How Magic’s most popular format imploded

Magic: the meetingThe game’s Commander format, the game’s most popular play mode, underwent a major shakeup this week when the Commander Rules Committee, an independent third party that serves as the governing body for the Commander format, banned four cards from sanctioned events. The move includes a ban on three particularly sought-after cards that were frequently played in many decks, and the backlash from the community was swift. Some call this the most unwise ban in the world Magic‘s more than 30-year history. This is why.

The news arrived unexpectedly on Monday morning quarterly update on the Rules Committee website. Blackmailer at the harbor, Jeweled lotus, Mana CryptAnd Nadu, winged wisdom – cards that previously sold for around $100 each – were officially banned. That means local game stores and other public Commander events will have to ban these cards from appearing in players’ decks.

Naturally, Magic publisher Wizards of the Coast and the Commander Rules Committee both almost always ban cards. Why have these bans been hit particularly hard?

Two of the cards, Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt, were popular in the format because they gave players extra mana to cast a variety of spells on the first turn. In fact, Mana Crypt has proven so powerful over the years that it is banned in all but one format, where it might even be legal, namely Vintage, where players can use virtually any format. Magic map ever printed.

For many, the Jeweled Lotus ban is even more painful, as this was a card printed specifically for Commander and literally cannot function in other formats. The map, named after Magic The most iconic and expensive card, the Black Lotus, can similarly produce three mana of each color. But Jeweled Lotus also contains the text “spend this mana only to cast your commander.” So while Jeweled Lotus remains legal in Vintage and Legacy, formats with similarly large card pools, it’s essentially a blank piece of cardboard there, as they don’t include commanders in their gameplay.

Dockside Extortionist was another card first printed for Commander, initially appearing in a pre-built Commander deck created by Wizards of the Coast in 2019. Unlike the previous two cards, Dockside is a creature whose utility extends to several points in a game changes, but changes in the same way. powerful because it is a resource engine that generates useful tokens.

When Dockside Extortionist comes into play, the controller creates a number of treasure tokens equal to the number of artifacts and enchantments the opponent controls. Treasure tokens are additional artifacts that can be tapped and sacrificed to create one mana of each color. In fact, a player controlling Dockside could wait until his opponents have a critical mass of relevant cards in play, cast Dockside, and immediately generate a massive amount of mana to overwhelm the board, or even win on the spot.

The latest banned card, Nadu, Winged Wisdom, caps off a tumultuous summer for the card, which was first printed in the United States. Modern horizons 3 expansion last June. Nadu was banned earlier in the eponymous Modern format to introduce a jaw-dropping combo that took over the latest Pro Tour, smaller local tournaments and online play. A month after Nadu’s Modern ban, it is seeing the same fate in Commander for very similar reasons.

“Part of the problem is the way Nadu wins, where it takes a very long time to run non-deterministic sequences that cannot be shortened and can eventually disappear,” the ban notice explains. And thankfully, there’s probably a lot less heartbreak over the loss of Nadu compared to the other three maps.

Following the news, players, game designers, Magic content creators, and – in an unusual move – even some of the game’s artists took to social media to share their frustrations with the announcement. As consumers, many were visceral about the cost of these cards prior to the bans, as many players spent hundreds of dollars to expand their decks with some of the now banned cards, and felt like they were stuck with the bag in their hand .

“Probably positive for gameplay, but bold to ban three cards that probably represent some of the most expensive cards owned by a significant minority of the player base, all of which were designed or used by (Wizards) to monetize the format,” wrote Patrick Sullivana game designer and former Magic professional player, considered one of the game’s most respected tournament commentators.

The financial implications Sullivan is referring to here are staggering, especially for ticket sellers in the US Magic‘s secondary market. Lotus and Mana Crypt were worth it individually about $100 prior to bans. Dockside often hovered around $80 on the popular eBay-owned card game marketplace TCG player. Given the popularity of the cards, it is estimated that some secondary market losses worldwide have exceeded six figures. Stock that was previously worth a substantial amount of money is worth much, much less after the bans.

“From a supplier perspective, this is potentially the biggest shock to the secondary market in (Magic) history,” wrote Kyle Lopeza reseller based in Louisville, KY. “Literally millions of dollars of value evaporated in the space of an hour.”

Putting aside the cost of cards on the secondary market, especially since many players obtained these cards simply by being lucky enough to find them in a booster pack, the announcement may still have damaged consumer confidence, which was built on trust in the format management of the Rule Committee. .

“It’s not about the prizes, it’s about being a reliable (and consistent) steward of the format,” wrote Glenn Jonesa former Wizards employee who now works as lead game designer at Marvel Snap. “All three cards have been ignored and enjoyed for years. The cards didn’t change, but the (Rules Committee’s) philosophy surrounding them did. They need to address that – not just blow people up and run away.”

A more unprecedented response came from one of the creatives behind the art depicted on Jeweled Lotus.

“I’m really upset that Jeweled Lotus was banned by the (Commander Rules Committee),” wrote Alayna Dannerthe illustrator responsible for the appearance of the flower of the same name. “I have met literally thousands of players who love this card and truly cherish it in their EDH deck. It’s unfair to do it after four years and now it’s not playable anywhere. #unbanlotus.”

Members of the Commander Advisory Group, a select group of players and content creators with in-depth knowledge of the format who provide feedback directly to the Rules Committee, were also surprised by the news.

“Serious question: What is the real point of creating a Commander Advisory Group if they are blinded by the Rules Committee’s ban announcements?” wrote Jimmy Wongactor and co-host of the immensely popular YouTube channel, The Command Zone. “Is it just a badge of honor with no actual input on things that really matter, like the biggest ban announcement in YEARS?”

Wong’s co-presenter and fellow Advisory Group member Josh Lee Kwai provided further insight into the level of communication between the group and the Rules Committee.

“A while ago they sent out a survey form asking general questions such as ‘Are there any cards you would like to ban and why?’ “Are there any cards that you think should no longer be banned, and why?” But nothing with details,” Kwai wrote. “As far as I can remember, the words ‘fast mana’ are not mentioned.”

On Wednesday, Kwai announced his resignation from the Commander Advisory Group, although his announcement did not mention the bans or their aftermath.

The response to the bans has been so loud and fast that the Rules Committee has continued to engage players online with additional context, even providing clarity on which members supported or opposed the bans – which would likely soften the misplaced vitriol towards individual committee members following the announcement .

“Decisions of the Commander Rules Committee are rarely unanimous. Normally we do not announce who voted how, but we are making an exception.” wrote Jim Lapage in an X-post before making his account private. “Olivia resisted yesterday’s change. None of us are above criticism, but if you hate the banned, she was your voice in the room.

Olivia pointed out Olivia Gobert-Hickscommittee member and host of the YouTube shows Older Dragon Hijinks And Commander at home. After the ban was announced, Gobert-Hicks also made her X account private.

In one continued X-post In response to the aftermath of the ban announcement, the Rules Committee shared a message Frequently asked questions with extra clarity behind their decisions and internal processes. They vehemently discussed and denied any personal financial gain resulting from their foreknowledge of the coming bans, shed more light on their communications philosophy and why certain bans came as surprise announcements, and reiterated their commitment to the bans in question.

“We have no desire or intention to roll back these changes, and believe doing so would make financial concerns much worse,” the FAQ said. “We’re not going to paint ourselves into a corner and say we’ll never ban expensive cards, but we can say categorically that we don’t want to ban cards, that staples are part of the commander (the card pool is incredibly large), and that we will try to keep the format stable in the future unless those cards cause major problems.”

While it would be just as shocking if the committee declared that they plan to unblock the cards a few days after their initial announcement, unbans do happen, albeit rarely. The committee was disbanded in 2021 World fire nine years after it was removed from the format. In 2019, Painter’s assistant was disbanded ten years after it was first removed.

In total, there are approximately 23 individual cards that Commander has unbanned, compared to the more than 100 cards that remain on the ban list today. While previous ban announcements were not met with the same shock and outrage from players, Commander is also now immeasurably more popular than ever in the format’s history.

That popularity all but guarantees the format’s future success, despite occasional changes and announcements that lead to outsized reactions. If the Rule Committee’s own message can be taken at face value, this week’s events will add to that continued popularity and prove to be a positive evolution for the Commander format.