Commander is a way of playing Magic: The Gathering for a group rather than a pair. It is slower, more social and more forgiving than the duel most people picture. The club's shelf includes a set of ready-made Commander decks, so you do not need a deck of your own to try it.
What makes it different
A few rules set Commander apart from ordinary Magic:
- A hundred cards, one of each. Each deck has exactly 100 cards, including its commander, and apart from basic lands no card appears more than once.
- A legendary leader. Each deck is led by a legendary creature, the commander, which starts the game in its own zone, the command zone, and can be cast from there at any time you could cast it.
- Colour identity. Every card in the deck must share the colours of the commander.
- Forty life. Players start at 40 life rather than 20, so games last longer and early mistakes are rarely fatal.
- Commander tax. Each time you cast your commander from the command zone, it costs two more than the last time.
- Commander damage. A player who has taken 21 combat damage from a single commander loses, whatever their life total.
Why it suits an evening
With three or more players around the table, nobody can simply race ahead: the leader becomes the target, deals are struck and broken, and the conversation is half the game. A game usually fills a good part of an evening, which makes it a natural fit for a table opened ahead of time.
How a Commander table works at the club
Commander is opened like any other game: a member opens a table for the Commander decks on the shelf at an evening, and others join it. The owner's preconstructed decks can be used at the table by players new to Magic. Like every box on the shelf, they stay with the host and are not taken home. Members who own decks of their own may bring them, under the same house rules as any game a member brings.
A table is usually three to four players. Marking it New to it tells people the rules will be taught from the start, which is the easiest way into the format.
The members area can also run a Commander event in pods of three to five, with points by place and pods seated to avoid repeat opponents. No Commander evening is dated yet. When one is, it will be announced on the news page.
Further reading
The official rules and the list of banned cards are published by Wizards of the Coast. The Wikipedia summary of the format is a good short introduction.