How to play Commander online for free on Podtable

Podtable's game at play.podtable.app lets you play full four-player Commander in a web browser: against computer opponents whenever you like, or with friends at a private table. It's free, there's nothing to install, and it runs on a computer, a tablet or a phone. Under the hood, the rules are handled by Forge, an open-source Magic rules engine, so the game enforces the rules for you.

This guide walks through getting into your first game and the controls that make it feel smooth.

Starting a game

Open play.podtable.app. You can:

• Sign in with your Podtable account. If you're already signed in on podtable.app, the game signs you in automatically with the same account.
• Sign in with Google.
• Play as a guest with just a name. Guests can play right away; a free account keeps your decks and your look between visits.

On the home screen, pick:

• Mode: Me vs Forge AI for a game against computer players, or Friends lobby to play with people.
• Players: 2, 3 or 4. Four is the classic Commander pod.
• Format: Commander, plus variants (Commander with Planechase, Archenemy, 2v2 Commander teams) and 1v1 constructed formats.
• Deck: your choice (see below).

Then press Play.

Choosing a deck

The deck menu has three kinds of decks:

• A ready-made deck (random), if you just want to play.
• My decks: decks you built in the Podtable deck builder on podtable.app show up here automatically.
• Pre-made decks, grouped by bracket: Commander decks that come with the game, including the official preconstructed decks. The bracket tells you roughly how strong each one is; see Commander brackets explained.

For each AI opponent you can also pick a deck (random, random from a bracket, or a specific one) and a personality: Normal, Cautious, Reckless or Experimental. If you want an even game, give the AIs decks from the same bracket as yours.

Your first turns

At the start you see your opening hand and decide whether to keep it. In multiplayer, your first mulligan is free; after that you put one card on the bottom for each extra mulligan. If you're not sure what to keep, read Mulligans in Commander.

Then the game shows the table: opponents across the top and beside you, you at the bottom, your hand along the bottom edge, and your commander in your command zone next to your cards.

The colors tell you what you can do:

• Blue glow: you can play or use this right now, and you can afford it.
• Gold pulse: the game wants you to choose this, such as a target or a card to discard.
• Red target and arrow: something on the stack is aimed at this.
• Gold seat: it's your turn. Blue seat: it's someone else's.

To play a card, click it, or drag it from your hand onto the table. The game taps lands for you, and you can choose the mana yourself when it matters.

The main button and the phase bar

The big button in the prompt box always does the obvious next thing: move to combat, pass, resolve, or confirm a choice. Space presses it. End Turn passes the rest of your turn.

The phase bar in the middle shows whose turn it is and which step the game is in. Click a step to make the game stop there (a dot) or skip it. Most players stop in their main phases and combat, and let the game skip the rest.

The game passes for you automatically when you can't do anything, so opponents' turns flow by. It still stops when a spell targets you or your permanents, and when you have an instant or ability you could use. If an opponent's spell is about to resolve and you want to think, press Wait.

Combat

When you move to combat, creatures that can attack glow. You can:

• click a player (or their name) to choose who to attack, then click creatures to send them, or
• drag a creature onto a player, or
• press A (or Attack all) to attack with everything that can, at the highlighted player.

Arrows show who is attacking whom. When you block, drag your creature onto the attacker it blocks. Before damage, a skull marks creatures that would die if nothing changes, and a red number on a portrait shows the damage coming at that player. Commander damage is counted for you: each player shows how much they've taken from each commander, out of 21. See Combat in multiplayer Commander for the strategy.

Responding and the stack

Magic lets players respond to spells and abilities, and Podtable shows that as a stack of items, newest on top. The tools:

• Hold priority (the hand button): keeps the game from passing while your own spell or ability is on the stack, so you can respond to it yourself.
• Full control (Ctrl): stops at every step and never passes for you, for the rest of the turn. Useful for combo turns and stack fights.
• To my turn (Shift+Enter): passes everything until your next turn, but still stops if something targets you.

The stack and priority explains how responding works in detail.

Keeping track of the table

AI turns are paced so you can follow them. When an opponent casts something, the card is shown big for a moment, and a red Targets you tag appears when it's aimed at you or your permanents. When your turn starts, a While you waited panel sums up what happened since your last turn: spells, attacks, removal, and damage to you.

The log lists everything that happened. Hover over a card name in it (or any card on the table) to see the full card; on a phone, press and hold. Click a life total to see what happened to that player.

In ⚙ Settings you can set the AI's speed (Normal, Fast or Instant), sounds, music and animations.

Playing with friends

Choose Friends lobby to join the open lobby, or open Friends to make a private table and invite people with a link or code. Empty seats can be filled with AI players. Friends tables can have a turn timer, so nobody waits forever.

If your connection drops, the game keeps your seat for a few minutes and puts you back in the same game when you reconnect.

On a phone or tablet

The game adapts to the screen. On a phone, opponents appear as chips across the top: tap one to see that player's board, and while you're choosing a player (to attack or target), tapping their chip picks them. On a folding phone or tablet, all four boards fit on one screen. You can also install the game as an app from your browser's menu, and turn on notifications so it tells you when it's your move while the game is in the background.

Make it yours

Open Look to choose your profile picture, playmat and card sleeves; other players see them at the table. Supporters also get profile frames and a badge; see Support on podtable.app.

Where to go next

• New to the format? Start with How to play Commander.
• Building your own deck? Building your first Commander deck gives you a template, and the Podtable deck builder shows your mana curve and test hands as you go. Your decks show up in the game automatically.
• Want to win more? Threat assessment and table politics covers the multiplayer side.