You’ve all heard of Commander, right? It’s that three-or-more-player game in which everyone builds hundred-card decks with everything and the kitchen sink and uses a legendary creature as a commander. As it turns out, that’s not the only way to play.

French Duel Commander

The red-headed stepchild of Commander is called French Duel because it’s a one-on-one, heads-up format and because it was popularized in France by a group of players led by Kevin Desprez, who first introduced Commander to France. Although the duel variant is competitive and thus somewhat runs counter to the spirit of Commander, the duel group and the multiplayer group are friendly, and for a time, there were members on both Rules Committees. As I said, French Duel Commander is meant to be competitive, and it has a completely different ban list all its own. Other rules differ as well—read on.

How Does French Duel Commander Differ from Regular Commander?

There are a few key differences between the French heads-up variant on Commander and its more well-known multiplayer step-parent.

• It’s a competitive format rather than casual.
• Players start with 30 life instead of 40.
• They’ve been using the tuck rule for quite some time. If a commander changes zones, it can return to your command zone.
• Cards are legal on release day rather than prerelease day.
• In tournaments, matches are best of three with at least fifty-five-minute rounds and no sideboards.
• There’s a specific ban list that supersedes the multiplayer one.

What Is the French Ban List I’ve Heard So Much About?

These cards are banned in French Duel Commander. Mostly, it’s because they give a huge advantage during the early turns of the game. Cards like Sol Ring can create an early game state that makes the game result a foregone conclusion.

• Ante cards
• Ancestral Recall
• Ancient Tomb
• Balance
• Back to Basics
• Black Lotus
• Channel
• Chaos Orb
• Entomb
• Falling Star
• Fastbond
• Food Chain
• Gifts Ungiven
• Grim Monolith
• Grindstone
• Hermit Druid
• Humility
• Imperial Seal
• Karakas
• Library of Alexandria
• Loyal Retainers
• Mana Crypt
• Mana Drain
• Mana Vault

• Mind Twist
• Mishra's Workshop
• Mox Emerald
• Mox Jet
• Mox Pearl
• Mox Ruby
• Mox Sapphire
• Mystical Tutor
• Natural Order
• Necropotence
• Oath of Druids
• Protean Hulk
• Serra Ascendant
• Sensei's Divining Top
• Shahrazad
• Sol Ring
• Strip Mine
• The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
• Time Vault
• Time Walk
• Tinker
• Tolarian Academy
• Vampiric Tutor
• Yawgmoth's Bargain

• Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
• Edric, Spymaster of Trest
• Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
• Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
• Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
• Zur the Enchanter

They’re not listed, but I assume Conspiracy cards are also banned because they don’t really work out of the context of a Draft.

Can French Duel Be Played on Magic: The Gathering Online?

It’s a fact that the vast majority of Commander is played heads-up on Magic Online, much to the chagrin of purists. However, hardly anyone uses the French Duel ban list. The best thing to do is to put “French ban list” in your comments when you create the match and hope your opponent is paying attention. Alternatively, just play with like-minded friends who have the correct ban list and metagame in mind in the first place.

What Are Some of the Better French Duel Commander Decks?

Here are some terrific example decks using the French ban list and the most recent duel Commander metagame.

This deck took first place in a fifty-three-player event at Academia de Jogos in São Paulo, Brazil.

Elfball ? French Duel Commander | Fabio Kaneto

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (42)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Arbor Elf
• 1 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Devoted Druid
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Elvish Visionary
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Farhaven Elf
• 1 Fauna Shaman
• 1 Fierce Empath
• 1 Fyndhorn Elves
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Lotus Cobra
• 1 Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1 Priest of Titania
• 1 Primeval Titan
• 1 Quirion Ranger
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 1 Scryb Ranger
• 1 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1 Sylvan Caryatid
• 1 Sylvan Primordial
• 1 Sylvan Ranger
• 1 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1 Voyaging Satyr
• 1 Wall of Roots
• 1 Whisperwood Elemental
• 1 Wickerbough Elder
• 1 Wirewood Symbiote
• 1 Wood Elves
• 1 Woodland Bellower
• 1 Duplicant
• 1 Phyrexian Revoker
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
• 1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
• 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
• 1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
• 1 Boreal Druid

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Garruk Wildspeaker
• 1 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
• 1 Karn Liberated

• Spells (15)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Crop Rotation
• 1 Summoner's Pact
• 1 Green Sun's Zenith
• 1 Sylvan Scrying
• 1 Exploration
• 1 Survival of the Fittest
• 1 Sylvan Library
• 1 Utopia Sprawl
• 1 Wild Growth
• 1 Birthing Pod
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Tangle Wire
• 1 Winter Orb

• Lands (39)
• 20 Forest
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Dryad Arbor
• 1 Dust Bowl
• 1 Homeward Path
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Rishadan Port
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Wasteland
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Wooded Foothills
• 5 Snow-Covered Forest
• 1 Mouth of Ronom
• 1 Gaea's Cradle
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

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This one took first in another fifty-three-person event, this time in the Czech Republic.

High Tide ? French Duel Commander | Vit?zslav ?mid

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (2)
• 1 Palinchron
• 1 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

• Spells (57)
• 1 Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Complicate
• 1 Condescend
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Exclude
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Flash of Insight
• 1 Force of Will
• 1 Force Spike
• 1 Frantic Search
• 1 High Tide
• 1 Impulse
• 1 Into the Roil
• 1 Intuition
• 1 Mana Leak
• 1 Memory Lapse
• 1 Mental Note
• 1 Miscalculation
• 1 Mystic Confluence
• 1 Remand
• 1 Repeal
• 1 Snap
• 1 Spell Snare
• 1 Stifle
• 1 Think Twice
• 1 Thirst for Knowledge
• 1 Thought Scour
• 1 Ancestral Vision
• 1 Capture of Jingzhou
• 1 Compulsive Research
• 1 Deep Analysis
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 1 Merchant Scroll
• 1 Order of Succession
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Serum Visions
• 1 Sleight of Hand
• 1 Temporal Manipulation
• 1 Temporal Trespass
• 1 Time Spiral
• 1 Time Warp
• 1 Treasure Cruise
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Future Sight
• 1 Treachery
• 1 Chrome Mox
• 1 Memory Jar
• 1 Mishra's Bauble
• 1 Mox Diamond
• 1 Sapphire Medallion
• 1 Urza's Bauble
• 1 Vedalken Shackles
• 1 Wayfarer's Bauble

• Lands (38)
• 32 Island
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Wasteland

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Glove Slap

French Duel Commander is just one of many heads-up competitive formats for players looking for something else to do with their vast card collections . . . players who prioritize winning as high as having fun—Spikes, in other words. Other than Duel Commander, there’s Canadian Highlander and Old School Magic. It’s even possible to make the same deck for all three formats, though I wouldn’t recommend it.