The Command Zone template (2025)
More to explore · beginner
The Command Zone template is a checklist of category counts from The Command Zone podcast's 2025 episode on deckbuilding (episode 658). It suits beginner to intermediate players who want a quick checklist, at Bracket 2 or 3.
The template itself exists only as audio and video. The numbers here come from consistent written summaries of the episode.
One card, several jobs
In this template a card counts in every category it serves. A creature that draws a card when it enters counts as card advantage and as a plan card. That is why the targets add up to about 108 rather than 99: many cards count twice.
The categories
The deck builder walks them in this order: lands, card advantage, ramp, targeted disruption, mass disruption, then the plan cards that fill the rest.
- Lands keep your mana working.
- Card advantage draws you extra cards or keeps giving you value.
- Ramp gives you more mana, faster.
- Targeted disruption answers one threat at a time: removal and counterspells.
- Mass disruption affects the whole board at once, such as board wipes.
- Plan cards carry your plan: enablers set it up, payoffs reward it, and enhancers make it bigger.
The targets
"About" means the number is a guide, not a line.
| Category | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lands | 38 | The template's land count. |
| Ramp | 10 | Ramp cards; 12 when your commander costs 4 or more. |
| Card advantage | 12 | Cards that draw or keep giving value. |
| Board wipes | 6 | Mass disruption: effects that hit the whole board at once. |
| Themed cards | about 30 | Plan cards: enablers, payoffs and enhancers. |
| Targeted disruption | 12 | Removal and counterspells together. |
| Win conditions | 1+ | The template gives win conditions no count of their own; they live among the plan cards. One is the least any deck needs. |
The commander modifier
When your commander costs 4 or more, the template asks for 2 more ramp (12 instead of 10), so the commander arrives on time. The deck builder shows this adjustment beside the ramp meter once you have chosen a commander.
Where this method fits
The template tells you how many, not which cards. Pair it with your commander's own text to decide what the plan cards are. Nothing in it blocks a card: only a structural problem can, as What blocks a card, and what is only a note explains.
Other methods
- Seven-Step (recommended)
- House method
- Eight pillars
- Precon baseline