Commander Damage: The 21 Rule
The second way to lose a Commander game, besides running out of life.
The Rule
In a Commander game, a player who has been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the course of the game loses. It does not matter how much life they have left.
What Counts
- Combat damage only. Damage a commander deals to a player outside combat, through an ability for example, costs life but does not count toward 21.
- From one commander. 12 from one opponent's commander and 12 from another's is not 21. Each commander is tallied on its own.
- The whole game. The count does not reset when the commander dies or goes back to the command zone. It keeps adding up when it returns.
- It is still damage. Commander damage also takes away life, so a player can lose to 0 life before reaching 21.
- Gaining life does not undo it. Lifelink or a big heal raises the life total, but the damage already dealt stays on the tally.
Partner Commanders
A deck with two commanders (partner, partner with, choose a Background, and similar) has them work independently. For the 21 rule, damage from each of the two is counted separately. Taking 15 from one partner and 10 from the other is not lethal.
Sources for this page: the Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules, effective September 25, 2026, rules 903.10a and 704.6c (the 21 rule) and 702.124d (partners).
More Rules
Poison counters · Starting life.
Track It with Tapp
Tapp keeps a tally per opponent's commander, splits it for partners, and marks the player out at 21. Free, with no ads.
