A Beginners Guide To Commander
Posted by John Atkinson-Croad on 19th May 2022
If you have never played a game of Commander and want to start, this article is for you. There are so many different aspects to the game that you can dive into, but here we will ease you into the glistening oceans of this beloved format, and soon, you will be able to dive a little deeper, discovering a little more. Lets get into it!
I love Commander, everything about it, the strategy elements of deck building, the multiplayer aspect and the community built around this format. But what is Commander?
If you have never played a game of Commander and want to start, this article is for you. There are so many different aspects to the game that you can dive into, but here we will ease you into the glistening oceans of this beloved format, and soon, you will be able to dive a little deeper, discovering a little more. Lets get into it!
Commander? EDH? What’s going on?
Commander, Elder Dragon Highlander or EDH is a multiplayer game using constructed decks off 100 singleton cards, one of which is your Commander. Being a singleton format means you can only have 1 card with that card’s name in your deck. There are exceptions to this rule, but only in cards that state you can have any number in a deck.
Your Commander must be a Legendary creature (or, in some cases, a planeswalker, if they have the text, “can be your commander”) and doesn’t reside in your deck. It is in the “Command Zone”, and you always have access to it so long as you can pay its cost.
If a Commander is killed or exiled, you can either send it to the graveyard or put it back in the Command Zone, where you can replay it again. But, you will need to pay an additional 2 mana to the cost every time you specifically recast from the Command Zone. If you cast it from anywhere else, the charge won’t apply.
Put the “gathering” in Magic: The Gathering
If you have ever played Magic: The Gathering, then some rules in Commander don’t get seen elsewhere.
First, all players start with 40 Life; generally, the way to win is to reduce your opponent’s life to 0, but that’s not the only way.
If a player has taken 21 Damage from a single commander, they lose to “Commander Damage”. If a player goes to draw a card with no cards left in their deck, they also lose the game.
There is also a term called “Infect”, which means that if a player has 10 infect counters on them, they lose the game.
As you can see, there are many ways to approach victory, but no one strategy is better than the other. They are all viable; you just have to find one that best suits your play style.
Pre-game conversations are essential. This is where you can get a feel for your opponent’s decks; make sure you are all playing around similar power levels, which will be fun to play against. Everyone is there to have fun, and this sort of conversation helps to create an open environment.
Commander, at its soul, is a social game, so you should expect to be talking to other players. You can often make deals with one opponent to help deal with a more significant threat on board.
99 Problems, but a card aint one.
There are plenty of places to get stuck in, but I advise new players to find a pod that will either lend you a deck or buy a Pre-constructed Commander deck.
These decks are great at introducing players to the game. They are powerful enough so that you can play the game, but not too powerful. You are unlikely to find an infinite combo in one (unless we look at the Mindflayrrrrrs deck)
These decks are built for new players. They have all the key synergies and the mana base and give you a general taste of what you can do. The best part about these decks is that they are starting to get released with every set. Dominaria United is right around the corner, and 2 Decks have been teased already. Painbow cares about having the 5 colours of magic in your deck, and Legend’s Legacy wants you to pack it full with legendary-type cards in your deck.
Dominaria United is probably a great set to start with too. It’s filled to the brim with exciting legendary creatures. Legends Retold is a section of Dominiaria United which reimagines old legends into brand new Commander’s. Tor Wauki, the Younger, was teased a while ago – a decklist can be found here for what that might look like.
If one of these doesn’t take your fancy, don’t panic. Suppose you find a legendary creature that you just have to build around. In that case, plenty of resources are available to point you in the general direction.
Moxfield is a deck-building site which I use to upload all my deck tech, too. There are plenty of great EDH players on there that do the same; take a look and see what’s going on.
Another great website is EDHRec which takes commander cards and shows cards that are generally synergistic with them. If you need some inspiration, this is a great place to find some tech for your decks that you might not have even considered. You can also find more deck-building guides on Manadork.
So there we have it with all the basics of Commander under your belt. You’re ready to go. Get down to the Local Game Store (LGS) and play. The commander Community is wonderfully open, and I guarantee you will have a blast.
If you don’t have an LGS, you can play over a webcam using Spelltable.
Whatever deck you choose to build, I am sure it will bring you joy. Get out there and Sling some spells.
Written by John Atkinson-Croad