Free tool · For game nights and store events

Commander Pod Generator

Type in who came, pick a table size, and get every table drawn in turn order. Each new round seats people with opponents they have not played yet tonight, and says plainly when the numbers make a repeat unavoidable. Bracket matching keeps similar decks together if you want it. Use it as an EDH pod randomizer and seating chart for a playgroup, a store night or a league. Nothing you type leaves your device.

How a room splits into tables

The generator works out how many tables your size needs, then spreads the room across them as evenly as it can. At the default of four, 10 players become one table of four and two tables of three, never two tables of four with a pair left over. No table is ever bigger than the size you pick, and none is smaller than three, so when a room cannot keep both rules the generator seats as many players as it can and the rest sit out, taking turns. Five players at a size of four make one table of four, with one player sitting out each round. Pick 5 to seat all five together. At a size of three every table has exactly three. Pick 2 for one-on-one games, where an odd player sits out.

Tick Exactly 4 at every table (or whatever size you picked) when you want every table full. Whoever is left over then sits out or plays at a smaller table. Sitting out rotates: the player who has sat out least tonight takes the next turn out, so nine players at tables of four each sit out once over nine rounds before anyone sits out twice. A smaller table seats the leftovers together, so ten players make two tables of four and a game of two. A single player left over cannot play alone, and joining a full table would make it bigger than your size, so one player moves over from a full table to make a game of two. Nine players at tables of four become a table of four, a table of three and a game of two.

Every split below is the default, as even as the room allows and never over the size, and comes from the same code the tool runs:

How it avoids repeat opponents

From round 2 on, the generator remembers who has already shared a table tonight. It starts from many random seatings (a few hundred for a typical game night), improves each one by swapping players between tables while any swap helps, and keeps the seating with the fewest repeat pairings. Then it gives you the result in one line: “Everyone has new opponents”, or the exact pairs who meet again.

Sometimes a repeat cannot be avoided, and the arithmetic is worth knowing before game night. With 8 players at two tables of four, every new table of four has to take at least two people from the same first-round table, so round 2 repeats at least 4 pairings however the room is shuffled. Twelve players at three tables of four repeat at least 3, because four people drawn from three old tables always include two who sat together. Nine players at three tables of three are the opposite case. They can play four rounds without anyone meeting twice, after which everyone has played everyone, and the generator finds those four rounds.

Late arrivals and early leavers are fine. Add or remove names between rounds and the next round uses the list as it stands. A newcomer has no history, so they can sit anywhere. Names are the only way the page tells people apart, which is why it refuses a second Alex until you give one of them a surname or an initial.

Winners and elimination

Tap the trophy beside a player to mark them as their table’s winner. The night’s wins add up under the round-by-round board, and following a player shows how many games they have won. Once two or more winners are marked, you choose where they sit in the next round: mixed in like everyone else, together at Table 1 as a top table, or at different tables so no table gets two of them. Last round’s winners all sat at different tables, so putting them together repeats no pairing from that round.

Elimination turns the night into a tournament. At 1 loss, everyone who loses at a table is out, so 16 players at tables of four become one final table of the four winners in round 2. At 2 losses, a player is out on their second loss, and the generator seats players with the same record together, the unbeaten with the unbeaten, the way a double elimination bracket keeps its two sides apart. Sitting out is never a loss. A table is never bigger than your size, so when five players are left at a size of four, four play and the fifth sits out that round. Next round waits until every table has a winner, the last two play one on one, and when one player is left the page names them.

Running the room

The round timer counts down from the length you pick, 30 to 120 minutes, and keeps counting past zero so you can see how far over a round has run. It plays three short tones when time runs out, as long as it was started on this visit. Big screen shows the round in type large enough for a TV or a laptop turned to face the room, with the timer and anyone sitting out, and keeps the screen awake while it is open.

Edit seats fixes a table by hand. Tap it, then tap any two names in the round, including someone sitting out, to swap their seats, or a name and then an empty seat at a smaller table to move that player across. Go first, beside each name, starts that table with a different player and keeps everyone in their seat. The repeat count is worked out again for the new tables. Break leaves someone on the list but out of the next rounds, keeping their history, until you tap it again. Seating rules keep two people apart all night, or always at the same table. A rule outranks everything else the generator weighs, and if a room is too small to keep one, the round says so.

Matching tables by bracket

Turn on Match brackets and set a bracket beside each name, from 1 (Exhibition) to 5 (cEDH). The generator then weighs two things at once: keeping each table’s brackets close, and keeping opponents new. A table one bracket apart costs less than a single repeat pairing, so the generator will seat a bracket 2 deck with a bracket 3 deck before it repeats an opponent. A table two brackets apart costs more than three repeats, so it avoids that unless the room leaves no other choice. Each table shows its spread, such as “Brackets 2 to 3”.

A player with no bracket set adds nothing to their table’s spread. They are not counted as bracket 1 or as an average, because a guess would move the tables around on a number nobody gave. If you are not sure where a deck sits, the bracket checker reads a decklist and reports the lowest bracket it can honestly claim.

Seat order and who goes first

Each table lists its players in turn order. Seat 1 goes first and play passes clockwise, which is how the drawn tables are numbered and how the copied text reads. Within a table the order is shuffled, then turned so that whoever has gone first the fewest times tonight takes seat 1. Over a few rounds, going first moves around the room rather than landing on the same player.

Copy as text puts the round on your clipboard in a form that reads well in a group chat or a store Discord. To run the games themselves, the life counter handles two to six players on one phone, and every finished game can go straight into your game log.

Your list stays on this device

The player list, the brackets and tonight’s rounds are kept in your browser’s storage and nowhere else. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account. The list is still there next week, so a regular group only types it once. Start a new night clears the rounds and keeps the names. Clear the list removes the names too.

FAQ

Is there an EDH pod randomizer for game night?

Yes. This page is a free EDH pod randomizer. Type in your playgroup’s names and it deals them at random into tables of two to six, each in turn order, then seats people with new opponents in every round after the first. Store nights and leagues can add bracket matching, elimination and a round timer. It runs in any browser with no sign-up, and the names stay on your device.

How do you split 10 players into Commander pods?

At four players a table, 10 players make one table of four and two tables of three. That is three tables, spread as evenly as the room allows, rather than two tables of four with a pair left over. If your group prefers bigger games, a table size of five makes two tables of five. The generator on this page does the split for any count from 2 to 60 players.

Can you play Commander with five players?

Yes. Nothing in the rules caps a Commander game at four players. Set the table size to 5 and the generator seats five players as one table of five. It never seats more players at a table than the size you pick, so at a size of four one of the five sits out each round, taking turns. The life counter on this site tracks up to six players.

How do I stop the same people playing each other every round?

Generate every round from the same page. It remembers who has shared a table tonight, picks the seating with the fewest repeat pairings, and names any repeat it could not avoid. Some counts cannot avoid them: 8 players at two tables of four always repeat at least 4 pairings in round 2. Nine players at tables of three can go four rounds with no repeats at all.

How do you match Commander pods by bracket?

Ask each player which bracket their deck is, set it beside their name, and turn on Match brackets. The generator keeps each table’s brackets as close as it can while still avoiding repeat opponents, and shows each table’s spread. A player who gives no bracket can sit at any table. If someone is unsure, the bracket checker on this site reads a decklist and reports the lowest bracket it can honestly claim.

Who goes first at each Commander table?

The player in seat 1, with play passing clockwise from there. The generator shuffles each table and then gives seat 1 to whoever has gone first the fewest times tonight, so going first moves around the room from round to round.

How do I run a Commander elimination tournament?

Set Elimination to 1 loss or 2 losses, make tables, and tap the trophy beside each table’s winner. Anyone who reaches that many losses drops out of the next round, and the generator keeps seating whoever is left until one player remains. At 2 losses, players with the same record sit together, so the unbeaten play the unbeaten.

What happens to extra players when every table must have four?

Tick Exactly 4 at every table and choose Sit out or Smaller table. Sit out rotates, so whoever has sat out least tonight goes next. Smaller table seats the leftovers together. A single leftover player cannot play alone, so one player moves over from a full table and the two play one on one.

Does the pod generator save my players?

Yes, on this device only. The list, the brackets and tonight’s rounds stay in your browser’s storage, and nothing is sent anywhere. Start a new night clears the rounds and keeps the names for next time. In a private window, or a browser that blocks storage, the list is lost when the page reloads.