Commander (designation)
A Commander or General is the central card of a Commander-deck. It is played from the command zone.
Description
The commander of each player's deck is headed by a legendary creature. A player's choice of commander determines which other cards can be played in the deck. A player can have two Commander if both have Partner.[1][2]
Rules
- Players may choose either a legendary creature, a pair of legendary creatures with each having the Partner ability, or a planeswalker as a commander if that planeswalker has an ability allowing it to be chosen as a commander.
- The Commander's color identity restricts what cards may appear in the deck. If a player chooses to have multiple cards as a commander, the color identity is the combined color identity of each.
- Being a Commander is not a characteristic but a property of the card.
- If a player has been dealt 21 points of combat damage by a particular Commander during a game, that player loses the game. If a player chooses to have multiple cards as a commander, each is counted separately.
- While a Commander is in the command zone, it may be cast. As an additional cost to cast a Commander from the command zone, the player casting it must pay for each time that player has previously cast it from the command zone. If a player chooses to have multiple cards as a commander, each is counted separately.
- If a commander would be put into its owner's graveyard, be exiled, or returned to a player's hand or library from anywhere, that player may choose to put it into the command zone instead.
Commander interaction cards
Some cards specifically interact with your commander. If a player has multiple commanders, then each is counted separately, except for abilities referring to color identity, in which case the color identity of the commander is the combined color identity of each of that player's commanders.
- Command Tower from Commander (2011); reprinted in Commander's Arsenal, Commander 2013, Commander 2015 and Commander 2016.
- Opal Palace from Commander 2013; reprinted in Commander 2016.
- Commander's Sphere from Commander 2014; reprinted in Commander 2016.
- Command Beacon from Commander 2015.
- Bastion Protector from Commander 2015.
- Cards with the Lieutenant ability word from Commander 2014; one reprinted in Commander 2016.