Data & Planning
Wizards' official guideline is about 20 minutes per player. In practice, tracked games average around turn 10, with most ending between turns 8 and 12, which usually works out to 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on pod size and power level.
Use these as planning numbers for a game night, not hard rules. Power level and table experience move these ranges more than pod size alone.
Power level is the biggest lever. A table of tuned, fast decks ends games earlier than a casual table durdling toward a big turn. More players means more turns before the game can realistically end, and unfamiliarity with a deck (or a format) tends to slow everything down, since players spend more time reading their own cards.
If you're planning a night with multiple games, budget on the higher end of these ranges. A night that "should" fit four games in three hours often fits three, once setup and breaks are accounted for.
Wizards of the Coast's own guideline for Commander is roughly 20 minutes per player, which puts a four-player pod at about 80 minutes. In practice, most tracked games run somewhat longer than that once real board states, politics, and rules checks are factored in.
A well-known analysis of over 100 games by the Command Zone podcast found the average game ended around turn 10, with roughly 70% of games ending somewhere between turns 8 and 12. Faster, more aggressive metas trend earlier; slower, higher-power tables can run well past turn 15.
Yes, significantly. A 1v1 duel commonly wraps up in under 40 minutes, while a full six-player table or Two-Headed Giant match can easily run past two hours once every player's turn, combat step, and priority window gets accounted for.
Power level, table talk, and how many players are new to their decks all add real time. A table of high-power, well-practiced decks that know their own lines will move faster than a casual table still figuring out what its commander does. Neither is wrong, and the averages are a starting point for planning a night, not a target to hit.
TurnZero HQ times every game automatically, so you can compare pace night to night instead of guessing.
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