EDH/Commander Ban List Announcement Archive

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

April 28, 2014
Sheldon wrote: NO CHANGES

We're quite happy with where the format is at the moment. The feedback over banning Sylvan Primordial has been overwhelmingly positive, putting players everywhere in a pretty good spot. Just because we're happy right now doesn't mean we're being complacent. We still keep an eye on cards that cause folks distress, and as new cards come out we don't look at them only individually, but how they interact with format-specific rules and other cards. We'll continue to be vigilant in the hope that we can guide creation of interactive, fun, and memorable games.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

July 14, 2014
Sheldon wrote: NO CHANGES

The most recent meeting of the Rules Committee was long and productive. We discussed quite a bit about theory and a number of cards (to include our now-regular exercise of specifically debating bringing a card off the Banned List). Once again, we find the format brisk and healthy with no particular areas of alarm and no need for change.

We continue to monitor the community's discussions regarding the format in general and specific cards. We encourage you to continue engaging in reasonable, civil debate. All of us are thoroughly excited about M15, which we believe to be one of the best sets for Commander in quite a while.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

September 12, 2014
papa_funk wrote: We're posting this early because the changes will be going into the Magic Online Beta shortly, and we didn't want that to happen unannounced. Hang in there, folks. This isn't nearly as big as it looks.

Braids, Cabal Minion is banned
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary is banned
Erayo, Soratami Ascendent is banned

Kokusho, the Evening Star is unbanned
Metalworker is unbanned

There are, in essence, two changes here. The first one is that we've decided to eliminate "Banned as Commander". Having multiple lists was unnecessary information overhead, and we felt it was clearer to have a single, streamlined banlist and add "Problematic as a Commander" to the banlist criteria.

Doing that meant that we needed to evaluate the four cards on that list. Fully banning Braids and Rofellos were easy calls, especially given Rofellos' last stint. Though we have a few reservations about how annoying Kokusho may be, general consensus was that unbanning her was more correct. Erayo was the most contentious; it's a bigger problem in competitive play, which we don't really consider, but is a miserable card to play against at all levels. We're leaving it banned for now, but may revisit that in the future.

We've been discussing the possibility of unbanning Metalworker for a while now. It's capable of making some truly ridiculous amounts of mana, and having 12+ mana available on turn 4 or 5 is not something that casual games should have to deal with. We like to encourage battlecruiser-style decks, but over the later stages of a game, where players have had a chance to build up to combat it. However, the all-in nature of Metalworker leaves it vulnerable to mass artifact removal, and when it isn't performing optimally it's a pretty weak card (though still part of several combo engines). Aside from Sharuum - a deck that can already be built to a competitive extreme - the decks that most look to use Metalworker already have a lot of disadvantages to overcome, so allowing them the occasional early explosion should be acceptable risk.

On the whole, we're pretty happy with the health of the format. Conspiracy introduced a bunch of new and interesting commanders, a few unusual planeswalker-commanders have been previewed, and Khans is going to provide some much-needed wedge-color love. And Hardened Scales. Oh yes, Hardened Scales...

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

January 19, 2015
Ban Ki-moon wrote: Banned list:

NO CHANGES

There have been no outrageously broken or fun-sucking cards printed in recent sets, and no older cards are currently approaching any kind of aggravating tipping point. Things are good and the format is healthy.

Rules document:

NO CHANGES

With the advent of manifest, certain corner cases have been pulled out of the corner, and some long-standing ambiguities are becoming more conspicuous. With that, we're taking the opportunity to resolve exactly what it means to be a commander. Fundamental changes like that take time to thoroughly ponder and test, however, so that won't happen until April. In the mean time, here's a reminder about how face-down commanders currently work:

- Wherever it is, your commander is always your commander.
- Face down commanders must be identified as commanders.
- Face down commanders still deal commander damage when they attack.

Have fun!

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

March 23, 2015
Sheldon wrote: MARCH 23, 2015 COMMANDER BANNED LIST UPDATE

BANNED LIST
No changes

RULES UPDATES
Hang onto your hats: we're changing how tuck works for commanders.

If your commander would go into the library or your hand, you may choose to put it into the command zone. It's as simple as that. Just like with the graveyard, if you want it to go into the library/hand, you're more than welcome to let it. Note that this is a replacement effect, but it can apply multiple times to the same event.

There are four major points in how we arrived at this decision. None of them individually was the silver bullet; the combination of factors got us to where we ended up. In no particular order:

1) We want to engender as positive an experience as we can for players. Nothing runs the feel-bads worse than having your commander unavailable to you for the whole game.

2) The presence of tuck encourages players to play more tutors so that in case their commander gets sent to the library, they can get it back—exactly the opposite of what we want (namely, discouraging the over-representation of tutors).

3) While we are keenly aware that tuck is a great weapon against problematic commanders, the tools to do so are available only in blue and white, potentially forcing players into feeling like they need to play those colors in order to survive. We prefer as diverse a field as possible.

4) It clears up some corner case rules awkwardness, mostly dealing with knowing the commander's locationin the library (since highly unlikely to actually end up there).

When FRF came out, manifest led us to talking about what it meant to be a commander—which is what got us talking about tuck in the first place. After a long discussion, we decided the best course regarding commander-ness was no change. Your commander is always your commander regardless of where it is or its status. That means enough hits from a face-down commander can kill you.

We're also doing a little administrative cleanup on the rules page, so look for that in the near future.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

July 13, 2015
ScottLarabee wrote: JULY 13, 2015 COMMANDER BANNED LIST UPDATE

BANNED LIST
No Changes

RULES CHANGES
No Changes

With the "tuck rule" changes made back in March, no rule changes are on the docket this time around. The tuck rule changes will be in the Magic Comprehensive Rules update that will be released with Magic Origins.

Speaking of Magic Origins, it is about to release and we're all pretty excited! Looks like a great set for Commander.

The 5 double-faced Legendary Creatures in Magic Origins are, of course, playable as commanders. Remember:
- They're still Commanders while their Planeswalker side is face up.
- If they leave play while they are a Planeswalker, they can return to the Command Zone (though they return with the Legendary side face up).

Have fun, everyone!

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

September 28, 2015
Ban Ki-moon wrote: BANNED LIST
No changes

RULES CHANGES
No changes

As always, there are some best cards in the format, and there are some most-annoying cards in the format, but we don't feel that any of them are egregiously inappropriate at this point. Magic is fun.

There will be no rules changes this round, but given the success of the mulligan tests in Vancouver this year we are taking a close look at the Commander mulligan. Our unique "EDH mulligan," aka, Partial Paris, has always been a great tool to help ensure that each game of Commander was fair and memorable as possible, but it has always had its downsides as well. We believe that the Vancouver mulligan might fill many of the same roles as Partial Paris while alleviating some of those downsides. We'll be making our final decision on whether to switch in the next cycle, so until then any input that players can provide will be read and appreciated!

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

January 18, 2016
papa_funk wrote: Summary:

* Commander-specific mulligan rules are removed
* Rule 4 (mana generation restriction) is removed
* Prophet of Kruphix is banned


Mulligans:

We promised in the last update that, with the advent of the Vancouver Mulligan, we'd be evaluating the mulligan process in Commander. This announcement is the culmination of that research. After examining several popular options, and coming up with a few of our own, we've concluded that the Vancouver Mulligan (with the standard first-one-free in multiplayer and a scry once you go to 6 or fewer) is the best option. The RC continues to use and recommend the Gis ("Mulligan 7s to a playable hand. Don't abuse this") for trusted playgroups, but that's not something that can go in the rules.

Ultimately, the goal of mulligans in Commander is to ensure that you start the game with enough lands to be a participant. With Commander games running an hour plus, it's unfortunate if you can't play anything because you miss land drops and get run over quickly.

We didn't want to solve the problems of Magic itself - mana screw and mana flood are part of the game - and players need to make a reasonable effort with their land counts, but we wanted a mulligan rule that tried to minimize unplayable opening hands. So, we brainstormed, and ran computer simulations. And what ultimately came out was... it didn't much matter. Nothing provided a clear enough upgrade to justify having additional rules for mulligans. For example, with 37 lands, Partial Paris was "successful" (which we defined as playing a 4th land on turn 4) 89% of the time versus Multiplayer Vancouver at 86%, but it came at a cost of about a fifth of a card on average. On the whole, 86% success is a rate that seems reasonable.

If you find yourself playing 1v1 (perhaps while waiting for a friend to show up), you should still use the free multiplayer mulligan. With a deck this size, variance is high enough to make not having the free mulligan potentially punishing - without the free mulligan you drop down to about 80% success rate, which, combined with being the only opponent to focus on, leads to too many unfortunate games.

Finally, it's not an official rule, but we recommend setting aside the hands you're mulliganning away until you get a keeper. That saves shuffling time, and we're all for minimizing shuffling 100-card decks.


Rule 4:

We still love Rule 4. It's a nice piece of flavor and reinforces the idea that this format goes beyond simple mechanical restrictions into a deeper philosophical approach around color and mana symbols. Its effect on the game was pretty small, but that flavor message made it worthwhile to preserve.

However, the mana system of Magic is very complicated, and trying to insert an extra rule there has consequences in the corners. Harvest Mage. Celestial Dawn. Gauntlet of Power. And now, colorless-only mana costs.

Being able to generate colorless mana more easily in Commander wasn't going to break anything. But, it represented another "gotcha" moment for players, who were now likely to learn about Rule 4 when someone exploited the colorless loophole. We could paper over it (both "mana generated from off-color sources can only pay generic costs" and "you can't pay a cost outside your color identity" were considered), but a lot of the flavor would be lost in the transition, defeating the purpose. Without the resonant flavor, Rule 4 was increasingly looking like mana burn - a rule that didn't come up enough to justify it's existence.

We don't expect removing the rule to have a big impact. Some Sunburst and Converge cards might get a bit more of a look. Sen Triplets works more like you'd expect, as does Praetor's Grasp. The clone-and-steal deck, already one of the most popular archetypes, gets better, but less than you might think. It turns out there really aren't that many impactful non-blue activated abilities on cards that commonly get stolen in Commander. It's OK if you can regenerate that creature you just stole, and you'll need to work for it a bit anyway.

One side benefit to the removal of both the color production and mulligan rules is that, in terms of game play, Commander becomes a normal game of multiplayer Magic with a higher life total and a set of additive rules to bring a new piece (your Commander) into the game. That's good streamlining in terms of teaching people the format and reducing gotcha moments while still preserving the essential flavor of Commander.


Prophet of Kruphix:

This was challenging. Prophet is not a traditionally obvious problem card for Commander, so we chose to take a conservative approach and see if casual groups could adapt. In the past, we've seen unpopular cards generate a lot of outcry, but be handled reasonably well. Powerful cards existing is OK and exploring them responsibly is an essential part of Commander.

This didn't happen with Prophet. Casual groups haven't been able to work around it and problematic play has not dropped off in hoped-for ways. Instead, the primary approach has been to steal it, clone it, run it yourself, or get run over. Ultimately, it seems the card is too perfect - it does everything U/G Commander players want to be doing and it does it in a way that makes counterplay difficult. With traditional boogeymen such as Consecrated Sphinx, you're forced to expend a lot of your mana to cast it and will have a challenge protecting it as the turn goes around the table. With Prophet, it has virtual protection built in, negating that disadvantage almost immediately.

Prophet becomes only the second multicolored card on the banlist (after the structurally-problematic Coalition Victory). It's telling just how pervasive Prophet is despite such a restriction. Yes, U/G is the most popular color combination in Commander, but we've reached the point where Prophet is driving U/G deck choice, rather than vice-versa. That's centralizing in ways we can't ignore, so it's time for Prophet to take a break.

Whenever we decide to ban a card, we take a long look at the current list to see if any cards can come off, as we believe a casual format is better served by a minimalist banlist. After extensive discussion, however, we concluded that everything on the list served a purpose, so we won't be unbanning anything. It's been two years since the last (non-consolidation) card got banned, which is an acceptable growth rate!

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

April 4, 2016
Sheldon wrote: April 2016 Commander Banned List Update

Banned List
No changes

Rules
No changes

Shadows Over Innistrad is bringing us all a host of new toys to play with, so for this update we're not going to distract you with any changes. The removal of Rule 4 and the banning of Prophet of Kruphix seem to have helped strike the balance we expected them to. We're currently quite happy with where we are, both in the state of the banned list and the popularity of the format. Thanks to the everyone in the community for your continued support.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

July 18, 2016
Sheldon wrote: 18 July 2016

Banned List: No Changes

Rules: No Changes

The Eldritch Moon update for Commander is far more than "no changes, the format is healthy." In one of our longest-ever Commander Rules Committee meetings, we delved into breaking down our process to ensure that even a "no changes" result went through the same rigorous discussion and debate as would a much larger update. We talked about how and why people get into the format, why they keep playing (or don't), the scope of the Banned List, and, of course, cards. We went through our now-routine exercise of making an argument for removing a card from the Banned List. In the end, we found ourselves quite happy with where the format is at the moment as well as its direction for the future.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

September 25, 2016
Sheldon wrote: 26 Sep 2016

Banned List: No Changes

Rules: No Changes*

It's been an exciting summer for Commander players, with the release of Eldritch Moon, Conspiracy: Take the Crown, and now Kaladesh. New cards, new mechanics, and new versions of a few old friends mean new directions for deck builders to explore. It's even more exciting to us that the format is in such a healthy place that no changes are required. As we do each time, we examined cards from both sides of the banned list and found the balance much to our liking. As the Rules Committee celebrates our tenth year, we remain committed to actively maintaining that equilibrium. We look forward to sharing the ride with you for the next ten.

* One small change we're going to make is to remove the House Rules page from the web site. Having it there has led to some confusion about which rules are official and which aren't, specifically sideboards (or "wish boards" as they're called). In our continuing effort to clarify and simplify, we've chosen to remove the confusion. We nonetheless encourage you to develop your own house rules where the Official Rules don't fit your local groups.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

January 16, 2017
papa_funk wrote: NO CHANGES

Sheldon's piece on the state of the format a couple weeks ago probably gave away this update. As he says, the format is in a healthy place, and we don't see a need to make changes.

Some folks have talked about a preemptive banning of Paradox Engine, but we won't do that. Every card - even Griselbrand - gets to be legal for at least a little while, as we prefer to look at actual play in casual settings over theory. I'll note that the last time we saw this much speculation about a preemptive ban was Shaman of Forgotten Ways, and that card turned out just fine.

Wizards has adopted a new ban schedule that features an additional window five weeks out. To maintain the parallel, we will also make short announcements then, but we do not expect to make changes during those windows except in the unlikely event of an emergency.

We may make small changes to the format philosophy page in the coming weeks. There's no change in the philosophy itself, but it's been a few years since we updated it, and there are bits we feel might be expressed more clearly. So, we're planning to take an active look at it to see what might be improved.

Aether Revolt brings a bunch of new toys (and a Legendary Monkey token!) to the party. Have fun brewing, and embrace the chaos.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

April 24, 2017
Sheldon wrote: APRIL 24, 2017

BANNED
Leovold, Emissary of Trest

UNBANNED
Protean Hulk

RULES
No changes.

We had hopes for Leovold and gave him every opportunity to prove that he would be strong but safe in the format. He simply wasn't. Leovold violates the tenet of creating undesirable game states by easily locking other players out of the game. We prefer to encourage situations in which everyone gets to play, and it's too easy for Leovold to create the opposite, even unintentionally.

On the other hand, we feel as though it's time to let Protean Hulk off the leash. A number of factors led to this decision. Support within the community has been tilting toward Protean Hulk for quite some time. Inside the Rules Committee, we have been leaning in that direction for a while as well, but didn't have enough of a consensus. Now we do. We acknowledge that the card will be strong, but are of the opinion that it won't be the centralizing factor it once would have been. Back when Protean Hulk was banned, both creatures and graveyard control were nowhere near as strong as they are today. We know combo possibilities exist with the card, but they need to be specifically built around, so to us it becomes a great value card instead of a dangerous combo piece in casual environments. We suspect that Protean Hulk will be much like Kokusho, the Evening Star when it was unbanned: powerful but not broken in the current Commander landscape.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

July 9, 2017
Sheldon wrote: July 2017 Update

Banned List: No Changes

Rules: No Changes

Banned List Announcement Clarification

Our friends in R&D have adopted an understandably aggressive approach to looking at the Banned and Restricted lists for other formats more often than we find necessary for Commander. As more of a clarification than a change, we'll continue making our announcements quarterly, on the Monday after each pre-release. You'll see updates from us 25 September 2017 (Ixalan) and 15 January 2018 (Rivals of Ixalan). Until then, here's hoping you're enjoying the new toys Hour of Devastation brings you.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

September 25, 2017
Genomancer wrote: September 2017 Update

Banned List: No Changes

Rules: No Changes

The past quarter has seen a number of exciting developments, but things seem very healthy. Growth is steady based on our sampling of online discussion participation, public Commander events at premier events, and reports from third party playgroups.

Commander 2017 has been a great addition, and once again demonstrated WotC's commitment to, and understanding of, the format. We've received a lot of positive reports from both new and experienced players.

The RC had some extensive discussions internally, and with WotC, about the future of the format. We've got pretty good consensus on what we're trying to achieve, but have established some additional process for calibrating and communicating our opinions of individual cards and general mechanics.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

January 15, 2018
Sheldon wrote: JANUARY 15, 2018

CARDS
No changes.

RULES
No changes*

* As previously mentioned, the legality of silver-bordered cards expires with this announcement.

The format is in a pretty good place, demonstrated by the amount of fun folks had with 45 days of Un-cards. From the reports we've gathered and some of our own experience, silvered-bordered cards did what we wanted: provided a different kind of wacky enjoyment to the format. Most of what we've heard from the fan base is overwhelmingly positive, signaling that similar such temporary deviations (although probably not in the same form or style) are within the realm of possibilities in the future.

We hope that this time has offered local groups, especially those which might have been initially resistant to the idea, a better gauge on whether or not silver-bordered is right for them. With that, we return to your traditional format, ready to charge into the remainder of 2018 in all of its battle cruiser glory.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

April 23, 2018
ScottLarabee wrote: APRIL 23, 2018

CARDS
No changes.

RULES
No changes

If you haven't yet read Sheldon's article (with special guest Toby Elliott) on Starcity two weeks ago, you can have a read at http://www.starcitygames.com/article/36 ... an-Me.html.

Toby answered quite a few questions about Commander and explained where the format is currently. We feel the format is currently is a good place, so no changes for now.

Dominaria looks great for Commander with tons of new Legendary creature with which to brew up new decks.

Have fun everyone!

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

July 9, 2018
papa_funk wrote: No changes.

Commander is going strong and the influx of Legends from Dominaria has given brewers plenty to work with. Nothing we feel has hit a power or ubiquity point where we need to take action, especially with Commander 2018 coming up soon to shake things up.

All five of the original Elder Dragons return with M19. From a Vorthos perspective, this is a big deal, and it's exciting to think that Commander played a part in it happening. Celebrate by getting together with your friends for some updated Elder Dragon battles!

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

October 1, 2018
OCTOBER 1, 2018

CARDS
No changes.

RULES
No changes

It has been a fantastic summer for Commander. Releases of Battlebond, Core 2019, Commander 2018 have given us all tons of new options for battles! The Guilds of Ravnica release is upon us now and Ravnica Allegiance will be here before we know it!

The committee feels that all is well at present. We'll be back in January with a new update.

Have fun everyone!

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

January 20, 2019
Sheldon wrote: 21 January 2019

CARDS
No Changes

RULES
No changes

As usual, we discussed many of the borderline cards that players throughout the community chat about; we're okay with where we are at the moment. We spent more of our time this quarter on a different kind of change.

As the popularity of Commander grows, it's important for the Rules Committee to hear from a broader range of voices who share our vision of Commander and can contribute new and novel methods of implementing that vision. With that in mind, we're excited to announce the formation of the Commander Advisory Group (CAG) to serve as the primary advisory body to the Commander Rules Committee (RC). Its membership is composed of well-known and well-regarded personalities from the Commander community. Members serve voluntarily, for indefinite terms, and at the discretion of the RC. Their role is to provide feedback on topics suggested by the RC, and raise issues that they believe need attention.

We searched far and wide to find the folks we think will best support our goals for the CAG and represent the great individual diversity of the people in the Commander community. There were definitely a greater number of deserving candidates than we had slots for. The members are:

Adam "Stybs" Styborski: Magic writer, content manager, 10-year Commander player, GP and Pro Tour Coverage team member. Twitter: @the_stybs. Website: thepaupercube.com

Charlotte Sable: Level 3 Judge, rules guru, Commander player since the EDH days. Twitter: @JqlGirl. Website: magicjudge.tumblr.com

Josh Lee Kwai: Former movie trailer editor at Disney and Universal. Current CEO of The Command Zone channel on YouTube and creator/director of Game Knights. Twitter: @JoshLeeKwai

Rachel Agnes: Content creator, a self-described faerie girl in an Eldrazi world. Commander player for about five years, huge Commander Cube fan. Rachel Agnes on Facebook and @baetog_ on Twitter and Twitch.

Ron Foster: Long time Organized Play figure, former Global Manager of the Grand Prix program; Japanese translator; brought/popularized Commander in Japan. Commander player from nearly the beginning. Twitter: @RonMFoster

Shivam Bhatt: Co-host of the Commanderin' podcast, cultural critic. Commander player since 2011. Twitter: @ghirapurigears

Please join us in congratulating them on their selection and welcoming them to the team.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

April 29, 2019
Sheldon wrote: CARDS
No Changes

RULES
Added Rule 0: These are the official rules of Commander. Local groups are welcome to modify them as they see fit. If you'd like an exception to these rules, especially in an unfamiliar environment, please get the approval of the other players before the game begins.

Rule 13 reworded for clarification: Abilities which bring card(s) you own from outside the game into the game (such as Wishes; Spawnsire of Ulamog; Karn, the Great Creator) do not function in Commander.

This is the first update after the formation of the Commander Advisory Group, and the CAG really rose to the occasion.

"No changes" on cards doesn't really reflect the amount of discussion that went into our decision this time. The CAG had submitted to the RC their thoughts on the Banned List and the individual cards on it, but we (meaning both the RC and CAG) agreed there is a strong reason to take no action at this time. One of the major (and unanimous) points that came out of the joint RC/CAG meeting was that we'd like to update the Commander Philosophy document before making any further Banned List changes. We're not going to engage in any sweeping overhauls, just make the language crisper, cleaner, and more concise. We haven't changed the core philosophy of Commander: it is and always will be primarily a social format. As we frequently say, we want it to be the best that it can be on its own terms, and one of those terms is to have it be an alternative to tournament Magic. We continue to recognize that many different play styles are valid. One of the messages that we'll be reinforcing in the new philosophy document is that pre-game discussion to make sure everyone is on the same page is vital—which led to our adoption of Rule 0.

Rule 0 has been part of Commander philosophy for more than a decade. Urged by the CAG, we simply decided to formalize it. Making it the first rule does two things. First, it lays out the baseline rules for the format. If you want to play official Commander, the rules that follow are set in stone. This becomes important in unfamiliar environments. When you go to a large event or play with people you don't know, we want everyone to have the same basic expectations and understanding of what they're getting into. Second, it underscores that quality communication is one of the best ways to ensure the best possible experience.

We reworked Rule 13 due to some ongoing confusion over the "officialness" of sideboards and wish boards. While (here comes Rule 0 again) we support local groups deciding what's best for themselves in this regard, we wanted to clarify for the broader audience that no one can force you into letting "outside the game" cards work in a different way.

The other major discussion, driven by War of the Spark, was regarding planeswalkers as commanders. We will not be changing the definition of what can be a commander to allow all planeswalkers into the command zone. The RC and CAG were also unanimous on this point.

Expect to see more from the excellent advice that the CAG is offering to the RC in the next update, coinciding with the M20 release. Until then, enjoy War of the Spark, a set chock full of Commander goodies.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

July 8, 2019
Commander Banned List Update, 8 July 2019

ADMIN
Philosophy Document Update

CARDS
Paradox Engine is banned
Iona, Shield of Emeria is banned
Painter's Servant is unbanned

RULES
No changes.

The Philosophy Document update coalesces the important elements of how we think about the format into a concise and easily-digestible set of ideals, answering the question "what is Commander?" We haven't changed the underlying philosophy of Commander: it's specifically intended to be something other than a tournament format in which players consider each other's experiences alongside their own. You'll notice that we've eliminated categories for banning cards. We'd found that many folks misinterpreted them as hard criteria for banning as opposed the guidelines we always considered them. There might be some common threads among banned cards, but the primary reason cards get put on the list is that they challenge the positive experience we want to promote.

Paradox Engine is a card that has proven to be intensely problematic. Not only does it provide easy wins seemingly out of nowhere, it has demonstrated the potential to unintentionally wreck games. Easily inserted into any deck, it combines with cards which players already have heavy incentives to play, generating a great deal of mana with virtually no deck building cost. While we don't ban cards which are only problematic if you build around them, Paradox Engine has clearly demonstrated that it doesn't need to be built around to be broken.

Iona, Shield of Emeria creates a negative experience for many players without the benefit of a positive application. We had previously considered its high mana cost sufficient to keep it from getting played, but deeper investigation demonstrated many ways of getting it onto the battlefield without paying that cost. Iona, Shield of Emeria is also an exemplar as the type of card which creates an experience we wish to discourage, namely shutting players out of games.

Painter's Servant is a card that's been discussed for a long time and it's time to take off the shackles. We feel as though there are now more weird and fun uses for the card than there are dangerous ones. The card will provide deck builders with some additional paths to explore in expressing their creativity.

Many thanks to the Commander Advisory Group for the input and insights into putting together this update. Their presence continues to add great value to the format.

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

September 30, 2019
Scott Larabee wrote: September 30, 2019

CARDS
No changes.

RULES
No changes

After the changes in July, we feel the format is in a fine state for now.

3 new sets have released since then:

- Commander 2020 is perhaps the best received Commander set ever.
- Modern Horizons offers a slew of new goodies and Commanders (it got me to finally build a ninja themed deck, which I have been wanting to do for years).
- Throne of Eldraine is now available and should provide many days (and knights) of 100-card shenanigans!

We'll be back in 2020 with another update. Have fun everyone!

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Post by cryogen » 4 years ago

January 20, 2020
Gavin Duggan wrote: With a busy year in the books, we open 2020 all quiet on the B&R front.

The format continues to grow in all its forms, but there's been a lot of good discussion about ways to improve and capitalize on opportunities. With the introduction of Commander-focused premier events, the number of games played outside local playgroups is rising. Similarly, more games are being played between friends, in stores and homes, than ever before.

In terms of cards, there were no consensus threats to players' enjoyment and we're not making any changes at this time. We continue to emphasize the importance of pre-game discussions as an important part of finding enjoyable games.

Oh, and we're releasing a new website.

In addition to hosting the rules, banned list, and leadership contact information, members of the rules committee will be posting regular content here. The new site also aims to help players find interesting content about the format, from across the web.

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Post by cryogen » 3 years ago

April 20, 2020
Toby Elliot wrote:Companion
When we first saw the companion mechanic, our immediate reaction was "well, this is cool; it won't work in Commander." But, looking at the mechanic, there was nothing problematic about it. It was actually the kind of thing we really like to encourage. Brew with restrictions! Since we want the rules of Commander to match up to Magic where possible and healthy for the format, we took a second look.

We still don't think Wishes and the other get-other-cards-from-outside-the-game are something we want in Commander. We outline our stance on wishes in the FAQ and none of the concerns we have with them applied here. The only issue was that the mechanic referred to outside the game. If the companion started in the Command Zone or Exile, it would have been fine. Since that's clearly an arbitrary mechanical distinction, how could we adjust the rules to reflect this?

It turns out that it was easy. The problem with all prior mechanics which used outside-the-game was their open-endedness. They brought cards in from a giant unbounded set. All we had to do was change one word in Rule 11:

11: Abilities which bring other card(s) you own from outside the game into the game (such as Living Wish; Spawnsire of Ulamog; Karn, the Great Creator) do not function in Commander.

Companion now works within the framework of Commander – it's bringing itself in – and nothing else changes. Similar mechanics will be fine in the future as long as they remain self-contained (though if we think they're problematic, we'll obviously take another look and ask ourselves why).

We recognize that this does let you go past the 100 card rule that is iconic to Commander. However, a single extra card you have to jump through serious hoops to get is philosophically okay in the same way that a tiny number of cards (like Relentless Rats) are able to violate the even-more-important singleton rule.

Lutri
That left Lutri. We hate the idea of banning a card prior to release. We gave serious consideration to announcing that the card would almost certainly be banned with Core 2021 and letting it be legal rather than break our stance that all cards should be given a chance.

The argument that finally won the day was that not everyone would see that announcement. Many people would buy a legal Lutri as it goes alongside every deck with red and blue in it. Knowing that it would certainly be banned, we were uncomfortable setting up those folks, who are in many ways our primary audience, for far greater disappointment. Better to bend our stance.

This is where we say that it was a one-time thing and we don't expect it to happen again, but that might not be entirely accurate. Wizards is free to explore weird spaces, and, as demonstrated here, those spaces may occasionally do something really problematic. If another card comes along that also does something novel that is incompatible with the format, we'll ban it immediately. Note that "stupidly powerful" is not novel; those cards will get their chance to prove themselves.

Flash
Speaking of exceptional decisions, we are banning Flash (the card, not the mechanic). Enough cEDH players who we trust have convinced us that it is the only change they need for the environment they seek to cultivate. Though they represent a small fraction of the Commander playerbase, we are willing to make this effort for them. It should not be taken as a signal that we are considering any kind of change in how we intend to manage the format; this is an extraordinary step, and one we are unlikely to repeat.

We use the banlist to guide players in how to approach the format and hope Flash's role on the list will be to signal "cheating things into play quickly in non-interactive ways isn't interesting, don't do that."

We believe Commander is still best as a social-focused format and will not be making any changes to accommodate tournament play. Taking responsibility for your and your opponents' fun, including setting expectations with your group, is a fundamental part of the Commander philosophy. Organizers who want to move towards more untrusted games should consider adding additional rules or guidance to create the Commander experience they want to offer.

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