Pauper Commander RulesRules for Pauper Commander are largely based on normal Commander rules (available here). If anything isn't addressed below, you should refer to the Commander rules, or ask about it here.
Last updated Feb 24, 2013. |
Quick Rules
The rest is standard EDH gameplay, life totals and commander damage. |
Deck Construction
Choosing a Commander: Like normal Commander, decks are built around a commander or "general" creature card that determines the color identity of the deck. Unlike normal, your commander can be any common or uncommon creature card, not just legendary ones.
Color Identity: The color identity of your commander and each other card is determined by any mana symbols that appear in its casting cost, its rules text (but not reminder text), and any characteristic defining abilities. Decks cannot contain any cards whose color identities fall outside the color identity of their commander.
Singleton Commons: The 99 cards in the main deck must be common in rarity. As a singleton format, no two cards with the same English name can be included in a deck, excluding basic lands.
Example Commander Color Identities:
Color Identity: The color identity of your commander and each other card is determined by any mana symbols that appear in its casting cost, its rules text (but not reminder text), and any characteristic defining abilities. Decks cannot contain any cards whose color identities fall outside the color identity of their commander.
Singleton Commons: The 99 cards in the main deck must be common in rarity. As a singleton format, no two cards with the same English name can be included in a deck, excluding basic lands.
Example Commander Color Identities:
- Celestial Crusader is a white uncommon, and as a commander, its deck can only contain white and colorless cards that do not use black, red, green or blue mana symbols.
- Bant Battlemage is a white uncommon that has activated abilities with green and blue mana costs, giving it those three colors in its identity. Its deck can contain white, green, blue, and colorless cards that do not use red or black mana symbols.
- Transguild Courier has a colorless casting cost, but it has a characteristic defining ability that makes it all five colors. Its deck can run cards in any combination of colors.
Determining Card Rarity
Gatherer is used to determine if a card is a legal common or uncommon. If a card appears as a common or uncommon in any set (on paper or online), it can be considered that rarity, regardless of it being higher or lower rarities in other sets. Simply put, if Gatherer says it's a common or uncommon, you can play it!
Examples of Determining Rarity:
Examples of Determining Rarity:
- Serra Angel has been printed as both a rare and an uncommon, so it can be considered an uncommon for the purpose of commander selection.
- Telekinesis was printed as a rare in Legends, then released as a common in the online Masters Edition, making it a legal common in Pauper Commander.
- Whispersilk Cloak has most recently been printed as an uncommon, but it was originally a common in Darksteel, allowing it to go in any Pauper Commander deck.
No Banned CardsPauper Commander allows all Vintage legal common and uncommon cards. No cards are currently banned.
Cards banned in competitive MTGO Pauper (like Cranial Plating and Frantic Search) are not banned in Pauper Commander. They are much harder to abuse in 100 card singleton. Normal Commander has its own ban list, but every card listed is rare so they don't matter in Pauper Commander. |
What makes a card worth banning?
Simply being "very good" or better than other cards is not enough to earn a ban. As a relatively undeveloped format, not enough feedback exists to determine if certain commanders or cards are so dominant as to disproportionately warp the metagame. While very good cards certainly exist, no card has proven to be so unanswerable as to deserve banning. If you disagree, please give your feedback here. |
No Banned Commanders
No commanders are currently banned, but these ones are on the watch list, especially in one-vs-one tournament matches:
Your playgroup may vote to ban these or any other commanders if they are found to be severely spoiling the fun for the majority of players.
If you've played with or against these commanders, or any other powerful commanders not listed, please give us your feedback.
- Bloodbraid Elf
- Invisible Stalker
- Nevermaker
- Psychatog
- Shriekmaw
Your playgroup may vote to ban these or any other commanders if they are found to be severely spoiling the fun for the majority of players.
If you've played with or against these commanders, or any other powerful commanders not listed, please give us your feedback.
Life Totals and Commander Damage
Some Pauper Commander playgroups and tournaments lower starting life totals to 30-35, and commander damage to 15-18. This done to speed up games and make aggro decks and Voltron commanders more viable in an "underpowered" format without many sweepers, bombs and game-swinging cards. Discuss this option with your playgroup if desired.