What is commander/EDH?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Nov. 6, 2013, 6:10 p.m. by AJtheConquerer
i've been playing MTG for a while now in standard, but i have no clue what commander is. Can someone please explain what it is in words that sound like english? i asked my friend and he kept jibberjabbering on and i couldnt really understand him
Commander or Elder Dragon Highlander is a multiplayer (usually) variant of MTG, in which the major modifications are as follows.
You may only have 1 of each card in your deck, excepting basic lands and cards with special rules like Shadowborn Apostle
One legendary creature is your Commander. This creature starts in an area called the "Command Zone", from which you can cast it as though it was in your hand. Additionally, if your Commander were to die or be exiled, you can instead place him in the command zone. It costs 2 generic mana to cast your commander for each time after the first time you cast him from the command zone.
Your deck must only be in your commander's "Color Identity". Color identity is all colors in a card's mana cost, as well as all colors in its rules text. For example, Vaporkin 's color identity is blue, Priest of Iroas 's is red/white, and Daxos of Meletis is blue/white. You cannot include any cards that are not in your commander's Color Identity, and you may only use basic lands that would provide colors in your commander's color identity. If you would ever gain mana of a color not in your commander's color identity, you gain colorless mana instead.
All players start at 40 life.
Its a very fun, more casual (usually) variant, with room for lots of combos, politics, and cards that are simply not playable in any other format.
November 6, 2013 6:19 p.m.
The reason you can use Arid Mesa is it says 'plains' and doesn't have the white mana symbol, so you couldn't use a Sacred Foundry .
November 6, 2013 6:20 p.m.
Bobgalarneau says... #5
Additionaly, you can kill your opponent by doing him 21 points of damages with a commander, wich allow some nice voltron builds
gufymike says... #2
It's a casual way of playing mtg. Simply put it has a few differences, the basics are you build a 100 card deck, no more than one of each card except basic land. 1 card must be legendary and is designated your commander. The color symbols in your commander are it's color identity. The other 99 cards can't have a different color than the commanders color identity. The key is the symbols.
E.g. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind is a R/U commander and cards included must be R or U or R/U or colorless, including lands. Though you can use Arid Mesa as a land.
outside of this it's pretty much normal magic.
here is the site with the official rules. mtgcommander.net
November 6, 2013 6:19 p.m.