5 Best Tribal Dog Commanders in MTG Magic: the Gathering
You know the saying “his bark is worse than his bite?” Well those are NOT the dogs we're looking for. No chihuahuas or min-pins here. These mutts have more moxy than the Tramp around Lady.
If you're looking for a tribal Dog commander, these are the 5 best, along with what makes them good boys, plus some synergistic cards and combos.
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1. Sophia, Dogged Detective
Probably dating myself here, but doesn't this art remind you of Velma with Scooby-Doo?
The best Tribal dog commander out there is Sophia, Dogged Detective. Which is funny when Sophia is not a dog. But she does make a 2/2 legendary Dog token named Tiny each time she enters the battlefield.
Sophia's all about creating food tokens and clue tokens, and then sacrificing artifact tokens to give all your dogs +1+1 counters, at instant speed, for a single colorless mana each time, with no tap necessary.
The possibilities for a tribal Dog deck with Sophia at the helm are only limited by the Dogs that Wizards of the Coast has printed to this point. Dogs are certainly not one of the highest-use types, but they sure can be fun with a commander like this!
High Synergy Creatures with Sophia, Dogged Detective as Your Dog Commander:
These three creatures have such great synergy with Sophia as your tribal Dog commander that they're in 91% or better of Dog decks she commands per EDHREC.
I have a feeling we'll see Pack Leader showing up in a lot of these decks. It's an anthem for Dogs, and when it attacks all of your other Dogs get to prevent combat damage.
Mowu would be a tribal Dog commander on his own if there were enough mono-green Dogs out there. A decent choice for a Voltron themed commander deck as well with vigilance, trample, and adding extra +1+1 counters to himself.
Ainok has a fun keyword ability called Outlast, where at sorcery speed you can pay the mana cost to add a +1+1 counter. Then it gives all of your creatures with +1+1 counters first strike.
- Pack Leader
- Mowu, Loyal Companion
- Ainok Bond-Kin
High Synergy Spells for Sophia, Dogged Detective:
No surprises here. The most synergistic spells involve creating dog tokens, giving your creatures +1+1 counters, or gaining other benefits from them.
- Release the Dogs
- Hardened Scales
- Inspiring Call
Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Sophia, Dogged Detective
A land that puts +1+1 permanent counters on several types of creatures, including dogs, certainly seems useful in a dog tribal deck! If you're feeling inspired, you can use your artifacts to help cast your non artifact spells. And then we have a quintessential dog's dream meal, a haunch of meat! It calls all the dogs to the yard when it's gone, too.
- Animal Sanctuary
- Inspiring Statuary
- Krovox Haunch
Combos for Sophia, Dogged Detective:
- Peregrin Took + Nuka-Cola Vending Machine
This handy food and treasure token combo will net you infinite draw. You'll need three foods to sac for Peregrin's ability, then the vending machine will start feeding him, second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on breakfasts until you say “when!”
- Officious Interrogation + Mechanized Production
This one takes some set up. You'll need Production on the board enchanting a clue token. and Interrogation in your hand. You'll need at least 8 creatures in play, a white and a blue mana, and another white and blue mana for each opponent Interrogation needs to hit.
At the beginning of your upkeep, when Mechanized Production triggers, cast Officious Interrogation for as many targets as necessary to create at least 8 total clue tokens. Win the game!
2. Tesak, Judith's Hellhound
*Mono Color Magic Alert!* Judith is associated with Rakdos colors (red/black,) so of course she has a flaming red Hellhound to Unleash on her enemies. Meet Tesak, Judith's Hellhound. One nasty mono red commander!
There's a lot going on here. Unleash, of course. But then all your other dogs will have unleash as well. If you unleash them or give them counters a different way, all your creatures will have haste. And then Tesak creates a red mana for each attacking creature when he comes along for a ride.
What a good boy! You'd totally get belly rubs if it wouldn't singe my hand.
Speaking of good boy, if you have a real dog of your own you'd like to game with, check out these DIY games you can build and enjoy with your furry friend!
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
High Synergy Creatures with Tesak, Judith's Hellhound as your Dog Commander:
I'm not sure good is the word I'd use to describe these boys. Packing abilities like Menace, First Strike, Modular, and Haste makes these formidable mutts to pair with Tesak.
- Bolt Hound
- Goldhound
- Arcbound Tracker
High Synergy Spells for Tesak, Judith's Hellhound:
Dogpile is fun, instant speed direct damage to any target based on your number of attacking creatures. Kindred charge will double your forces before such an attack. Really those are a pretty nasty combo if you happen to have 10 mana to play with. And Shared Animosity is a pretty darn good red anthem.
- Dogpile
- Kindred Charge
- Shared Animosity
Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Tesak, Judith's Hellhound:
The Horn is basically a mana rock for all your dogs. The Sanctuary appears again for more +1+1 counters. And then we have Hazoret's Monument reducing the cost of your red creatures and offering a “you may” looting ability.
- Herald's Horn
- Animal Sanctuary
- Hazoret's Monument
Combos for Tesak, Judith's Hellhound:
- Tesak, Judith's Hellhound + Hellkite Charger
Get these 2 out together along with 5 other creatures that can attack for 7 total and you can lock in at least one additional combat phase.
If your opponents can't block/kill any of them, you can create at least 7 mana every combat phase from Tesak. Then, pay Hellkite Charger's triggered ability at the beginning of each combat, creating infinite combat phases and infinite damage.
- Neheb, the Eternal + Aggravated Assault
With Neheb, the Eternal and Aggravated Assault on the battlefield, deal 5 damage to your opponent. Neheb will create the mana to pay for Aggravated Assault each combat step! Take those infinite combat steps and deal infinite damage.
- Molten Echoes + Changeling Berserker
With Molten Echoes on the battlefield and Changeling Berserker in hand, drop the Changeling and trigger the Echoes. Remove the original changeling with the token. When the token dies return the original.
Rinse and repeat for infinite Enter the Battlefield and Leave the Battlefield triggers.
3. Rin and Seri, Inseparable
Rin and Seri is such a powerful token generator, and it can power a tribal dog deck, cat deck, or combo cat/dog deck.
This commander creates a dog token whenever you play a dog. A cat token whenever you play a cat, and has both direct damage and lifegain abilities equal to the number of dogs and cats you control respectively.
Get ready for some fun token combos. Let's take a look at some great cards to pair with Rin and Seri, Inseparable as your tribal dog commander!
High Synergy Creatures with Rin and Seri, Inseparable as Your Dog Commander:
If you're creating an army of dog tokens, Pack Leader's anthem clearly belongs in your deck. Spirited Companion usually makes an entrance as a cantrip. Rambunctious Mutt gives you a mid-level creature on the board and takes out an artifact or enchantment as it enters.
- Pack Leader
- Spirited Companion
- Rambunctious Mutt
High Synergy Spells for Rin and Seri, Inseparable:
Create dog tokens. Double your tokens. Anthem for tokens you control. No surprises here!
- Release the Dogs
- Second Harvest
- Intangible Virtue
Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Rin and Seri, Inseparable:
We've seen all these before. Nice to see Goldhound make it into another tribal dog commander deck that's not mono red!
- Goldhound
- Herald's Horn
- Animal Sanctuary
Combos for Rin and Seri, Inseparable:
- Rin and Seri, Inseparable + Earthcraft + Whitemane Lion
You'll need Rin and Seri in play, along with Earthcraft and a plains and one other basic land of any type. Drop the Lion. Rin and Seri creates a cat token. Tap the token to untap your plains. Lion enters. Tap it for Earthcraft and untap another land. Return the lion to its own ETB trigger. Repeat!
You can create infinite cat tokens, enter the battlefield and leave the battlefield triggers, storm. This combo just rocks.
- Rin and Seri, Inseparable + Earthcraft + Temur Sabertooth + Universal Automaton
This one takes an extra card to set up, but the Changeling entering the battlefield will trigger Rin and Seri twice. Once for a dog, and once for a cat. Then between the 3 new creatures you can untap up to 3 lands with Earthcraft.
Another way to collect infinite tokens, ETB triggers, LTB triggers, and storm.
4. Isamaru, Hound of Konda
*Mono Color Magic Alert* Most tribal dog builds for Isamaru, Hound of Konda are just a version of white weenie. You want to drop as many small white creatures as possible, and massively pump them up.
Isamaru can make a formidable Voltron deck as well, with its low cost for a 2/2, throwing great equipment and auras at it can quickly overwhelm your opponents if they can't deal with it quickly, or let it sit thinking it's not that big of a threat.
High Synergy Creatures with Isamaru, Hound of Konda as your Dog Commander:
Pack Leader makes another appearance, but Trusty Retriever and Selfless Savior show up for the first time. The Retriever can provide a mid level creature or some graveyard recursion. The Savior is ready to lay down his life for your best boy.
- Pack Leader
- Trusty Retriever
- Selfless Savior
High Synergy Spells for Isamaru, Hound of Konda:
Let's Release the Dogs again, and then throw a pair of anthems on all our tokens and weenies!
- Release the Dogs
- Rally the Ranks
- Honor of the Pure
Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Isamaru, Hound of Konda:
Sanctuary returns. Vanquisher's Banner provides anthem and card draw. Icon of Ancestry provides another tribal anthem and tribal draw!
- Animal Sanctuary
- Vanquisher's Banner
- Icon of Ancestry
Combos for Isamaru, Hound of Konda:
Since Isamaru has no abilities of its own, combos for this deck would be based around other creatures and spells. A couple that could be included and make sense are:
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Balista OR Triskelion
The basics of this one are activate Heliod giving one of the artifacts lifelink, then remove a counter and ping your opponent. Each point of damage is then gaining you life and Heliod will put a new counter back on the artifact. Hello infinite damage and lifegain!
- Uba Mask + Drannith Magistrate
This nasty little combo will limit your opponents to playing only the cards in their hand, and prevent them from drawing any cards to replace them, instead exiling everything they draw with no way to play it.
5. Kunoros, Hound of Athreos
Yes, it's a hound, not a dog, so close! Yet so far away for some tribal benefits. Yet again, that picture is definitely a 3 headed dog! Lets see what we can do in a tribal dog commander deck with Kunoros, Hound of Athreos as our commander. (Who are we kidding, that's definitely Cerberus)
High Synergy Creatures with Kunoros, Houd of Athreos as Your Dog Commander:
Kunoros' colors give us a new card to pair with the Leader and Mutt. Here's Banehound, providing an early lifelink and haste option that loves to be pumped with anthems, auras, and equipment.
- Pack Leader
- Rambunctious Mutt
- Banehound
High Synergy Spells for Kunoros, Houd of Athreos:
We could certainly include spells we've already seen like Release the Dogs here, but having that black option opens up some possibilities that we haven't yet mentioned, so we'll list a few great Orzhov (black/white) cards that may fit your scheme.
Etchings offers another anthem for your dogs. Despark and Mortify are fantastic removal spells at instant speed with low costs.
- Etchings of the Chosen
- Despark
- Mortify
Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Kunoros, Houd of Athreos:
Animal Sanctuary can go on here too, but lets take a look at some artifacts not yet mentioned. The Collar providing deathtouch and lifelink is always formidable. The boots belong in almost every commander deck, providing haste and hexproof. The Sword of Forge and Frontier is a nice pump and protection for your equipped puppy, and provides a way to get through the next 2 cards of your library when you damage your opponent with the equipped creature in combat.
- Basilisk Collar
- Swiftfoot Boots
- Sword of Forge and Frontier
Combos for Kunoros, Houd of Athreos:
There aren't any great combos specifically involving Kunoros, but being black and white opens up several combo possibilities, including a couple of very well-knowns, such as:
- Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond OR Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
They lose life, you gain life. You gain life, they lose life. It never ends until they're dead.
- Beacon of Immortality + Tainted Remedy
Oh man. What a fun combo to drop on someone unexpectedly. Tainted Remedy is probably shutting down other lifegain around your table. Then you just drop a bomb on someone with Beacon. Then, you shuffle it back in and can tutor to do it all over again! Especially with the plethora of black tutors at your disposal.
- Approach of the Second Sun + Demonic Tutor OR Vampiric Tutor (or several other black tutors)
Really you can use any and all tutors that would let you grab this sorcery, and black has a lot of them. Drop Approach of the Second Sun. Then tutor an drop it again. GG.
Well, I hope you had as much fun running around the dog-friendly park with our furry friends as I did. Nothing quite warms your heart like a puppy, does it? And these pups are well-trained to attack on command. You should see now why Dogs are one of the best tribes for EDH. Build one of these tribal dog commanders and enjoy!
Credit to EDHREC for compiling the current usage stats for the above cards in commander decks!
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