Magic: The Gathering Commander

Commander
ReleasedJune 17, 2011
SizeFive 100-card decks, including 51 new cards
DesignersKen Nagle (Lead), Mark Gottlieb, Scott Larabee, Ryan Miller, Mark Purvis
DevelopersMark Globus (Lead), Peter Knudson, Erik Lauer, Ryan Miller, Lee Sharpe
Development codeBedlam[1]

Commander is a series of supplemental Magic: the Gathering card game products. Its mechanics are derived from a fan-created format known as "Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH)".[2]

The Commander format has each player provide a 100-card deck, using cards from any printed sets excluding those that are banned, with the requirement that each card outside basic lands to be unique, in contrast to normal Magic decks that allow up to four copies of a card from the game's current base and expansion sets; the Commander format serves as a casual alternative to normal competitive play which is often dominated by those that can afford to purchase powerful cards and decks. [citation needed]

The official Commander format was initially "the only sanctioned format maintained by an outside entity" other than Wizards of the Coast.[3][4] While the Commander format had been overseen by a volunteer group of players since its inception, the group voluntarily turned over management of the format to Wizards of the Coast in September 2024 following player controversy over certain card bans.[5]

  1. ^ Shawn Main (May 20, 2014). "Conspiring a Conspiracy". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on May 24, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  2. ^ "EDH is now Commander". TCGplayer.com. December 2, 2010. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  3. ^ McWhertor, Michael (September 13, 2021). "Magic: The Gathering's most popular Commander has been banned". Polygon. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  4. ^ Švelch, Jan (2016). "Platform Studies, Computational Essentialism, and Magic: The Gathering". Analog Game Studies. 3 (3). ISSN 2643-7112. Archived from the original on 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
  5. ^ "On the Future of Commander" (Press release). Wizards of the Coast. September 30, 2024. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.