Thought Exercise: Changing the Commander Tax

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

Wild suggestion:

You know how on Smogon Pokemon are divided into tier-lists? Like there's OU (Overused), UU (Underused), RU (Rarely used) and NU (Never used), as well as others. All based on a mixture of power-level as well as prevalence in the metagame.

So let's apply that here. Divide all Commanders into tiers, then apply penalty as appropriate.

Banned Commanders are simply that: banned.

Overused (OU) Commanders only get to be cast once per turn (from anywhere, not just the Command zone) and have steeper taxation.
Examples: Chulane, Thrasios

Underused (UU) Commanders are subject to regular Commander restrictions.

And as Commander use fluctuates, they can be moved between tiers as necessary.

Prossh stinking up the place? Into OU you go! Chulane no longer used because better Bant legends have been printed? Ok buddy, we'll let you into UU on probation.

[pokken]

Wild suggestion:

You know how on Smogon Pokemon are divided into tier-lists? Like there's OU (Overused), UU (Underused), RU (Rarely used) and NU (Never used), as well as others. All based on a mixture of power-level as well as prevalence in the metagame.

So let's apply that here. Divide all Commanders into tiers, then apply penalty as appropriate.

Banned Commanders are simply that: banned.

Overused (OU) Commanders only get to be cast once per turn (from anywhere, not just the Command zone) and have steeper taxation.
Examples: Chulane, Thrasios

Underused (UU) Commanders are subject to regular Commander restrictions.

And as Commander use fluctuates, they can be moved between tiers as necessary.

Prossh stinking up the place? Into OU you go! Chulane no longer used because better Bant legends have been printed? Ok buddy, we'll let you into UU on probation.

At the minimum I could be into a community maintained tier list that started as a helper for people to understand the approximate power their commander is bringing to bear -- even if purely advisory.

I'm not sure about rules based on a tier list, but I will say that tiers are a very useful thing to understanding fighting games. Commander is not exactly the same but does have a lot of conceptual overlap.

[BeneTleilax]

The issue of a tier list like that is that the heart of EDH remains the kitchen table, and those players aren't likely to check an online resource for the format regularly. There is even appreciable lag in people finding out bans as is.

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

The issue of a tier list like that is that the heart of EDH remains the kitchen table, and those players aren't likely to check an online resource for the format regularly. There is even appreciable lag in people finding out bans as is.

Might be a bit iffy in the beginning, but we grow more and more dependent on the net every day. Maybe our the current generation doesn't, but I feel eventually checking the online resources is going to be second nature, as natural as checking the time.

Eventually, tier rules would be folded it up into regular commander rules, so that it immediately pops up whenever you even search for Commander.

Anyway, there are no "official" tiers for Pokemon. Smogon tiers are widely used because they're what the main battling simulator uses, and it's all fan-curated; they even vote on certain Pokemon whether to move them or down the tiers, plus usage percentages and all that statistics stuff. Plus whatever they believe is best for a "healthy" and "fun" metagame, as subjective as that may be.

But in the end, it's all the product of a fan community policing themselves; Smogon tiers are not official Nintendo/Gamefreak rules at all. The only thing official tournaments ban are Legendary and certain Special Event Pokemon, plus some occasional one-offs (like banning Smeargle with Dark Void, or Chatot because you theoretically record obscenities for its Chatter attack.)