Jump to section ▾
The first Commander decks
What this set is
Commander 2011 is where official Commander products start. Before it, Elder Dragon Highlander was a player-run format with no product of its own. These five preconstructed decks gave it one, each a 100-card singleton deck led by a three-color legend.
Fifty-one of its cards were new, and they were designed for multiplayer rather than one-on-one play. Join forces lets every player contribute mana to a spell, and Command Tower and Chaos Warp first appeared here. Most of the deck slots are reprints chosen for the format, which is why it also reprinted Sol Ring and Path to Exile.
The box said only "Commander"; the year entered the name once Commander 2013 needed telling apart from it. Kaalia of the Vast and Animar, Soul of Elements both came from these decks and remain popular commanders.
Themes
Every mechanic in Commander 2011
Join forces
Starting with you, each player may pay any amount of mana, and the spell scales with the total paid. A political mechanic: an opponent who chips in benefits too, so it only works in a multiplayer game.
Where You Can Play It
Format legality
Commander 2011 shipped as five precon decks under a single code, never in a Standard-legal booster. Its new cards are legal in Commander, Legacy and Vintage, and reprints keep whatever legality they already had.
Never Standard- or Modern-legal for its new cards, so no rotation has touched it. Watch the reprints in Legacy and Vintage: Sol Ring and Windfall are banned in Legacy and restricted in Vintage, Brainstorm is restricted in Vintage, and Trade Secrets is banned in Commander. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Commander
The five Commander decks
Each deck is led by a new three-color legend, and all five are wedges: three colors built around an enemy pair, the combinations Khans of Tarkir later named Abzan, Jeskai, Sultai, Mardu and Temur.
Heavenly Inferno
Kaalia of the Vast · Mardu (RWB)
Angels, Demons and Dragons put onto the battlefield attacking whenever Kaalia attacks.
Mirror Mastery
Riku of Two Reflections · Temur (URG)
Copies of creatures and of instants and sorceries.
Counterpunch
Ghave, Guru of Spores · Abzan (WBG)
+1/+1 counters, Saprolings and sacrifice loops.
Political Puppets
Zedruu the Greathearted · Jeskai (URW)
Giving permanents away to opponents and drawing for it.
Devour for Power
The Mimeoplasm · Sultai (BUG)
Graveyard filling and copying creatures from any graveyard.
Building one of these into something of your own? The precon buying guide covers how to judge a deck, and the Commander deck template is the shape to build toward. See how these stack up against every other precon we've rated on the precon directory.
Boosters, precons and singles from Commander 2011 are on TCGplayer.
FAQ
Common questions
What are the five Commander 2011 decks?
Heavenly Inferno (Kaalia of the Vast), Mirror Mastery (Riku of Two Reflections), Counterpunch (Ghave, Guru of Spores), Political Puppets (Zedruu the Greathearted) and Devour for Power (The Mimeoplasm).
Was Commander 2011 the first Commander product?
Yes. It was the first product Wizards of the Coast made for the format, released in June 2011. The packaging said only "Commander"; the year was added to its name after Commander 2013.
Is Commander 2011 legal in Modern?
Its new cards are not. They are legal in Commander, Legacy and Vintage. Reprints in the decks, such as Path to Exile, keep their own legality from earlier printings.
What is join forces?
A mechanic where each player, starting with you, may pay any amount of mana toward the spell, which scales with the total. Opponents who pay share in the effect.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Commander 2011 released on Jun 17, 2011; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
Playing Commander 2011 in Commander?
TurnZero HQ keeps deck records, MMR, and moments for every Commander night, so you can see which new cards are actually earning their slot.
Create Free Account