MTG Commander Tournament App: Pods and Points

MTGevent is a Commander tournament app that runs in the browser. You add your players, and it builds pods of 3 to 5, scores each game with casual, cEDH or house-rule points, and keeps the standings up to date after every pod. It's free for up to 8 players, which is two full pods.

We built it because Commander night at a lot of stores still runs on paper slips and a spreadsheet. Wizards' EventLink schedules Commander as "Player List Only", which takes attendance and nothing else, so building pods and tracking points has been left to the organizer.

Pods of 3, 4 or 5 from any player count

The app fills 4-player pods first. Leftover players go into 3-player pods by default, or you can switch to 5-player pods instead. Before you start, the lobby shows the split, for example "10 players → 3 pods: 4, 3, 3".

Here's how common turnouts split:

• 8 players: two pods of 4.

• 9 players: three pods of 3, or 5 and 4 with 5-player pods on.

• 10 players: 4, 3 and 3, or two pods of 5 with 5-player pods on.

• 11 players: 4, 4 and 3 with either setting.

• 12 players: three pods of 4.

Casual, cEDH or your own points system

Each event uses one of three presets:

• Casual: 4/3/2/1 points by finishing position, and 1 point each on a draw.

• cEDH: 5 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss.

• Custom: you set the points.

On top of any preset you can add house-rule bonuses such as first blood. A bonus can count once per game or every time it happens, and it can be negative if your group wants to discourage something.

Fresh pods every round

Pods are either shuffled at random each round or paired by points, Swiss-style, with the leaders at table 1. Either way, the app avoids putting the same players together again where it can, and each pod gets a random seat order so nobody argues about who goes first. If your players tag their Commander Bracket (1 to 5) when they join, you can group pods by Bracket so the precon decks stay away from the tuned ones.

Run the night from any device

Players join with a QR code or link, and they can add their commander's name and Bracket. While the night runs:

• You enter each pod's result: tap the winner or Draw, add the finishing order if you want it, and use the steppers for any bonuses.

• Players see a read-only view with their own pod at the top, plus live standings.

• Standings sort by points, then opponents' average points per game, then wins, then a random tiebreak.

• When the round timer runs out, any pod still playing is recorded as a draw.

Mid-event, you can add late players, drop players, swap or move people between pods, re-pair a round, add extra rounds or finish early. You can also print the pods for the wall. Everything runs in the browser on any phone, the same way our MTG tournament app does, and there's nothing to install.

If you make your event public, it shows up on the app's Discover page, where players can filter for Commander.

Commander leagues (Pro)

To run a season, put your Commander nights into a league. A league is either Commander or standard, so the two never mix. Each event's points carry over, bonuses included, and the placement bonus is added on top. Leagues are part of Pro.

What it costs

Events with up to 8 players are free, and every feature is included. Above 8, each extra player costs 1 credit. Credits come in packs of 10 for $15, 20 for $25 or 50 for $50. Pro is $9.99/month for unlimited players and Leagues. A 12-player Commander night uses 4 credits.