Haunted One — ruling 1

Choose a Background is a variant of the partner ability. You may have two commanders if one of them is a legendary creature with the choose a background ability and the other is a legendary Background enchantment. Backgrounds and cards with choose a Background do not interact with cards which have any other partner ability.

Haunted One — ruling 2

If your Commander deck has two commanders, you can include only cards whose own color identities are also found in your commanders’ combined color identities.

Haunted One — ruling 3

Both commanders start in the command zone, and the remaining 98 cards (or 58 cards in a Commander Draft game) of your deck are shuffled to become your library.

Haunted One — ruling 4

If your commander loses the choose a Background ability or stops being a Background during the game, as appropriate, it is still your commander.

Haunted One — ruling 5

Once the game begins, your two commanders are tracked separately. If you cast one, you won’t have to pay an additional {2} the first time you cast the other. A player loses the game after having been dealt 21 combat damage from any one of them, not from both of them combined (although your Background won’t usually be a creature anyway).

Haunted One — ruling 6

If something refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to one of them of your choice. If you are instructed to perform an action on your commander (e.g. put it from the command zone into your hand due to Command Beacon), you choose one of your commanders at the time the effect happens.

Haunted One — ruling 7

An effect that checks whether you control your commander is satisfied if you control one or both of your two commanders.

Haunted One — ruling 8

You can choose two commanders that are the same color or colors.

Haunted One : règles, fonctionnement et interactions (MTG)

Haunted One is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.

Official card text

Commander creatures you own have "Whenever this creature becomes tapped, it and other creatures you control that share a creature type with it each get +2/+0 and gain undying until end of turn." (When a creature with undying dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it.)

Complete guide

Haunted One is a powerful Background enchantment that turns your Commander into a tribal anthem engine. By granting your Commander a recurring buff and protection, you can turn a simple attack into a resilient board state. This card is perfect for decks that rely on specific creature types to overwhelm opponents.

Unpacking the Ability

While Haunted One is on the battlefield, every Commander creature you own gains a triggered ability. This ability triggers whenever that Commander becomes tapped, whether it is attacking, being used for a mana ability, or even being tapped by an opponent's spell. When it triggers, the Commander and all other creatures you control that share at least one creature type with it receive +2/+0 and the undying keyword until the end of the turn.

How Undying Resolves

If a creature granted undying by this effect dies, the game checks if it had any +1/+1 counters on it. If it did not, it returns to the battlefield under your control with a +1/+1 counter. Because the +2/+0 and undying granted by Haunted One only last until the end of the turn, a creature that dies and returns will be a 'new object' without those specific bonuses, but it will have the permanent +1/+1 counter.

Timing and Strategy

To maximize Haunted One, you want to tap your commander during your turn before you move to the damage step. This ensures your board is buffed for combat and protected by undying if your opponent attempts to use removal or blocks with high-power creatures. Note that the ability checks for shared creature types at the moment it resolves; if a creature's type changes after the trigger, it may or may not receive the bonus.

Interaction examples

The Shapeshifter Synergy

Black Market Connections

If you use Black Market Connections to create a Shapeshifter token with changeling, that token is every creature type. When your Commander becomes tapped, the Haunted One trigger will always see that the Shapeshifter shares a type with your Commander, regardless of what your Commander's specific types are. The token will consistently gain +2/+0 and undying.

Protecting Your Assets

Phyrexian Arena

While Phyrexian Arena helps you draw into more creatures to benefit from the tribal buff, Haunted One ensures those creatures stay on the board. If you have a Human Commander and several Human tokens, tapping the Commander to attack grants them all undying. Even if your opponent casts a board wipe during combat, your Humans will return to the battlefield stronger than before, while your Arena continues to provide card advantage for your next play.

Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.

How it works : Haunted One

Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall

#1June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Choose a Background is a variant of the partner ability. You may have two commanders if one of them is a legendary creature with the choose a background ability and the other is a legendary Background enchantment. Backgrounds and cards with choose a Background do not interact with cards which have any other partner ability.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#2June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If your Commander deck has two commanders, you can include only cards whose own color identities are also found in your commanders’ combined color identities.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#3June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Both commanders start in the command zone, and the remaining 98 cards (or 58 cards in a Commander Draft game) of your deck are shuffled to become your library.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#4June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If your commander loses the choose a Background ability or stops being a Background during the game, as appropriate, it is still your commander.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#5June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Once the game begins, your two commanders are tracked separately. If you cast one, you won’t have to pay an additional the first time you cast the other. A player loses the game after having been dealt 21 combat damage from any one of them, not from both of them combined (although your Background won’t usually be a creature anyway).
No other card is named in this ruling.
#6June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If something refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to one of them of your choice. If you are instructed to perform an action on your commander (e.g. put it from the command zone into your hand due to Command Beacon), you choose one of your commanders at the time the effect happens.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#7June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
An effect that checks whether you control your commander is satisfied if you control one or both of your two commanders.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#8June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
You can choose two commanders that are the same color or colors.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#9June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If a card refers to a commander creature you own, a Background won't usually be counted or included for that effect. If another spell or ability causes your Background to become a creature, however, it will be included. Any effect that refers to your commander or a commander you own or control without specifying creature will apply to a Background that is your commander, as appropriate.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#10June 10, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If you control a Background that grants an ability to commander creatures you own, and you own more than one commander creature, each of them will have that ability.
No other card is named in this ruling.