Ah, Commander. Probably my favorite constructed format. Today, we’re going to look at one of the unique rules for commander: the commander damage rule (formerly known as “General Damage” when Commander was EDH).

In addition to the rest of the state-based actions that we have in most Magic games, Commander has an additional one: if, over the course of the game, you have been dealt 21 or more points of combat damage from the same commander, you will lose the game. Note the word ‘combat’. That means only damage assigned and dealt by an attacking commander at the beginning of the combat damage step counts. Abilities never deal combat damage, even if you use them during combat. So while Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind might be a powerful commander, its triggered ability is not considered combat damage, so that trigger won’t count towards that 21 points of damage.

So remember, while your commanders are a powerful part of your deck’s arsenal, if you want to win with the commander alternate victory method, you’re going to want to start attacking with your commanders (so while something like Rafiq of the Many makes a good command for this victory method, Skeleton Ship would make a poor choice).

Today’s Rules Tip written by Nathan Long