Commander looks intimidating from the outside. A hundred cards, no duplicates, four players, and games that run an hour - where do you even start? The good news is that experienced players don't build these decks from scratch every time. They use a template, and once you know it, your first deck will play better than most people's third. If you want the 60-card version of this guide instead, that's how to build a deck.
Step 1: Pick your commander
This is the only decision that really matters, because it makes the next three for you. Your commander sets your colors, it sets your plan, and it's the one card you can count on having access to every single game - if it dies, it goes back to the command zone and you cast it again. A deck built around a commander that does something is always more fun than a deck built around a commander that just has big numbers.
The easiest way to choose is to go through the cards you already own and pull out every legendary creature. Then ask one question about each: what does this card want me to do? If the answer is a sentence you can say out loud - "it wants me to sacrifice my own creatures", "it wants me to cast lots of cheap spells", "it wants me to attack with one huge creature" - you've got a deck. If the answer is "it's a 5/5", put it back.
Two more things worth weighing. Cheaper commanders get to the table earlier and get recast more easily after removal, so a three or four mana legend is friendlier than a seven mana one for a first build. And fewer colors means a simpler mana base - a two-color commander is genuinely easier to build well than a four-color one, no matter how exciting the four-color card looks.
Popular first commanders
Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
Build around thisThe Ur-Dragon
Build around thisYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Build around thisKorvold, Fae-Cursed King
Build around thisEdgar Markov
Build around thisLathril, Blade of the Elves
Build around this
Card images courtesy of Scryfall. Tap a commander to open the builder with it pre-filled.
Step 2: Understand color identity
Color identity is the rule that decides what's legal in your 99, and it's stricter than most new players expect. A card's color identity is every colored mana symbol on it - in its cost and in its rules text - plus any color it's explicitly stated to be. Every card in your deck must sit inside your commander's identity.
The part that catches people out: a card can be colorless to cast and still be off-limits. An artifact that costs three generic mana but has an ability requiring red mana carries red in its identity, so it can't go in a blue-green deck. The reverse is also true - a card with no colored symbols anywhere goes in literally any deck, which is why colorless ramp and colorless utility lands are so widely played.
Basic lands follow the same logic, so a mono-black commander means Swamps only. If you want the full ruleset - deck size, the command zone, commander damage and the rest - the Commander format guide covers it.
Mana cost
{3} generic
Rules text
"Pay {R}: ..."
Color identity
Red
The trap: colorless to cast can still be off-limits.
Step 3: Use the quota template
Here's the template. It isn't a law, but it is the shape almost every functional Commander deck takes, and every slot in it exists because a game went badly without it. Build to these numbers first, then adjust once you've actually played the deck a few times.
- 1 Commander
- 36-38 Lands
- 10-12 Ramp
- 10 Draw
- 10 Removal
- 3-4 Wipes
- 25-30 Theme
| Slot | What it is | Why it exists |
|---|---|---|
| 1 commander | Your legendary creature | Everything else in the deck answers to this card, because it sets your colors and your plan. It also starts in the command zone and comes back when it dies, so it's the one card you can always build around. |
| 36-38 lands | Your mana base | Commander games go long and you only have one copy of each card, so missing land drops hurts far more than it does in a 60-card deck. Stay at 38 if your commander or your big spells cost five or more. |
| 10-12 ramp | Mana rocks and land fetchers | Ramp is how you cast a four-mana commander on turn three instead of turn four, and in Commander a turn of tempo is a whole extra spell. It also fixes your colors, which matters the moment you go past two. |
| 10 card draw | Refill your hand | Three opponents will trade you off one-for-one all game, so the deck that draws extra cards is the deck that still has plays on turn ten. This is the slot most first-time builders shortchange. |
| 10 targeted removal | Answers for single threats | Somebody at the table will land the one card that beats you, and you need to be able to kill it rather than hope. Spread these across creature removal, artifact and enchantment removal, and at least a couple that hit anything. |
| 3-4 board wipes | Reset buttons | When you fall behind three players at once, one spell that clears the table buys you the turns you need to rebuild. Four is plenty - any more and you'll start wiping away your own good boards. |
| 25-30 theme cards | The actual deck | These are the creatures and spells that carry out your commander's plan, and they're the reason the deck is fun to play. Everything above is scaffolding; this is the part that makes it yours. |
1 commander
- What it is
- Your legendary creature
- Why it exists
- Everything else in the deck answers to this card, because it sets your colors and your plan. It also starts in the command zone and comes back when it dies, so it's the one card you can always build around.
36-38 lands
- What it is
- Your mana base
- Why it exists
- Commander games go long and you only have one copy of each card, so missing land drops hurts far more than it does in a 60-card deck. Stay at 38 if your commander or your big spells cost five or more.
10-12 ramp
- What it is
- Mana rocks and land fetchers
- Why it exists
- Ramp is how you cast a four-mana commander on turn three instead of turn four, and in Commander a turn of tempo is a whole extra spell. It also fixes your colors, which matters the moment you go past two.
10 card draw
- What it is
- Refill your hand
- Why it exists
- Three opponents will trade you off one-for-one all game, so the deck that draws extra cards is the deck that still has plays on turn ten. This is the slot most first-time builders shortchange.
10 targeted removal
- What it is
- Answers for single threats
- Why it exists
- Somebody at the table will land the one card that beats you, and you need to be able to kill it rather than hope. Spread these across creature removal, artifact and enchantment removal, and at least a couple that hit anything.
3-4 board wipes
- What it is
- Reset buttons
- Why it exists
- When you fall behind three players at once, one spell that clears the table buys you the turns you need to rebuild. Four is plenty - any more and you'll start wiping away your own good boards.
25-30 theme cards
- What it is
- The actual deck
- Why it exists
- These are the creatures and spells that carry out your commander's plan, and they're the reason the deck is fun to play. Everything above is scaffolding; this is the part that makes it yours.
100 cards total: 1 commander plus 99 singleton cards in its color identity.
The quotas overlap, and that's fine - a creature that draws you a card when it attacks counts as draw and as a theme card. Overlap is how good Commander decks get built. What you can't do is skip a row entirely and hope the table is polite about it.
Step 4: Build the mana base
36-38 lands - err high.
You only have one copy of each card, so you can't lean on drawing the fourth copy of anything - your deck is a lot more random than a Standard deck, and missing land drops hurts far more.
Sample 38 lands, two-color deck
- 15 basics, main color
- 13 basics, second color
- 8 dual lands
- 2 utility lands
Step 5: Fill the theme slots
This is the 25-30 card block that makes the deck yours, and the rule here is synergy over raw power. A card that's individually mediocre but does exactly what your commander wants will win you more games than a famous expensive card that has nothing to do with your plan. Ask of every card: does this make my commander better, or does my commander make this better? If neither, cut it.
It helps to name your plan before you fill the slots. The playstyles on the Commander format guide are a good menu to pick from: Voltron loads one creature with equipment and auras and swings; Spellslinger builds around casting cheap instants and sorceries; Aristocrats sacrifices your own creatures for value and drain; Group Hug gives everyone at the table gifts and turns that generosity into an advantage. Pick one, and let it decide the borderline slots.
If you'd rather approach it from the archetype side - aggro, control, midrange, combo, ramp, tribal - the deck archetypes guide breaks down how each one wins, and most of them translate straight into Commander.
Pick a lane - these are the classic Commander themes.
Tokens
Flood the board with creature tokens.
Sacrifice / Aristocrats
Sacrifice your own creatures for value and drain.
Equipment / Voltron
Suit up one big creature with equipment.
Spellslinger
Cheap instants and sorceries with cast triggers.
Lifegain
Gain life and turn it into an advantage.
Graveyard / Reanimator
Use the graveyard as a second hand.
Common first-deck mistakes
Too few lands
Every new builder wants to cut lands for one more exciting spell. Then they sit on three lands for six turns and lose without casting anything. Stay at 36 minimum.
Too little card draw
Card draw looks boring next to a big dragon, but you're playing against three people. An empty hand on turn eight is how most first decks actually lose.
No board wipes
Sooner or later three opponents will have better boards than you at the same time. Without a reset button there's no path back into that game.
100 "good cards" with no plan
A pile of individually strong cards that don't talk to each other loses to a focused deck of cheap cards every time. Synergy is the whole format.
Building on a budget
Commander has a reputation for being expensive, and it can be, but it doesn't have to be. The cheapest route is a preconstructed Commander deck: it's a legal, playable 100 cards out of the box, usually around $50, and it comes with a commander whose plan is already spelled out for you. Play it a few times, notice which cards you're always happy to draw and which ones you never cast, then swap the dead ones out a handful at a time.
Upgrading a precon is genuinely the best way to learn deck building, because every change you make is a decision you can immediately test. And the cheapest deck of all is the one you build out of the cards already sitting in your box - which is what ManaBuilder is for.