Can you exile a mtg commander?
In most cases, you can not exile a commander unless a player chooses to leave their commander in exile. But, there are niche situations where, yes, you can exile a mtg commander.
That said it is incredibly hard to do.
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When Can you not exile a mtg commander?
Usually, a commander cannot be exiled for any reason unless the commander’s owner chooses to be put them in exile. The reason for that is
rule 704. 903.9b If a commander would be put into its owner’s hand or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead. This replacement effect may apply more than once to the same event.
Therefore, whenever a commander is moved from one zone to another, the commander can be chosen to be put in the command zone. Even if a person chooses to put it in the graveyard, if that graveyard would be exiled they can just put it in the command zone in response.
When can you exile a mtg commander?
That said, there is exactly one way to exile a commander, using effects from cards like Roon of the Hidden Realm.
Roon of the hidden realms ability is used to flicker your or opponents’ threats to generate value as the game progresses. But, if you use Roon’s ability to flicker opponents’ commanders, that player can choose to leave their commander in exile or put it in the command zone.
If the player chooses to leave it in exile so it can be flickered back to the board, a delayed trigger will be put on the stack.
Now, what happens if someone stifles that delayed trigger? Then the commander is permanently exiled. After all the player already chose to leave it in exile. Meaning that with abilities from cards like Roon of the hidden realm, you can in fact exile a mtg commander.
To help you out here is a list of 10 cards with flicker abilities and 10 cards with stifle effects
10 cards with flicker abilities?
- Otherworldly journey
- Oblivion ring
- Admonition Angel
- Journey to Nowhere
- Parallax Wave
- Fiend Hunter
- Leonin Relic Warder
- Touch of the spirit realm
- Savior Of Ollenbock
- Long Road Home
10 cards with Stifle Effects
- Stifle
- Tales end
- Trickbind
- Disallow
- Green slime
- Voidslime
- Overcharged amalgam
- Brokers Confluence
- Sublime epiphany
- Repudiate
Conclusion
And there you have it exiling a commander is incredibly difficult but is a blast to do the first time you do it. Just don’t expect to win afterward as everyone will kill you in response. But well worth it in my opinion. If you like the idea of building a deck around Roon, I highly suggest taking a look at my guide to deck building. It can help you make sure your deck will do what you want more and lead to more fun overall. Happy exiling!