2022 AUGUST RC QUARTERLY UPDATE

[Hermes_]

Cards

No Changes

Rules
No Changes

Administrative
Commander Advisory Group (CAG) additions

At the moment, there are no cards which we feel need banning. We recognize that there has been a fair amount of discussion of both Dockside Extortionist and Thassa's Oracle. For the moment, we believe that both of these cards have been self-selected to the appropriate tables. Dockside Extortionist is far closer to the line due to the recent uptick in Treasure-related cards; it will remain firmly in our sights. Thassa's Oracle remains distant enough that we don't consider it a serious cause for concern. When it comes to evaluating cards for banning, it's not just what a card does (its power), but what a card does to the broader format (its impact). We don't currently see a negative enough impact

Quite a bit of energy has gone into discussing one of the community's most talked-about issues, untrusted games—those in which you don't know the other people you're sitting down with. This is a tough nut to crack. Foremost, we don't believe it's an issue that we can ban our way into solving. What we think we can do is help not just players, but LGS owners/managers and event organizers, with some best practices and other advice on how to craft the kind of Commander environment they want. There isn't a single, homogenized view among all the people who are running Commander in various places, so one of our new efforts going forward will be to provide those folks with some living documentation that will help them get to where they'd like to go.

One of the other things we've spent time on is RC expansion. We've conducted two rounds of interviews over the last few months and are on the verge of making a decision. We aren't going to make it at the moment, but we expect to announce the addition(s) before the next quarterly update–likely some time in the middle of September. As we've been thinking about RC membership, we've taken the opportunity to talk with some folks that we'd love to hear more from.

To that end, welcome three outstanding individuals onto the Commander Advisory Group: Rebell, Benjamin Wheeler, and Tim Willoughby. Rebell brings deep knowledge of the format across all levels of play and she combines it with an insatiable drive for building high-quality, inclusive communities. Few people know community-built formats better than Wheeler, who was responsible for crafting both Canadian Highlander and Gladiator, then bringing them to the Magic forefront. His propensity for building oddball Commander decks is now legendary. Tim was an early adopter of EDH, jamming games with Sheldon and other judges as early as 2005 in the after-hours of professional Magic events. His essay on why each card is banned is commonly regarded as the best of its kind and will be adapted for inclusion on the RC website. Each of our new members brings to the table a unique voice paired with a first-rate Magic and Commander mind. We look forward to their advice on both existing and new projects. You can check out their bios over on the RC website.

There's a specific channel on the Commander RC Discord server dedicated to discussing the quarterly updates. We look forward to you stopping on by and discussing it, as well as a host of other topics, with now more than 7,000 friends.

https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/2022 ... 0ZIyCCXM7g

[void_nothing]

Look at that - turns out the sky didn't fall and that "important business" was just adding new members.

[duducrash]

It's amazing how the RC makes absolutely no efforts to include people of different cultures in the conversation.

[Hermes_]

It's amazing how the RC makes absolutely no efforts to include people of different cultures in the conversation.

Are you on the discord.....

[Hermes_]

It's amazing how the RC makes absolutely no efforts to include people of different cultures in the conversation.

I know you saw it but for others"

:So, a comment by user on mtgnexus feels that the RC makes absolutely no efforts to include people of different cultures in the conversation. I'm guessing this person is talking about the lack of Latam members. Are you folks looking outside the westeren hempshere/ northern ?"
Shivam — Today at 10:54 AM
Yes, we are. It's an important issue to me personally and I know it's a big deal for others on the body as well

[Venedrex]

The RC right now:

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[Hawk]

The RC right now:

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Hilarious! Yeah, all that hand-wringing to have no updates is funny stuff although I am glad they're continuing to add more perspectives and voices to the rules committee.

[PrimevalCommander]

Lot of to-do about that facebook post for them not really telling us anything. They haven't even chosen the new RC member(s) yet. New CAG sure, but is that fundamentally changing the future of the format by nominating a few more CAG members? New RC member is cool, but they didn't offer a position yet and have been interviewing for months. I don't understand the urgency of the meeting and the vagueness of the social media post. Odd.

[RedCheese]

So that was a nothing burger

[DirkGently]

Yep, that was firmly in my "meh" category.

Oh well. They'll unban library next time, I'm sure of it.

[Hermes_]

Yep, that was firmly in my "meh" category.

Oh well. They'll unban library next time, I'm sure of it.

Well, they didn't ban you so I'm disappointed

[Jemolk]

I wonder if they thought it was urgent because they had some stuff they had to hash out before the quarterly update? They should probably work on their wording of social media posts to be less (accidentally?) sensationalist. Though, given that this is the internet, I will grant that's easier said than done. You never know when someone's going to read some massive conspiracy theory into your comments or lack thereof.

[toctheyounger]

I assume they're really going to take their time with adding RC members. I can only imagine the shortlist would be very small.

Stoked to see Rebell on the CAG, she's awesome. Good bot.

[Hermes_]

I wonder if they thought it was urgent because they had some stuff they had to hash out before the quarterly update? They should probably work on their wording of social media posts to be less (accidentally?) sensationalist. Though, given that this is the internet, I will grant that's easier said than done. You never know when someone's going to read some massive conspiracy theory into your comments or lack thereof.

Well, it was mainly due to how hard it is to get everyone together to do a meeting and it was ourselves who were hyping it up into something more than it turned out to be

[duducrash]

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

[pokken]

*yawns the biggest yawn*

Only interesting thing there to me is that one of the people behind canadian highlander is added to CAG and maybe specifically to advise on point system style content (Understanding relative power level of cards, etc.)

[toctheyounger]

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

Essentially they're feet on the ground for various sectors of the game to feed back whatever sentiment or concerns might be floating about in their chosen spheres of influence.

Its pretty nebulous in essence but its about as effective as anything can be for such a task. I guess discord and forums and socials make it a bit easier to gather the sort of qualitative info they'd be after, but its always going to be imperfect.

[Hermes_]

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

Essentially they're feet on the ground for various sectors of the game to feed back whatever sentiment or concerns might be floating about in their chosen spheres of influence.

Its pretty nebulous in essence but its about as effective as anything can be for such a task. I guess discord and forums and socials make it a bit easier to gather the sort of qualitative info they'd be after, but its always going to be imperfect.

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

They've had a hand in the change of death triggers for commanders, Iona,Golos, and some other stuff that I can't recall off the top of my head.

[3drinks]

What a large number of words to say actually nothing.

[Venedrex]

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

Essentially they're feet on the ground for various sectors of the game to feed back whatever sentiment or concerns might be floating about in their chosen spheres of influence.

Its pretty nebulous in essence but its about as effective as anything can be for such a task. I guess discord and forums and socials make it a bit easier to gather the sort of qualitative info they'd be after, but its always going to be imperfect.

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

They've had a hand in the change of death triggers for commanders, Iona,Golos, and some other stuff that I can't recall off the top of my head.

I think the death triggers change was one of the best changes in recent memory. The very first games of Magic I ever played were when my brother-in-law built me a Meren of Clan Nel Toth deck and the fact that when my creatures all died I had to remember that Meren of Clan Nel Toth didn't trigger Blood Artist or Grave Pact confused me. Everyone who plays just assumes that the commander "dying" triggers things that care about things... dying. (Yes I know, I know, it was because the Commander went to the zone instead of actually dying per se, don't @ me.)

So the fact that it didn't work just was just weird and annoying. Omnath, Locus of Rage was the same way too, someone board wipes, haha you take 18 damage. Oh wait Omnath didn't technically die, I guess it's only 15 damage. That happened to me online. Just unintuitive in general.

Plus, now Wizard's can design death trigger commanders without having to specify that they actually work they should as they did with Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero, and Elenda, the Dusk Rose doesn't have to risk going to the gy to actually function.

Lastly, it wasn't as if though the change made anything overpowered. I don't think getting one extra trigger from a Commander dying is usually make or break, and even if it is, that just makes for great flavor. "And as my commander sees there is no other option, it will make the ultimate sacrifice, to hit you for the final point of damage." Super epic way to win a game.

[ISBPathfinder]

Well, I guess at least they have Dockside and Thassa's on their radar. I hope they axe them both and then some.

[Legend]

It's amazing how the RC makes absolutely no efforts to include people of different cultures in the conversation.

You're mistaken. They, especially Sheldon, have for years been adamant about being as inclusive and representative as possible.* The only barrier that slows things down sometimes is language. But not even language stops Sheldon. He's done at least one interview in which there was a translator so he could reach Spanish-only the speaking community. And let's not forget that the man lives with cancer. He's busting his ASS to make sure Commander is as socially equitable as possible.

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

*Most demonstrably in the CAG who were selected because they were already representing the wider community.

And of course they're "RC approved". What other kind could there possibly be?

[duducrash]

It's amazing how the RC makes absolutely no efforts to include people of different cultures in the conversation.

You're mistaken. They, especially Sheldon, have for years been adamant about being as inclusive and representative as possible.* The only barrier that slows things down sometimes is language. But not even language stops Sheldon. He's done at least one interview in which there was a translator so he could reach Spanish-only the speaking community. And let's not forget that the man lives with cancer. He's busting his ASS to make sure Commander is as socially equitable as possible.

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

*Most demonstrably in the CAG who were selected because they were already representing the wider community.

And of course they're "RC approved". What other kind could there possibly be?

I am not mistaken. In the discord sub channel about the update Sheldon himself talked about how they need to amp their efforts in diversity

[Legend]

It's amazing how the RC makes absolutely no efforts to include people of different cultures in the conversation.

You're mistaken. They, especially Sheldon, have for years been adamant about being as inclusive and representative as possible.* The only barrier that slows things down sometimes is language. But not even language stops Sheldon. He's done at least one interview in which there was a translator so he could reach Spanish-only the speaking community. And let's not forget that the man lives with cancer. He's busting his ASS to make sure Commander is as socially equitable as possible.

Im not even sure of what the cag really do. I feel like they are RC approved mtg personas

*Most demonstrably in the CAG who were selected because they were already representing the wider community.

And of course they're "RC approved". What other kind could there possibly be?

I am not mistaken. In the discord sub channel about the update Sheldon himself talked about how they need to amp their efforts in diversity

Did Sheldon literally state or imply that "the RC makes absolutely no efforts to include people of different cultures in the conversation.", as you said?

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Oh %$#%, we totally forgot to nominate @DirkGently for RC! There's still time!

@Sheldon I implore you to throw an interview over to Dirk and @toctheyounger. Maybe RC staff has be local to the USA, but you couldn't do much better for Zealander representation than either of these two (although I admit Dirk is predisposed to occasional migration, but that could be good too! Think of it as "roaming representation".) C'mon, put 'em on the CAG at least as representatives of we the Nexusites! I beseech thee, great one and progenitor of the format, hear my cry!