AWOL

If AWOL resolves targeting a commander, the Commander’s owner usually cannot return it to their command zone. The replacement effect that allows players to return their commander to the command zone from exile only happens as state-based actions are checked. State-based actions only happen after an effect has finished resolving, by which point the commander is outside the game and no longer in exile. For details on the replacement effect, see 7. in the official Commander rules. For details on state-based actions, see 704.3. in the official Comprehensive Rules.

Being put outside the game means that for all purposes, the card is treated as leaving the zone it was in, and it is then considered a card its owner owns outside the game, not in any zone. If the game is restarted, the card is put back in its owner’s deck. See Put Outside the Game on the UnCommander Rules List page for details.