WUBRG in 2026 has been going strong. The Five-Color combo pairing has had the most new commanders this year at the halfway point, with more potential ones coming in the future. Thanks to various new sets, precons, and cards, WUBRG has had a big power-up in 2026, getting access to so many new toys. It’s the easiest time for WUBRG deck builders, and also the cheapest. In this article, we’ll be looking at the state of WUBRG in 2026, going over the new cards, commanders, and their impact in the year.
The WUBRG Precons
In 2026, two different WUBRG precons were released. These are Dance of the Elements from Lorwyn Eclipsed and Turtle Power! from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Since we know the rest of the precons of the year, these are the only two WUBRG precons we’re getting (something we haven’t had since 2024’s Eldrazi Incursion precon from Modern Horizons III). Dance of the Elements is led by Ashling, the Limitless while Turtle Power! is led by Heroes in a Half Shell.
Both of these decks are great out of the box and great upgraded as well. These two precons make for an accessible entry for those who want their first WUBRG commander. Dance of the Elements is easier to obtain thanks to a lower price point compared to Turtle Power! Although, Turtle Power! is a stronger precon without any kind of upgrades. Though if you aren’t a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then Dance of the Elements is a perfectly solid precon, especially with how much Elemental support has been released over the years. Both of these decks are great choices if you want an easy way to add a WUBRG deck to your collection.
New Commanders
On top of the two mentioned above, there have been nine other WUBRG commanders in 2026 so far. In both the precons mentioned earlier, they all had at least one alternate commander. Dance of the Elements includes Horde of Notions and Mass of Mysteries. Both of these make for excellent Elemental commanders, and enable a different kind of playstyle for this Tribal archetype.
As for Turtle Power!, it has Leonardo, the Balance which enables using two commanders if the other commander also has character select. There are five commanders that can be run with Leonardo: April O'Neil, Live on the Scene, Donatello, the Brains, Michelangelo, the Heart, Raphael, the Muscle, and Splinter, the Mentor. The nice part about these commanders is that they enable very different playstyles, with Leonardo, the Balance acting as the glue that brings them all together.
On top of these, Marvel Super Heroes delivered four new WUBRG commanders. These are Karolina Dean, Runaway from the Jumpstart set, and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Super-Skrull, and Thanos, the Mad Titan from the main set. Karolina Dean, Runaway is a great exile commander, while, though the other ones aren’t particularly powerful commanders. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is decent if you run some blink cards to power-up multiple times instead of once.
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New Cards and Reprints
When it doesn’t come to commanders, it’s a bit more dire in terms of new cards. WUBRG in 2026 only saw one new card with a WUBRG color identity: Everything Pizza. It’s not a particularly powerful card, just a tutor for a basic land and a mana sink for a decent effect. At most, it’s decent synergy for a Food-based deck, less so as an actual viable card in a WUBRG deck unless you want a very budget land tutor. If you’re running the Turtle Power! precon in which it’s from, it’s one of the cards you’re likely to cut early on if you’re upgrading it.
Reprints for cards with a WUBRG color identity were also rather sparse. The only two reprinted cards with this trait are Jegantha, the Wellspring and Timeless Lotus. Jegantha wasn’t a particularly expensive card, but Timeless Lotus’ reprint in Dance of the Elements was its first reprint since its release in 2022’s Dominaria United and brought its price tag down significantly.
There have been some new lands that can tap for any color. Hidden Hideout and Surveillance Room are the only two that can make any color of mana that doesn’t have a restriction. For the most part, the new lands that can tap for any color can only use that mana for a specific type of card. These include Abundant Countryside, Eclipsed Realms, Turtle Lair, Great Hall of the Biblioplex, Avengers Tower, Castle Doom, and Villainous Hideout.
New and Completed Land Cycles
Something that WUBRG decks benefit from is new land cycles (or in some cases, old land cycles getting completed). And in 2026, WUBRG got a ton of new land cycles it can take advantage of. To kick things off, Secrets of Strixhaven introduced the Turbulent land cycle. These are dual lands with land types that enter tapped so long as your opponents control eight or more lands. Unless you draw them early on, they’re nearly always going to enter untapped (especially if one of your opponents is playing Green). The cycle is currently incomplete, with only half of the color pairings represented. The lands include Turbulent Fen, Turbulent Moor, Turbulent Springs, Turbulent Steppe, and Turbulent Wilderness.
For the budget-landbase lovers, Marvel Super Heroes delivered a new land cycle that has been dubbed Basic Dual Lands. These lands are ones that come in untapped and make colorless mana when tapped. Or, they can make one of two colors if a land enters the battlefield that turn, or if you control a basic land. While the lands aren’t too powerful compared to other dual land options, they’re great for a budget mana base as a way to get access to easy color fixing. There are only five for the Allied color pairings currently, and they include Dark Fortress, Gathering Place, Gleaming Bastion, Hidden Lair, and Training Compound.
The Tango Land cycle finally got all ten color pairings represented thanks to Eclipsed Steppe, Sodden Verdure, and Scorched Geyser being released in various Commander precons throughout the year. The Bi-Cycle land also saw its completion from the printings of Umbral Expanse, Coastal Peak, and Rain-Slicked Copse. All of these land cycles have been around for ages, so having them finally be complete is great to round out the many different WUBRG land options. Before, some were useful budget options, but would have to shill out for more pricier dual lands since some of these dual lands simply didn’t exist before 2026.
Top WUBRG Commanders in 2026
The most popular commanders are always changing. Some of them will always be at the top of the most played. Others eventually just fall off in the sea of possible commander options. Although it lost its title of most played commander in 2026, The Ur-Dragon still holds the number 2 spot. Although, the gap between the new #1 Y'shtola, Night's Blessed and #3 Edgar Markov is relatively small. It’s very possible
Interested in some Jodah, the Unifier builds? Check out our Jodah deck showcase here for six different ways to build him.
As for new toys for these commanders to play with, there are countless ones. It’s basically a meme you can build Jodah, the Unifier with any pile of legendary creatures and still be a powerful deck. With more Universes Beyond sets, Jodah gets even better since the number of legendary creatures in those sets is much higher (especially if they have precons too). Nearly every set gets at least one Dragon, even if it doesn’t make sense. So The Ur-Dragon is always getting new support, most recently with Secrets of Strixhaven and the Founder Dragons. Kenrith, the Returned King is a generic commander, and Ulalek, Fused Atrocity is locked into Eldrazi Tribal. Both of these didn’t get too many fun new toys that other decks didn’t also get.
cEDH WUBRG in 2026
Note: Only recorded tournaments with 50+ players will be referred to here when discussing the cEDH metagame.
cEDH and EDH are two very different formats. cEDH is where only the most optimal decks can survive. In 2026, three new WUBRG commanders were able to break into the metagame. The pairing of Leonardo, the Balance and Michelangelo, the Heart is seeing some play. Its metagame share isn’t particularly large (sitting roughly around 0.20%), but it has a solid 28.07% conversion rate, with multiple event wins and top placings. It’s the most successful new cEDH WUBRG commander, being the only one that has actually topped a recorded tournament event.
Although it hasn’t won a tournament, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. has seen success, including multiple second and third placings. Its place in the metagame is quite low, only possessing a metagame share of 0.24%, but a 29.73% conversion rate. It’s fallen off, but Ashling, the Limitless has seen some experimentation as well, and sports a few third-place finishes. However, most have given up on trying to make Ashling work, not every commander is going to hang comfortably in the cEDH metagame, after all.
The top deck when it comes to WUBRG remains Sisay, Weatherlight Captain by a wide margin. She’s the only WUBRG commander with a metagame share over 1% (sitting at 3.56%). Turns out, having a tutor in the command zone is a pretty great effect and has remained good over the years. More toolbox decks at the top of the 2026 metagame is Terra, Magical Adept and Kenrith, the Returned King. More specific WUBRG commanders include The Wandering Minstrel, Najeela, the Blade-Blossom, and Scion of the Ur-Dragon. Although, Najeela, the Blade-Blossom sports a low 8.77% conversion rate while the rest have a better one.
The Future of WUBRG
WUBRG is something that is so enticing in Commander. There’s an allure that makes you want to play with every color. After all, that means you’ll never be restricted on any card! If it’s not banned, you can run it (and assuming it fits into your desired bracket level). While it’s more rare for a set to have a ton of WUBRG commanders (or even WUBRG support), that doesn’t mean it never comes around.
In many Universes Beyond sets, they usually include at least one WUBRG commander option. This is a way to play every card from a specific universe under one deck instead of needing to make a ton of different ones. For example, Avatar had Avatar Aang, Spider-Man had Cosmic Spider-Man, and even Doctor Who has The Fourteenth Doctor paired with either Clara Oswald or Vislor Turlough.
With half the main sets in 2027 being Universes Beyond ones, that’s another door open for more WUBRG commanders. Even in 2026, with both Reality Fracture and Star Trek left to be fully revealed, the odds of a new WUBRG commander card being in those two sets are rather high. You should never expect a ton of new WUBRG toys, but there tends to be a few bones tossed here and there for the WUBRG archetype.
In Conclusion
WUBRG in 2026 saw a lot of new options being added to the game. From new land options to entirely new commanders, there is a lot for WUBRG fans to be happy about. Even in the cEDH metagame, there have been more WUBRG commanders getting a spotlight. They aren’t a huge presence in the cEDH metagame, but are still relevent in cEDH.
Overall, WUBRG is in one of the best places it has ever been in. Whether you’re optimizing your deck as far as it can go, or looking to build a budget deck using all five colors, there are multiple cards for you to take advantage of now. And the best part? It’s only going to get better as new cards get introduced.
If you’re interested in making a budget Five-Color deck, you can check out our guide on how to build a WUBRG deck without needing to break the bank here.
