Does exile count as dying in MTG?

No. The Comprehensive Rules say the term dies means "is put into a graveyard from the battlefield." To exile an object is to put it into the exile zone, not a graveyard.

Can you exile a commander in MTG?

Yes, a commander can end up in exile. Under the Commander rules, if a commander is in a graveyard or in exile and was put there since the last time state-based actions were checked, its owner may put it into the command zone.

Is the command zone the same as exile in MTG?

No. The Comprehensive Rules list exile and command as separate zones. Exile is essentially a holding area for objects, and the command zone is a game area reserved for certain specialized objects, such as a commander at the start of a Commander game.

Where should your library, graveyard and exile go on the table in MTG?

The Magic Tournament Rules say that in Competitive and Professional level matches, a player's library, graveyard and exiled cards should be kept all to the left of the battlefield or all to the right, at the player's discretion. The graveyard and exiled cards should be adjacent to the library.

MTG Playmat With Zones: What Each Zone Means and How to Lay Out Your Cards

October 10, 2026 ChronicCards

Last updated: October 10, 2026

Key Takeaways

An MTG playmat with zones is a playmat printed with labeled areas for the places your cards go during a game of Magic: The Gathering.
Magic's Comprehensive Rules say there are normally seven zones: library, hand, battlefield, graveyard, stack, exile and command.
The library is kept in a single face-down pile and the graveyard in a single face-up pile. Exiled cards are kept face up by default.
For Competitive and Professional level tournament matches, the Tournament Rules layout keeps nonlands closer to your opponent than your lands, with an allowance for some non-creature permanents, and says your library, graveyard and exiled cards should all be on the same side of the battlefield.
Our Custom TCG Playmats can be printed with Battlefield, Lands, Command Zone, Library, Graveyard, Exile and Life areas, and come in three sizes.

What is an MTG playmat with zones?
The zones in Magic
Lands and Life areas
The command zone
Official layout rules
Ordering a custom zoned playmat
Sources

An MTG playmat with zones is a playmat printed with labeled areas for the places your cards go during a game of Magic: The Gathering, such as your library, graveyard and exile. The zones come from the game's rules. Wizards of the Coast's Comprehensive Rules say there are normally seven of them, and the Magic Tournament Rules set a card layout for Competitive and Professional level matches.

What Is an MTG Playmat With Zones?

A trading card game playmat is a soft mat you lay on the table and play your cards on. A playmat with zones has a layout printed on it, so groups of cards have marked spaces.

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On our Custom TCG Playmats, the TCG zones choice is None for a clean mat, or Magic: The Gathering. The Magic: The Gathering choice prints seven labeled areas on the mat: Battlefield, Lands, Command Zone, Library, Graveyard, Exile and Life.

Five of those are zones in the rules. Lands and Life are extra areas, covered below. New to the game? Start with how to play Magic: The Gathering.

What Are the Zones in Magic: The Gathering?

The Comprehensive Rules define a zone as a place where objects can be during a game. There are normally seven zones: library, hand, battlefield, graveyard, stack, exile and command. Each player has their own library, hand and graveyard. The other zones are shared by all players.

Zone	What the Comprehensive Rules say	Labeled area on our zoned mat?
Library	When a game begins, each player's deck becomes their library. It must be kept in a single face-down pile.	Yes
Hand	Where a player holds cards that have been drawn. The starting hand size is normally seven.	No
Battlefield	Most of the area between the players. Permanents a player controls are normally kept in front of them.	Yes, as Battlefield and Lands
Graveyard	A player's discard pile. It is kept in a single face-up pile.	Yes
Stack	Where spells and abilities wait to resolve. When all players pass in succession, the top (last-added) spell or ability resolves.	No
Exile	Essentially a holding area for objects. Exiled cards are, by default, kept face up.	Yes
Command	A game area reserved for certain specialized objects that have an overarching effect on the game.	Yes, as Command Zone

What Are the Lands and Life Areas For?

Lands and Life are not zones in the Comprehensive Rules. On our mat they are labeled areas.

Lands. Land is one of the six permanent types in the rules, and permanents exist only on the battlefield. A player plays a land by putting it onto the battlefield, so in rules terms the lands you have in play are on the battlefield. The Lands area gives them their own space next to the Battlefield area.
Life. Each player begins the game with a starting life total of 20, though the rules note that some variant games have different starting life totals. The rules also say each player needs some way to clearly track life totals. The Life area is a labeled space on the mat.

What Is the Command Zone on a Playmat?

The Comprehensive Rules describe the command zone as a game area reserved for certain specialized objects that have an overarching effect on the game, yet are not permanents and cannot be destroyed. In the Commander variant, the rules use it like this:

At the start of the game, each player puts their commander from their deck face up into the command zone.
A player may cast a commander they own from the command zone. It costs an additional {2} for each previous time that player has cast it from the command zone that game. The rules note this additional cost is informally known as the "commander tax."
If a commander is in a graveyard or in exile and was put there since the last time state-based actions were checked, its owner may put it into the command zone.

The Commander rules also say each deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including its commander, and each player sets their life total to 40. Our Magic: The Gathering layout includes a Command Zone area. For other deck sizes, see how many cards are in a Magic: The Gathering deck.

Is There an Official MTG Playmat Layout?

There is an official layout for your cards at higher level tournaments. Section 4.7 of the Magic Tournament Rules, Game Layout, says players in Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level matches must arrange their cards, tokens and other accessories on the battlefield using a set layout. It includes these points:

From the player's perspective, nonlands must be kept closer to the player's opponent than lands.
The player's library, graveyard and exiled cards should be kept all to the left of the battlefield or all to the right of the battlefield, at the player's discretion.
The graveyard and exiled cards should be adjacent to the library, and all three should be distinct at all times.
Each untapped permanent should face its controller.

Section 4.7 has further points, including an allowance for non-creature permanents that may reasonably be associated with either area, such as an artifact whose only ability is a mana ability, to sit in the land or nonland area, provided tournament officials judge the overall layout clear. Tournament officials may also make exceptions or additions to these guidelines to keep each player's game layout clear.

The same document describes Regular level tournaments as focused on fun and social aspects, not enforcement. Its Appendix F lists Regular as the appropriate (minimum) level for Friday Night Magic and Prerelease.

The Comprehensive Rules have their own line on arranging cards. The order of objects in a library, in a graveyard or on the stack can't be changed except when effects or rules allow it. The same is true for objects arranged in face-down piles in other zones. Other objects in other zones can be arranged however their owners wish, as long as it stays clear to all players who controls them, whether they're tapped or flipped, and what is attached to them.

In the first photo on our listing, the Battlefield area sits above the Lands area, and the Command Zone, Life, Exile, Library and Graveyard areas are grouped on the right side of the mat.

How to Order a Custom MTG Playmat With Zones

Our Custom TCG Playmats are 4 mm thick neoprene with an anti-slip backing and hemmed edges, printed across the full surface with sublimation. The How to order section on the listing has four steps:

Choose a size.
Choose TCG zones: Magic: The Gathering for the zone layout, or None for a clean mat.
Enter a background color by name or HEX code. We recommend white or black. Dark patterns can show faded color (a "halo" effect) around the seams because of how sublimation printing works.
Upload your logo or image. SVG or large PNG files are ideal.

Size	Dimensions	Listed price
Small	12 x 18 inches	$39.99
Medium	12 x 22 inches	$44.99
Large	16 x 32 inches	$49.99

Prices as listed on October 10, 2026. Want to see a proof first? Ask for one in the Add Note field and we'll email a preview before production starts.

Prefer a ready-made design? Browse our TCG playmats. We also carry card sleeves and toploaders and dice sets. If the term is new to you, our glossary explains what a TCG is.