Commander Deckbuilding Rules

Commander · beginner

These are the format-level rules every Commander deck must follow. They are non-negotiable -- they're enforced by the format itself, not by social contract.

Deck size: 100 cards

A Commander deck is exactly 100 cards, including your commander(s). No more, no less.

Singleton: one of each card

You may include only one copy of any card with a particular English name, with two exceptions:

• Basic lands (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest, Wastes, plus snow-covered basics) -- as many as you want.
• Cards that say "A deck can have any number of cards named ___" (e.g. Persistent Petitioners, Relentless Rats, Shadowborn Apostle, Rat Colony, Dragon's Approach).

The commander

Your commander is a legendary creature (or a card with the Commander keyword like the planeswalkers from Commander Legends and similar releases). It starts the game in the command zone, not your library.

Commander tax

Each time you cast your commander from the command zone, it costs {2} more for each previous time you've cast it from the command zone this game. So the second cast costs 2 more, the third costs 4 more, and so on. This is sometimes just called "tax."

Returning the commander to the command zone

When your commander would change zones from the battlefield, exile, hand, library, or graveyard to anywhere except the battlefield or the stack, you may instead send it back to the command zone. This is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability -- it doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to.

This means if your commander is destroyed, exiled, bounced, milled, or discarded, you can choose to send it back to the command zone instead of letting it go where the effect would send it. (See rule 903.9 for the formal text.)

Color identity

Every card in your deck must have a color identity that fits inside your commander's color identity.

A card's color identity is the set of colors made up of:

• The colors in its mana cost
• The colors of any mana symbols in its rules text (other than reminder text)
• Any color indicator in the top-left corner

Color identity is not the same as the card's color. A creature with no colored mana cost but rules text that says "{R}: gain 1 life" has a red color identity. Hybrid mana symbols count as both their colors.

Examples

• Atraxa, Praetors' Voice has color identity W/U/B/G. You can include any card whose color identity fits inside white-blue-black-green.
• A deck with a colorless commander (e.g. Kozilek, the Great Distortion) can only include colorless cards. No basic lands except Wastes.
• A Birds of Paradise (mana cost {G}, but produces all five colors via "Add one mana of any color") has color identity green only -- the mana symbols in its text don't count because it doesn't have colored mana symbols, just the word "any."

Starting life total

Each player starts at 40 life. (Standard MTG is 20.)

Commander damage

A player who is dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the course of the game loses, regardless of their life total. This is tracked per commander, per player.

Mulligans

Commander uses the standard London mulligan: draw 7, decide whether to keep or mulligan. Each mulligan, you draw 7 again but at the end you put a number of cards equal to the number of mulligans you've taken on the bottom of your library. Free first mulligan applies in many casual tables but is not part of the official rules.

Two commanders (Partner / Background)

Some commanders have the Partner keyword. You can have two commanders if both have Partner. Their combined color identities determine the deck's color identity.

Partner with [Name] is a more restricted version: you must have that specific named card as your second commander.

Choose a Background is similar -- a creature with this ability can be paired with one of the Background enchantments, which then also functions as a commander.

When you have two commanders, both start in the command zone, both pay commander tax independently, and both contribute to the deck's color identity.

Banlist + Game Changers

The Commander Format Panel maintains:

• A banned list -- cards completely banned from Commander
• A Game Changers list -- cards that are legal but restricted in lower brackets

See the Banlist tab for the current list. Re-check before any tournament or formal game.

Source

• CR rule 903 (full Commander format rules): <https://magic.wizards.com/en/rules>
• Format rules at <https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/rules/>