The commander is tracked across zone changes for this purpose (for example, if one player takes control of another player's commander, any damage that commander already dealt is still counted). Commander DamageĪ player that's been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the course of the game loses the game. If your commander would be put into your library, hand, graveyard or exile from anywhere, you may return it to your command zone instead. A commander can be cast from the command zone for its normal costs, plus an additional two mana for each previous time it's been cast from the command zone this game.

At the start of the game, each player puts their commander face up into the command zone. This is where your commander resides during the game when they are not in play. Every card in your Commander deck must only use mana symbols that also appear on your commander.

Color IdentityĪ card's color identity can come from any part of that card, including its casting cost and any mana symbols in its text. Players are only allowed one of each card in their deck, with the exception of basic lands, but they can use cards from throughout Magic's history. In this casual, multiplayer format, you choose a legendary creature to serve as your commander and build the rest of your deck around their color identity and unique abilities. The Commander format is all about picking your hero and building a deck around them. The game duration for this format should be about 20 minutes per player. This format is for four players per game and deck sizes are 99 cards + 1 commander card.

Why have one commander