Hi everyone. For those who may not know, I have been conducting an annual survey about the Commander ban list and some of the more controversial and debated rules of the format. This year however, I'm both widening the scope of the survey as well as conducting it on a medium that I hope will result in much more feedback for the Rules Committee.
The questions are a mix of ones that i have asked in previous years, questions i see brought up constantly, as well as ones that I crafted based on reading feedback the RC has given similar polls in the past.
The poll should take five to ten minutes to fill out, so hopefully you'll participate. And please, share this with your friends and other players, because the larger the sample size the better the data will be for the RC.
Thanks!
Results - 10,760 total responses
Distribution of survey:
In addition to this site, I posted this survey on MTGSalvation, Reddit (r/EDH and /TGCmagic), Twitter, two of my local Facebook groups, and a Discord server I'm on. In addition, a Reddit user posted the poll on the cEDH sub, and on Twitter the survey was shared by Sheldon, Bennie Smith, and some other high profile Twitter accounts. It was also discussed on an episode of the CommanderCast podcast. Beyond that, I'm not sure where it was shared by other people.
Question One - Which of these banned cards do you think should be UNBANNED?
Note: This question was missing "I don't want any of these cards banned" and "I want to leave all these cards banned" options, so there is potentially a very slight skew to these results. However, that should not affect the overall results. I mention this mostly as a reminder for when I look at this poll in preparation for next year.
Cards which got 25% or higher are in bold
Balance - 11% (1,054)
Biorhythm - 28.1% (2,704)
Black Lotus - 3.5% (334)
Braids, Cabal Minion - 28.7% (2,759)
Coalition Victory - 40.6% (3,907)
Channel - 4.2% (407)
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - 17.6% (1,693)
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant - 8.9% (855)
Fastbond - 6.8% (656)
Gifts Ungiven - 35.8% (3,446
Griselbrand - 13.5% (1,297)
Iona, Shield of Emeria - 26.8% (2,576)
Karakas - 7.2% (689)
Leovold, Emissary of Trest - 15.3% (1,473)
Library of Alexandria - 10.1% (976)
Limited Resources - 6.3% (602)
Mox Emerald - 4.8% (463)
Mox Jet - 4.9 (470)
Mox Pearl - 4.9% (475)
Mox Ruby - 5% (478)
Mox Sapphire - 4.9% (473)
Panoptic Mirror - 13.9% (1,338)
Paradox Engine - 39.4% (3,787)
Primeval Titan - 30.7% (2,948)
Prophet of Kruphix - 25.4% (2,444)
Recurring Nightmare - 23.1% (2,221)
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary - 18.5% (1,777)
Sway of the Stars - 14.9% (1,436)
Sundering Titan - 20.4% (1,963)
Sylvan Primordial - 23.5% (2,260)
Time Vault - 2.9% ((276)
Time Walk - 3.3% (321)
Tinker - 9.6% (922)
Tolarian Academy - 16% (1,543)
Trade Secrets - 7.9% (764)
Upheaval - 11.6% (1,118)
Worldfire - 21.8% (2,098)
Yawgmoth's Bargain - 10.9% (1,051)
Question Two - Which of these legal cards do you think should be BANNED?
Note: Not included were options for "I don't want to ban any additional cards" or to ban something as a Commander only. The Google Form makes it hard to see options which got very low numbers of write-ins, but Thrasios, Triton Hero got at least 80 votes.
Cards which got 25% or higher are in bold
Ancient Tomb - 4.4% (381)
Basalt Monolith - 2.7% (233)
Bazaar of Baghdad - 6.5% (564)
Blightsteel Colossus - 7.3% (636)
Consecrated Sphinx - 4.9% (429)
Craterhoof Behemoth - 3.3% (288)
Cyclonic Rift - 26% (2,258)
Deadeye Navigator - 8.4% (724)
Demonic Tutor - 6.5% (567)
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - 5.1% (438)
Doomsday - 6.7% (581)
Doubling Season - 4.4% (379)
Enlightened Tutor - 2.3% (202)
Enter the Infinite - 2.6% (226)
Expropriate - 12.9% (1,115)
Felidar Sovereign - 4.3% (375)
Flash - 37.5% (3,253)
Food Chain - 12.3% (1,065)
Gaea's Cradle - 12.2% (1,055)
Grim Monolith - 4.6% (396)
Hermit Druid - 5.7% (496)
Intuition - 1.6% (142)
Imperial Seal - 4.3% (377)
Isochron Scepter - 5% (434)
Laboratory Maniac - 3.2% (274)
Mana Crypt - 26.2% (2,273)
Mana Drain - 4.5% (392)
Mana Vault - 14.2% (1,232)
Metalworker - 3.2% (281)
Mishra's Workshop - 8% (697)
Mystical Tutor - 2.6% (227)
Narset, Parter of Veils - 5.7% (496)
Nexus of Fate - 4.9% (421)
Omniscience - 4.3% (369)
Painter's Servant - 6.7% (583)
Palinchron - 4.1% (396)
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher - 1.1% (94)
Protean Hulk - 14.1% (1,220)
Razaketh, the Foulblooded - 1.5% (133)
Serra Ascendent - 4.9% (426)
Sol Ring - 22.7% (1,970)
Stasis - 10.5% (913)
Survival of the Fittest - 3.5% (301)
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale - 12.7 (1,097)
Time Stretch - 3% (263)
Timetwister - 7.8% (676)
Tooth and Nail - 5.9% (509)
Triumph of the Horde - 2.8% (246)
Urza, Lord High Artificer - 6.2% (538)
Vampiric Tutor - 4.5% (392)
Vilis, Broker of Blood - 0.8% (67)
Winter Orb - 15.5% (1,343)
Worldly Tutor - 2.4% (211)
Yawgmoth's Will - 3% (262)
Question Three - How satisfied are you with the July 2019 announcement?
Somewhat satisfied - 23.2% (2,469)
Neither satisfied nor unsatisfied - 24.2% (2,579)
Somewhat unsatisfied - 19% (2, 029)
Very unsatisfied - 22.1% (2,352)
Question Four - Commander damage should be
The "Cumulative among all generals should have been worded differently to also give options to change the overall amount of damage. Write-ins included "cumulative and increased", "20 (half starting life total)", "cumulative among partners", and "cumulative and 40".
Increased - 1.6% (174)
Decreased - 3.1% (328)
Cumulative among all generals - 20.3% (2,167)
Removed altogether - 7.2% (764)
Question Five - The starting life total should be
Write-in options included 20 and 35, along with a number of "30 with condition (such as commander damage change)"
Decreased to 30 life - 19.4% (2,065)
Increased to 50 life - 2.6% (275)
Question Six - Infect should be
Approximately 2% of participants wrote in 20 points. 21 points was also written in a few times.
Increased to 15 points - 31.6% (3,377)
Infect should be banned altogether - 3% (325)
Question Seven - The color identity rule should be
I got feedback that the options were too limiting, so next year I can try to give better options or wording. The most frequent write-ins were the devoid mechanic, and to allow hybrid while simultaneously preventing off-color fetches.
More strict to include flavorfully off-color cards (such as fetchlands) - 13.9% (1,486)
Relaxed to include off-color hybrid mana cards - 19.9% (2,119
Removed altogether - 0.7% (77)
Question Eight - How should "wish" effects function in Commander
The most common write-in was to allow them to pull cards from exile.
Create a wish board of a fixed size - 38.5% (4,102)
Let them pull any card from your collection - 8% (851)
Question Nine - The "tuck" rule should be
Brought back - 10.9% (1,157)
I am indifferent to this change - 26.4% (2,810)
Question Ten - The "Banned as a Commander List"
So I actually missed Rofellos in the options. I also got comments that there was no option to bring back the list with fewer cards on it.
Should be brought back with Braids and Erayo back on it - 19.2% (2,036)
Should be brought back with more generals added to it - 25.3% (2,673)
Question Eleven - Planeswalkers as commanders should be
Changed to legalize all planeswalkers as commanders - 37.6% (4,015)
Question Twelve - Overall, how satisfied are you with the rules as they currently exist?
Moderately satisfied - 46.8% (5,008)
Somewhat satisfied - 15.9% (1,706)
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied - 5.9% (632)
Somewhat dissatisfied5.2% (562)
Moderately dissatisfied - 2.3% (251)
Extremely dissatisfied - 1.6% (168)
Question Thirteen - Overall, how satisfied are you with the way the Rules Committee manages the format?
Moderately satisfied - 26.2% (2,798)
Somewhat satisfied - 14.2% (1,519)
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied - 11.6% (1,238)
Somewhat dissatisfied - 13.3% (1,420)
Moderately dissatisfied - 11.7% (1,249)
Extremely dissatisfied - 10.5% (1,123)
Question 14 - What amount of input do you feel Wizards of the Coast should have in managing the format?
A little input - 38.9% (4,154)
A decent amount of input - 25% (2,665)
A lot of input - 7.1% (763)
Wizards should take full control of the format - 12.3% (1,310)
Question Fifteen - How much of an influence do you think you have over the format?
This question was worded poorly because the question asks how much influence you have over the format, but the 1 to 10 scale went from "I have no influence at all" to "I feel that my voice is heard and respected by the Rules Committee". In the future the question needs to be better worded so that it is clear the intent is that I am trying to find out if you think your voice is being heard by the RC.
2 - 13.7% (1,458)
3 - 11.7% (1,249
4 - 5.6% (602)
5 - 8.3% (886)
6 - 4.5% (477)
7 - 4% (431)
8 - 2.1% (226)
9 - 0.6% (63)
10 - 1.3% (138)
Question Sixteen - For how long have you been playing Commander?
One to three years - 22.7% (2,435)
Three to five years - 25.4% (2,720)
Five to eight years - 24.4% (2,614)
Commander? Don't you mean EDH? - 22.6% (2,425)
Question Seventeen - On what continent do you currently live?
Australia actually isn't a continent (thank you public school 30 years ago). The correct response should have been "Oceania", which I added shortly after the poll opened.
South America - 4.4% (470)
Europe - 15.8% (1,688)
Asia - 4.9% (524)
Africa - 0.3% (310
Oceania - 3.1% (336)
Australia - 0.0% (28)
Question Eighteen - What is you favorite Magic format besides Commander?
Write-ins included Cube, Pauper, Oathbreaker, Canadian Highlander, and kitchen table
Standard - 9.4% (1,003)
Modern - 21% (2,241)
Legacy - 9.2% (986)
Vintage - 1.7% (187)
There are other formats? - 18.5% (1,972)