Color identity

Color identity is a property of cards in the Commander format and its variants (e.g. Brawl). It expands the concept of a card's color beyond the mana cost to all elements of the card. Color identity forms one of the key deck construction rules for Commander formats as players are not allowed to use any card whose color identity is not included in the color identity of their commander.
==Description==
The color identity of a card is the combination of all colors in its mana cost, any color indicator or color-setting characteristic-defining abilities on the card, and any mana symbols in the card's rules text. When determining a card's color identity, any mana symbols in the card's reminder text are ignored. This is to prevent cards like and from having a color identity when their reminder text is only an example of how the card functions.
A card's color identity does not include colors when written as words. Cards that set the color of another object (e.g. the black Rat tokens created by ), don't count that color towards their own color identity. In the same manner, cards that have ": Add one mana of any color." do not have a color identity of because no mana symbols appear in that ability.
Cards that do not have any colors in their casting cost, any color indicator or color-setting characteristic-defining abilities on the card nor any mana symbols in the card's rules text (excluding any reminder text) do not have a color identity. This is equivalent to colorless cards, which do not have a color. Cards without a color identity (e.g. ) may be included in decks with any commander.
===Lands===
The five basic land types do not contribute to a card's color identity but are instead covered by a separate rule (903.5d).
Lands also follow the same conditions for determining their color identity as nonland cards. This means that has a color identity of because it has and mana symbols in its rules text, and the basic land type Forest means that it cannot be used in a deck whose commander doesn't contain in its color identity.
===Characteristic-defining ability===
The Dominaria United commander deck Painbow introduced <c>Fallaji Wayfarer</c> the first card to have its color identity set by a characteristic-defining ability. The card has a color identity of while also having a characteristic-defining ability that makes it all colors.
==Player-determined color identity==
Some cards allow players to choose their color identity before the game begins. Once a player chooses the color identity of the card, that identity becomes fixed for the game and cannot be changed during gameplay.
===Draft Commanders===
 and have unique rules that allow a player to choose one of the five colors as their color identity before the game begins. These cards were designed for Commander draft, allowing players who weren't able to draft a commander with an appropriate color identity to use a "basic commander", similar to using a basic land.
While not a draft commander, <c>Clara Oswald</c> from the Doctor Who Commander deck fulfills the same function allowing players to create a custom color identity for their deck.
===Specialize===
Cards with specialize have a unique color identity when used as a commander in Brawl. During deck construction, the player must pick one of the five colors - representing one of the five specialized faces of the commander. That face's color or colors then become the commander's color identity for deck construction. This forces each card to act as a traditional double-faced card rather than a commander.
==Rules==
==Rulings==
===Cards===
The color identity of split cards includes both halves of the card.
, and each have a color identity of .
The color identity of double-faced cards includes both the front and back faces of the card. This is true for both transforming double-faced cards (TDFCs) and modal double-faced cards (MDFCs).
===Mana Symbols===
Hybrid mana represents mana symbols of both colors when determining a card's color identity.
This means that both and have a color identity of .
Phyrexian mana represents the traditional mana symbol it replaces. The card has a color identity of while has a color identity of .
===Keywords===
Extort is a triggered ability that allows players to pay for an additional effect when casting spells. As the ability is written on the card, the mana symbol only appears in the reminder text, not in the card's rules text, so it isn't included as part of the card's color identity. The result is that has a color identity of , while has a color identity of .
Devoid is a characteristic-defining keyword ability that states that a card is colorless, regardless of the colors in that card's mana cost. This ability only affects a card's color and not its color identity because the color identity is defined as the combination of all colors indicated on the card. is a colorless card but it has a color identity of .
==References==