Ulalek, Fused AtrocityUlalek, Fused Atrocity | Art by Alex Konstad

When I started talking about writing this article - after Gavin Verhey's video about potentially changing the rules to hybrid mana - friends reached out to me to tell me not to write it. They told me to protect my peace. They didn't trust this community to hear me out. I thought a while about this, about their concern. I wondered if it was worth it, stirring the pot. Would one more voice on this change anything? Would it be worth the ire I would draw?

The beauty about growing up Black in the USA is that you'll be willing to risk your peace for something you believe in. You don't really have choice about that. I'll take the insane comments, and the weird behavior. I'll speak up because hopefully what I have to say matters. Hopefully.

My goal for this article is to explore the pros and cons of both sides of the argument surrounding hybrid mana. I want to take a neutral approach to the perspectives - and I hesitate to say "evidence" - to represent the whole argument and what it means to the community. I want us to understand each other more than pick a winner to this tired debate. I'm not interested in a final answer to this.

When Did Magic Players Start Talking About Hybrid Mana in Commander?

I went through some of my connections to find out about Commander before my time. From this source, they said the conversation about hybrid mana was going on even as far back as 2005, back when Commander - then known only as EDH - was established as a public format, but not yet recognized by Wizards of the Coast. I couldn't get a source for that, but I did manage to get this: A decision to not allow half-off color hybrid mana cards in Commander decks. This was dated back to early June of 2008.

The reason I bring this up is because I want to give context to the conversation we're having now. It's not new. These points being thrown back and forth aren't new. People who have been playing Magic longer than I've been alive have been unable to settle on this point, arguing about it even back then.

I'm not saying this confirms the decision to keep hybrid mana as it is or to change it, but it is something we should consider when talking about this topic. There has been uncertainty about it, resistance either way for a long time for a reason.

Mark Rosewater's Opinion on Hybrid Mana

I thought about where I should put this in the article. I didn't want to include this too close to the beginning of the article or too far towards the end, because I didn't want to frame this article like Mark Rosewater's words are the beginning and final word on this topic. He's made some good points here that are relevant to the discussion. It highlights some points from one perspective, but Mark Rosewater is unabashedly in favor of changing the hybrid mana rules in Commander.

I'm always uncomfortable with an authority who speaks so frankly about one side of an argument without speaking to the concerns of the other side. It makes me wonder if they've considered what they speak against, but I've always known Rosewater to be a careful and considerate speaker about topics in the Magic space. I chalk up him doing so to the informal nature of the Drive to Work podcast he spoke about this on. However, it still felt worth mentioning before we talked about the content of what he said.

First, we have to consider the ethos of his argument: Mark Rosewater invented hybrid mana, so in a lot of ways he is its father. He makes a distinction between "and" color combinations in cards like Fires of YavimayaFires of Yavimaya and "or" color combination cards like Deathrite ShamanDeathrite Shaman when it comes to design. He said "and" cards need both colors because the effect slams both colors' effect together into one, while "or" is an effect either color could have separately, but gives the flexibility and access to either.

This is the core of Rosewater's desire to change the ruling. He sees his philosophy about design for cards as the most important thing here. I'm not saying it's not, but it's a different argument from dissenters. No one is arguing that these cards aren't designed without color identity in mind, but Commander players hold that specific rule sacred, among other things.

When he says the design is more important, the dissenters say the rule is more sacred. See, the problem?

Rosewater isn't wrong here though. His argument is sound. The design of hybrid mana is to give more access to more cards through flexibility of the "or" ruling. It's why companion is almost basically unplayable in Commander, when it should have been super accessible as it was designed. It's not a bad argument to say this would increase access to cards for players, increasing flexibility in building. It will, but the question is, is that flexibility worth the change to the community? Should it be?

The Community's Take on Hybrid Mana

I asked players how they feel about this exact thing. I asked them to be polite and honest in the comment section of a post of mine, to share how they feel about a potential change to hybrid mana's ruling. My goal for this section of my article is to be devil's advocate and god's little angel.

The reason I want to do this is to present how an outsider might view any of the presented arguments and perspectives. The goal is to argue with myself a little with each point to present whether the argument is sound.

I won't be able to address all points, but I'll stick to the big ones.

What if We Kept Hybrid Mana the Same?

Identity of Commander

What makes Commander different from just about every other major format in Magic: The Gathering? Color identity. A commander's colors are what leads a deck. Other formats use color, but aren't locked by identity. They play any card they want, regardless of its identity or what mana it produces. This is a huge part of the identity of Commander as a format. Some might even say this rule is one of the most iconic elements of the format.

When discussing changing the current rules surrounding hybrid mana, it is clear that it would change this fact. Deathrite ShamanDeathrite Shaman is still a multicolored permanent but might be included in a mono-green deck. The very concept of changing this would be destroying the very essence of Commander, according to some players.

Apart from being a little dramatic, I find it's a smidge of convenient thinking.

Every choice this format makes to change anything about how this game works is part of it. Only legendary creatures can be your commander. Okay, well we have Lord WindgraceLord Windgrace and Hearthhull, the WorldseedHearthhull, the Worldseed. Planeswalkers and Vehicles can be your commanders. Only one commander can be in the command zone. Well Kraum, Ludevic's OpusKraum, Ludevic's Opus and Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver go against that.

I know what you're thinking: Those are different! Those aren't sweeping changes to the format!

What about in 2010, back when "Mana you produce of colors that are not in your Commander’s color identity is colorless instead." You can see it in this post from the official EDH Rules Committee. Cards like Ragavan, Nimble PilfererRagavan, Nimble Pilferer and Coram, the UndertakerCoram, the Undertaker would be unplayable with those rules. Did the format collapse? Was this the end of Commander?

Again, I know what you're thinking: How essential to the identity of this format is mana you can produce that's not in your commander's identity? How essential is this one detail about the color identity of a handful of cards in your 99? I don't know. I don't know where I would draw the line. That's the difficult, unarguable part of this argumentation.

It's important. Everyone can tell it's important, but how important? Immovable? Maybe. Maybe not to everyone.

Restriction Breeds Creativity

I went to college for creative writing. I avoided poetry. I took extra classes, taking advanced levels in fiction, nonfiction, screenplay writing - hell I took creative writing for video games before poetry. I didn't like how intangible and in-concrete poetry was.

I remember a teacher told me in a poetry class that restriction bred creativity. At first, I hated this, like I hated everything else about poetry. I didn't like that I had to be told what to be, to be creative, but when I applied it to my other forms of writing I found it was very helpful - elevating.

This is one of the biggest arguments about hybrid mana. Color restriction breeds creativity. Giving players the access to these cards in more decks will increase homogeneity. Everyone will have access to the same good cards. Deckbuilding has already become homogenous with resources like EDHREC, some people argue online. Some players feel the push of WOTC to allow more hybrid cards in Magic's future is to make deck building easier and less creative.

We are talking about changing the effect of 425 cards out of 30,000. The top Commander decks on EDHREC for the last two years are still The Ur-DragonThe Ur-Dragon, Edgar MarkovEdgar Markov, Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice, and Krenko, Mob BossKrenko, Mob Boss. These cards aren't going to change the homogeneity of deckbuilding. Is restriction something we must put on everyone who doesn't want it? The same decks keep being happily made without restrictions. The same 100 cards getting easily slotted into decks. If anyone wants restriction, creativity, can't we simply self impose it?

Even if WOTC continues to impose the restriction of the 426 cards with hybrid pips, it seems like a drop in the bucket, honestly. Maybe that's the reason it shouldn't change, though. Maybe if it's going to affect so little, we should leave the rule unchanged. Maybe if the trend with Lorwyn Eclipsed making more hybrid mana cards continues then that number might increase.

Mark Rosewater alluded to wanting to use more hybrid mana in the future, so perhaps this will become more relevant with time. Maybe that's why there has been so much pressure to discuss it now.

Some commenters online are worried about this possibility. They're worried this shakeup might mirror the Vehicles change with the Edge of Eternities' release. It's a valid concern, the wallet of WOTC influencing the rules of the community, but does the concern have anything really to do with the ruling on 426 cards? Or does this concern have to do with the rapidly changing landscape of Commander? I'm not sure.

What if We Changed the Rules With Hybrid Mana?

I want to clarify that a lot of the arguments for this portion have been addressed in the previous section, but here are the additional sections that didn't get covered. It'll be shorter for this reason.

Access

Deckbuilders salivate at the idea of old cards that were previously unplayable becoming playable. When Parhelion IIParhelion II became a playable commander, everyone was trying to make it good. It was a funny time. Deckbuilders are excited to have access to cards that had previously been cut off, like companion. They believe the access to these cards won't be game warping, but would allow for a little more flexibility with redundancies in certain colors.

Notably companion cards will be more playable. They think in the grand scheme the change wouldn't be a big deal to most people.

They might be wrong. Perhaps in relationship to the cards affected, yes, but to what it might do to the sensibilities of the players, their comfort and trust in the powers that be, perhaps not. The introduction of the Bracket System, the change of leadership for the Commander format as a whole, and the change allowing legendary Vehicles to be commanders, all happened over the course of a year.

That's a lot of change. It's hard not to feel like a change to hybrid mana would be too much change.

These 426 cards could potentially shake up the format, confuse a lot of new players, and for what? A little more access to deck building? It would do irreparable harm to player's trust in Commander leadership and for access to maybe 200 extra cards in a color combination?

Getting some removal and recursion in colors that previously struggled with it brings us back to the idea of homogeneity. Certain colors have strengths and weakness for a reason. That's the flavor. That's what players are saying at least. What Mark Rosewater said too.

Fallaji WayfarerFallaji Wayfarer

I had to mention this card - at least a little bit. It has a line of text that states this card "is all colors." This card is a big deal because it's sort of a sticking point to people who harp on the fact that hybrid cards are multicolored in different zones. They use it to point out that the rule can be broken without destroying the format. Magic can do things with color in different zones. I would be remiss if I didn't address it. This doesn't holds up too much though because it has a line that says this ability doesn't affect its color identity, meaning it can be played in any deck with green (the only color pip on the card).

Magic is a game all about rules that are broken by a line of text on a card. It's about finding cards that break rules to your advantage. This line of text actually enforces how instilled the ruling of color identity is to the Commander format because it even needed to be written to address the distinction. "This card works this way, but it shouldn't normally." At least that's my reasoning.

The rule is there, so we have to address it. It speaks more about the rule needing to be address than the other way around.

How the Magic Community Handles Conflict

Before we get to my opinion about hybrid mana, I wanted to address something - the elephant in the room. The real reason I felt the need to write this article was because of how incredibly disappointed I've been with the Magic community at large. Our behavior about anything divisive is frankly so heartbreaking.

There is no civility, no room for understanding, no sympathy. There has been no desire to compromise or come to some calm disagreement in the community. It's insults and harsh words.

It's not just hybrid mana. It's everything. We can't talk about unbanning Jeweled Lotus or Game Changers without people taking it personally. There is no self regulation, no thinking things through before hitting send. I'm baffled constantly by how personally everyone in this community takes aspects of this game.

This game isn't everything. It feels like everything sometimes. I know. I take everything in this game so seriously, but we can't ruin another person's day, let alone their lives, over a comment they made online about whether Rhystic StudyRhystic Study should be banned.

I didn't want to lecture. I didn't come here to lecture, even though I sort of did. I want to beg. I want us to try to be cool with each other. I want us to respectfully disagree. I want us to try to understand each other when we argue. I want us to walk away from conversations about card games and remember that we have other things in our lives to look forward to - like our dogs. I want some peace for all of us.

Conclusion

I will share my opinion: We should keep hybrid mana as it is. The arguments to keep it as it is are good enough arguments though. They're emotional and easy to disagree with, which I do disagree with. A lot of people are afraid of change and that's the primary motivator to keep it the same. I am not afraid. Change is best done at the right time, not just because we can. Not because we want to sell more Lorwyn Eclipsed cards.

Now is not a good time to introduce a new concept. I want things to cool down with the unbans and the Game Changers. I want those to succeed for a couple of years before we change something else.

After all of that, the change would be fine. It wouldn't split off another format or change the essence of Commander as we know it. It won't be that big a deal. If they don't change it in a couple of years, I'll still be fine though. If they do, cool.