The Philosophy of Commander
Commander is not a traditional format of Magic: the Gathering. Where other formats are
managed to create an environment where continuous improvement and zero-sum
gameplay are desirable and incentivized, Commander offers an environment where
those goals are not the only things to aspire to. The Commander Rules Committee’s
decisions are informed by a gameplay philosophy that is expressed and reinforced by
its rules and ban list.
This philosophy is defined by three principles:
Social
Commander is social. Each game is a journey the players share, where every player is
considerate of the experiences of everyone involved. Magic is a competition in the same
sense that all games are competitions, but whenever the act of competing comes into
conflict with a social atmosphere, Commander prioritizes and protects the social
atmosphere. Format management decisions are intended to:
● Encourage positive, communal experiences where people can bond over the
shared experience of gaming
● Help players communicate their preferences and arrive at a shared set of
expectations
Creative
Commander is a format for creative expression. It’s the format where players can use
nearly the entire catalogue of Magic’s history to build decks rooted in lore, showcasing
art, or telling stories. It is also a place where players engage with the mechanical
aspects of the cards like a puzzle, discovering novel and exciting configurations as they
explore. Format management decisions are intended to:
● Promote an environment where players are not pressured to conform to any
specific method of deckbuilding
● Maximize the available card pool
● Incorporate new official Magic content into the format as it is created
Stable
Commander is stable. Commander players become emotionally invested in their decks
through play and personalization, and that bond is an important part of the experience.
Players who build Commander decks should be confident they will be able to play with
them over long periods of time. Format management decisions are intended to:
● When necessary, make changes, even large ones, but not for the purpose of
defining a metagame, “shaking things up,” or in reaction to the hot topic of the
day
● Minimize changes that require players to actively maintain their decks
The role of the Commander Rules Committee is to preserve these principles when
they come into conflict with other goals or philosophies, and balance them
against each other when a possible decision requires prioritization.
Commander Rules
Philosophy
Before reading the rules below, please read the philosophy of commander; simply
following the rules is not sufficient to ensure a good play experience.
Deck Construction Rules
1. Players choose a legendary creature as the commander for their deck.
2. A card’s color identity is its color plus the color of any mana symbols in the
card’s rules text. A card’s color identity is established before the game begins,
and cannot be changed by game effects. The cards in a deck may not have
any colors in their color identity which are not in the color identity of the deck’s
commander.
3. A Commander deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including the
commander. If you’re playing a companion, it must adhere to color identity and
singleton rules. While it is not part of the deck, it is effectively a 101st card.
4. With the exception of basic lands, no two cards in the deck may have the
same English name. Some cards (e.g. Relentless Rats) may have rules text
that overrides this restriction.
Play Rules
5. Players begin the game with 40 life.
6. Commanders begin the game in the Command Zone. While a commander is
in the command zone, it may be cast, subject to the normal timing restrictions
for casting creatures. Its owner must pay for each time it was previously
cast from the command zone; this is an additional cost.
7. If a commander is in a graveyard or in exile and that card was put into that
zone since the last time state-based actions were checked, its owner may put
it into the command zone. If a commander would be put into its owner’s hand
or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead.
This replacement effect may apply more than once to the same event.
8. Being a commander is not a characteristic [MTG CR109.3], it is a property of
the card and tied directly to the physical card. As such, “commander-ness”
cannot be copied or overwritten by continuous effects. The card retains it’s
commander-ness through any status changes, and is still a commander even
when controlled by another player.
9. If a player has been dealt 21 points of combat damage by a particular
Commander during the game, that player loses a game.
10.Parts of abilities which bring other traditional card(s) you own from outside the
game into the game (such as Living Wish; Spawnsire of Ulamog; Karn, the
Great Creator; Wish) do not function in Commander.
