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How to Ditch the Commander Tax and Dominate Your EDH Games

The Commander tax, that ever-increasing mana burden for repeatedly casting your commander from the command zone, is a persistent thorn in the side of many EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander) players. But fear not, strategic deckbuilders! There are several clever ways to sidestep, circumvent, or even weaponize this rule to your advantage. The key lies in understanding what triggers the tax and then exploiting alternative methods of getting your commander onto the battlefield. Here’s the lowdown on how to rid yourself of the Commander Tax.

The most direct methods involve avoiding casting your commander from the command zone. This boils down to the following primary strategies:

Casting from your Hand, Graveyard, or Exile: This is the cornerstone of tax evasion. If you can get your commander into your hand through bounce effects (returning it to your hand), you can cast it for its original mana cost, completely bypassing the tax. Similarly, reanimation spells that bring your commander from the graveyard to the battlefield ignore the command zone altogether. Finally, effects that let you cast your commander from exile also dodge the tax.
Using Alternative Casting Costs and Special Abilities: While some alternative costs don’t bypass the commander tax, others that move your commander to the battlefield directly are golden. Cards like Hellkite Courser put your commander directly onto the battlefield without casting, therefore avoid the tax.
Reducing or Nullifying Additional Costs: While rarer, certain effects can directly reduce or negate the commander tax. Be careful though as many alternative costs will not eliminate the tax.

Let’s dive deeper into each strategy to give you the tools to build a truly tax-efficient Commander deck.

Bouncing, Reanimating, and Exiling Your Way to Victory

The Art of the Bounce

Bouncing your commander back to your hand is a classic technique. When your opponent targets your commander with removal, simply respond with an instant like Cyclonic Rift, Pongify, or Rapid Hybridization. These spells not only save your commander from removal but also reset the commander tax to zero the next time you cast it from your hand. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll need to recast the creature, which takes mana.

Good candidates for bounce strategies are commanders with strong enters-the-battlefield effects. Consider commanders like Mulldrotha, the Gravetide who gets stronger with more cards in your graveyard, which you get through bouncing, or Korvold, Fae-Cursed King who gets +1/+1 counters whenever a sacrifice trigger happens.

Reanimate for Free…ish

Reanimation strategies are another efficient way to bypass the commander tax. When your commander ends up in the graveyard, bring it back with spells like Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Necromancy. A key benefit here is that reanimation spells often cost less mana than recasting your commander, especially as the tax increases.

Cards like Entomb are great for dumping your commander directly into the graveyard, setting up an easy reanimation target. Pay attention to color identity when building a reanimation deck. Black is the primary color for reanimation, but other colors offer support too.

Exile and Cast

While less common, some cards allow you to cast your commander from exile, effectively dodging the tax. Look for cards that exile creatures and then give you the option to cast them. As an example, there is a five color commander named Esika, God of the Tree. You can cast her reverse side, The Prismatic Bridge from the command zone. The commander tax will apply to both sides.

Alternative Costs and Battlefield Manipulation

When Dash Doesn’t Cut It

Many new players want to use Alternative Costs to get around the tax. Dash is an Alternative Cost, and the “commander tax” is an additional cost. You add them together for the total cost of casting your commander. Mutate, Blitz, and other alternate costs are similar.

The Hellkite Courser Approach

Some cards sidestep the commander tax altogether. Hellkite Courser, as mentioned earlier, puts your commander directly onto the battlefield. It doesn’t involve casting from the command zone, so the tax doesn’t apply. Look for other similar effects in your colors that cheat creatures directly onto the battlefield.

Commander Tax Reduction: A Rare but Powerful Effect

Affinity and Commander Tax

While less common, some effects specifically reduce or negate additional costs. Affinity can be used to lower commander tax. Commander tax is an additional cost while affinity is a cost-reduction mechanic, so affinity undoes what commander tax does.

FAQs: Commander Tax Mastery

Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the nuances of the commander tax and how to navigate it:

What exactly causes the commander tax?

A commander cast from the command zone costs an additional {2} for each previous time the player casting it has cast it from the command zone that game.
Does casting my commander from my hand avoid the commander tax?

Yes! For each time you cast it from the command zone, it costs more to cast from the commander zone. If you cast it once, the next time it would be cast from the command zone, it would cost more. If you cast it from your hand, reanimate it, etc, it would be for normal cost and would not count towards the cost additions.
If my commander is bounced to my hand, does the commander tax reset?

Yes, bouncing your commander resets the commander tax to zero the next time you cast it from your hand.
Does reanimating my commander from the graveyard incur the commander tax?

No, reanimating your commander from the graveyard avoids the commander tax. The tax only applies when casting from the command zone.
Does sacrificing my commander and then recasting it from the command zone increase the tax?

Yes, sacrificing your commander doesn’t reset the tax. Recasting it from the command zone will increase the tax by {2}.
If my commander is exiled, can I cast it without paying the commander tax?

Yes, as long as the effect specifically allows you to cast the commander from exile.
Does copying my commander increase the commander tax?

No, creating a copy of your commander doesn’t involve casting it from the command zone, so the tax isn’t affected.
If I have two commanders, do they share the same commander tax?

No, your two commanders are treated individually for all other Commander rules. If either leaves the battlefield, you can return it to the command zone instead. The “commander tax”, the additional cost of 2 for every time you’ve cast a commander from the command zone, applies individually.
If I play my commander as a land with a card like [[Dryad of the Ilysian Grove]], does this avoid the tax?

The tax will not apply to it as long as you are not casting it from the command zone.
Does the commander tax apply to the prismatic bridge?

The commander tax is shared by both sides. Your commander will be Esika, but the deck will have a five-color color identity and you will also be able to cast the prismatic bridge from the command zone. The commander tax will apply to both sides.
Does a background get commander tax?

The “commander tax,” the additional cost of two mana for every time you’ve cast a commander from the command zone, applies separately to your Background.
Do you still pay commander tax for geode golem?

Yes, your commander is back in the command zone by the time you’re resolving the Golem’s ability, so you can cast it (just keep in mind that you still have to pay the commander tax, since the Golem only gets around the mana cost, not additional costs).
Does commander tax affect both sides of a card?

Command tax is applicable to the card itself, regardless of which face you cast. For example, if you cast Valki, God of Lies and it then dies, casting Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor will cost 7BR and recasting Valki will cost 3B. If both faces are creatures, both faces will deal commander damage in combat.
Does leadership vacuum cause commander tax?

The “commander tax” increases based on how many times a commander was cast from the command zone, not how many times it was put there as a result of Commander rules.
Does mutate affect commander tax?

Since mutate is an alternate casting cost and not an ability that can just be activated from the command zone, it’s still subject to the commander tax.

By understanding these nuances and incorporating strategic card choices, you can significantly reduce the impact of the commander tax on your games, giving you a decisive edge over your opponents. Don’t forget to keep learning and exploring the world of games and education at Games Learning Society. Visit GamesLearningSociety.org for more resources.

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