Commander online: your first game, step by step
This is the quickest way I know to get a pod into its first game of Commander online. Step one is the box on this page: press Create table and you have a room. After that you send a link, everyone pastes a decklist, and the host deals.
Nobody makes an account or installs anything, and the whole thing takes about as long as it takes your pod to find their decklists.
Step 1 is this box
No accounts. Your friends join straight from the link you send them.
What you need to play Commander online
- A browser. A laptop, or a tablet in landscape. A phone loads the table, but a four-player board is a lot of cards for a small screen.
- A decklist. A text export from Moxfield, Archidekt or MTG Arena, a link to a public Archidekt deck, or a plain list of card names.
- Your pod. Up to six players, each on their own screen. Alone works too, against a dummy opponent.
- A voice call. Most pods keep one running in Discord. The table has a text chat but no voice or video.
You don't need a webcam, a Wizards account or the cards themselves.
Starting a game of Commander online
- Open a table. Press Create table at the top of this page. A nickname is already filled in; change it if you like. You land in the lobby with a six-character room code and an invite link.
- Send the link. Paste it into your group chat or Discord channel. Anyone who opens it types a name and takes a seat. Someone who only has the code can type it into the join box.
- Paste your decklist. Each player pastes a list and presses Import deck, picks a commander (two for partners or a background) and presses Lock in deck.
- Deal. When every seat is ready, whoever opened the table presses Start game. Everyone gets a shuffled library and seven cards.
Step 3 is where first games get stuck, so a few details. If your list doesn't mark a commander, every card that could be one is offered. Cards that couldn't be found are listed, and so is a deck that isn't 100 cards; fix the lines and import again, or carry on without them. Moxfield links don't work, because Moxfield blocks requests from other servers, but its text export does. The import guide has the rest.
Your browser remembers every deck you lock in, so next time it is one click, and Change deck swaps it until the game starts. For a new opening hand, Mulligan shuffles your hand back and draws seven again. Free mulligans and putting cards on the bottom are up to your table.
If someone's connection drops, they open the same link again and they're back in their seat, with the board as it is now.
Your first turn
The table doesn't enforce the rules of Magic. You move your own cards, the same way you would at a real table, and everyone sees the result. What you need during a turn:
- Draw with the Draw button or the D key. On your turn the button turns gold until you have drawn.
- Play a card by dragging it from your hand to where you want it, or double-click it and it goes to the right row for its type.
- Cast instants and sorceries the same way. They go onto the stack in the middle of the table, where everyone can see them. Press Resolve when the table agrees.
- Tap a permanent by clicking it. U untaps everything you control, and a setting untaps your lands at the start of each of your turns.
- Right-click a card for counters, attaching, attacking a player, turning it face down, transforming it or moving it to any zone.
- Right-click your library to scry, look at the top cards, search it or mulligan.
- Life, poison and commander damage sit on every seat. Anyone can change them, which is how you deal combat damage to somebody.
- Commander tax is counted for you. It goes up each time your commander is cast from the command zone, and it shows on the card.
- Pass turn when you're done.
A mistake is not a problem: Undo (or Ctrl+Z) takes back most actions. Everything goes into the game log at the side, undos included, so if anyone asks what happened, scroll up.
Talking and pointing
Most pods talk over a Discord call while they play. For anything you want on the record, press Enter and type in the table chat, which shows up in the log next to the game actions. To point at a card, right-click it and choose Ping.
L switches between three table layouts, and +, − and 0 zoom the board. In the ring layout you can drag the edges between the seats to give one of them more room.
When the game is over
A player who is out can Concede from the ⋯ menu. The host ends the game from the same menu, which leaves the board and the log on screen and offers New table, so the next game is one click away. Everyone just needs the new link.
New to Commander?
If the rules are new to your pod, how to play EDH covers them for beginners, from building a deck to commander damage. If you're still weighing a browser table against MTGO, Arena or webcams, MTG Commander online compares them.
Common questions
How long does it take to set up a game?
About as long as it takes everyone to paste a decklist. Opening a table is one click, the invite is a link, and nobody has to register or install anything.
Does everyone need to paste their deck again every game?
No. Your browser remembers the decks you have locked in and shows them as buttons in the lobby, so next time it is one click. They are stored in your browser only, so on a different computer you paste the list once more.
Can I try it on my own first?
Yes. Open a table, import a deck and start the game alone. A dummy opponent joins automatically, which is enough to goldfish a deck or get to know the controls.
Who starts the game?
The person who opened the table. Once every seat has locked in a deck, their Start game button deals seven cards to everyone.
That is the whole setup. Open a table when your pod is ready, or read how to play EDH first if the rules are new to you.