Companion

A deck can hold one companion: a card with the Companion ability (Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Yorion, Jegantha, Kaheera…) that starts the game outside the deck. It has its own slot in every format, and keeps its finish, language and copy mode like any other card.

Where it shows

• Commander and Brawl — its own Companion group right under the commander. It is outside the 100: the deck's card count does not include it.
• Every other format — a Companion group at the top of the sideboard. It is one of the sideboard's 15, so the Sideboard count includes it.

The same placement holds in the app, in the Studio (a Companion band under the commander, or the first row of the Sideboard column with a C tag) and on the web deck page, including a deck someone shared with you.

Setting the companion

In the app — tap a card that has the Companion ability, then Edit → More → Set as companion. On the companion itself, More offers:

• Replace companion — a list of every card with the Companion ability; the one you pick takes the slot.
• Move to sideboard — the card stays in the deck as a sideboard card.
• Remove from deck.

In the Studio — the card's ⋮ menu has Set as companion, and on the companion Replace companion. Move to → Sideboard and Remove work as on any card, and every change can be undone.

A deck has one companion at a time, so the rules below always leave exactly one in the slot:

• Setting a new one sends the previous companion to the sideboard.
• Picking a card the deck already holds uses that copy: a sideboard copy moves into the slot, whatever its printing. When the deck has it only on another board, one more copy of that printing is added, and that board keeps its count.
• Several copies of one row — set a 4-of as the companion and one copy takes the slot while the other three stay where they were.
• A second companion written from anywhere else (an import, another device) goes to the sideboard.

How it counts

The companion counts like a sideboard card:

• Deck value includes it.
• Missing cards include it.
• In a tracked deck, its copy is reserved from your collection like any other card in the deck.

Legality checks the companion's condition and where the format puts it.

Imports and exports

An import that marks a companion puts it in the slot: Moxfield's and Archidekt's links, and the Companion sections of Arena, Moxfield and ManaBox text, and of CSV. Two rules keep the count right:

• The repeated copy is dropped. Moxfield and Arena list the companion again inside the sideboard; that copy is not imported twice.
• One companion per deck. When a list marks two, the first takes the slot and the rest go to the sideboard. The import result says so: Umori, the Collector is the companion. Moved to the sideboard: Keruga, the Macrosage.
• A deck keeps its companion. Cards added to a deck that already has one bring their companion in as a sideboard card, with the same kind of note.

See Importing and Exporting for each format.

In a playtest

The companion starts outside the game, in its own tile, and is never shuffled into the library. Put into hand moves it to your hand once per game; undo puts it back, and a new game starts with it outside again. See Playtest.