I’m sure most of you are familiar with the Commander (EDH for some) format; players build 100 card decks with no more than one copy of each card, built around and lead by a legendary creature: the titular commander. Then you sit down with a bunch of friends for a multi-player game and all hell breaks loose. But did you know there’s another way to play?

It’s time to DUEL!

Originating in France, and sometimes referred to as French EDH, Duel Commander is a 1-v-1 variant of the format that focuses on competitive play over casual multi-player fun. It has a completely separate ban list and the decks tend to have a much lower curve and be much more interactive than their multi-player counterparts. The inherent diplomacy of multi-player Commander typically prevents one player from gaining too much of an advantage, as alliances are formed and abandoned regularly, but with only two players a large disadvantage is often impossible to come back from.

For this reason, many of the staple “fast mana” cards are banned in Duel Commander; Sol Ring, Mana Crypt and Mana Vault, as well as the original five Moxen and Black Lotus, are among some of the cards currently on the ban list. There is also a separate section for legendary creatures which are only banned as commanders, whereas the multi-player ban list makes no such distinction.

In addition, the Duel Commander committee maintains a “watch list” of cards that are potentially problematic or run the risk of warping the format and may be worthy of banning in the future. For example, Tasigur, the Golden Fang was on the watch list for a few months before being banned as a commander in the most recent update. As an aside, this is something I wish Wizards of the Coast would do for the Modern and Legacy ban list updates, so that players have some sort of warning that their cards are at risk of being banned.

Aside from this, the other difference in Duel Commander is that players start the game with 30 life (lethal Poison counters are still 10) rather than the usual 40. For everything else the classic multi-player rules are followed, such as commanders moving to the command zone rather than exile, graveyard or library.

The format is very varied, with dozens of strong commanders to choose from. Every archetype is fairly well represented, from control to aggro, from combo to ramp, and everything in between. Games are also much quicker than in multi-player, often surprisingly so. The format has always appealed to me as a competitive player, as I love the restrictions that a singleton format places on players, but I’ve never had chance to explore it in a tournament setting. That all changed recently.

Enter the Arena

I had my first, real taste of the format at Grand Prix Manchester last week, where 22 players turned up to battle in the scheduled Duel Commander side event on Sunday. To enter, I took my faithful multi-player deck and adjusted for the different ban list, as well as making it more interactive due to only having one opponent to worry about (card draw, permission and removal were all increased). I’d estimate I replaced between 15 and 20 cards, including upping the land count (whilst you can miss a land drop or two in multi-player and it’s no big deal, in Duel it’s basically game over if you miss too many times early on in the game).

Here’s the deck I piloted to a 3-0-1 finish, with an intentional draw in the last round.

Blue/White Control

Commander (1)
1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

Creatures (12)
1x Snapcaster Mage
1x Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
1x Wall of Omens
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Wall of Denial
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Mulldrifter
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Sun Titan
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

Enchantment (6)
1x Blind Obedience
1x Rhystic Study
1x Ghostly Prison
1x Detention Sphere
1x Aura of Silence
1x Future Sight

Sorcery (8)
1x Ancestral Vision
1x Ponder
1x Preordain
1x Merchant Scroll
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Wrath of God
1x Day of Judgment
1x Terminus

Instant (26)
1x Pact of Negation
1x Stifle
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Brainstorm
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Path to Exile
1x Spell Pierce
1x Disenchant
1x Counterspell
1x Think Twice
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Mana Leak
1x Remand
1x Render Silent
1x Dissipate
1x Hinder
1x Exclude
1x Sphinx’s Revelation
1x Cryptic Command
1x Ojutai’s Command
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Rewind
1x Mystic Confluence
1x Force of Will
1x Temporal Mastery
1x Dig Through Time

Planeswalker (5)
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1x Narset Transcendent
1x Gideon Jura
1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1x Venser, the Sojourner

Artifact (5)
1x Winter Orb
1x Azorius Signet
1x Talisman of Progress
1x Isochron Scepter
1x Lightning Greaves

Land (38)
1x Flooded Strand
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Polluted Delta
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Prairie Stream
1x Tundra
1x Mystic Gate
1x Nimbus Maze
1x Adarkar Wastes
1x Azorius Chancery
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Command Tower
1x Celestial Colonnade
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Temple of Enlightenment
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Prahv, Spires of Order
14x Island
6x Plains

Across the four rounds I found myself playing against some very different decks, both from each other and from my own:
Round 1: Nekusar, the Mindrazer (2-0 win)
Round 2: Sliver Legion (2-1 win)
Round 3: Meren of Clan Nel Toth (1-0 win)
Round 4: Jhoira of the Ghitu (0-0-3 intentional draw)

My match against the Meren player in particular was an absolute marathon. It took us the entire 55 minute round to play one game and it was a constant back and forth that could have gone either way, had he or I drawn even one card different. Indeed, the match ended with me on a precarious 1 life! My opponent agreed that it was one of the most enjoyable games of Magic that he’d ever played. I’ll certainly remember it for a long time to come.
When I wasn’t playing I did have a wander to see what else was being played, and some of the commanders I saw were:
Mizzix of the Izmagnus
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Marath, Will of the Wild
Krenko, Mob Boss
Keranos, God of Storms
Griselbrand
Jenara, Asura of War
Roon of the Hidden Realm
Khaalia of the Vast

This is just to name a few, and I think Jhoira of the Ghitu was the only commander represented more than once (with two copies). Even though this small, casual event at a Grand Prix was only a snapshot of the format, and was mostly people trying it out for the first time, it felt like any commander could bring enough to the table to be competitive. It was a welcome break from the normal grind of Standard or the constantly shifting meta-game of Modern and I look forward to playing in another tournament. Hopefully more Grand Prix will start to feature it as a scheduled side event.

So if you find yourself sometimes too competitive for multi-player Commander, why not give this variant a go? Why not see if the players at your local game store would be willing to try it for FNM one week? Duel Commander is a breath of fresh air and I hope you find the same enjoyment from it that I have.