How do you keep your commander separate and what's your command zone?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on April 13, 2016, 12:01 p.m. by Nocturnal Outcast
Okay the title might be somewhat confusing, but anyways, just curious all the different ways others do it! There is no right or wrong way, its all preference!
Most EDH players have some way to keep their Commander separate from the 99, I personally keep my mine in top loaders, with same sleeve as the rest of the deck, I've seen few people simply put their commander in a different sleeve, and others with no way to separate.
next question what its your command Zone? I represent mine by putting the commander on top of its deck box, just behind and to the right a bit of the main deck.
MagicalHacker says... #3
I keep all my commanders in the same sleeve as each other so that I can shuffle them to pick my decks at random, but I put mycommander card at a -45 degree angle hanging out of my deck (face up, rather than face down like the rest of the deck).
It's my way of knowing when it's on the field and when it's not.
April 13, 2016 12:26 p.m.
I keep my commanders in a separate sleeve, usually a flashy one. I stick it face-up about halfway through my deck so it sticks out and you can see it clearly without it being ambiguous as to whether it's in play while also keeping it pretty secure.
April 13, 2016 12:28 p.m.
I sleeve my cmdrs the same as the rest of my deck in case it gets tucked- Oh wait, I don't have to do that anymore. Well, I'm just going to leave them in the same sleeves they've always been in.
My library is at the top left of my playmat, with space for a graveyard. I place my cmdr above my deck off the playmat, and usually turned 90o in a "tapped" position.
April 13, 2016 1:08 p.m.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #6
all my commanders are in the same sleeve as my deck, and I usually keep them right next to my deck, clearly visible. My deck is usually off my mat to the left, with commander in between and graveyard directly under.
The only time my commanders have been in different sleeves was when the shuffle rule was still in effect, so I could search them out at the end of the game.
however, like MagicalHacker said, I also used to keep them in top loaders with paper covering the back labeling them by how competitive they were so I could randomize it without making it an unfair match.
April 13, 2016 1:16 p.m.
Lightpulsar9 says... #7
I usually keep my commanders in a different sleeve to differentiate them from the rest of the deck. My deck is usually placed on either side of my playmat towards the top (side changes depending on where I sit so opponents can see my board better). And I keep the commander face up slightly underneath my deck to where everyone can see it. This is so it's obvious it's not in play and no one gets confused.
April 13, 2016 1:21 p.m. Edited.
I usually have my deck on the top right corner and my commander on the left top corner of my matt and when its not in play i have my life dice on top of it
April 13, 2016 1:54 p.m.
Since there's no tuck rule anymore and I buy 100 sleeve packs in various colors I just rotate 1 from each pack (assuming Ultra Pro managed to put the right number of sleeves in there).
I have the UP Sun Titan playmat - commander goes on the 
. Library sits in the upper right-hand corner and graveyard is in the bottom-right with exile underneath it face down.
You people putting your decks at 45 degree angles are making me uncomfortable...
April 13, 2016 2:03 p.m.
griffstick says... #10
Me and my friends keep our commander's in the center of the table. If I'm at the lgs I keep it right above my library with my graveyard right below my library all to the left side usually.Exile is to the left of my library. I sleeve my commander in separate sleeves cause I way to often shuffle it in by accident when I'm done with the game. I also don't use a playmat
April 13, 2016 2:09 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #11
I put it wherever it's convenient, which depends on where I'm playing. Most often I'll just put it on top of my deckbox, or off to the right of my library.
All my commanders are in different color sleeves than the rest of the deck.
April 13, 2016 2:38 p.m.
Nocturnal Outcast says... #12
Kind of surprised that not many people use top loaders, it gives a nice visual of "THIS IS THE COMMANDER", allowed you to use same sleeve as rest of deck while still being able to take out and look like the rest if needed..then again I've only seen two other people use them like that out of all the other EDH players I've met, so I guess the statistics match?
April 13, 2016 2:59 p.m.
Top loaders don't fit in my commander deck box, so they are a hassle to carry around.
April 13, 2016 3:18 p.m.
I usually keep my commander sleeved up in the same sleeves as my deck. Now, however, I'll be bumming my friend's Judge Promo Hanna, Ship's Navigator
, so I'll probably keep it in a top-loader. All you fucks insist on sending me so many through trades that I'm sitting on like 30 and I barely ever buy cards. lol.
April 13, 2016 3:22 p.m.
Yeah the people that stick their commander in their deck and let it hang I cannot stand I will purposely not play with you
April 13, 2016 3:40 p.m.
I keep my commanders in the same sleeves as my decks (except the joke Skelator-Jesus card I made for Nekusar to make my friends angry), and I keep them in the same box on the top of the deck face-up). When playing, my group and I have our decks middle-right, graveyards below, command zone above.
April 13, 2016 4:14 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #17
I don't know how putting graveyards below the library (as some in this thread do) would work at my LGS, given the inordinate love of graveyard interaction that seems to be there. It would also be frustrating when I play Lazav; I already spend a ton of time rifling through other peoples' yards when I play him.
April 14, 2016 1:12 a.m. Edited.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #18
F.R.F I'm with you, 45 degree decks always bothered me. It just seems like a waste of playmat space.
I keep my deck in the top right corner of my mat, with the opening of the sleeves facing me. Graveyard and exile go immediately below my deck.
I keep my commanders in the same sleeves as the rest of the deck. They are separated from the deck by a divider in the deck box. I normally keep my commander off my mat by my life dice when not in play to avoid confusion. Top loaders don't fit in my deck boxes so I don't use them.
April 14, 2016 1:30 p.m.
iBleedPunk says... #21
Well EmblemMan your life die being on your commander urks me. I will purposely not play with you now C'x lmmfao
April 14, 2016 2:52 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #23
Using dice for life total makes me nervous, but I think it's unnecessary to not play with players simply based on what they use for playing the game like zones, life, sleeves, mat, etc.
April 14, 2016 3:42 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #24
I agree with MagicalHacker.
Except for card flickers. I hate card flickers. I won't refuse to play against a person who does this or anything, but it just drives me crazy.
April 14, 2016 6:24 p.m.
depends my position at the table. commander is in a different color sleeve and kept in the top right or left corner so people can see who im playing. my deck i keep in the middle right of my playmat with the graveyard directly under and my exile in the top corner opposite my commander
April 14, 2016 9:07 p.m.
Wolfsbane706 says... #27
I set my commander to the side of my deck. Basically, it goes deck in top left, grave in bottom left, Commander in top right, and exiled stuff in bottom right all in one tight formation.
April 14, 2016 9:11 p.m.
Well, being a lefty, I tend to keep everything to my left. Having a relatively small table for group games, I also tend to take up as little space on the table as possible. So, my library is to the lower left corner of my zone (I haven't found a playmat I like enough to buy just yet), to the left of that is my graveyard, under my graveyard is my exile zone (I turn them sideways and flip them face down to keep them separate from the GY), and to the left of that is my command zone. So three rows of cards, basically.
April 15, 2016 9:03 a.m.
Dalektable says... #29
I keep my commanders in the same sleeves, and my "command zone" is simply the upper right corner of my playmat. I keep my deck in the upper left corner horizontal with the commander across from it, I think it looks very visually appealing. This can get messy in longer games with big board states, though. In that case I just set my commander to the side if it's not in play.
April 16, 2016 7:39 p.m. Edited.
I keep my commander in the deck box, like he's sitting in a kind of throne. Or in my left - herald from Yu-Gi-Oh! past days.
April 23, 2016 12:08 a.m.
My commanders are in a sleeve that is a different color than the deck sleeves with a custom graphic I've drawn on the back. They're seperated from the deck by the tokens/emblem cards, which are all in gold sleeves. I use old wooden cigar boxes that I've customized with oil markers to hold my commander decks, and during the game my commander/tokens sit in a pile atop the box with my life total next to it.
Arvail says... #2
I keep my deck at a 45 degree angle at the right corner of my playmat. My graveyard is immediately to it's side nearer to the center of the mat and my exile is perpendicular to my deck above it. I then put my commander slightly to the right so it's off my playmat. This way, all of the cards are arranged neatly, they don't take up a bunch of space, and I have easy access to my yard. I've never had anyone complain about it aside from asking to mirror the placement of the cards as my library was blocking their vie of my board in a multiplayer game. That's it, really.
April 13, 2016 12:19 p.m.