Magic: The Gathering rewards players for creative and inspired deck-building, especially in the Commander format, but it can be intimidating for beginners to figure out where to start. In Commander, players use decks made up of 100 unique cards, with a legendary creature acting as the player's commander that starts outside the deck. Commander is MTG's most popular paper format, but it can be challenging for newcomers figure out how to start building a deck, especially considering almost all the cards in MTG's expansive 30-year library are Commander-legal.
Fortunately, Wizards of the Coast devised several ways to welcome new players to Commander. Wizards regularly releases pre-constructed Commander decks in a variety of themes and archetypes with most sets, which are a fantastic starting point for new players. Beginners can start with a pre-constructed deck and tinker with it or build their own from scratch -- both are completely valid options. Here's all the information players need to know to build an ideal Commander deck.
How to Choose a Commander, Color Identity & Archetype
More so than Standard, Modern, and Legacy formats, Commander decks are heavily reliant on color identity. Players are only permitted to build their Commander decks with cards that match their commander's colors. This introduces an exciting deck-building challenge, as players must assemble a cohesive strategy using 100 unique cards with limited colors.
In MTG's Commander format, choosing a legendary creature as a commander and deciding on an overarching strategy for the deck go hand-in-hand. Players must find other cards in those colors that synergise well with the deck's main win-conditions. Conveniently, most legendary creatures enable strategies typical to their colors, like how black-green legendary creatures often have abilities that interact with the graveyard, or how blue-red legendary creatures tend to benefit spell-heavy builds. This makes it a lot more intuitive to work out which kind of deck to make based on the commander's color identity.
Many niche and unusual archetypes are possible that experienced players may consider, but newer players should default to broad, tried-and-true archetypes like tribal decks, token decks, graveyard decks or and spell-heavy burn decks. Commanders of all colors exist to support these familiar, out-of-the-box deck strategies, from Meren of Clan Nel Toth and Trostani's Selesnya's Voice to Edgar Markov and Melek, Izzet Paragon.
How to Choose the Best Lands & Spells in Commander
MTG's Commander decks, just like 60-card Constructed decks, should contain around 35% to 40% land cards -- though Commander decks tend to have a slightly higher ratio of lands, just in case. The commander format doesn't generally facilitate aggro-based strategies, whereas midrange and control-style builds flourish, which necessitates a larger mana base. Every Commander deck should include lots of multicolor lands, along with typical utility lands like Rogue's Passage, Reliquary Tower, Thespian's Stage and more.
Commander decks' spell requirements differ somewhat from those of 60-card decks, with tempo cards generally being weak due to how slow the format is, particularly when there are more than two players, although Cyclonic Rift is a notable exception. This isn't a format where every spell, mana, and turn is carefully measured, like MTG's Modern format, so sheer power and synergy are more important than perfect sequencing and efficiency.
Players are advised to include a few board clears in their Commander decks to defend against opponents with lots of creatures, and it's always valuable to include a few spot removal cards like Path to Exile or Assassin's Trophy, as well as powerful enchantments and artifacts. Commander places a far stronger emphasis on global enchantments than the 60-card formats do, and beginners to Commander should keep this in mind.
Ideal Archetypes & Decks For New Commander Players
Newcomers to Commander should stick to the more straightforward and intuitive archetypes and commanders to start with, and pre-constructed decks are an excellent choice. They are remarkably powerful and include all the essential elements of a typical Commander deck, with each representing a variety of color combinations and archetypes. Beginners might want to consider decks that focus on a particular tribe or a straightforward archetype, like graveyard synergy or +1/+1 counters, then move on to more nuanced Commander strategies such as control builds, "stax" decks, or even decks with two partnered legendary commanders that blend several strategies at once.
Wizards of the Coast releases a cycle of MTG Commander pre-constructed decks every year. New players could try the five starter Commander decks released in 2022, aimed specifically at those unfamiliar with Commander. These five decks are based on allied two-color pairs and have basic themes like flying/control, zombies or dragons. Players could also wait for the upcoming release of MTG's upcoming set, March of the Machine, releasing on Apr. 21 2023, which will be adding five new Commander decks into the mix. With all the options available, and given the format is more popular than it's ever been, now is the best time to jump in and explore Commander.