CommandbenchEDHREC commander rules
An EDHREC commander page assumes you already know the format. The legend in the command zone sets the colors, the tax, and the 21-damage clock. The database then counts what other people sleeve beside it.
- Command zone
- The commander starts face up in the command zone. The other 99 cards are shuffled into the library. You may cast the commander from that zone, or send it there when it would change zones.
- Color identity
- Every card in the deck must fit inside the commander's colors. Lands that add a forbidden color are illegal even when the spell symbol looks colorless.
- Commander tax
- The first cast from the command zone costs the printed cost. Each later cast from that zone in the same game costs an extra {2}.
- 21 combat damage
- A player who has been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander loses. Wizards tracks that commander across zone changes, including if another player controls it.
One commander, unless the card says otherwise
The default deck has one commander. Partner, Background, Friends Forever, and Doctor's Companion allow a pair, and the color identity becomes the union of both cards. EDHREC has pages for those pairs. This site's deck builder can hold a second commander, and it will not pretend to know every pairing rule. Confirm the two cards are allowed to share the zone before you trust the color check.
Deck size stays 100, pair included. Basic lands are the only cards that may repeat. The Commander ban list still removes cards even when the colors match. Scryfall's legal:commander filter is what the search uses, so banned cards do not come back as hits.
Wizards documents the format, including 40 starting life and the 21 damage rule, on the Commander format page. Brackets are a separate, optional pregame conversation covered on the commander decks guide.
Questions
What is a commander in Magic?
A commander is the legendary creature, or other card the rules allow, that leads a 100-card Commander deck. It starts the game in the command zone, and its color identity limits every other card in the deck.
What is commander tax?
Each time you cast your commander from the command zone after the first, it costs {2} more. Commander ninjutsu, used by Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, puts the commander onto the battlefield without casting it, so that tax does not apply to the ninjutsu.
What is color identity?
Color identity is every colored mana symbol in the card's cost and rules text, on every face, plus color indicators. Reminder text inside parentheses does not count. That is why a mono-black Azula with Firebending stays black even though the reminder mentions red mana.
Does eminence work from the command zone?
Yes, when the card says so. Edgar Markov and The Ur-Dragon both have eminence abilities that function in the command zone or on the battlefield. You do not have to cast them to get that part of the card.