All 8 Coin Flip Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on July 11, 2025

Okaun, Eye of Chaos | Illustration by Alexis Ziritt

Regardless of who you are, a couple of truths apply to life. We can never truly get what we want; if we did, there’d probably be some more variety in commanders for the coin flip theme in Magic. The other one is that, despite what Esper () players may think, we can’t control everything.

Magic has its own way of tapping into that statistical chaos. That’s where the coin flips come in.

Coin flip decks tap into randomness, but they also want to harness it, tipping the scales in their favor any time they can. It’s almost like creating a handicap for yourself, and then finding a way to cheat out of it. Is it the single most effective way of doing things? We’ll see.

But no EDH deck is complete without its commander, and that’s what we’re here to look at.

What Are Coin Flip Commanders in EDH?

Yusri, Fortune's Flame | Illustration by Evyn Fong

Coin flip commanders are cards that either enable or benefit from cards with coin flip effects or coin flip support. This narrows down the possible options wildly.

Coin flip strategies remain very niche in MTG. Even though we’ve slowly gotten some interesting coin flip (and coin flip support) cards over the years, it’s still a rather small pool of cards, which makes it a pretty unidirectional kind of build. This means that we don’t really get too many options of possible commanders for a coin flip EDH deck.

Chaos decks and coin flip decks are very different, even though they draw from the same idea of randomness and chaos. Chaos commanders usually go all out on randomness with extremely unconventional win conditions (if they have any win conditions at all) and spells that throw the entire board into disarray. Coin flip decks, on the other hand, weaponize the randomness inherent to Magic (and life) by exalting it. Such decks add a speck of adrenaline and randomness to the way the game is played.

#8. Ral, Monsoon Mage /Ral, Leyline Prodigy

The spellslinging planeswalker commander Ral, Monsoon Mage is disguised as a coin flip commander, because the card wants to become Ral, Leyline Prodigy which does not care about coin flips. So do you build your deck around coin flipping and expect the non-planeswalker side of Ral to support you? You'd need to do a lot of work just to keep up the coin flip per instant or sorcery. Yes, Ral belongs on this list, but no, it's a commander better suited to a job other than leading your coin flip deck.

#7. Setzer, Wandering Gambler

With Setzer, Wandering Gambler I care most about the last ability that grants me treasure with every coin flip I win. It's hard enough to get vehicles to deal combat damage to players, so build in alternative ways to win coin flips and boost your treasure.

#6. Rakdos, the Showstopper

Remember when I said chaos and coin flips aren’t exactly the same? Well, yes, but. Rakdos, the Showstopper utilizes coin flips much more as a way of sowing chaos than as a specific strategy. Which is very adequate for somebody who's not just a Rakdos commander but the Rakdos, famous chaos lover and discord sower.

In this case, the coin flip works as a generalized board wipe, which you can counter by simply playing a typal deck that aligns with this card’s effect: demons, devils, and imps. However, cards that allow you to re-flip coins and ensure you get the result you want can be extremely useful, since that’d allow you to turn the scales in your favor either to destroy your opponents’ creatures or to save any of your own that aren't of the proper creature type.

Rakdos, the Showstopper bridges the very small gap between coin flip and chaos strategies, inviting you to integrate some coin flip cards and support in a color pair that tends to prefer full chaos decks.

#5. Krark, the Thumbless

This goblin wizard is kind of a tricky entry. This is technically one card, but it can also be many thanks to its partner ability. Making an entry for every single possible combination for Krark, the Thumbless would be absurd, especially considering most of them would go something along the lines of “Yeah, this wouldn’t really work. Next.” So which combinations work best with this goblin commander?

Thrasios, Triton Hero (one of Magic's best merfolks) and Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix give you access to ramp thanks to their green color identity and several useful spells, including some coin flip ones, thanks to their blue part. They also have strong card draw abilities, which can pair up considerably well with Krark, the Thumbless’s focus on spellslinging.

Next up we have Vial Smasher the Fierce. These two pair up for a really fun and explosive chaos pair. The goblin berserker deals direct damage whenever you cast your first spell each turn generates some value from it, even if Krark, the Thumbless returns it to your hand. Then again, this pair works better in chaotic decks with large mana values rather than focusing on coin flips.

Silas Renn, Seeker Adept is the next option. This Dimir commander gives you access to both black and blue; since Krark is a red commander, this pair lets you work with a Grixis deck, which can be really helpful on coin flip and spellslinging decks. Silas also lets you recover artifacts from the graveyard, which is useful given how heavily these decks rely on Krark's Thumb.

Sakashima of a Thousand Faces is arguably the best pairing with Krark. This card not only lets you copy Krark, the Thumbless (which would already be pretty good), but also lets you copy other creatures that can be extremely useful in this kind of deck. Having an extra Tavern Scoundrel or Harmonic Prodigy can be really handy in a coin flip deck.

The biggest issue here is that Krark, the Thumbless has an ability that flips coins, but doesn’t really care about other cards doing the same, so ultimately, it isn’t that ideal as a coin flip commander but rather as a spellslinging one.

#4. Breeches, the Blastmaker

Breeches, the Blastmaker has the same issue as Krark, the Thumbless: The legendary pirate goblin ultimately works better as a spellslinging commander than a coin flip one. That said, you can use its ability as an excuse to run cards that enable coin flips, which then serves as an excuse to play more coin flip cards.

I personally prefer this Izzet commander in the command zone over Krark, the Thumbless because Breeches already brings the best two colors for coin flip strategies, and the drawback for its ability is much lighter. You still get to cast your spell, plus you deal some additional damage to a target of your choice.

#3. Yusri, Fortune’s Flame

I really, really like the design of this Modern Horizons 2 legend. One of the biggest issues I found with the previous entries is that they have coin flip abilities, but didn’t need any other cards that care about coin flipping in their decks. You can run something like Krark's Thumb to optimize their abilities, but ultimately their drawback isn’t even that serious so who cares if you fail your coin flip?

Yusri, Fortune's Flame also has a coin flip ability, but the way this ability is designed manages to make you both try to avoid losing flips while also flipping as many coins as you can. Sure, taking 2 damage isn’t terrible, but that damage can start piling up if you’re unlucky. However, you probably want to flip all five coins, because drawing a bunch of cards and then casting spells for free can be a game-changing move.

This ability means you’ll definitely want to have as much coin-flip support as you can to ensure you get those free card draws and those sweet free spells. Since you’re already filling your deck up with coin flip support, you might as well start adding other coin flipping cards. This commander doesn’t simply use coin flips as part of its abilities but drives you to make this a coin flip deck. Plus, it’s just a really fun ability!

#2. Edgar, King of Figaro

Edgar, King of Figaro was tough to snub from the #1 spot, but it is limited to the blue color identity, and red is the color you want for the chance at the most coin flips. Edgar, (not Edgar Markov) very much wants you to have great EDH artifacts in play, so that can dilute the theme further, but how can you beat one two-headed coin per turn?

#1. Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom + Okaun, Eye of Chaos

I mean, we do have a Secret Lair, full precon called Heads I Win, Tails You Lose with these two chaos commanders at the helm. And it’s arguably as good as a coin flip deck can get, with maybe a minor upgrade here and there considering the support that’s been printed since it was first released.

Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom is incredible. Firstly, you get to flip coins for free on each of your turns, which is already great with cards like Tavern Scoundrel and Chance Encounter. This alone would make it a pretty decent coin flip commander, but let's add to that its second ability. Drawing a card for each coin flip you win can result in some absurd turns. This homunculus would be a strong contender for the best coin flip commander on its own, despite its weakness of only being a mono-blue commander. Luckily for us, it has a partner.

This is where Okaun, Eye of Chaos comes barging in. Not only does this red commander let you flip coins for free, the same as Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom, but it also gets absurdly bigger for each coin flip you win. This works great for both attack and defense purposes since any coin flip ability that can be activated at instant speed nets you a huge creature.

These two pair up to make the best possible commander(s) for a coin flip deck by far. They both have coin flip abilities while also drawing huge advantages from any other coin flip cards you may be playing. Even if you only cast one of them, they’ll make for a great creature without truly needing the other one all that badly.

Best Coin Flip Payoffs

At this point I don’t think I even need to mention Krark's Thumb. I mean, the legendary artifact is by far more useful in coin flip decks than the rest of poor old Krark, as we’ve already seen with Krark, the Thumbless. Edgar, King of Figaro is both a legend for coin flips as well as a payoff since it does splendidly in the 99 of coin flip decks.

This strategy has a few staples like Tavern Scoundrel, Chance Encounter, Stitch in Time, or Fiery Gambit.

Not everyone likes it, but I find Planar Chaos to be a really dumb but fun card. Since you’d already be running plenty of coin flip cards, this red enchantment should fit right in.

If you're in line for as many coin flips as you can get, Impulsive Maneuvers, Karplusan Minotaur, and Mirror March ensure you frequently fill the air above the table with flips.

I honestly recommend checking out WotC's Secret Lair Heads I Win, Tails You Lose deck. It’s genuinely fun and really well-built, and it can definitely serve as a guide if you need one for this strategy.

Is Coin Flipping Fun in Magic?

Be warned that some people find coin flipping to be unfun in Magic. The main gripe is that it takes too long to do the coin flips. Flip after flip can be especially tedious for other players in a multiplayer game. So while coin flip commanders are nowhere near the ban hammer, it may be worth mentioning in a Rule 0 discussion. Dig into what issues, if any, people have with coin flips. I recall from my days playing Pokémon that metal coins especially put high value cards at risk of damage if they end up on the receiving end of a falling coin. Also, it's worth discussing if any shortcuts could be taken as alternatives to coin flips like a dice roll in which 1, 3, and 5 are heads, 2, 4 and 6 are tails.

Commanding Conclusion

Breeches, the Blastmaker | Illustration by Dmitry Burmak

I really like the coin flip archetype. I deeply enjoy its “harnessed chaos” style of play, and I’m a big fan of unconventional strategies and play patterns. And this sure is unconventional. I simply wish we would get some more support for the theme, with maybe some alternative commanders and some good coin flip support cards.

But enough about what I think. What’s your favorite coin flip commander? Did I miss any must-have coin flip commanders? Do you like unique commanders?

Leave a comment letting us know! And while you’re here, make sure to pay our Discord server a visit. There you’ll find an amazing community of MTG fans to share your hobby with!

That’s all from me for now. Have a good one, and I’ll see you next time!

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