Can You Prevent Commander Damage? A Comprehensive Guide

The short answer is yes, you absolutely can prevent commander damage. However, the nuances of how you prevent it, and the limitations you’ll face, are crucial for any aspiring or seasoned Commander player. Let’s dive deep into the mechanics and strategic considerations.

Understanding Commander Damage

Before we get to prevention, let’s ensure we’re on the same page regarding commander damage. In the Commander (also known as EDH – Elder Dragon Highlander) format, each player starts with 40 life. A player loses the game if they’ve been dealt 21 or more combat damage by a single commander over the course of the game, regardless of how many different commanders dealt that damage. This is tracked separately from regular combat damage and life loss. This mechanic significantly influences deck building and gameplay strategies, requiring players to consider both their own commander’s offensive potential and their opponents’ commanders’ threats. It adds a layer of complexity not found in other Magic: The Gathering formats.

Methods of Preventing Commander Damage

Preventing commander damage involves a variety of tactics, falling primarily into these categories:

• Damage Prevention: This is the most direct approach. Cards that specifically state “prevent the next X damage” or “prevent all damage that would be dealt this turn” are your bread and butter. Think classic cards like Fog, Holy Day, Angelsong, and more modern options like Spore Frog. These effects, however, are often temporary solutions.

• Creature Removal: Removing the commander entirely is a permanent solution, at least until your opponent recasts it. Instant-speed removal like Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Assassin’s Trophy, and Generous Gift are vital tools. Board wipes like Wrath of God, Damnation, and Farewell can also clear the board, including the commander, but require careful timing to avoid benefiting your opponents.

• Commander Tax Evasion: Preventing your opponent from recasting their commander slows their progress significantly. Cards like Containment Priest and Drannith Magistrate prevent players from casting commanders from the command zone. Increasing the commander tax using cards like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV makes recasting more expensive, discouraging repeated attacks.

• Increasing Life Total: While not directly preventing damage, increasing your life total provides a buffer. Cards like Rhox Faithmender, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, and lifelink creatures can help you stay above the 21 commander damage threshold. This is a more reactive strategy but can buy you valuable time.

• Propaganda Effects: Making it more difficult for your opponent to attack you can dissuade them from targeting you with their commander. Cards like Propaganda, Ghostly Prison, and Sphere of Safety increase the cost of attacking, potentially redirecting their aggression elsewhere.

• Commander Control: Cards like Imprisoned in the Moon, Song of the Dryads, and Darksteel Mutation turn your opponent’s commander into something less threatening. These effects essentially neutralize the commander’s offensive capabilities.

• Indestructibility and Hexproof: Giving yourself or your creatures indestructibility with cards like Darksteel Plate or Avacyn, Angel of Hope can make you immune to damage. Similarly, granting hexproof with cards like Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots protects against targeted removal, ensuring your defenses remain intact.

Limitations and Considerations

While many tools exist to prevent commander damage, several limitations must be considered:

• Stack Interactions: Understanding how spells and abilities resolve on the stack is crucial. Timing your prevention spells correctly is vital to ensure they resolve before the damage is dealt.

• Color Restrictions: Different colors have different strengths. White and blue excel at prevention and control, while black excels at removal. Red is typically weakest at prevention, focusing more on direct damage and aggression.

• Mana Availability: Having the mana available to cast your prevention spells is paramount. Mana ramp and efficient mana usage are essential for any Commander deck.

• Board State Awareness: Evaluating the current board state is crucial. Is your opponent tapped out? Do they have removal in hand? Assessing these factors will inform your decision-making.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the prevention of commander damage in Magic: The Gathering’s Commander format.

1. Does protection from a color prevent commander damage?

Yes, if the commander is of the color you have protection from, it will prevent the damage. For example, protection from red will prevent damage from a red commander. However, protection only prevents damage, targeting, being blocked, and being enchanted/equipped by things of that color.

2. Can I prevent commander damage with a sacrifice effect?

Yes, sacrificing a creature to prevent damage is possible. Cards like Spore Frog specifically sacrifice to prevent combat damage.

3. Does commander damage reset when a commander is bounced or exiled?

No, commander damage is cumulative throughout the game, even if the commander leaves the battlefield and returns. The damage dealt by a particular commander is tracked individually against each player.

4. If my commander deals infect damage, is that also tracked as commander damage?

No, infect damage and commander damage are tracked separately. Infect damage reduces a player’s life total by applying poison counters instead. Commander damage is only concerned with combat damage.

5. Can I redirect commander damage to a planeswalker?

Yes, under normal circumstances, you can redirect combat damage that would be dealt to you to a planeswalker you control. However, the damage is still considered commander damage for the purpose of tracking the 21 damage threshold.

6. Does regeneration prevent commander damage?

Yes, regeneration replaces the event of the creature being destroyed. Therefore, the damage is prevented since the creature is not destroyed by the damage.

7. What happens if I flicker my own commander? Does the commander damage dealt reset?

No, flickering (exiling and returning) your own commander does not reset the commander damage it has dealt to other players.

8. Can I use a creature with defender to block a commander and prevent commander damage?

Yes, a creature with defender can block a commander. However, you will still take damage equal to the attacker’s power, unless the blocker has some ability that prevents the damage.

9. If a commander has double strike, how does that affect commander damage prevention?

If a commander has double strike, it deals combat damage twice. You need to prevent both instances of damage to avoid commander damage. For example, you might need to use two separate Fog effects or one effect that prevents all damage that turn.

10. Can I use a card like Maze of Ith to prevent commander damage?

Yes, Maze of Ith removes the attacking creature from combat, effectively preventing the combat damage it would deal.

11. Does commander damage apply if the commander has been cloned?

Yes, damage dealt by a commander, even a cloned version, counts towards the 21 damage threshold for that specific commander.

12. If I control multiple opponents’ commanders (due to effects like Mind Control), does the damage from each commander count separately?

Yes, damage dealt by each commander is tracked separately. You would need to take 21 combat damage from each commander you control to lose the game in this way.

13. Does shroud or hexproof stop commander damage?

Shroud and hexproof only prevent targeting. They do not prevent damage from a commander that is attacking you.

14. If my commander is a token copy of another commander, does the damage from the original commander count towards the token copy’s damage total?

No, the token copy is a separate permanent. The damage dealt by the original commander and the token copy are tracked separately.

15. What happens if I copy a creature and it becomes my commander?

If a card (such as a clone) enters the battlefield as a copy of your commander, and then becomes your commander, commander damage from the card you cloned carries over because it is still the same named commander.

Conclusion

Preventing commander damage requires a multifaceted approach, combining damage prevention, removal, control, and strategic deck building. By understanding the nuances of these tactics and their limitations, you can significantly improve your chances of survival in the fast-paced and challenging world of Commander. Consider how concepts such as these are used to develop critical thinking through careful design and play. To learn more, visit the Games Learning Society website at https://www.gameslearningsociety.org/. Mastering these skills will elevate your game and allow you to control the battlefield.