<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heroic Intervention" href="#" target="_blank">Heroic Intervention</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/namesjames" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Ryman</a></em></p>
<p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/why-are-these-cards-banned-in-commander" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Last time</a> we talked about what the best reasons were for the current <a href="https://edhrec.com/banned" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commander ban list</a> that the <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/introducing-the-commander-format-panel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commander Format Panel</a> (CFP) has publicly talked about. In short, we discussed why some cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fastbond" href="#" target="_blank">Fastbond</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> were said to be too strong for Commander while others like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Balance" href="#" target="_blank">Balance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> were considered too unfun and not CFP approved.</p>
<p>I'd promised that we'd continue by discussing what the biggest weaknesses for the CFP's current ban list are and what cuts <em>could</em> be made. However, I don't plan on talking about each individual card like last time.</p>
<p>We're first going to start with why a small handful of cards can't be included in the latter portion of today's discussion before diving into the juicier talking points.</p>
<p>Additionally, for this discussion, let's not concern ourselves with what <i>may</i> happen regarding finances and very swift re-bans if changes were made. We're instead trying to find specifically the best reason these cards could be unbanned and <em>just</em> that.</p>
<h2>These Banned Cards Aren't Going Anywhere</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ancestral Recall" href="#" target="_blank">Ancestral Recall</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Black Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Black Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Emerald" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Emerald</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Jet" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Jet</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Pearl" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Pearl</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Ruby" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Ruby</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Sapphire" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Sapphire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Time Walk" href="#" target="_blank">Time Walk</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Black Lotus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mox Pearl"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Time Walk"></div></div>
<p>I'm convinced there isn't a world in which eight pieces of the power nine are unbanned. As cool as it may be to play with these cards, they are the pinnacle for individual cards being too powerful for Commander. If the eight of the power nine aren't to be banned, then what <em>should</em> be banned for being too strong in Commander?</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Orb" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Orb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Falling Star" href="#" target="_blank">Falling Star</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chaos Orb"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Falling Star"></div></div>
<p>These two "dexterity checks" are banned because tossing or flipping cards isn't a playstyle the CFP wants to foster. Aside from the struggles in enforcing the loose legalities surrounding how distances should be measured or how board states should be treated before the ability is put onto the stack, the CFP would like Commander to be as accessible to as many players as possible.</p>
<p>Cards that ask players to perform a physical feat are intrinsically exclusionary towards anyone that would struggle steadily and accurately flipping cards for advantage in a multiplayer setting. Sure, Commander is socially inclined and other players could theoretically aid others with properly resolving a Falling Star, but that's an expectation that frankly shouldn't be depended on.</p>
<p><em>Magic</em> cards ought to be cards we can reasonably engage with physically and mentally. Categorically, I don't see why the CFP would ever unban these cards.</p>
<h2>The Rest of the Ban List</h2>
<p>We'll be focusing on <em>every</em> other banned card <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/why-are-these-cards-banned-in-commander" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we talked about last time</a>.</p>
<p>We could stay here and discuss each and every individual card's best reason to be unbanned, citing shifts in meta and power creep and more, but the glaring weakness the rest of the ban list shares is simple: <a href="https://edhrec.com/guides/edhrec-guide-to-commander-brackets#commander-brackets-what-are-commander-brackets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brackets</a> promote self governing playstyles. As such, the ban list should reflect what cannot be self governed in addition to uniquely powerful cards such as the "power eight of nine."</p>
<p>Now, I know this is the exact problem the Brackets were originally designed to resolve. Too many "my deck's a seven" incidents informed <em>WoTC</em> that <em>some</em> form of authority was required when balancing a pod's power levels.</p>
<p>But... don't we fundamentally still have this problem? If I wanted to build a Bracket 3 deck, I'd expect the deck to run not run any two-card infinite combos, mass land denial (MLD), chaining extra turns, no more than three Game Changers, and to end the game no sooner than turn six.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Coram, the Undertaker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Protean Hulk"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER"></div></div>
<p>"Alright," I say to myself, "what defines a twoc-ard infinite? Does that <em>just</em> mean nothing that wins the game on the spot with only two cards? Does that include infinite loops that <em>don't</em> end the game?"</p>
<p>As our recent <a href="https://edhrec.com/combos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Combo Vote</a> has shown, many players answer these questions differently and thus govern their Bracket 3 experiences as such. The same can be extrapolated for MLD and extra turns.</p>
<p>"Where's the line between chaining extra turns and playing just enough on others' turns? I'd never engage with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Strip Mine" href="#" target="_blank">Strip Mine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as much as my deck could, but does simply having the <em>potential</em> of MLD exclude my deck from lower Brackets?"</p>
<p>Our answers to these questions aren't currently dependent on a standard set by the CFP, rather the pods we surround ourselves with. Because of this, the Bracket solution has simply moved the goalpost; players start with the CFP's guidance, but inevitably fall back on self governance for creating their preferred game experience.</p>
<h2>A Ban List for Brackets</h2>
<p>Don't like playing against <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Upheaval" href="#" target="_blank">Upheaval</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Tired of your opponent's reoccurring <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sundering Titan" href="#" target="_blank">Sundering Titan</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or their <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Iona, Shield of Emeria" href="#" target="_blank">Iona, Shield of Emeria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck? Well, the easiest solution is to stop playing against these kinds of opponents.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Balance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Erayo, Soratami Ascendant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shahrazad"></div></div>
<p>This defense is the logic behind strong commanders not being Game Changers due to opponents' abilities to self govern the kind of opposition they're comfortable playing against.</p>
<p>There's no need to make a card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urza, Lord High Artificer" href="#" target="_blank">Urza, Lord High Artificer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> a Game Changer if players who don't want to play against that kind of deck preemptively seek games away from those kinds of decks.</p>
<p>The same can be said for just about any card. If you're not comfortable or don't vibe playing against a deck that play any given card, interaction, combo, or strategy, the best defense is to not play against that card, interaction, combo, or strategy.</p>
<p>By utilizing self governing in this manner for a casual format, there isn't a need for <em>WoTC</em> to jam its hand into every Commander game via the ban list and tell everyone how to play since everyone is already doing that for themselves.</p>
<p>The first counterargument that comes to mind sounds something like this: "The only time I can engage with Commander is against decks that run unfun/undesirable cards, strategies, etc. The ban list is my only hope to play Commander with this group."</p>
<p>Situations like this exist, I won't deny that. Our games absolutely are limited by the players closest to us, and there exists the chance that our opponents don't foster the Commander environment we'd be most comfortable playing in.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tergrid, God of Fright"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger"></div></div>
<p>However, I'll argue that the <em>vast</em> majority of Commander players don't experience this problem. Perhaps those afflicted with poor pod-mates were the most vocal and thus the most represented, but there doesn't seem to be evidence of a large portion of Commander players struggling to fit into a pod as such.</p>
<p>Because of this, it doesn't make sense for this seemingly small percentage of Commander players to be the focus group the CFP cites for banning a card.</p>
<p>In fact, the CFP shouldn't be appealing to the most vocal players' opinions anyways. To ban a card, the CFP ought to demonstrate it's damaging the format and requires intervention that self governance hasn't already solved.</p>
<p>Is a card too boring/unfun? Categorically, the majority of players won't be playing it <em>because it's unfun to play</em>. Commander's too large and too socially inclined to allow unfun cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Upheaval" href="#" target="_blank">Upheaval</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to dominate the format. Hence why cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stasis" href="#" target="_blank">Stasis</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> aren't prevalent in the <a href="https://edhrec.com/cards/stasis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">majority of Commander games</a>.</p>
<p>Why should unfun cards be banned anyways? Isn't this what the Game Changer status partially seeks to fix? As a soft ban list for lower Brackets, most "unfun" cards ought to be Game Changers <em>before</em> they're banned, anyways.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grand Arbiter Augustin IV"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Smothering Tithe"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The One Ring"></div></div>
<p>If something is too unfun to play, it won't be played. If something unfun becomes too powerful and thus <em>is</em> played, then the CFP can make it a Game Changer <em>and then</em> ban it if needed citing the card's demonstrably overpowering effect on games and/or flooding Commander's overall meta.</p>
<p>Is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Recurring Nightmare" href="#" target="_blank">Recurring Nightmare</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> too strong of a reanimator piece? Is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emrakul, the Aeons Torn" href="#" target="_blank">Emrakul, the Aeons Torn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> too powerful for Brackets 3-5? Will <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tinker" href="#" target="_blank">Tinker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> dominate the Commander meta?</p>
<p>The CFP <em>must</em> prove these claims instead of adopting both the previous committee's ban list <em>and</em> their antiquated explanations. It isn't enough to appeal to the loudest of players and claim equal representation for Commander players' opinions.</p>
<p>A ban list for the Bracket system ought to uphold the strengths of Brackets by granting Commander players the opportunity to decide for themselves what kind of game they'd like to create <em>before </em>the CFP determines what a healthy Commander game looks like.</p>
<p>But what do <em>you</em> think? How do you feel about greatly reducing the current ban list? What are your thoughts on self policing? Do you think the CFP should outline specifically what it takes to make a ban?</p>
<p>I hope this article was informative with exploring where the CFP hopes to direct the format. Find me on BlueSky at <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ajwicker4.bsky.social?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@ajwicker4.bsky.social</a>, I'd love to hear from you and what your thoughts are.</p>
<p>Tune in next time to continue this deep dive in the Bracket system and more <em>Commander Philosophy!</em></p>


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Commander Ban List Update - Feb 9, 2026