Beyond the Format : Tiny Leaders

Every Sunday, we’re switching things up with a different way to play Magic!

Each month will feature a unique MTG format, giving players a chance to build something new, try different strategies, and experience Magic outside of our usual events.

Our Fall Lineup:

• September — Pauper Commander

Build around a legendary uncommon creature with a deck made from commons.

• October — Oathbreaker

Choose a Planeswalker as your Oathbreaker, pair it with a Signature Spell, and battle with a 60-card deck.

• November — Tiny Leaders

A faster 50-card singleton format where every card in your deck has a mana value of 3 or less.

Join us every Sunday and try something different!

Tiny Leaders

Tiny Leaders is a faster, smaller variant of Commander designed primarily for one-on-one play. Players build 50-card singleton decks, start at 25 life, and every card in the deck—including the commander—must have a mana value of 3 or less.

Deck Construction & Legality

• The Deck: Your deck contains exactly 50 cards, including your commander.
• Singleton: Other than basic lands, you may only have one copy of each card by name.
• The Commander: Your commander must be a legendary creature with a mana value of 3 or less.
• Mana Value Restriction: Every card in your deck must have a mana value of 3 or less.
• Color Identity: Every card in your deck must fit within your commander's color identity.
• Sideboard: Players may have a 10-card sideboard, with those cards following the same deck-building restrictions.

The Command Zone

Your commander begins the game in the command zone and can be cast from there.

Each additional time you cast your commander from the command zone, it costs an additional {2} for each previous time it has been cast from the command zone.

Gameplay

Tiny Leaders is primarily designed as a 1v1 format, although it can also be played multiplayer.

Each player begins at 25 life. Because cards are limited to a mana value of three or less, games tend to be faster and focus heavily on efficient creatures, removal, interaction, and combos.

Unlike traditional Commander, Tiny Leaders does not use the commander-damage loss condition.

Mana Value Rules

All cards, including your commander, must have a mana value of 3 or less.

For cards with X in their mana cost, X counts as 0 when determining the card's mana value. This means some X-cost spells can be included even though they may be cast for more than three mana during the game.

Banned Cards

Tiny Leaders uses its own banned list in addition to its deck-building restrictions. Certain cards are also specifically prohibited from being used as commanders.

Players should check the current Tiny Leaders banned list when constructing their decks.