| Commander Draft | |
|---|---|
| DCI Sanctioned | |
| Paper |
 |
| Magic Online |
 |
| Magic Arena |
|
| Rules | |
| Type | Limited (Draft) |
| Multiplayer |
|
| Dedicated Products | |
| Products | Commander Legends, Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, Commander Masters |
The Commander Draft format was introduced with the release of Commander Legends, on November 20, 2020.[1] Commander games are intended to be multiplayer, with many new cards taking advantage of there being more than two players present.
Procedure
Commander Draft starts with a booster draft. Each player sits around the table in a random order with three booster packs. Packs are opened and cards are drafted into your card pool two at a time. Then, players break off into four-player game-pods. The seating for the games is also random. You can attack multiple opponents or opposing planeswalkers during combat. Everyone starts at 40 life, and it's total war until one player is left standing.[2]
After the draft, players build a 60-card deck — much like how a traditional deck of Magic is 60 cards and a traditional draft is 40, here it's a minimum of 60 to Commander's 100. All other Commander rules apply with one exception: the Singleton rule does not apply. You may play as many copies of a card as you draft of it, though given the set size compared to how many cards players get, it's not very likely to get more than 1 copy of a card. Players may always use up to two of The Prismatic Piper or the Faceless One as a commander, even if they didn't draft one.[3]
Limited Partner
For Commander Masters drafts, all eligible commanders with one or less colors in their color identity are treated as if they have partner in a Commander draft.[4] This rule was borrowed from the Commander cube draft community in order to allow players to draft cohesive decks without being tied to their early pick Commanders.[5]
Rules
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)
- Commander Draft
- A casual variant in which players participate in a booster draft and then play multiplayer games. See rule 903.13, “Commander Draft.”
From the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)
- 903.13. Commander Draft
- 903.13a Commander Draft is an option for a different style of Commander game. It consists of a draft (a style of limited play where players choose cards from sealed booster packs to build their decks) followed by a multiplayer game. The Commander Draft option uses Commander Legends booster packs by default.
- 903.13b A draft typically consists of three draft rounds. In each draft round, each player opens a booster pack, drafts two cards by placing them in a face-down pile in front of them, then passes the remaining cards to the next player. Each player then drafts two cards from the booster pack passed to them and passes the remaining cards. This procedure continues until all cards in that draft round have been drafted.
- 903.13c In the first and third draft rounds, booster packs are passed to each player’s left. In the second draft round, booster packs are passed to each player’s right.
- 903.13d During the draft, a player can look only at cards in the booster pack they are currently drafting from and cards they have already drafted. A player may not reveal drafted cards to other players unless an ability instructs them to.
- 903.13e After the draft is complete, the cards a player drafted become that player’s card pool. If the draft contained draft boosters from Commander Legends or Commander Masters, each player may add up to two cards named The Prismatic Piper to their card pool, but only if those cards are used as the player’s commander(s). If the draft contained draft boosters from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate®, each player may add up to two cards named Faceless One to their card pool, but only if those cards are used as the player’s commander(s).
- 903.13f Commander Draft deck construction follows the same rules as Commander deck construction (see rule 903.5) with three exceptions: (1) A player’s deck must contain at least 60 cards. There is no maximum deck size. (2) A player’s deck may include any number of cards from that player’s card pool with the same name. (3) If the draft contained draft boosters from Commander Masters, any card which can be a player’s commander by itself and whose color identity includes one or fewer colors is considered to have the partner ability for the purposes of deckbuilding. (See rule 702.124, “Partner.”)
- 903.13g Commander Draft games follow the same rules as Commander games. See rules 903.6–903.11.
References
- ↑ Eli Shiffrin (November 6, 2020). "Commander Legends Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Gavin Verhey (July 12, 2023). "Commander Masters Draft Primer". Magic.gg. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023.
- ↑ Adam Styborski and Billie Kaplan (May 17, 2022). "Welcome to Your Magic Adventure with Dungeons & Dragons". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Eric Levine (July 24, 2023). "Commander Masters Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 11, 2023). "Chain of Commander Masters". magicthegathering.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023.