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Commander Rules for Beginners

Friendly greetings and welcome! We're here to help players understand and apply the Commander rules. Whether you are new to Commander, or introducing other new players to the format, this article is for you.

Commander, also known as Elder Dragon Highlander, or EDH, requires an understanding of Magic's fundamentals. For an introduction to the fundamentals of Magic: The Gathering, we recommend checking out Magic's official How to Play content. The tutorial on Magic the Gathering Arena is another great resource for learning to play.

Like any community with an oral tradition, Magic players often shorthand rules explanations in conversation. This can lead to misunderstandings and confusion for inexperienced players.

On the other hand, not everyone is a judge, eager for immersion in the technical language of rules documents. Our intent for this article is to present an accurate summary of the Commander Rules to help new players shuffle up and play.

What's in a Commander Deck?

Whether you build, buy or borrow a deck, it should follow a basic framework of a 100-card, singleton deck, including a legendary commander to lead the deck. It helps to understand the composition of a commander deck before diving into gameplay.

The Commander (or Commanders)

There are thousands of legal commanders to choose from, and EDHREC has plenty of other content to help players choose. For now, we're going to focus on identifying which legendary cards are allowed to be a commander.

A legendary creature has the words "legendary" and "creature" printed near the center of most card frames. Some older cards use the words "Summon" and "Legend" instead of the modern Legendary Creature type line.

This difference is apparent on old and new printings of Arcades SabbothArcades Sabboth, which is one of the original legends that put the Elder Dragon in EDH.

Certain Planeswalkers have rules text stating, "[Card name] can be your commander." We see this near the bottom of Ob Nixilis of the Black OathOb Nixilis of the Black Oath.

Planeswalkers without are allowed in the 99 of a Commander Deck, but not in the Command Zone.

It is possible to have two commanders with various versions of the partner mechanic. Partner commanders must share the same variant of partner.

For example, a card with the "Doctor's companion" rules text cannot pair with a card that has "Friends forever." Partner and its variants do not require a deck to have two commanders.

A card with a partner variant may be a commander by itself. You can explore possible commander pairings at EDHREC.com/partners.

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate introduced Choose a Background, allowing players to select a Background enchantment as a commander with certain legendary creatures.

Similar to the partner variants, a creature with Choose a Background can be a commander by itself.

However, Background enchantments cannot be a commander unless paired with one of those creatures. EDHREC provides a list of possible Background pairings.

100 Cards (with 1 Exception)

A Commander deck consists of one hundred cards, including the commander. This number includes your commander(s). The one exception to the 100 card rule is Companion decks.

The Commander Rules changed with the release of Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths to allow the companion mechanic to function in Commander. If a deck meets a Companion card's deckbuilding requirements, then the companion is functionally a 101st card, separate from the command zone and the main deck.

Even though a companion is not counted as part of the 100-card deck, it must still follow the color identity of the deck's commander. Commander does not allow sideboards, which are common in Magic's many best-of-three competitive formats.

Singleton (with several exceptions)

The singleton rule puts the "Highlander" in Elder Dragon Highlander, the Commander format's original name. It's a reference to a movie from 1986, with the famous line, "There can only be one."

For Magic: The Gathering, singleton means there can only be one copy of each card with a unique English name.

This restriction does not apply to basic lands. Some cards create their own exceptions to singleton rules. For example, the NazgûlNazgûl card from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth thematically allows nine copies in any deck.

Other popular exceptions include Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach and Relentless RatsRelentless Rats, which permit any number of copies as long as you don't exceed Commander's 100-card limit.

The singleton rule also applies to Universes Beyond and Universes Within versions of the same card, even though they have different English names.

Zethi, Arcane Blademaster is the Universes Within version of the Universes Beyond card Chun-Li, Countless Kicks, but neither card shares the same English name.

In the bottom-left corner of the Universes Within version, above the artist credit, there is a small line of text that references the Universes Beyond printing. On Zethi it says, "=SLD 432," meaning this card is equivalent to the Secret Lair Drop card with collector number 432, or Chun-Li.

In contrast, some Universes Beyond cards are functional reprints of an original Magic card. Cards like this have an additional text box under the card name.

The card name in the extra text box is the legal name of the card. Use this name to determine if a card satisfies Commander's singleton rule.

Color Identity (No exceptions)

Cards in a commander deck must fall within the color identity of the deck's commander(s). This rule applies only during deck construction. During gameplay, a players can create tokens or control other cards that do not match their commander's color identity.

The color of a card and color identity are related, but not the same. Color is determined by the mana symbols in a card's casting cost, a color indicator or rules text.

Color identity considers these same factors and the contents of a card's rules text. For example, Ramos, Dragon EngineRamos, Dragon Engine is colorless card with all five colors in its color identity.

Any commander deck may include cards without colored mana symbols or color indicators. Cards with a colorless identity include format mascot Sol RingSol Ring.

Mana symbol variations also count toward color identity. For example, Rhys the RedeemedRhys the Redeemed features hybrid mana symbols. The, hybrid symbols on Rhys the Redeemed make the card's color identity both white and green.

Another common mana symbol variation is Phyrexian mana, as seen on cards like Birthing PodBirthing Pod. The color of Phyrexian mana symbols count for color identity.

Reminder text (in italics to explain a keyword) is not rules text and does not count toward color identity. For example, Crypt GhastCrypt Ghast is a popular card with the Extort keyword ability.

Some of its printings include reminder text with a hybrid white and black mana symbol. Despite this symbol, white is not part of the card's color identity.

Illegal Cards

Cards may be either legal, not legal or banned in the Commander format. A deck must only include legal cards. The Commander ban list is curated by Wizards of the Coast, with input from the Commander Format Panel. Apart from banned cards, cards with silver borders or Acorn symbols, commonly referred to as "Un-cards" are not legal in the format.

Brackets

The Commander Format Panel developed an optional bracket system to help players evaluate their decks and communicate their desired play experience.

There are five brackets, ranging from socially-focused to meta-focused competitive gameplay. Each bracket assumes a set of deckbuilding guidelines to promote the bracket's intent.

• Exhibition (1) decks go for theme over steam. Exhibition decks have something fun to show off, and winning isn't necessarily the point.
  • No Game Changers, Mass Land Denial, extra turns or 2-card combos
  • Few tutors
• Core (2) decks have strategic and mechanical focal points, with space for suboptimal card choices. Winning is the goal in Core (2) games, and the paths to victory are predictable. Most preconstructed decks are Core (2).
  • No Game Changers, Mass Land Denial, chaining extra turns or 2-card combos
  • Few tutors
• Upgraded (3) decks are synergistic and consistent. A balanced social play experience is still part of the journey in Upgraded (3) gameplay, but the journey may end suddenly or explosively with powerful cards and combos.
  • 0-3 Game Changers
  • No Mass Land Denial or chaining extra turns.
• Optimized (4) decks priorotize power and efficiency, and welcomes all strategies. Each deck is the best version of itself, and each player is at the table to win. There's no hard feelings for play patterns that might be incosiderate in other brackets.
  • No restrictions except the ban list.
• Competitive EDH (5) gameplay is unrestrained. Deck construction in cEDH focuses tournament meta.
  • No restrictions except the ban list.

Game Changers

As part of the Commander Bracket system, the Commander format panel curates a list of Game Changers. Many of these cards explicitly define the table's gameplay experience, or implicitly dominate the game.

For players engaging with the bracket system, the Game Changers list helps to sculpt the desired play environment. You can view all the current Game Changers at EDHREC, and Archidekt has features to identify the Game Changers in your decks.

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How to Play Commander

The format's gameplay rules mostly discuss unique situations revolving around a player's Commander. EDH is a multiplayer format, and some multiplayer rules differ from rules for two-player games.

Before the Game

Before shuffling decks to play a game, the players need to determine who will go first. Each player places their Commander(s) face up in a designated area called the command zone. The is no prescribed command zone in the play area, but it should be clear to all players.

Players shuffle and cut their decks. If playing in person, it is best practice to offer other players the opportunity to cut your deck. After decks are shuffled and cut, each player draws seven cards.

In turn order, players may mulligan, or take a different starting hand. To take a mulligan, the player shuffles the rejected hand back into their deck, draws seven cards, then chooses a number of cards equal to the number of times they've taken a mulligan. The chosen cards are placed in a random order on the bottom of the library.

The remaining cards become the player's new starting hand. In a multiplayer game, the first mulligan is free, meaning no cards are placed on the bottom of the library, and it doesn't count toward the number of times the player has taken a mulligan. This process repeats until no players take a mulligan. A player cannot mulligan again after they mulligan to zero cards in their starting hand.

Starting the Game

Players begin a Commander game with forty life. The starting life total in most Magic formats is twenty. Commander's higher starting life total contributes to longer games and different strategic considerations.

Some cards are simply better in Commander because of the starting life total, such as Felidar SovereignFelidar Sovereign and Serra AscendantSerra Ascendant. Cards that include a cost of paying life are also less risky, like the ubiquitous talisman cycle of artifacts.

Some cards have rules text that says, "If is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield." These cards, like Leyline of AnticipationLeyline of Anticipation, are allowed to be put in play at the start of the game, before any player takes their first turn.

Unlike two-player games, the first player in a multiplayer game is allowed to draw a card on their first turn. After the first player's first turn, play normally pass to the left.

During the Game

Most of the Commander-specific rules apply during gameplay, and set the conditions for casting a commander, returning it to the command zone and handling effects that control or copy a commander.

Casting a Commander and Commander Tax

Commanders may be cast from the command zone any time a player would normally be allowed to cast that card. Players must keep track of the number of times they cast their commander from the command zone. Many players track this number with dice or counters.

For each time a commander is cast from the command zone after the first, the player must pay two additional generic mana. This is called commander tax. Commander tax only applies when casting a commander from the command zone, meaning other zones ignore this rule.

For example, casting your commander from your hand does not count for commander tax in any way. If you have two commanders, then commander tax applies to each of those cards separately.

Returning to the Command Zone

There are circumstances when a commander can be placed back in the command zone. This is treading water in the deep end of Magic rules, but it's critical to a number of common gameplay situations. The point of these rules is to allow players to continue playing with their commander, in situations when other cards would become inaccessible.

If a commander is placed in a graveyard or in exile, then its owner gets one chance to move their commander from the graveyard or exile back to the command zone immediately after resolving the effect that put it there. This applies to a wide range of game events including removal spells, combat damage and sacrificing.

If an effect would move your commander to your hand or library, then you have one chance to choose to place your commander in the command zone at the moment that effect resolves. In this situation, the commander never actually goes to your hand or library, because this rule is a replacement effect.

What does all this mean? Players have special options when their commanders change zones, and there are timing restrictions on those options. There are very few ways for an opponent to permanently take your commander out of the game, and this is not the place to explore those possibilities.

Commander Damage

If a player takes twenty-one points of combat damage from a single commander, that player loses the game. Commander damage is a pillar of the format, dating back to its origins in Elder Dragon Highlander, when all the legal commanders had 7/7 bodies. Commander damage is tracked for each commander card in the game, regardless of it's card type or controller.

Copying, Altering or Stealing a Commander

There are a variety of ways to copy a permanent in Magic, going all the way back to Alpha with CloneClone. A lot of newer cards produce nonlegendary token copies of permanents, like Irenicus's Vile DuplicationIrenicus's Vile Duplication. Delina, Wild MageDelina, Wild Mage can be your commander and make token copies of herself.

The comprehensive rules basically state that only the printed characteristics of a card can be copied. Being a commander is not a printed characteristic, so a copy of a commander is not a commander.

For every printed characteristic on a card, there is another effect that can change it. Just to name a few: Painter's ServantPainter's Servant changes colors, Allosaurus ShepherdAllosaurus Shepherd changes base power and toughness and Imprisoned in the MoonImprisoned in the Moon changes a creature into a land and removes other abilities.

One player might steal another player's commander with Control MagicControl Magic, or a player might equip an Assault SuitAssault Suit to their own commander and pass it around the table. There are many effects that can change control of a permanent, but ownership never changes.

A commander on the battlefield might be controlled by any player, but if it leaves the battlefield, then the commander's owner will decide what happens to it.

Wish Effects

Magic cards that introduce other cards from outside the game are commonly referred to as wishes, like Living WishLiving Wish from the original Judgement wish cycle. These effects to not function in a Commander game, but they are allowed in a deck. Spawnsire of UlamogSpawnsire of Ulamog is a powerful creature in the right deck, but a player cannot resolve it's third ability in a Commander game.

Ending the Game

Many games end when a single player wins. This might happen any number of ways, such as an overwhelming combat step, a combo or an effect that simply says they win the game. These situations are common, but not universal.

In multiplayer games, individual players are often eliminated before another player wins. Players may also concede at any time. As soon as a player leaves a multiplayer game for any reason, multiple things happen immediately.

First, objects they own leave the game. These objects include the cards in their deck, and any tokens or emblems they created during the game.

Second, if that player controlled any other objects or other players, those control effects end.

Third, anything that player still controls on the stack ceases to exist.

Fourth, any object that player still controls is exiled.

Fifth, if that player had priority, then priority passes to the next player.

It is important to complete those steps in order, and complete them before any other actions happen in the game.

After the Game

Stick around and talk to your pod after the game ends. This isn't a rule, but it is a great way to learn from other players and manage expectations for the next game.

Post-game conversations are valuable for building community and helping players collaboratively curate a positive Commander experience in the future.

Conclusion

There are a variety of other resources available to rules lawyers and enthusiasts who want to deep dive into the rules for themselves. The Comprehensive Rules, published by Wizards of the Coast contain details that help integrate Commander into the larger ecosystem of Magic.

Hopefully this article helps you and your friends have fun getting started with and playing Commander!