Rules: How the Partner Ability Works — Two Commanders, One Deck

Partner is one of Commander's most misunderstood mechanics, so here is the plain version, anchored to two real partner cards from Commander 2016: Tymna the Weaver ({1}{W}{B}, Human Cleric) and Kraum, Ludevic's Opus ({3}{U}{R}, Zombie Horror, flying and haste, who draws you a card whenever an opponent casts their second spell each turn). Both carry the partner keyword and are legal in Legacy and Commander; their full text is in the MTGBrew card database.

The rules, plainly

If both of your chosen commanders have partner, you start with both in the command zone. Each is a commander in full: each tracks its own commander tax (two extra mana per previous cast of THAT commander), each tracks its own commander damage separately, and your deck's color identity is the combination of both cards' identities. You cast each one individually, on its own cost and timing — there is no discount for casting the second. 'Partner with' is a different, narrower mechanic that pairs two specific named cards; generic partner pairs any two cards that both have it.

Why it matters for deckbuilding

Two commanders means your deck's floor rises: you always have access to at least one engine piece, so mulligans get easier and slow starts get rarer. Build in MTGBrew's AI deck builder with both designs in front of you and count how many cards serve each commander — the balanced partner decks serve both.

A common table question: if one partner is exiled or tucked away, does the other stop being a commander? No — commander status belongs to each card individually for the whole game, whatever zone each is in. Commander tax, commander damage, and color identity all keep working exactly as described above.