Commander tax: how much it costs and how to avoid it
Each time you cast your commander from the command zone it costs 
more. Here's how commander tax adds up, when it doesn't apply, and the cards that get around it.
for each time you’ve already cast it from the command zone this game. The first cast is free of tax, the second costs more, the third 
more. It only applies to casting from the command zone, and partners each have their own tax.In this article
Commander lets you recast your commander every time it dies, which would get out of hand if it were free. Commander tax is the price: every trip back costs you a little more.
The rule
Rule 903.8 of the Comprehensive Rules:
A player may cast a commander they own from the command zone. A commander cast from the command zone costs an additional
“Commander tax” is the informal name the rules use for that extra cost.
How it adds up
| Cast from command zone | Extra cost |
|---|---|
| 1st | none |
| 2nd | |
| 3rd | |
| 4th |  |
| 5th |  |
A 4-mana commander costs 4, then 6, then 8, then 10. That’s why the cheap commanders hold up so well in long games.
The tax counts casts, not deaths. If your commander dies and you leave it in the graveyard, the tax doesn’t go up. If it gets countered on the stack, the tax still went up, because you did cast it.
When there’s no tax
- Casting it from anywhere else. The tax only applies to casts from the command zone. Cast it from your hand, graveyard or exile and you pay no tax, and the count doesn’t go up either.
- Putting it onto the battlefield without casting it. Commander ninjutsu on Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician’s ability or Hellkite Courser all skip the cast, so they skip the tax.
When you still pay it
Commander tax is an additional cost. Additional costs still apply when an effect lets you cast something for free or with an alternative cost (rule 118.9d). Geode Golem lets you cast your commander without paying its mana cost, and its reminder text points out that you still pay any additional costs. That includes the tax.
Partners each pay their own
The tax is counted per commander. If you play two partners, each one has its own count. Casting the first partner three times doesn’t make the second one more expensive.
Cards that get around it
- Command Beacon. Sacrifice it to put your commander from the command zone into your hand. Then cast it from your hand with no tax.
- Hellkite Courser. Puts your commander onto the battlefield with haste, and it goes back to the command zone at the next end step. No cast, no tax.
- Opal Palace. Doesn’t lower the tax, but if you spend its mana on your commander, it enters with extra +1/+1 counters based on how many times you’ve cast it from the command zone. The tax at least pays you back.
You can leave it in the graveyard
Sending your commander back to the command zone is optional (rule 903.9). If it has a death trigger or you plan to reanimate it, leaving it in the graveyard can be better. It doesn’t add tax, and you can still move it to the command zone later the next time it changes zones.
Keeping track at the table
Tax is easy to lose track of after a few board wipes, especially with two partners. Most people keep a die next to the command zone and bump it by two.
Lotus has a commander tax counter for every player that goes up 2 per tap. Players with partner commanders get a second one, so each partner’s tax is counted on its own.
