What is the 21 damage rule in Magic The Gathering?

The 21 damage rule in Magic: The Gathering's Commander format means a player loses the game if they take 21 or more combat damage from the same commander over the course of the game, regardless of their life total. This damage is tracked separately for each commander, can't be healed away (though life can be gained), and is a crucial alternative win condition to reducing life to zero, balancing strong lifegain strategies and encouraging commander attacks, say Facebook users https://www.facebook.com/groups/595178781644273/posts/1117897406039072/ and and Reddit users, Stack Exchange users, and Quora users.
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How does the 21 Commander Damage Rule work?

Commander Damage

A player that's been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the course of the game loses the game.
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What is the 75% rule in Magic The Gathering?

The MTG "75% rule" is a popular, unofficial deck-building philosophy, mainly for Commander, about creating decks powerful enough to compete but not so dominant they ruin the fun for casual players, finding a middle ground in power level by intentionally leaving out the most optimal, expensive, or meta-defining cards. It's about building a deck that's "75% as strong as it can be," allowing it to challenge optimized decks occasionally while still being fair in more casual games, making it adaptable for various playgroups.
 
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What is the damage rule in Magic The Gathering?

In Magic: The Gathering, damage is dealt simultaneously, marked on creatures (equal to power), and removed at the turn's end; creatures die if marked damage >= toughness, while players lose life, and planeswalker loyalty decreases. Recent rule changes (Foundations) removed the "damage assignment order" for multiple blockers, allowing attackers to divide their damage among blockers as they deal it, rather than assigning it sequentially, simplifying combat and removing opportunities for certain tricks. Deathtouch destroys creatures with any damage, and Trample lets excess damage go to the player/planeswalker.
 
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How much Commander damage kills you?

In Magic: The Gathering's Commander format, a player loses the game if they take 21 or more total combat damage from a single commander over the course of the game, regardless of their life total. This damage is tracked separately for each commander and must come from combat, not triggered abilities or other effects, with copies or tokens not counting. 
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Commander Damage Can Get Complicated

Can you be killed by your own Commander damage?

Yes, you absolutely can die to your own commander's damage in Magic: The Gathering's Commander format, because the commander damage rule tracks 21+ combat damage from any specific commander, even if it's stolen and used against you by another player, or even if you gain control of it yourself and attack yourself. The damage is tied to the specific card, so if someone steals your commander and hits you for 21 damage with it, you lose, which is often called "The Diagonal of Shame". 
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What is the rule 903.9 in Magic The Gathering?

903.9. A commander may return to the command zone during a Commander game. 903.9a If a commander is in a graveyard or in exile and that object was put into that zone since the last time state-based actions were checked, its owner may put it into the command zone. This is a state-based action.
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What is the rule 609.7 in Magic The Gathering?

609.7a If an effect requires a player to choose a source of damage, they may choose a permanent; a spell on the stack (including a permanent spell); any object referred to by an object on the stack, by a replacement or prevention effect that's waiting to apply, or by a delayed triggered ability that's waiting to ...
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What happens if two legendary cards exist?

704.5j If two or more legendary permanents with the same name are controlled by the same player, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”
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What is "the stack" in Magic?

The stack is the zone in which spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities wait to resolve. See rule 405, “Stack.” From the Comprehensive Rules (November 8, 2024—Edge of Eternities) 405. Stack.
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What is the 116 rule in Magic: The Gathering?

Rule 116 in Magic's official rulebook explains something called “special actions.” These are things a player can do during their turn that happen instantly and cannot be interrupted by other players. The most common example is playing a land. It just happens right away.
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Is 40 lands too much commander?

40 lands in a Commander deck isn't inherently "too much," but it's on the higher end for typical decks; it's often perfect for high-mana curve decks, <<<>>landfall strategies, or decks with little card draw, but fewer lands (35-38) might be better if you have lots of ramp and draw spells. It depends heavily on your deck's strategy, average mana cost (CMC), and inclusion of mana rocks/ramp, with many players finding 36-40 a solid baseline for casual play. 
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What is the 3 4 5 rule for deck building?

From the corner, measure out 3 feet along one edge and mark it. Next, measure 4 feet along the edge adjacent to the first measurement and mark it. Measure the length of the diagonal connecting the two marked points. If it's exactly 5 feet, your corner is square.
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What are MTG's most powerful cards?

  • Certainly the fast mana—Chrome Mox, Grim Monolith, and Mana Vault are all contenders. Fast mana has always had a history of being the strongest cards in Magic.
  • The combo pieces. ...
  • The oppressive effects, like Trinisphere or CotV.
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Why is the commander called EDH?

Commander is called EDH because its original name was Elder Dragon Highlander, combining the format's initial commanders (the Elder Dragons from Magic: The Gathering's Legends set) with the "Highlander" rule of having only one copy of each card (inspired by the movie Highlander), before Wizards of the Coast adopted it and renamed it "Commander" for broader appeal and legal clarity.
 
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Can you put colorless cards in any Commander deck?

Yes, you can put colorless cards in any Commander deck because "colorless" isn't a color; it's the absence of color, so it doesn't violate your commander's color identity rules, but be careful with specific colorless cards that have colored mana symbols in their rules text (like Boros Signet) or special mana symbols (like the diamond {C}) which do have color identity and restrict them. 
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What cards ignore legend rule?

  • Brothers Yamazaki.
  • Cadric, Soul Kindler.
  • Mirror Box.
  • Mirror Gallery.
  • Sakashima of a Thousand Faces.
  • Sliver Gravemother.
  • Spider-Verse.
  • The Master, Multiplied.
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Can I have two of the same creature in a Commander deck?

In short you build a 100 card deck with only one copy of any card. You select one Legendary Creature who is your 'commander'; all cards in your deck must be in the same colors as your commander.
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Is 40 creatures too many in Commander?

You'll want as many of the chosen creature types as possible if you decide to run a typal deck. Depending on the creature type, you could run at least 30 to 40 or more creatures in the build. Of course, this also depends on the utility of each creature you include.
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What can stop indestructible MTG?

In Magic: The Gathering, an indestructible counter gives a permanent the indestructible ability, meaning it can't be destroyed by damage or "destroy" effects, but it can still be removed by exile, sacrifice, or -X/-X counters that reduce toughness to zero. These counters stick around until the permanent leaves the battlefield or the counter is removed, and they can even be moved or proliferated, making them powerful for protecting key threats.
 
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What is the rule 111.10 in magic?

Magic rule 111.10 deals with predefined tokens in Magic: The Gathering, defining the characteristics for common tokens like Treasure, Food, Clue, Blood, and others (Powerstone, Role, Map, Incubator, Junk) when created by game effects, ensuring they have consistent abilities, e.g., a Treasure token is a colorless artifact with {T}, Sacrifice: Add one mana of any color. Recent updates (like in August 2025) also updated their text to refer to themselves as "this token" instead of their type (e.g., "Sacrifice this artifact"), but kept their functionality the same.
 
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What is the 800.4 rule in Magic: The Gathering?

800.4a When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game and any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end. Then, if that player controlled any objects on the stack not represented by cards, those objects cease to exist.
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What is the rule 100.7 in Magic The Gathering?

100.7 Certain promotional cards and cards in the Unglued, Unhinged, and Unstable sets are printed with a silver border. These cards are intended for casual play and may have features and text that aren't covered by these rules.
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Do you draw first in 1v1 Commander?

In a Two-Headed Giant game, the team who plays first skips the draw step of their first turn. See rule 103.8. In commander only Yes you always draw even if you go first. In 1v1, 2nd to go draws.
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