903 Commander

Rules by topic

The full rules for the Commander format, in formal CR language. Casual tables use the social conventions on top of these rules; cEDH tournaments use them strictly.

What 903.x covers, in order

• 903.1-903.2 -- the variant itself: every normal rule applies, plus these additions. A game can be two-player or multiplayer, and the default multiplayer game is Free-for-All.
• 903.3 -- the commander: a legendary card that is a creature, a Vehicle, or a Spacecraft with a power/toughness box. Being a commander belongs to the card, not to the object it becomes, so it stays a commander in every zone, even face down or while copying another card. 903.3a covers cards that say they can be your commander.
• 903.4 -- color identity. The crown jewel: the colors of every mana symbol in a card's mana cost and rules text, plus any colors its color indicator or characteristic-defining abilities give it. Reminder text doesn't count (903.4c); the back face of a double-faced card does (903.4d). See the 903.4 article and the Color & Mana tab for the plain-English version.
• 903.5 -- deck construction: exactly 100 cards including the commander (903.5a), one copy of each card other than basic lands (903.5b), every card's color identity inside the commander's (903.5c), and no sideboard (903.5e).
• 903.6 -- each commander starts the game face up in the command zone, and the rest of the deck becomes the library.
• 903.7 -- starting life total: 40, with a seven-card hand.
• 903.8 -- the "commander tax": you may cast your commander from the command zone, and it costs {2} more for each previous time you've cast it from there this game. Tracked across the whole game.
• 903.9 -- returning to the command zone. From a graveyard or exile, the owner may move it there as a state-based action (903.9a), so a commander that dies really does reach the graveyard first, and its "dies" triggers still happen. If it would go to its owner's hand or library, the owner may put it into the command zone instead (903.9b), which is a replacement effect.
• 903.10 -- commander damage: a player who's been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the course of the game loses (903.10a). It's a state-based action, tracked per commander.
• 903.11 -- no cards from outside the game, except through rules and effects that allow it. Even then, the card must fit your commander's color identity and can't share a name with a card you own in the game or started with (903.11a).
• 903.12-903.13 -- two options for a different style of Commander game: Brawl and Commander Draft.

Two things Commander players look for here live elsewhere:

• Two commanders (partner, partner with [name], the named partner pairs such as friends forever, choose a Background, and doctor's companion) are partner abilities, 702.124. The deck uses both commanders' combined color identity (702.124c), and each commander's tax and damage are counted separately (702.124d).
• Mulligans follow the normal rule (103.5), and in a multiplayer game your first mulligan is free (103.5c).