Command

For the type of modal spell, see Commands.

The Command zone is a zone used for special objects which affect the game like permanents do, but are not permanent. This includes commanders, emblems, planes, phenomena, schemes, conspiracies and dungeons. Many Commander sets, such as Commander 2013, Commander 2017, and Commander Legends, as well as Conspiracy sets, contain cards that interact with the Command zone.

Description

The Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set introduced the dungeon card type. These cards start outside of the game and when an ability instructs you to venture into the dungeon, you place it in the command zone and stay there until it is completed. You can only have 1 dungeon card in the command zone at a time.

Whenever an Attraction would be put into any zone other than the battlefield, exile, or command zone, it is instead placed into the command zone in an area known as the junkyard.

History

In the first years of Magic, fans of the game created formats (like Chaos Magic) and tournaments (like the Enchant World tournament) with rules that involved revealing randomly selected cards and applying their effects to the ongoing match. These cards were placed on the surface where the players were playing or in their vicinity.

In the summer of 1997, the new official Vanguard format was introduced for casual play. Each player would start the game with a vanguard which wasn't placed in any official zone.

Because of the origins of what we now call the Commander format (formerly known as EDH), a player would start the game with their commander (formerly general) shuffled in the library and it was only with the formation of the Commander Rules Committee (formerly EDH Rules Committee) in 2006 when they added the official rule that "all generals are removed from the game before shuffling at the start of the game" , placing the commander card aside and visible to everyone during the game.

On March 1, 2008, it was announced a new format called Commander FFA for Magic Online. It had the same rules of EDH at the time of its implementation.

On August 10, 2009, there the rules were revealed for a new official format called Planechase, explaining that the active plane card would be placed face up "in a new game zone called the command zone". Planechase was the first of a line of new products which were focused on the multiplayer experience and that would be released each summer.

On September 9, 2009, the Commander Rules Committee decided to make the commanders start in the command zone.

On June 18, 2010, the first product was released for a new official format called Archenemy, it included schemes which were placed in the command zone.

On December 2, 2010, the first official Commander-legal product called Commander was announced and at the same time the Commander Rules Committee announced the change of the name of the format from EDH to Commander.

Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (February 7, 2025—Aetherdrift)

Command

A zone for certain specialized objects that have an overarching effect on the game, yet are not permanents and cannot be destroyed. See rule 408, “Command.”

From the Comprehensive Rules (February 7, 2025—Aetherdrift)

• 408. Command
  • 408.1. The command zone is a game area reserved for certain specialized objects that have an overarching effect on the game, yet are not permanents and cannot be destroyed.
  • 408.2. Emblems may be created in the command zone. See rule 114, “Emblems.”
  • 408.3. In the Planechase, Vanguard, Commander, Archenemy, and Conspiracy Draft casual variants, nontraditional Magic cards and/or specially designated cards start the game in the command zone. Each variant has its own rules regarding such cards. See section 9, “Casual Variants.”