Two-Headed Giant is an MTG 2v2 variant: two teams of two players, each team sharing one life total that starts at 30 and taking its turns together. Teammates attack as one, block for each other and lose together, at 0 life or at 15 poison counters (rule 810 of the Comprehensive Rules). Mana Grove, a free MTG deck builder for Commander, publishes this guide to Two-Headed Giant and cites rules 810 and 805 of the Comprehensive Rules throughout.
Two rules hold the whole variant: rule 810 and rule 805, the shared team turns option it always uses (810.2). For the free-for-all game Commander uses by default, see how to play Commander.
How do you set up a Two-Headed Giant game?
Four players split into two teams of two (810.1). Each team sits together on one side of the table, in whatever order it likes (810.3), and starts with one shared life total of 30 (810.4). Life and poison counters are all a team shares: cards in hand, mana and permanents stay each player's own. Teammates may look at each other's hands and plan out loud at any time, but neither may handle the other's cards or permanents (810.5).
Mulligans go by team: the starting team declares first, teammates may consult, then the other team declares, and everyone mulligans at once (103.5d). A game that begins with more than two players is a multiplayer game (800.1), so each player's first mulligan is free (103.5c).
How does a turn work in Two-Headed Giant?
Teams take turns, not players (805.4), so both teammates act in the same turn.
| Moment | What happens | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| First turn | The team that plays first skips its first draw step | 810.6 |
| Upkeep | A trigger at the beginning of "each player's" upkeep can trigger once for each player | 805.4d |
| Draw step | Each player on the team draws a card | 805.4b |
| Main phases | Each player may play a land and pays for their spells with their own mana | 805.4c, 810.5 |
| Priority | The team has priority: either teammate may act, and the team passes as one | 805.5 |
| Combat | One combined attack from the active team, one combined block from the other | 805.10 |
| Disagreements | The primary player, in the team's rightmost seat, makes the call | 805.2 |
An extra turn for one player is an extra turn for the whole team (805.8).
How does combat work in Two-Headed Giant?
The active team attacks the other team as a group (805.10a). It declares one combined attack, and for each attacking creature it says which defending player, planeswalker or battle that creature is attacking (805.10b). The defending team then declares one combined block, and either defender's creatures can block any creature attacking their team: either player, a planeswalker either of them controls, or a battle either of them protects (805.10d). Damage to either player comes off the same team life total (810.9).
Because the block is judged as a whole, a creature with menace can be blocked by one creature from each defender (805.10d, 702.111b). A card that says "defending player" means the player that creature is attacking, or who controls or protects the planeswalker or battle it's attacking (805.10e).
How does the shared life total work?
Damage, life loss and life gain happen to each player individually, and the result is applied to the team's total (810.9). So Flame Rift, which deals 4 damage to each player, costs each team 8 life. A card that asks for one player's life total gets the team's (810.9a): Beacon of Immortality on a player whose team is at 17 makes that player gain 17, and the team goes to 34.
Four more lines settle most arguments. The two of you can't pay more life between you than the team has (810.9b). When an effect sets each player's life total, as Repay in Kind does, each team picks one member to be affected (810.9d). You can't exchange life totals with your teammate (810.9e). And if one player can't gain life, nobody on that team can (810.9g).
How do poison counters work in Two-Headed Giant?
Like life, poison counters are given to each player individually and shared by the team (810.10). A team loses at 15 poison counters, not 10 (810.8d), and a card that asks how many poison counters a player has gets the team's count (810.10a). Proliferate has a team rule of its own: if you choose both players on a team, only one of them gets the extra poison counter, and you pick which (701.34b).
How does a team win or lose?
Together. If either player on a team loses, the team loses, and if either wins, the team wins (810.8a). A team at 0 life or less loses (810.8c), a player who has to draw from an empty library takes the team down with them, and a player who concedes takes the whole team out of the game (810.8b). It works the other way too: while Platinum Angel, "You can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game", is on the battlefield, neither player on its controller's team can lose, and nobody on the other team can win.
Can you play Two-Headed Giant with Commander decks?
Yes. The Comprehensive Rules treat Commander (rule 903) and Two-Headed Giant (rule 810) as separate variants and don't define a game that combines them: rule 903.2 makes Free-for-All the default for Commander with more than two players, and the starting life totals would clash, 30 per team (103.4a) against 40 per player (103.4c). The official Two-Headed Giant format page fills the gap with a Commander version of its own:
- "99 card deck + a Commander card."
- "There is no unified construction, though each player's deck should be a legal Commander deck by itself."
- "Each team starts with 60 life."
- "A team loses when they take 21 or more damage from a single commander OR have 15 or more poison counters."
The page doesn't say "combat"; in the Comprehensive Rules the 21 counts only combat damage one commander deals to one player (903.10a), as the commander damage rule guide explains. Everything else here carries over.
Frequently asked questions
How much life do you start with in Two-Headed Giant?
Thirty per team, shared by both players (103.4a and 810.4). The Commander version on the official format page starts each team at 60.
How many poison counters does a team need to lose?
Fifteen, counted for the whole team (810.8d), instead of the ten that knock out a single player elsewhere (704.5c).
Does the first team draw on its first turn?
No. The team that plays first skips the draw step of its first turn, so neither player on it draws (810.6). After that, each player draws during their team's draw step (805.4b).
Can my teammate block for me?
Yes. The defending team declares one combined block, and either defender's creatures can block a creature attacking either player (805.10d).
Can you play with three players on a team?
Yes, as Three-Headed Giant. Rule 810.11 allows equal teams of more than two and adds 15 life and five poison counters to a team's limits for each extra player: teams of three start at 45 life and lose at 20 poison counters.
Build two decks that win together
Build the two decks as a pair: your removal and counterspells protect your teammate's board as much as your own. Before a Commander 2v2, run all four decks through the bracket checker so both teams sit down at the same level, and ask Grover for "a defensive deck to pair with my teammate's aggressive one".
Create a free Mana Grove account to save both decks in the deck builder with format legality checks, see plans and pricing for more time with Grover, Scry and Tutor, and browse the Commander hub for your next pair of commanders.
Sources
- Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules, effective September 25, 2026: https://magic.wizards.com/en/rules. Read on October 26, 2026. Rule 810 (Two-Headed Giant Variant), whose examples name the four cards above, and rule 805 (Shared Team Turns Option) are cited throughout, with rules 103.4a, 103.4c, 103.5c and 103.5d (starting the game), 701.34b (proliferate), 702.111b (menace), 704.5c (poison), 800.1 (multiplayer games), 903.2 and 903.10a (Commander).
- "Two-Headed Giant", format page, magic.wizards.com: https://magic.wizards.com/en/formats/two-headed-giant. Read on October 26, 2026. The Commander version quoted above.
- Mana Grove card database, read on our card pages on October 26, 2026: the mana cost, rules text and Commander legality of the four cards named above.
This article is updated when the Comprehensive Rules change rule 805 or rule 810, or when the official format page changes its Commander version. The date at the top is the last revision.
