Commanders & partners
Assigning a commander, partner pairs, and what the commander decides.
Commander and Brawl decks have a commander zone at the top of the deck.
Assigning one
In the app — the commander slot opens a name search scoped to commander-eligible cards: legendary creatures, planeswalkers that can command, and Backgrounds. Tap ＋ on a result and it takes the slot with its default printing.
To change the printing or finish afterwards, unlock the deck and tap the slot. Locked, tapping the slot opens card detail instead.
On the web — the deck page's More menu and the Studio's ⋮ menu both have Change commander. In the Studio you can also promote a legendary creature already in the list with Set as commander, on Commander decks.
If your commander has Partner, or a partner mechanic, the second slot opens so you can complete the pair.
What the commander decides
- Color identity — legality uses it, and off-identity cards are flagged. See Legality.
- Ideas — EDHREC, Mana base, Staples, Blindspots and Combos are all driven by the commander. See Ideas.
- Deck totals — the commander counts toward the deck's 100 cards.
- Your counts — in a tracked deck the commander's copy counts like any other card.
- How the copy is held — a commander can be a proxy, be untracked, or be a shared copy. See Proxies, untracked cards and shared copies.