MTG Commander explained: Rules, banned cards & more

You’ll never have to pay the cumulative upkeep, so long as you have a permanent that lets you play cards from the graveyard and a permanent that lets you play two lands a turn. You’ll sacrifice Glacial Chasm to cumulative upkeep (or The Gitrog Monster). If one or two lands were milled, discard Dakmor Salvage as the Gitrog trigger goes on the stack and repeat the first two steps. This will put another Gitrog trigger on the stack, letting you commander deck save the one(s) from the milled lands for when you’re ready to draw your deck.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander Decklists

It all depends on you and what you think will be the most fun for you. From its humble beginnings, Commander has undergone significant evolution. The introduction of preconstructed Commander decks and the annual Commander product releases have further solidified its status within the Magic community. Do you have any interesting house rules you think everyone should know about? Feel free to leave a comment and don’t forget to check out our blog for more content like this, Draft may be in our name, but we love Commander too.

Such deals balance the game by offering players who are behind an opportunity to catch up and pulling players who are ahead back in line with the rest of the table. It seems counter-intuitive, but restricting what you can play by establishing rules (to follow or break) actually makes it so the players have an increased opportunity for creativity. Since card advantage is pretty important, I think you should commit a good number of cards to it. Cards like Cyclonic Rift, Mizzium Mortars and Winds of Abandon often put you in a good position to win. The more mana you have, the more spells you can cast and activate more abilities. I talked a little bit about ramp in the last section, because it can be integrally tied to lands.

A cheap commander can be ideal sacrifice fodder that’s relatively easy to cast again. EDH stands for Elder Dragon Highlander and is essentially equal to Commander. Of course, there’s some history and more to unpack there, so we’ll leave the discussion for why Commander is called EDH for next time, for today, think of them as the same thing.

What Are the Rules for a Commander Deck in MTG?

A big part of the fun of Commander is in building a deck and finding obscure cards to include. Commander is different amongst Magic formats, as it only allows for one card of each type, except for basic lands. You also have to build around the colors of your chosen Commander. However, if a card states you can have as many in your deck as you like, you can have multiple of those cards. Commander’s history starts in the late 1990s when creator Adam Staley created the game for his Alaskan group.

This style allows you to draw a first hand of 10 cards and then select three to shuffle back into your library. If your commander keeps getting stolen by your opponents and they hit you with it enough to deal the necessary 21 points of damage, you lose. The same goes if you use your opponents’ commanders to attack them. The only condition is that the 21 damage is dealt by the same commander.

Actually, it doesn’t always have to be the commander – sometimes it can be a theme or a strategy. Let’s say you know you love dragons but you’re not sure which commander would best suit that love. Well then, you’ve got your theme, so you just need to find a commander. Likewise, sometimes you’ll see a legendary creature you adore but be unsure how to build around them, in that case, you need to find a theme. This also counts mana symbols that might be a different color than the casting cost but are used in abilities.

How To Play The Deck

You will make a significant amount of Vampire tokens thanks to Edgar’s eminence ability, which are then boosted up by other permanents. There’s a lot of draw power in the deck, making it easier to get to your key cards faster. With how quickly you can generate Vampires, you can reach victory rather quickly by simply casting Vampire spells. Once you have your whole deck in your hand, you can use a land, Gaea’s Blessing, Dakmor Salvage, and a Lotus Petal to generate infinite mana.

Commander presents unique challenges in mulligan decisions due to the singleton rule and the importance of having your commander in the opening hand. Considerations for mana sources, early-game interaction, and overall strategy play a crucial role. A well-constructed mana base is vital for a successful Commander deck. Mana fixing cards, such as dual lands and mana rocks, help ensure you have access to the right colors of mana, especially when dealing with multicolored commanders. Color identity extends beyond the commander, influencing the entire deck. Every non-land card in your deck must match the color identity of your commander.

Yes, you’re allowed to have two legendary creatures in your command zone as long as both commanders have the partner keyword. If you happen to gain control of an opponent’s commander, that card also counts as a commander while under your control. In the case of double-faced cards, the color identity for your deck is a combination of both faces if the front and back have different colors in their abilities or casting costs. A Valki, God of Lies / Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor deck has a color identity of black and red even if the front face of the card is mono-black.

Pauper Commander

Eventually, Wizards of the Coast themselves found it being advocated for internally, and Commander, as it is known today, was born, with the first official products launching in 2011. Joining online communities and forums dedicated to Commander provides valuable insights, deck ideas, and a platform to discuss strategies with fellow enthusiasts. Platforms like Reddit, Discord, and dedicated Commander websites offer a wealth of information. Alliances and rivalries often form naturally during Commander’s games.

Since the official text on poison counters states that any player with 10 poison counters loses the game, there’s no reason for this to work any differently in Commander. If you go by official rules, 10 counters is enough to lose the game. A lot of groups change this to 15 or even 20 counters in an attempt to balance it. During gameplay, a player may choose to attack any other player, regardless of their position on the table, and can also choose to attack multiple different players during their attack phase.