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As a joke, me and my buddy's wanted to make decks without our favorite colors, but I wanted us to use five color commanders and just not insert our favorite colors, they agreed but I was curious if this actually could work or would the deck have to have all the colors the commander has regardless.

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You do not need to use every color your commander allows (apart from the fact that your commander itself automatically uses every color it allows). Rule 903.5 details the additional rules regarding deck construction that are relevant in Commander:

903.5. Each Commander deck is subject to the following deck construction rules.

903.5a Each deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including its commander. In other words, the minimum deck size and the maximum deck size are both 100.

903.5b Other than basic lands, each card in a Commander deck must have a different English name.

903.5c A card can be included in a Commander deck only if every color in its color identity is also found in the color identity of the deck’s commander. Example: Wort, the Raidmother is a legendary creature with mana cost {4}{R/G}{R/G}. Wort’s color identity is red and green. Each card in a Wort Commander deck must be only red, only green, both red and green, or have no color. Each mana symbol in the mana cost or rules text of a card in this deck must be only red, only green, both red and green, or have no color.

903.5d A card with a basic land type may be included in a Commander deck only if each color of mana it could produce is included in the commander’s color identity. Example: Wort, the Raidmother’s color identity is red and green. A Wort Commander deck may include land cards with the basic land types Mountain and/or Forest. It can’t include any land cards with the basic land types Plains, Island, or Swamp.

There is nothing here that says every color of the color identity of the commander must be used by the rest of the deck.

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  • "apart from the fact that your commander itself automatically uses every color it allows" The commander does not necessarily use all of the colors of its color identity. For instance, Emiel the Blessed doesn't need to cost G.
    – Acccumulation
    Aug 18, 2021 at 3:18
  • @Accumulation But it has green in its color identity. So for the purposes of Commander deck construction, it uses green.
    – Arthur
    Aug 18, 2021 at 5:39
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Yes, your deck can have fewer colors than your commander allows.

The commander's color identity does not mandate your deck must have any of its colors. It only says your deck can't have any colors outside its color identity. If you wish, you can make an otherwise colorless, all-artifact deck with your 5 color commander.

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You can build a commander deck with as few colors as you want

Technically speaking, the commander is part of a commander deck (the 100 cards in "100 card singleton" includes the commander), so by definition any commander deck will be the same number of colors as the commander.

But there is absolutely no requirement that any other cards need to be that color, or that you include lands that can produce all the colors of your commander.

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