Commander (format)

Commander, as officially titled by Wizards of the Coast (also known as Elder Dragon Highlander or EDH), is a casual multiplayer format for Magic: the Gathering.
It is a Highlander-variant eternal format with specific rules centered around a legendary creature called the commander.
==Description==
Created and popularized by fans, the Commander variant is usually played in casual Free-for-All multiplayer games, although two-player games are also popular. Each player starts at 40 life, and each player's deck is headed by a legendary creature designated as that deck's commander. A player's choice of commander determines which other cards can be played in the deck (except for basic lands, each card in the deck must have a different name).
A player's commander works differently from other cards in the game. Before the game begins, each player sets their commander aside in a special zone, the command zone. You may cast your commander from the command zone for its normal costs plus the "commander tax", an additional for each previous time it has been cast from the command zone this way (initially an additional cost of 0). If your commander moves to the graveyard or exile, you may choose to put it into the command zone as a state-based action upon it entering said zone; therefore, abilities that trigger when a creature dies or is exiled work as normal when a commander dies or is exiled, but the commander will still end up in the command zone. If your commander moves to a hidden zone (one that is not visible to all players, such as your hand or library), you may choose to put it back into the command zone as a replacement effect. 
In addition to the normal Magic loss conditions, if a player is dealt 21 points of combat damage from a single commander throughout the game, that player loses the game. This combat damage total is kept track of separately for each player's commander and does not reduce if a player gains life.
===History===
This format was created in the early days of Magic. Its originators used commanders only from the Legends set, especially the Elder Dragons, such as and , hence the original name for the format, Elder Dragon Highlander. Over time, the format grew in popularity, especially among judges, who would play it following days officiating at Pro Tours or Grand Prix events. It soon became mainstream and a favorite format of casual playgroups everywhere, from the kitchen table to Magic Online to Wizards of the Coast headquarters.
Since 2006, the official banned list for the Commander format was maintained by the Commander Rules Committee at MTGCommander.net, not by Wizards of the Coast. The 1v1 Commander format on Magic Online used to follow the same banned list, but later had its own.
Wizards of the Coast released its first slate of official Commander products in June 2011.
In response to an extreme backlash against its banning decisions in September 2024, the Commander Rules Committee decided to hand control of the Commander format to Wizards of the Coast and dissolved both itself and the Commander Advisory Group.
==Philosophy==
Principles of typical commander games are focused on fun, friendship, social interaction within the game (including those that affect gameplay decisions, known as "politics"), and decks and plays that let players express their creativity and allow all players to enjoy themselves. It's not traditionally very competitive, allowing players a lot of flexibility in what kind of decks and strategies to use. 
==="Rule Zero"===
While there are several established rules in Commander in regards to deckbuilding and gameplay, a philosophical "rule zero" takes precedence, in that any rule can be broken in the name of fun. More generally, it establishes that playgroups are responsible for their idea of enjoyable games of Commander and that sometimes that involves doing something unorthodox, generally under the justification that their changes (i.e. Un-cards, banned cards, unqualified commanders) are not detrimental to gameplay. In practice, it involves communicating what is acceptable for the group before beginning the game to not set mismatched expectations.
==Competitive Commander (cEDH)==
"Competitive Elder Dragon Highlander", abbreviated cEDH, is an alternate style of playing Commander that uses the same rules and ban list but expects that players will play optimally to win. Due to that pressure for high performance, a more distinct metagame exists for this style with a smaller selection of decks working better than others, just as in other competitive formats.
==Bracket system==
After its takeover of the format, Wizards of the Coast announced that it would contemplate a bracket system to meet the needs of both casual and competitive Commander players. The idea is that there will be four power brackets, and every Commander deck can be placed in one of those brackets by examining the cards and combinations in the deck and comparing them to lists that the community will help to create. Bracket one would be the baseline of an average preconstructed deck or below and bracket four would be high power. For the lower tiers, Wizards may lean on a mixture of cards and a description of how the deck functions, while the higher tiers are likely defined by more explicit lists of cards.
In this system, your deck would be defined by its highest-bracket card or cards. This makes it clear what cards go where and what kinds of cards you can expect people to be playing.
==Deckbuilding rules==
*When choosing a commander, you must use either a legendary creature, a non-creature permanent with the ability to be commander, a pair of legendary creatures or planeswalkers that both have partner or a legendary creature that has Choose a Background paired with a background legendary enchantment. The chosen card or pair is called the commander or general of the deck. Decks may contain other legendary creatures and planeswalkers within them as well.
*Each deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including the commander(s).
*No cards in any player's deck may have a color identity that does not match or is not a subset of the color identity of the commander(s). The color identity of a card is composed of its colors plus the colors of every colored mana symbol that appears on the card, whether in its mana cost or its rules text; for double-faced cards, the colors and text boxes of both faces count. Hybrid mana symbols count as both halves' colors for this purpose.
**For example, if a player uses <c>Isamaru, Hound of Konda</c> as their commander, they cannot include <c>Kitchen Finks</c> in the same deck. However, any player who uses <c>Bosh, Iron Golem</c> as their commander may put <c>Lightning Bolt</c> in their deck.
**Mana symbols on basic lands count, as do mana symbols granted by basic land types on nonbasic lands. Therefore, an Isamaru deck may only include Plains and Wastes for its basic lands.
**Mana symbols in reminder text do not count. Therefore, an Isamaru deck may include white cards that have Extort, such as <c>Blind Obedience</c>, and <c>Charmed Pendant</c> may be included in any deck.
*A player may not include more than one copy of any individual card in their deck unless it is a basic land or a card that specifically states otherwise (e.g. <c>Shadowborn Apostle</c>).
*The Commander format does not use a sideboard; cards that take other cards from outside the game (such as Wishes) must be discussed with the playgroup before being put in the deck. However, a player may use a companion in addition to their 100-card deck, provided their deck meets the companion's requirements.
*Like Vintage and Legacy, Commander is an eternal format with no restrictions on which sets of cards can come from. Just as in those formats, however, acorn cards are not allowed. All Conspiracy-type cards are also banned, although other cards from Conspiracy sets are not, and often work well in Commander due to their shared multiplayer focus.
==Rules==
===Obsolete terminology===
===Commander damage===
A player that has been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander throughout the game loses the game. This is an additional state-based effect. Note that gaining life won't affect this total in any way.
===Summary===
*Before play begins, each player's commander is placed in the command zone.
*Players start at 40 life.
*Players may cast their commander card from the command zone. However, each commander costs more to cast for each time it has been cast this way. (If a commander ends up in a player's hand, they may cast it as normal, and it neither costs more nor affects the cost to play it again later.)
*If a commander moves zones outside the command zone at any point during a game, its owner may put it back in the command zone instead.
*Abilities that bring other cards you own from outside the game into the game (Wishes) do not function in Commander without prior agreement on what cards can be brought into the game with them. Notably, abilities that let you bring the cards those abilities are tied to into the game still function in Commander as normal (such as Companions).
==Banned list==
While cards may be banned or allowed by specific playgroups or tournament organizers, in most games, MTGCommander.net's banned list is used as it is considered the most well-known banned list for the format. This list is used by WotC when making their Commander-related products. There is no hard enforcement of this, however, due to the format not being DCI-sanctioned, leaving tournament organizers the option to make their own banned lists for events.
MTGCommander.net's banned list contains the following cards:
*All cards that refer to the ante mechanic.
*All cards that Wizards has removed from constructed formats (due to being culturally offensive).
*All cards with the Conspiracy card type.
In the past, there was a separate list that banned cards from being used as the deck commander. This rule was abolished by MTGCommander.net on September 12, 2014.
As a celebration of the release of Unstable, silver-bordered cards were made legal From December 1, 2017, until January 15, 2018, by MTGCommander.net. An additional banned list, as well as a list of cards that are not banned, but not recommended (or at least must be used carefully to avoid trouble) was also created for those cards. The list is continued for Silver-bordered commander when the silver border was made legal in sanctioned events.
<c>Lutri, the Spellchaser</c> from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths was banned in Commander the day it was spoiled (even before release).
On June 10, 2020, in conjunction with a Wizards of the Coast statement, the Rules Committee banned seven cards considered to have racist connotations.
==Events and venues==
Several commander-focused events have been organized by Wizards of the Coast to promote and/or provide a way for people to play Commander.
===Promo===
A special <c>Sol Ring</c> Commander promo (foil and non-foil) with new art by Mark Tedin was released at Grand Prix Las Vegas, just before the release of Commander 2019. It was also available at several other Commander events at MagicFests in 2019, as well as some events in 2020.
===Magic Online===
May 10, 2017, Magic Online launched tournament play for 1v1 Commander consisting of two-player queues and a Friendly Constructed League, and created a separate banned list for Magic Online's Commander format. 1v1 Commander received a starting life total of 30, but multiplayer remained at 40. Both formats share this banned list.
===Commander Nights===
Commander Nights is a WPN-organized weekly Commander league with rotating rules and achievement-based prizes.
===Commander Party===
A WPN-organized event was introduced in 2021. It is a one-day event where players are immersed in a story affected by their in-game choices.
==External links==
*Official Commander Website
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==See also==
*Tiny Leaders
*Duel Commander
*Pauper Commander
*Folk Commander
==References==