How to Play Commander in MTG: Rules, Turns, and Brackets

Here is how to play Commander in MTG in one paragraph. Each player brings a 100-card deck led by a legendary creature, their commander, with only one copy of each card except basic lands. Everyone starts at 40 life, usually three to five players at one table. Your commander waits in a special zone where you can cast it anytime you could cast it normally, and you can recast it if it dies, for 2 more mana each time. You lose if your life hits 0, or if one commander deals you 21 combat damage over the game. Last player standing wins.

The quick answer: if you already know regular Magic, Commander adds five rules: 100 cards, one copy each, color identity, the command zone with its tax, and 21 commander damage. If you have never played Magic, learn a normal turn first, then grab a ready-made Commander deck. The fastest way in is a precon and three patient friends.

Commander is also called EDH, short for Elder Dragon Highlander, its original fan-made name. Below are the deck rules, a full turn walk-through, what changes with four players, the table manners that keep it fun, and the Commander Brackets that help strangers find a good game.

What is the Commander format?

Commander is Magic’s most popular way to play with friends. It began as a fan format and is now run by Wizards of the Coast, with advice from the Commander Format Panel, a group of community voices Wizards formed in late 2024.

It is built for a table, not a duel. Games are free-for-all, so you are playing against everyone at once. Decks are long and varied because of the one-copy rule, so no two games play out the same. And because the format starts at 40 life, games last long enough for big, memorable plays. A four-player game often runs an hour or more.

If you are deciding between Commander and other ways to play, our guide to MTG formats compares them, and cube vs Commander covers the choice for a group that plays together often.

What are the Commander rules for building a deck?

Here are the deck rules at a glance, checked against Wizards’ Commander format page:

Singleton

You may play only one copy of any card, apart from basic lands such as Forest or Island. A handful of cards say on them that a deck can have any number of copies, and those are the exception.

Color identity

Color identity is the rule new players trip on most. A card’s color identity is every color of mana symbol on it: in its cost and anywhere in its rules text. Your commander sets the limit. If your commander is green and white, every card in your deck must have only green, white, or no colored symbols.

Two examples:

• A colorless artifact with a blue mana symbol in its text box counts as blue. It cannot go in a green-white deck.
• A colorless commander lets you play only cards with no colored symbols, lands included. Even a basic Forest counts as green, so the colorless basic land Wastes helps here.

The commander itself

Your commander must be a legendary creature in most cases, plus a few other legendary cards that say they can be your commander. Some commanders have Partner or a similar ability that lets two legends share the job. Then your color identity is both of theirs combined, and the deck is 98 cards plus two commanders.

If you want to build your own deck, the Academy lesson on how to build a Commander deck walks through it from scratch.

How does the command zone work?

The command zone is a spot on the table, off to the side, where your commander starts the game. It is face up for everyone to see.

Casting your commander

You can cast your commander from the command zone at any time you could normally cast it, by paying its mana cost. For a creature, that usually means your main phase with nothing else waiting to resolve.

Commander tax

Each time you cast your commander from the command zone, it costs 2 more generic mana for every previous time you cast it from there that game. This is called commander tax.

When your commander leaves play

If your commander would go to your graveyard, exile, your hand, or your library, you may move it back to the command zone instead. Most players do, so they can recast it later. The tax goes up only when you cast it from the command zone, not when it moves there.

How do you win and lose in Commander?

• Life total: You start at 40 life and lose at 0.
• Commander damage: If one commander deals you 21 or more combat damage over the course of the game, you lose, whatever your life total. Damage from different commanders is tracked separately, and only combat damage counts.
• Drawing from an empty library: As in any Magic game, you lose if you have to draw a card and cannot.
• Poison: Ten poison counters still kills you.

Commander damage is the rule that keeps big creatures scary. A 7-power commander needs only three hits to knock someone out, even at 40 life. Track it on paper or a life app with a column for each opponent’s commander.

How do you play Commander MTG, turn by turn?

A Commander turn is the same as any Magic turn. If you need the basics, our Academy lesson on how to play Magic covers them in full. Here is the shape:

1. Beginning phase

Untap your permanents, handle any upkeep triggers, then draw a card. In a multiplayer game, nobody skips their first draw, not even the first player.

2. First main phase

Play a land (one per turn) and cast creatures, sorceries, artifacts, enchantments, and your commander.

3. Combat

Declare which creatures attack, and whom each one attacks. In Commander you can split your attackers across different opponents. Each defending player chooses their own blocks. Damage is dealt, and anyone hit by a commander adds it to their commander damage tally.

4. Second main phase

Cast anything you held back until after combat.

5. End phase

“At end of turn” effects happen, you discard down to seven cards if you have more, and play passes to the next player, usually to the left.

The stack works the same as in any game: any player can respond with instants and abilities when they have priority. With four people at the table, it helps to pause briefly after casting something, so everyone has a moment to respond.

What changes when you play Magic with four people?

Multiplayer adds a few rules and a lot of social texture.

The free mulligan

In multiplayer, your first mulligan is free. You shuffle your hand away and draw a fresh seven without putting any cards on the bottom. Later mulligans work as usual. Many groups simply call it a free first mulligan.

“Each opponent” means everyone

Cards that hit “each opponent” hit the whole table. That is why life-drain and token cards are so strong in Commander.

When a player loses

When a player is eliminated, their cards leave the game with them, along with anything they owned that other players controlled. Play continues with everyone left.

Politics

With three opponents, you are rarely fighting just one. Players make deals, warn each other about threats, and decide who to attack. Our article on Commander politics covers why the leader always becomes the target and how to stay friends through it.

What are the Commander Brackets?

The Commander Brackets are Wizards’ system for matching decks of similar power before the game starts. They are still labeled beta, they are optional, and they are meant to start a conversation, not end one. Wizards reworked the bracket definitions in October 2025 and adjusted the Game Changers list in February 2026.

What are Game Changers?

Game Changers are a list of cards Wizards has flagged for warping games: big resource engines, efficient tutors, and similar cards. The February 2026 update added Farewell and Biorhythm to the list. Wizards’ format page also names mass land denial, extra turns, and two-card infinite combos as things to discuss before a game, since they tend to clash with the lower brackets.

Are precons Bracket 2?

Not automatically. Wizards used to describe Bracket 2 as roughly the power of a precon. The October 2025 update removed that link, since precons vary, and defined each bracket by the experience it offers instead. Most precons still fit comfortably in casual pods, but say what your deck does rather than leaning on the box.

How to use brackets at the table

Before the first game, each player says their bracket and one sentence about their deck: “Bracket 2, elves that make a lot of tokens.” If someone is a bracket above the rest, they can swap decks or everyone can agree to play anyway. That pregame conversation is often called Rule 0, and it matters more than the number.

What is good Commander etiquette?

Commander runs on goodwill. A few habits make you someone people want at their table:

• Talk before you shuffle. Share your bracket and your deck’s plan. Ask if anyone minds proxies, infinite combos, or stealing creatures.
• Play at a steady pace. Think during other players’ turns. If your turn has a long chain of triggers, explain as you go.
• Say what you’re doing. Announce targets, read new cards aloud when asked, and leave your cards where everyone can see them.
• Keep your board readable. Lands in one row, creatures in another, tokens clearly marked.
• Be gracious about losing and winning. Someone is going to get attacked. It is the format, not a grudge.
• Help the new player. If someone is learning, offer advice when asked and let them take back a clear misclick.

What is the best way to start playing Commander?

Buy or borrow a preconstructed Commander deck, called a precon. It is a ready-to-play 100-card deck with a commander, built by Wizards to work out of the box.

Two recent lines stand out:

• Foundations Commander decks, released October 2, 2026, are designed to introduce the format. There are five, each one color with one clear plan: Calling All Angels, Keen Engineering, Wretched Ranks, Reign of Dragons, and Tramplesaurus Rex. One color means no color-identity puzzles while you learn.
• Star Trek Commander decks, out November 13, 2026, have four three-color decks led by Picard, Spock, Worf, and The Borg Queen. Our MTG Star Trek guide covers all four.

Play the precon as is for at least ten games before you change anything. Then upgrade one weakness at a time: usually more lands, more ramp, or more ways to draw cards. Our Commander land count guide is a good first upgrade check, and our MTG starter kit guide compares precons with other first products.

Want to play with a group that owns no decks yet? A Commander cube lets everyone draft a multiplayer deck from one shared collection.

FAQ

What is the difference between Commander and EDH?

They are the same format. EDH stands for Elder Dragon Highlander, the name the format had as a fan-made variant. Wizards adopted it as Commander, and players use both names.

How many players do you need for Commander?

Commander works best with four players, and three to five is the usual range. Two players can play, but the format is designed around multiplayer, and two-player games skip the first draw for the starting player as normal Magic does.

How much life do you start with in Commander?

You start with 40 life. You can also lose by taking 21 combat damage from a single commander, no matter how much life you have left.

What are the Commander Brackets?

They are five optional power levels from Wizards: Exhibition, Core, Upgraded, Optimized, and cEDH. Each describes the kind of game to expect, how many turns it should last, and how many Game Changer cards a deck can include. Use them to start a pregame talk about your decks.

Can you play Commander with a regular Magic deck?

Not as is. A Commander deck needs exactly 100 cards, one copy of each card except basic lands, a legendary commander, and cards that match its colors. A precon is the easiest way to get a legal deck.

Take a seat

Commander is a game about the table as much as the cards. Learn the turn in our free Magic course, grab a precon, and find three friends. Ludarium Letters sends ideas for your next game night, and the signup is just below.

The game is the reason. The people are the point.

Sources

• Commander format page (Wizards of the Coast)
• Commander Brackets Beta Update, October 21, 2025 (Wizards of the Coast, 2025)
• Commander Brackets Beta Update, February 9, 2026 (Wizards of the Coast, 2026)
• Foundations Commander Decklists (Wizards of the Coast, 2026)
• Star Trek Buyer’s Guide (Wizards of the Coast, 2026)
• Introducing the Commander Format Panel (Wizards of the Coast, 2024)
• Starting the game (MTG Wiki)