How much life do you start with? Every MTG format
20 in most formats, 40 in Commander, 25 or 30 in Brawl, 30 shared in Two-Headed Giant. The full list of starting life totals, plus commander damage and poison for each format.
In this article
Every game of Magic starts with picking a number. It’s 20 most of the time, but the casual formats move it around, and getting it wrong in Commander makes a big difference.
Starting life by format
| Format | Starting life | Commander damage | Poison to lose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard, Pioneer, Modern | 20 | – | 10 |
| Legacy, Vintage, Pauper | 20 | – | 10 |
| Draft, Sealed, Jumpstart | 20 | – | 10 |
| Commander (EDH) | 40 | 21 | 10 |
| Brawl, 1v1 | 25 | – | 10 |
| Brawl, multiplayer | 30 | – | 10 |
| Two-Headed Giant | 30 per team | – | 15 per team |
| Archenemy | 40 archenemy, 20 others | – | 10 |
| Planechase | 20 | – | 10 |
| Oathbreaker | 20 | – | 10 |
| Duel Commander | 20 | – | 10 |
| Pauper Commander (PDH) | 30 | 16 | 10 |
The Comprehensive Rules set the first nine rows (rule 103.4 and its subrules, plus 903.12f for Brawl). Oathbreaker, Duel Commander and PDH are run by their own format committees, so their numbers come from those committees’ rules.
Why Commander starts at 40
Commander games have three or four players, 100-card decks and lots of big creatures. At 20 life, the first player with a fast start would knock someone out before the table had set up. 40 life gives the game time to build, and the commander damage rule makes sure a single huge commander can still end it.
Commander also starts at 40 in a 1v1 game. If your group plays a lot of 1v1, Duel Commander’s 20 life is a separate format with its own banlist, not a house rule.
Brawl: 25 or 30
Brawl uses Commander’s rules with 60-card decks from Standard-legal sets. Its life total depends on the player count: 25 when it’s just two of you, 30 with three or more. Brawl doesn’t use commander damage at all.
Two-Headed Giant: shared life
In Two-Headed Giant both players on a team share one life total of 30. Damage to either player comes off the same number, and lifegain goes into it too. Poison counters are shared as well, and a team loses at 15 instead of 10.
Archenemy
One player is the archenemy, starts at 40 life and gets a scheme deck. Everyone else is a team at 20 life each. It plays best with three or four people against one.
House rules
A lot of groups tweak the starting life for their own games: 30 for a faster Commander night, 50 for a 6-player table, 25 for 1v1 Commander. That’s fine as long as it’s agreed before the game.
Lotus remembers two starting life totals: one for 1v1 games and one for multiplayer. By default that’s 20 and 40, so switching from a duel to a Commander pod picks the right number on its own. You can set either one to a custom value if your group plays house rules.
FAQ
How much life do you start with in Commander?
- It’s set by rule 103.4c of the Comprehensive Rules, and it’s the same for 1v1 and multiplayer Commander games.
