Commander Overview

This section provides a high-level overview of the Commander format implementation in our game engine.

Contents

• Format Rules - Core rules specific to the Commander format
• Architecture - Overview of the implementation architecture
• Implementation Approach - General approach to implementing the Commander format

Format Summary

The Commander format is a multiplayer variant of Magic: The Gathering with special rules including:

• Each player begins the game with a designated legendary creature as their "commander"
• Players start with 40 life
• A player can cast their commander from the command zone for its mana cost, plus an additional 2 mana for each previous time it's been cast
• If a commander would be put into a library, hand, graveyard or exile, its owner may choose to move it to the command zone
• A player who has been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander loses the game

Implementation Principles

Our implementation of the Commander format follows these key principles:

1. Rule Accuracy - Faithful implementation of the official Commander rules
2. Performance - Optimized for multiplayer games with complex board states
3. Extensibility - Designed to easily incorporate new Commander-specific cards and mechanics
4. Testability - Comprehensive test suite for validating format-specific rules

See the Implementation Approach document for more detailed information on how these principles are applied in our codebase.

Related Sections

• Game Mechanics - For detailed mechanics implementation
• Combat - For Commander damage tracking and combat interactions
• Game Zones - For Command Zone implementation details