418 Commander-legal cards give creatures flying. The most-played are Akroma's Will; Elspeth, Storm Slayer; and Elspeth, Sun's Champion (card data dated November 12, 2026).
Flying puts an attacker out of reach of most blockers. 418 Commander-legal cards give it to your creatures, most-played first.
Build a deck around these cards: describe it to Grover, the AI deck assistant, and it drafts a full Commander list with the reasoning behind every pick.
Best cards that give flying in Commander
Ranked most-played first, the best cards that give flying in Commander are Akroma's Will; Elspeth, Storm Slayer; Elspeth, Sun's Champion; Wonder; and Cyberdrive Awakener. Every card on this list is legal in Commander as of the card data dated November 12, 2026.
What these cards do
A card that gives flying lets creatures other than itself fly, so only creatures with flying or reach can block them. Akroma's Memorial and Eldrazi Monument give it to every creature you control, Angelic Destiny and Mask of Griselbrand to one, and Akroma's Will and Moonshaker Cavalry to your whole board for a turn. Decks that go wide play them to win through a board where nothing on the ground can attack.
They differ in how long the flying lasts. Equipment, Auras and permanents such as Akroma's Memorial keep giving it while they stay on the battlefield, Moonshaker Cavalry and Akroma's Will until end of turn, and flying counters, such as the one Qarsi Revenant puts on a creature, stay on it. Wonder gives your creatures flying only while it is in your graveyard and you control an Island.
Rules note: a creature with flying can still block creatures without flying, and an attacker that gains or loses flying after blockers are declared keeps the block it already has.
The list
418 cards in all. The 60 most-played are listed here, each linked to its page with printings, prices and format legality.
Commander-legal cards whose rules text gives flying to another creature or to a group of creatures: Equipment and Auras (equipped creature has flying), your whole board (creatures you control have flying), one target (target creature gains flying), and flying counters. Cards that only have flying themselves, or that give it only to themselves, to a token they create or to a creature they take control of, are not listed. One entry per card, most-played first.
Built from the card data dated 2026-11-12.
Frequently asked questions
What does flying do in MTG?
A creature with flying can't be blocked except by creatures with flying and/or reach, and it can block creatures with or without flying (rule 702.9b). Flying is an evasion ability (rule 702.9a), and more than one instance of it on a creature is redundant (rule 702.9c).
Does giving a creature flying after it is blocked help?
Not in that combat. Blockers are checked against evasion abilities as they are declared, and an attacking creature that gains or loses an evasion ability after a legal block has been declared doesn't change that block (rule 509.1b). Give flying before blockers are declared.
What can block a creature that has flying?
Only a creature with flying or reach (rules 702.9b and 702.17b). A team you give flying is answered by blockers with reach or flying, or by removal, never by creatures on the ground.
Sources
Comprehensive Rules, effective September 25, 2026: rules 702.9a, 702.9b and 702.9c (flying), rule 702.17b (reach), rule 509.1b (declaring blockers) and rule 122.1b (keyword counters).
Mana Grove card database, MTGJSON build of November 12, 2026: the rules text, type line and Commander legality of every card on this list, and the deck-inclusion popularity rank behind its order.