Commander guides

Straight answers to the questions that come up at the table — what the brackets actually mean, how to judge a deck’s power, when the first mulligan is free, and what is worth writing down.

• Commander brackets explained

  The bracket system gives a playgroup one shared vocabulary for “how strong is this deck?” — so you agree before shuffling instead of arguing on turn six.

• How to tell your Commander deck’s power level

  The “what’s your power level, 1 to 10?” question fails because nobody shares a scale. These signals are checkable, so two people can reach the same answer.

• Commander mulligan rules

  Multiplayer games give you a free first mulligan, so a Commander pod effectively gets two shots at a seven-card hand. Heads-up is a different story.

• Commander damage and the 21-damage rule

  Take 21 combat damage from any single commander and you lose — no matter how much life you have left.

• How to track stats for your Commander playgroup

  Most playgroup arguments are about things nobody wrote down. A few minutes of recording per night settles them permanently.