The 43 Best Pirates in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 28, 2025

Captivating Crew | Illustration by Winona Nelson

Are you tired of playing honest Magic at your Commander tables? Maybe you’d rather pillage, plunder, and loot your way to victory? Ahoy, a pirate ye may be! Sailing the high seas is no easy feat, but this crew of no-good scallywags helms one of the most renowned typal strategies in Commander. A rowdy bunch of aggressive creatures, they’ll collect treasure and steal cards for value.

Welcome aboard, matey! I’ll be introducing you to the crew.

What Are Pirates in MTG?

Zara, Renegade Recruiter | Illustration by Chris Rallis

Pirate cards in MTG are creature cards with the “pirate” creature subtype. They’re often red creatures, black creatures, blue creatures, or some combination therein. Pirates have become a fan-favorite creature type, appearing in numerous Magic sets, especially since their first outing as a typal theme in Ixalan. They often care about stealing cards from other players and/or artifacts and Treasure tokens to flavorfully depict the plundering and valuable loot that these scallywags are all about.

2024’s Universes Beyond Assassin’s Creed crossover and 2023’s The Lost Caverns of Ixalan each brought a slurry of new pirates to try out, too.

I’ll primarily be focusing on Commander in this list, but I’ll be sure to talk about other MTG formats when they’re relevant.

Honorable Mentions: Hullbreacher + Dockside Extortionist

Pirates love Treasure tokens. Hullbreacher and Dockside Extortionist were the best ways to generate Treasure in Magic history, let alone among pirates. These cards were banned from the Commander format as they simply accelerate mana far too fast and are incredibly exploitable. cEDH was defined by Dockside Extortionist for years, and if Hullbreacher hadn’t been banned shortly after its release, it likely would’ve done the same.

#43. Wily Goblin

In a deck that cares about pirates and Treasure tokens, Wily Goblin makes for a smooth and synergistic early creature. It’s not particularly impressive and may not even make the cut in this day and age of powerful pirates, but it’s no slouch either way.

#42. Malcolm, the Eyes

One of the more underwhelming pirates printed since LCI, Malcolm, the Eyes wants you to be casting multiple spells each turn. Whether or not you do, it’s a 2/2 with flying and haste, so it’s great for saboteur damage triggers like Breeches, Brazen Plunderer. 

#41. Spectral Sailor

Spectral Sailor is a cheap and effective spirit pirate. Turning mana directly into cards later in the game can be pretty useful, too. This is the type of evasive attacker that a pirate like Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator loves.

#40. Spyglass Siren

Making the rounds in Standard and Pioneer, Spyglass Siren is just a good amount of value for such a small creature. It's two permanents on a 1-drop, one of which smooths out your draw – not a bad deal at all.

#39. Warkite Marauder

There are often times where one problem blocker is making your combat phase difficult. Warkite Marauder can deactivate a blocker entirely for the turn. This can also help you get around Archon of Emeria style effects, if those are common at your Commander tables.

#38. Hostage Taker

Hostage Taker is a Dimir card with a nice removal ability. Make sure to keep it alive until you cast what you stole, or else they’ll get it back.

#37. Glint-Horn Buccaneer

This minotaur pirate is an interesting one, caring specifically about discarding cards. A 3-mana 2/4 with haste is pretty nice, and filtering through cards can be really useful. It’s also a two-card game-winning combo with Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator, though the half of this combo that can literally be in your command zone gets most of the credit for it.

#36. Greedy Freebooter

As far as 1-mana pirates go, there’s definitely better. That doesn’t mean Greedy Freebooter isn’t worth including; any 1-mana sacrifice fodder that pays out in Treasure is solid.

#35. Kari Zev, Skyship Raider

In Commander, Kari Zev, Skyship Raider is a pretty solid 2-drop to include in the 99. It’s hard to block, triggers all the partner commander abilities like Francisco, Fowl Marauder, and it brings its pet monkey just for fun.

#34. Corsair Captain

A simple enough pirate typal lord, Corsair Captain does plenty to warrant inclusion in a pirate typal deck. It’s not the most exciting captain in the seven seas, but a pirate can’t deny the value of Treasure.

#33. Pirated Copy

Copy creature effects are solid, but Pirated Copy is a little expensive at 5 mana. The additional card draw effect is a nice bonus, but it doesn’t ultimately mean much on a 5-mana, probably summoning-sick creature. In a pirate deck, this is the best copy effect for the job. The loss of Dockside Extortionist does mean that it lost its best target of all time, though.

#32. Impulsive Pilferer

Impulsive Pilferer makes great sacrifice fodder. And thanks to its encore ability, this goblin pirate can come back from the graveyard threefold for even more value. If you’re playing an aristocrats-themed deck with red in the color identity, this is a perfect inclusion.

#31. Zara, Renegade Recruiter

Zara, Renegade Recruiter is my least favorite of the pirates that steal creatures. I like that it steals from their hand, but it’s 5 mana and doesn’t have haste. You’ll want to ramp it out quickly or find some other way to enable it.

#30. Captain Vargus Wrath

Captain Vargus Wrath makes a solid addition to a pirate typal deck. It’s at its best with partner commanders like Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator, since you’ll be casting at least two commanders by default.

#29. Protean Raider

The raid ability of Protean Raider isn’t that hard to turn on in a deck full of pirates. This becomes a clone effect with a much nicer asking price than Pirated Copy.

#28. Captain N’ghathrod

This Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate precon Dimir commander cares far more about horrors than pirates. That doesn’t mean Captain N'ghathrod isn’t powerful! It doesn’t belong in pirate typal, but it’s the perfect commander for horrors. Reanimating your opponent’s strongest creatures is a truly dastardly plan.

#27. Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider

In a pirate typal strategy where Treasures seem to overflow from your creature’s pockets, Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider is a valuable little 2-drop that’s definitely worth playing. This could also be a great commander for an artifact-themed deck.

#26. Mary Read and Anne Bonny

It’s a shame that Mary Read and Anne Bonny doesn’t have vigilance. Regardless, looting is always welcome. This feels tailor made for a deck with Smuggler's Copter in it. It’ll be a delicate balance of permanent types, but a lot of discarding would make that Treasure really add up.

#25. Captain Lannery Storm

Captain Lannery Storm wants to get out there and swing. It’s unfortunately not that difficult to block, but if you can get safe attacks in, that value starts to add up. Imagine this with Port Razer!

#24. Staunch Crewmate

It’s often true that the most important men on a ship are the ones whose names are forgotten to time. Staunch Crewmate doesn’t carry the captain’s swagger and menacing aura, but it can consistently find you a pirate or tutor an artifact. It’s not the most respected job on the ship, but it’s an important one.

#23. Skeleton Crew

This skeleton pirate lord wants you to assemble an even larger Skeleton Crew by removing creatures from your graveyard. Use March of the Drowned or reanimate creatures to make it happen. If you’re playing a deck that can trigger it often, Skeleton Crew serves you well.

#22. Breeches, Eager Pillager

Breeches, Eager Pillager is a great pirate to have around for combat. The value isn’t overwhelming, but this combination of effects is perfect for the rowdy crew of a pirate typal deck.

#21. Kitesail Larcenist

One of my favorite pirates in Standard right now, Kitesail Larcenist is a blue pirate with some cheeky removal. It turns something of an opponent’s and something of yours into a treasure. Pick their best thing and your worst thing, and it’ll amount to a lot of value.

#20. Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel

Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel isn’t as well known as the Commander Legends Malcolm. This siren pirate brings incremental value over several turns until that value is suddenly explosive. Find ways to get extra chorus counters, like by proliferating, and you’ll be rewarded handsomely.

#19. Siren Stormtamer

There are some high-mana pirates out there. Siren Stormtamer can help protect your most important creatures from targeted removal. I imagine this pirate being a loyal right-hand man to the captain, sacrificing itself for the crew when the moment is right.

#18. Dire Fleet Daredevil

Dire Fleet Daredevil’s precise value depends on what’s available for it to exile, but I’d wager that in most games of Commander, there’s something good to take. Swords to Plowshares is a spell that most pirate-themed decks won’t have access to without a card like Dire Fleet Daredevil.

#17. Captivating Crew

A repeatable, unrestricted creature-stealing ability? Yes please. Captivating Crew might not give you much immediate value, but that’s okay. It more than makes up for it by allowing you to repeatedly steal creatures. If you’re playing a deck with free sacrifice outlets, you can just steal creatures and sacrifice them for 4 mana every single turn.

#16. Gemcutter Buccaneer

You certainly understand by now that pirates are all about their Treasure. Gemcutter Buccaneer makes tons of them throughout a game, and you’ll probably get some bonus damage in using the Treasure as equipment, too.

#15. Breeches, Brazen Plunderer

I really wish Breeches, Brazen Plunderer‘s mana value weren’t 4. The fact that its trigger requires pirates to hit different opponents to get multiple cards makes this a very limited card advantage engine if you aren’t pinging the entire table all the time. The worst part is that you can only play those cards “this turn,” which is an incredibly tough restriction that makes it hard to cast stolen spells on the turn you cast this 4-mana goblin pirate. It also means that cards exiled at instant speed are dead unless those cards are instants themselves.

#14. Ramirez DePietro, Pillager

Ramirez DePietro, Pillager gets bonus points for having a fantastic name. It’s a pretty good Dimir card, too, and it deserves plenty of points on its own. Refunding 2 mana in the form of Treasures is great, since those Treasures can help cast the cards you exile on that very same turn. Despite the completely different color identity, this feels like a “fixed” version of Breeches, Brazen Plunderer.

#13. Francisco, Fowl Marauder

Get Francisco, Fowl Marauder off your shoulder and onto the battlefield quickly, and I think you’ll find that exploring multiple times a turn does a lot to smooth your draws and make sure you hit your land drops. This bird pirate can start dealing some pretty big damage, too.

#12. Forerunner of the Coalition

It’s been a long time since Rivals of Ixalan, and pirates have gotten more versatile and powerful. Forerunner of the Coalition can make sure you find the right scoundrel for the situation far more consistently.

#11. Timestream Navigator

If your Commander table is cool with extra turn effects that don’t exile themselves, Timestream Navigator can be a really powerful card. Get the city’s blessing online as fast as possible, because that extra turn ability is incredibly well costed for something you can find with Imperial Recruiter.

#10. Admiral Brass, Unsinkable

One of the Lost Caverns of Ixalan commanders, Admiral Brass, Unsinkable is an impressively powerful Grixis commander. Try to keep it around for as many turns as possible and reanimate some truly dastardly pirates. Port Razer is particularly disgusting in this context. 

#9. Pitiless Plunderer

Pitiless Plunderer is a fantastic pirate for any sacrifice-matters deck. Extra mana is always welcome in my book. Four mana is definitely an investment, but hopefully you’ve been waiting to sacrifice your guys until this is ready.

#8. Coercive Recruiter

I’m imagining some awesome Grixis aristocrats Commander deck using Pitiless Plunderer, Captivating Crew, and Coercive Recruiter. Add plenty of sacrifice outlets like Warren Soultrader and steal the opponent's creatures, attack with them, then sacrifice them for value.

#7. Admiral Beckett Brass

The original Grixis pirate commander, Admiral Beckett Brass turns your rowdy hearties into proper buccaneers. It’s not the easiest way for pirates to steal creatures on the battlefield, but stealing other types of nonland permanents makes the hoop worth jumping through.

#6. Angrath’s Marauders

I think the best play with Angrath's Marauders is to threaten an attack that looks nothing like lethal, slam this down in your first main phase, and end the game there and then. Seven mana is steep, but this plan may only really work in the late game anyway, so it’s easily worth it. 

#5. Don Andres, the Renegade

All that Don Andres, the Renegade asks of you is that you steal cards. Whether you steal permanents on the battlefield with Coercive Recruiter or cast their spells with Laughing Jasper Flint, this gives a big boost to everything you steal.

#4. Port Razer

Another high mana value pirate that’s actually worth playing, Port Razer is a house. If you can keep blockers out of its way, it’ll reward you with up to two entire extra combat phases. This means two extra opportunities for Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer to hit, or you can hire a band of wandering mercenaries with Zara, Renegade Recruiter.

#3. Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

One of my favorite cEDH commanders, Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator is a solid little value engine by itself. That fact plus its game-ending combo with Glint-Horn Buccaneer makes this Malcolm one of the best pirates to have in the command zone if cEDH-level combos are of interest. It’s worth noting that the banning of Jeweled Lotus has made Malcolm worse.

#2. Edward Kenway

Sure, Edward Kenway costs 5 mana. That’s no problem though, because this assassin pirate should be refunding you with quite a few Treasures. Cast Edward, use it to crew a vehicle, then attack with all your pirates – or just crew the vehicle with all of them, if the attacks aren’t safe. As I’ll always say, if something gives you mana and cards for just playing the game, it’s hard to go wrong.

#1. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

There isn’t much to be said about Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer that hasn’t been already. It’s one of the strongest 1-drops in Magic history, and Magic's best 1-mana commander; this monkey pirate provides absurd value each time it connects. Mana and cards are the most important resources in Magic, and this is a 1-mana creature that can give you both. Whether it’s Modern or Commander, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer is the real deal.

Best Pirate Payoffs

Yarr, you might’ve introduced yourself to the ruffians, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to hoist a black flag! There’s more to piracy than eyepatches and friendship, matey. All that plunderin’ has to mean something! You might’ve heard that crime pays – let’s take a look at how pirates leverage the fruits of their labor.

Every pirate dreams of the day they get to lay down their arms and Revel in Riches. If ye believe that Treasure is its own reward, this black enchantment is the alternate win-condition for you.

It’s a simple fact, mate, you’re not a captain without a ship. The Indomitable is a nigh-unsinkable vessel that’ll likely draw you plenty of cards throughout a game. Fell Flagship is a ship for the more aggressive pirate crew. The Belligerent is another option that offers card advantage and Treasure, which we’ll never turn down. 

Pirate cards like Edward Kenway ask for a fleet of vehicles to go with your pirates. Smuggler's Copter is one of the best vehicles in Magic. Imposter Mech can copy something powerful. Reckoner Bankbuster has card advantage baked-in, and even pays out with a Treasure later. Nautiloid Ship aids in your permanent-stealing by reanimating opponent’s creatures. If RMS Titanic goes unblocked you’ll be knocking at the door of a Revel in Riches victory.

Kindred Discovery is quite a bit of mana for an enchantment, but drawing cards for every pirate makes this blue enchantment worth it.

Angrath, Minotaur Pirate is worth protecting so that it can reanimate pirates as much as possible.

In a deck with plenty of pirates, March of the Drowned is wildly efficient. Lookout's Dispersal is similarly powerful if you can expect to have a pirate on the battlefield most of the time.

It’s not the strongest equipment out there, but Pirate Hat can let your pirates dig through cards at a decent rate.

Siren's Ruse can double up on a strong enters trigger. Targeting Ramirez DePietro, Pillager makes it refund the card and the mana. It feels good to blink Dire Fleet Daredevil, too.

Fiery Cannonade makes for a great way to get the chump blockers out of your pirates’ paths.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction introduced a new creature type batch: outlaws. Assassins, mercenaries, pirates, rogues, and warlocks are outlaws. This opens up a lot of good payoffs for a deck full of pirates. Olivia, Opulent Outlaw plays incredibly well with pirates, since it makes Treasures. Back in Town can reanimate a huge number of pirates later in the game. Double Down is great for copying all the non-legendary pirates. Try doubling down on Angrath's Marauders.

Vihaan, Goldwaker makes your pirates more effective in combat, and turns your Treasure into more vigilant and hasty attackers. Don't sleep on Vihaan as an excellent treasure commander!

Laughing Jasper Flint has been doing well in Standard, but its ceiling is even higher in Commander. Build a giant board of pirates and steal some truly despicable spells.

Graywater's Fixer lets you extract a lot of extra value out of your dead creatures. Encore a Staunch Crewmate for some cards, or maybe Gemcutter Buccaneer for extra Treasure.

Like all typal strategies, pirates don’t mind the assistance of some changelings. Taurean Mauler gets huge. Roaming Throne synergizes quite well with the artifacts-matter pirates. Black Market Connections is both functional and flavorful.

Maskwood Nexus or Leyline of Transformation turn every creature in your deck into a pirate. These cards also make your crewed vehicles into pirates, so they benefit from all the pirates-matter synergies in your deck; Admiral Beckett Brass will notice your vehicles deal damage.

What MTG Sets Have Pirates?

• Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed: 3
• Modern Horizons 3 Commander: 1
• Outlaws of Thunder Junction: 3
• The Lost Caverns of Ixalan: 14
  • LCI Commander: 8
• The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth: 1
  • LTR Commander: 1
• March of the Machine: 1
  • MOM Commander: 1
• Jumpstart 2022: 1
• Dominaria United: 2
• Dungeons and Dragons: Battle For Baldur's Gate: 1
• Modern Horizons 2: 3
• Commander Legends: 20
• Jumpstart: 1
• Core 2021: 1
• Commander 2019: 1
• Core 2020: 3
• Core 2019: 1
• Rivals of Ixalan: 27
• Ixalan: 39
• Aether Revolt: 2
• Conspiracy: Take the Crown: 1
• Mercadian Masques: 4
• Portal Second Age: 8
• Portal: 1
• Mirage: 1
• Homelands: 1
• Legends: 1
• Alpha: 1

Captain’s Conclusion

Kari Zev, Skyship Raider | Illustration by Brad Rigney

Yohoho! Now that you’ve got your sea legs, you’re ready to take the helm, batten down the hatches, and set sail! Plunder and pillage freely on the open sea of your Commander table. Be aggressive, hoard your treasure, and your jolly crew of pirates will lead you to victory.

What’s your favorite pirate card in Magic? If you had to be on the crew, which legendary pirate would you want as your captain? Do you miss Dockside Extortionist? Let us know in the comments or on the Draftsim Discord. 

Until next time, make ‘em walk the plank!