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Preeminent Captain

Creature — Kithkin Soldier

First strike (This creature deals combat damage before creatures without first strike.)
Whenever this creature attacks, you may put a Soldier creature card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{W}
Color identity
W
Rarity
rare
Set
Magic 2015
Price
$0.72
EDHREC rank
#9243
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Preeminent Captain card art
Preeminent Captain puts a Soldier from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking the moment it swings — free deployment stapled to a combat trigger, no mana required. That ability is why Medomai the Ageless loops and Commander Mustard aggro shells treat it as a staple rather than a consideration.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Commander Mustard

Commander Mustard

67.7% of decks · synergy 0.67

Commander Mustard is the natural home — Preeminent Captain turns every attack into a free Soldier deployment, feeding the wide board Mustard rewards with anthems and damage bonuses.

02
Myrel, Shield of Argive

Myrel, Shield of Argive

52.3% of decks · synergy 0.50

Myrel, Shield of Argive wants as many Soldiers as possible before the end step, and Preeminent Captain adds one for free every time it attacks, compounding Myrel's token lockdown without spending a mana.

03
Iroas, God of Victory

Iroas, God of Victory

12.1% of decks · synergy 0.11

Iroas, God of Victory removes the combat tax that would otherwise discourage aggressive attacks, letting Preeminent Captain swing safely and reliably trigger its cheat-into-play ability every turn.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Preeminent Captain does its real work — Soldier tribal is a supported archetype with enough high-value targets that cheating even one into play per attack generates meaningful tempo. In Legacy and Vintage the card is legal but irrelevant; fair three-drops that require combat to function don't compete in those formats. Modern and Pioneer have Soldier synergies, but dedicated tribal decks there prefer cheaper, more consistent deployment, and Preeminent Captain's three-mana cost is awkward in a format where the curve wants to end at two. Oathbreaker is viable if the signature spell supports a wide Soldier strategy, but Commander remains the clear best context.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.72 bulk tier

At $0.72, Preeminent Captain sits firmly in bulk territory despite showing up in over 60% of Commander Mustard decks. That price is unlikely to spike dramatically given multiple printings and a narrow tribal use case, so picking up copies now costs almost nothing.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.