How to build a Commander Deck in Magic: The Gathering (2023)

commander isThe most popular MTG formatAbout. It pits you and a legendary creature of your choice against an opponent (or opponents) and a legendary creature of your choice (choice?). It's an epic battle between your 100 cards and his 100 cards. In the end it was really fun.

even if you already know ithow to play commander, you may be new to this and don't know how to create your own markup in the format. Here's what you need to know to build your own Commander deck.

How to build a Commander Deck in MTG

  • How many cards are in the MTG Commander deck? :The number of cards in your Commander mega deck and whether your Commander counts towards the total.
  • Select Commander or Topic:Tips for choosing the best MTG commanders and building decks around a certain playstyle or theme.
  • MTG Commander deck build conditions:How many lands, creatures, and other cards should be in your commander deck.
  • What should be included in an MTG Commander deck? :100 cards with everything you need.
  • Upgrade your MTG Commander Deck:How to make your card game great game after game.

How many cards are in the MTG Commander deck?

Commander decks are 100 cards long, and you can't have more than one card beyond the basic lands. That means it's harder to try to optimize than most formats, but that's a big part of its charm. Your commander counts as one of these 100 cards and starts the game in the command zone, not the deck. The commanders also dictate the colors you can use in your deck. If your commander is a red and white creature, you can only have red, white, and colorless cards in your deck.

Choose Commander or Theme

When building any Commander deck, the first thing you need to do is pick a Commander. Commanders can be any legendary creature you like. It can even be a planeswalker occasionally, but only very specific planeswalkers, so it's usually best to just pick creatures. In fact, it doesn't always have to be the boss - sometimes it can be a theme or a strategy. Let's say you know you like dragons, but you're not sure which commander is best for that love. Well, you already have your theme, so you just need to find a commander. Likewise, sometimes you'll see legendary creatures you like but aren't quite sure how to build around them; in that case, you need to find a theme.

Sometimes the theme is tribal, like everything is a dragon. Other times it's a strategy – for example, knowing you want to play as many lands as possible, or winning by using alternative winning methods, such as crushing your opponent so they lose the game if they can't draw a card. Whatever it is, having a strong core idea to build on will make your deck easier to create.

It doesn't always have to be obvious. sometimes i just want to play it allBest cards for mana colorsIt's a good enough idea. That said, the better it suits you, the more likely you'll have fun, and the more creative your card choices will be. One of the joys of Commander is building decks and finding obscure cards to include. It's not always about winning.

How to build a Commander Deck in Magic: The Gathering (1)

Commander MTG deck building scale

Once you've set a theme, clear the deck itself. As a general rule, you need 33 to 42 landings in your Commander deck. Of course you want as many special countries as possible. Lands that produce more than one color of mana or have special abilities are always great. The exact amount of terrain you want depends on how high the mana cost is in your deck and if you have reliable ramps (always with sun rings) or if you have other ways to play. cards, such as bringing them back from the graveyard after discarding them.

That gives you around 60 cards to choose from. Of those, you'll need about 10 removals and interactions in your deck. Sometimes this will be a board that clears everything on the battlefield, and other times it will be a targeted lane that lets you pick individual creatures or enchantments to clear. In general, you want to try to find cards that affect all of your opponents without affecting yourself. For example cards like Cyclone Fissure.

How to build a Commander Deck in Magic: The Gathering (2)

Different colors will have different removal effects, so black and white will be able to use destroyed and exiled cards. Blue must counter the spell or return the creature to its owner's hand. The red will be able to destroy items with spells that deal damage, while the green contains cards that allow your creatures to fight other creatures. There are some cards that break these rules, but generally this is what you want to use in each suit.

Finally, you mix creatures and all other types of magic. Most Commander decks want the vast majority of the remaining cards to be creatures, but if you're playing a deck that only cares about different types of cards, such as instants or enchantments, you'll probably want to do the opposite, with the decorated. . It is important to note that you can also have other legendary creatures in your main deck if you wish, as long as they are the right color.

How to build a Commander Deck in Magic: The Gathering (3)

What should be in an MTG Commander deck?

Now that you've interacted and have a general idea of ​​your land base, you still have about half of your deck left to fill. This is where things get really interesting.

Now you can fill your deck with as many theme cards as you want. As long as they play well together, you can do whatever you want. This is where deck builders have the most fun. You'll still want a nice bell curve for the mana cost of your cards, but unless you're playing cEDH (competitive EDH, the hellish scenario where the game ends before you shuffle - fun, but in a horrible, different way), you might have the more fun.

This means you can add some big old cards to the mix, and Commander is where the useless printed seven-mana enchantment cards come into play. If you're not sure what they are, check out Mind Expansion. This seven-mana enchantment means that when your opponent casts the first spell of the turn, he must exile the top card of his deck. Then - and this is the good thing about it - if it's a non-land card, you can cast a spell. These areCard types made for carriers.

The exact details of the cards in your game are up to you, but if you're having trouble finding inspiration, sites likeEDHRECThey can be of great help thanks to the large amount of data they collect and the rule of the masses. Of course, you can always try searching the site for some of the keywords you have in mind, e.ggravel falls, also.

Upgrade your MTG Commander Deck

You now have 100 cards. You are happy with the amount of land, moving and all. What was left?

This is where you need to start making adjustments. The more you play through the deck, the more you realize that some cards just don't do anything and should probably be replaced. You know when that's the case, when you're usually annoyed to see a card instead of happy to see it. If it doesn't bring joy, just throw it at the nearest wall and choose something else.

You also gain an understanding of land and movement. Sometimes your first estimate of how much you need may be of; sometimes you have too much terrain of one color and not enough of another. These problems can be solved by using the tire and constantly adjusting.

How to build a Commander Deck in Magic: The Gathering (4)

Building a Commander deck is not a one-time task; it flows. You will spend all your time on any given deck, tinkering with its cards or adding new cards from recently released sets. Sometimes a friend has a card you didn't even know existed and suddenly you're looking for a card that might be older than you just to try to improve your deck.

If you end up enjoying the process, it never ends, which can be fun. Commander is the most creative MTG format, a bastion for deck builders, casual and competitive players. It's fun because anything is possible and you end up doing things that are completely impossible in any other format. Remember this when building your Commander deck: not only will you have fun with it, but as you build your deck better, you'll also start to earn more.

Of course, winning isn't everything, but attacking opponents with a 40/40 army of snake tokens is never boring.

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