Introduction to Ante Commander

For today's first installment of Chimzar's Magic: The Gathering Design Blog, I will be introducing the basic concepts and laws of my MTG set, Ante Commander. I have been designing Ante cards for some time now and had been looking for a way to play with them. A 1v1 Commander environment seemed the best fit as it is a singleton format and a large, but not too large, deck size. I settled on creating five different decks, each one with a distinct archetype. Still, to make Ante function properly and the decks not to degrade, I came up with some house rules.

Ante Commander Deck Design Rules

1. Each deck is has a five color general. This is important as you need to be able to play any card you might win. Each general is five color but emphasizes one color.

2. No tutors. To keep games diverse, nothing that searches the library will be included in the decks. This is to prevent repetitive game play and because they take up slots that could be filled by more fun cards. Notably, there are no fetch lands or Path to Exile.

3. Card power level cannot exceed Contract from Below. This is a high benchmark, but the decks are designed to be more powerful than Vintage.

Ante Commander Play Rules

1. You can only take out of the Ante as many cards as you put in. As you cannot add or subtract cards you own from outside of the closed environment of this set, this rule keeps the decks at 99 cards. Example: If I have anted three cards and my opponent has anted two, if I win, I can gain ownership of any three cards in the ante and if my opponent wins, he or she can gain ownership of any two cards in the ante.

2. Land for a Land exchange “rule”. This is more of a courtesy than a rule. If you want to gain ownership of mana producing land/moxen, try to give one back to your opponent. I don't see this aways working but players should be aware of this.
   
   
3. Generals cannot change ownership. Each general has rules text that addresses this as follows: “If CARDNAME would be put into the ante or you would lose ownership, instead put it into your graveyard.” This is important as Commander decks need a general.

4. No singleton limit. If you win all five Black Lotuses, good for you! The decks are suppose to evolve and flow over time and the singleton limit is only important for deck design.

I would love any and all feedback and am happy to answer any questions. Thank you for reading and may all your winning antes be power.

Bonus: Here is an example of how I am making the cards look. I like how ABU cards look and it lets me ignore the copy right and set number line. For me, it has a nice Vintage feel.