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MTG Arena has no Commander. Here is how to play it anyway
You built a Brawl deck on Arena and what you actually want is Commander: four players, forty life, the pod arguing about who is the threat. Arena will not do that. Brawl is one-on-one at 25 life, and as of this writing there is no four-player mode and no Commander format in the client. The good news is that the deck is already built, and it is a copy and a paste away from a four-seat table.
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What Arena actually has
| Arena Brawl | Commander on Untap.in | |
|---|---|---|
| Players | 2 | 4 free, 6 with Power Up |
| Starting life | 25 | 40, and commander damage on a counter |
| Card pool | Arena's | 201,141 Magic cards, every printing |
| Rules | Enforced | Your table decides |
| Your collection | Only what you own on Arena | Any card; the list is a text file |
| Cost | Wildcards for the cards | Free to play-test |
Brawl is a fine two-player format and the client is good at it. It is not Commander, and it is not going to be: the format page says two players, the life total is 25, and there is no option to seat a third. Magic Online is Wizards' own answer for digital Commander, with the rules enforced and a card economy to go with it. A browser table is the free one, and it takes your Arena list as it is.
Get the list out of Arena
- Open the deck in Arena's Decks screen and press Export. Arena copies the list to your clipboard, one line per card, with the set and collector number after each name:
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse (DMU) 107. - On Untap.in, open Decks → Create Deck → Magic, then Import, and paste. The set and collector number on each line put the card on that exact printing; the Commander and Sideboard headers put those cards where they belong.
- Save. The deck is on your account. If your list also lives on a Moxfield or Archidekt page, paste that URL instead and skip the clipboard.
A Brawl deck is sixty cards. A Commander deck is a hundred. The deck builder will tell you the count, and the forty you add are the forty you would have added anyway; search, drag, done.
Open the table
New Game → Magic → 3+ for four seats, name it, choose a play style — Relaxed, Competitive, beginners welcome — and send the link. Or let the public lobby fill it; it usually will. The commander goes to the command zone, life starts at forty on the counter, and commander damage is a counter you keep per opponent. Voice is built into the table, spectators can watch, and the game is saved as a replay when it ends.
What will feel different from Arena
Nothing is enforced. You tap the lands, you resolve the trigger, you remember the commander tax; the table keeps the cards and counters in sync but it does not stop a mistake. What it has instead: 43,916 cards carry a script, so the token or the draw the text asks for is a click; every card in your hand shows its cost with a Pay button that taps the lands for it; and Rewind takes the whole table back to before a misclick. A card that came out this morning works this morning, with no wildcards. And the people are different: a pod of four that talks, instead of a ladder.
If what you want from Commander is the rules engine, XMage runs the format for free and enforces everything. If what you want is the pod, this is faster and it is already built. The Commander guide compares every option.
Frequently asked questions
Does MTG Arena have Commander?
No. Arena has Brawl: two players, 25 life, one commander, a hundred cards. There is no four-player mode in the client.
Can I use my Arena deck to play Commander online?
Yes. Export it from Arena (it copies to the clipboard), paste it into Decks → Import on Untap.in, add the cards up to a hundred, and open a four-seat Magic game.
Will Arena's export format import correctly?
Yes. Each line's set and collector number put the card on that printing, and the Commander and Sideboard headers are understood.
Do I need to own the cards?
No. A deck on Untap.in is a list; every Magic card in the database is available to put in it.
Does Untap.in enforce the rules like Arena?
No. It is a shared table that trusts the players. Scripted cards, auto pay and Rewind do the bookkeeping; the decisions are yours.
How many players can sit at the table?
4 at no cost, or 6 with Power Up.
Is there a way to play Commander with the rules enforced?
XMage, for free, as a desktop client; or Magic Online, which is official and costs money for cards. Neither is Arena.
Bring a list
Import a deck, goldfish a few hands, then open a table and send your pod the link. It runs in the browser, and the first play-test takes about as long to set up as reading this did.
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