanics in MTG: split second!

If you'd like to know more about this mechanic, click here!

Basically, when you use mana from artifacts like Sol Ring or treasures to cast a spell, Shadow the Hedgehog will give it split second and prevent other players from answering it. They won't be able to cast spells or activate abilities that don't use mana to answer that spell.

Besides this effect, when he or another creature with haste or flash under your control dies, you'll draw a card.

5. Sonic the Hedgehog

Obviously, since we've mentioned Knuckles and Shadow, we had to mention our protagonist, Sonic, as well.

Just like Shadow, Sonic the Hedgehog also interacts with creatures that have haste or flash. But, unlike Shadow, who takes advantage of these creatures to draw cards, Sonic is extremely faithful and creates treasure tokens when they die. Yes, it mimics how the characters in Sonic games lose their coins when they hit an obstacle.

And if you think Secret Lair commanders only work in casual matches, you're mistaken.

At the last LigaFest event, my friend Jacqueline (the greatest Jeskai fan in the entire Brazilian MTG community) managed to get a 4-2 with her Sonic list in Duel Commander.

She and Marcelo, another incredible Duel Commander fan, created this version. We'll leave their creation below to inspire you to play this commander.

6. Dr. Eggman

I swear, we're not favoring the Sonic Secret Lair on purpose. These creatures are just fantastic commanders, that's all!

Similar to the Doctor Who villain precon, which included Missy as one of the possible commanders, now we have Dr. Eggman and more "villainous" choices.

He is quite flavorful, as he forces each opponent to make a "villainous" choice. They'll have to discard a card or let you play a Construct, Robot, or Vehicle from your hand without paying for its cost.

Eggman is extremely fun, and a real cartoonish, villainous MTG card.

7. Amy Rose

If you enjoy classic Boros Voltron lists, then Amy Rose is the best card 2025 gave you.

Amy has haste and, when she attacks, you may attach an equipment card to her.

Note: nothing forces you to attach an equipment card you control to her. So, even if it's temporary, you may borrow a Swiftfoot Boots from one of your opponents and attach it to her.

Next, up to another attacker gets +X/+0 until the end of the turn, where X is Amy's power.

8. Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter

Let's look for treasures in our opponents' decks?

For three mana, the most charismatic video game treasure hunter will steal cards from the top of the opponents' decks so that you can cast them. Please note that this ability ignores the casting speed of these stolen spells.

By himself, Nathan might not be the strongest commander, but we can play some of the best support cards and stealing interactions with him and make him a very fearsome opponent.

9. Kratos, God of War

If you followed Kratos in his quest for vengeance and everything he went through as Atreus, Impulsive Son's father, then you'll feel right at home with Kratos, God of War.

Kratos has double strike and gives haste to all creatures in play. At the beginning of each player's end step, Kratos deals damage to that player equal to the number of creatures they control that haven't attacked that turn.

With Kratos, God of War, you'll experience real chaos and burn!

10. Aloy, Savior of Meridian

Straight from the Horizon franchise, the curious Aloy, Savior of Meridian will accompany you on your Commander matches!

Aloy is a Simic creature that lets you discover X whenever one or more artifact creatures you control attack, where X is the greatest power among them. Furthermore, Aloy, by herself, is big enough to block attacks and deal with keywords like vigilance and reach.

Atreus, Impulsive Son and Kratos, Stoic Father

They didn't make it into our list, but in my heart, they're top 1.

This father-and-son duo can see play together in a very consistent God-themed list. If you want something stronger, you can focus on Atreus's ability, that is, proliferate counters and draw a lot of cards.

hyperlink(If you'd like to see more about these two, click here}.

Jaws, Relentless Predator

Everything in Jaws, Relentless Predator is fun. Its artwork directly references the original movie, in fact. It also creates blood tokens when it deals combat damage to a player.

Furthermore, when a noncreature artifact is sacrificed or destroyed, Jaws deals 1 damage to each opponent.

The legendary creatures these Secret Lairs gave us in 2025 are great for all sorts of players.

Whether you're a fan of these franchises or not, maybe even a competitive Commander player, you'll be able to find something for you in these sets!

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!