So, How About Those Commander Bans?
As a strictly casual player — whose strongest competitive urges are satisfied by drafting new sets on release day with friends — I tend to not have a lot to say about the state of Magic: The Gathering these days. It's not that I don't have complaints and gripes, but the trials and tribulations of competitive constructed formats are something I only pay attention to in passing.
The banned list for Commander — my format of choice since 2008 — has been fairly static for a long time and significant changes are relatively rare in a format that lets you play cards from every set ever released. When changes do occur, they tend to be very obvious; the Commander Rules Committee doesn't act impulsively, so by the time a card earns a ban it has usually been an issue for quite some time.
As of yesterday's Banned & Restricted announcement, the following 4 cards are now banned in Commander:
Dockside Extortionist
Effects that create large numbers of Treasure tokens have become rather concerning. My personal experience with this card is fairly limited, but any time it showed up it has produced an ungodly amount of mana and enabled shenanigans. The stated rationale for banning this — that it produces too much mana too quickly in a game — is spot-on. My initial reaction to the card was "this seems a bit much," and now history has born that out.
Mana Crypt
The reason I am somewhat surprised that Mana Crypt caught a ban is that it's always been a historically problematic card and was only legal in Vintage — and even then it was restricted. I figured that if it wasn't banned from day 1, it wasn't ever going to see a ban. Mana Crypt has always been a staple for try-hards; I don't think the card is any more degenerate now than in the past, it just enables different nonsense these days.
Jeweled Lotus
When this card was initially previewed, I thought it was overpowered and extremely boring. I didn't think Jeweled Lotus would earn a ban, but I also didn't foresee an explosion in competitive Commander play. That's what this is, another piece of acceleration for try-hard (sorry, "optimized") decks. Every time they print a strictly worse Black Lotus, it ends up being a problem. They did it sarcastically with Lion's Eye Diamond and history once again repeats itself. How it took them 4 years to realize casting a 5+ mana commander on turn 2 is bad, I do not know...
Nadu, Winged Wisdom
Ironically, the card from the non-Commander set — that was specifically designed to also appeal to Commander players — now finds itself banned in Commander, along with almost every other format of note. There's not much else to say about Nadu at this point, the ban was a no-brainer in a format where a player can ensure they always have access to a abusive combo-enabler that also monopolizes the game and annoys everyone. This card never should have been printed.
Closing Thoughts
The selection of cards banned is not really of any concern to me. I have empathy for players who — recently or not — acquired expensive cards that are now worthless and unplayable. This empathy does not extend to anyone who considers Magic: The Gathering an investment, because: 1) it's not, it's a card game chiefly meant to be played; 2) investing has a risk element, and if this is news then perhaps playing arbitrage with pictures of wizards and dragons isn't for you.
I think there is some cause for concern, as the Commander Rules Committee is, frankly, a cloistered bunch of people who have their own notions of what the Commander format should be. While the official announcement attempted to address the elephant in the room — the fact that Sol Ring is still legal in the format — I would argue they did a really bad job of doing so. Here is the official statement:
We're not banning Sol Ring and have no desire to. Yes, based on the criteria we've talked about here, it would be banned. Sol Ring is the iconic card of the format, and it's sufficiently tied to the identity of the format that it defies the laws of physics in a way that no other card does. Banning Sol Ring would be fundamentally changing the identity of the format. We aren't trying to eliminate all explosive starts - it happening every once in a while is exciting - and removing the other three cards geometrically reduces the number of hands capable of substantial above-curve mana generation in the first few turns.
Aside from the awkward wording ("geometrically"?!), I feel like this is a bunch of bullshit. Sol Ring is tied to the identity of the format? Just saying a thing doesn't make it true, like the notion that there's ever been a good story that involved a turn 1 Sol Ring. In my 30 years of playing Magic and 16 years playing Commander, I have never heard a feel-good story involving broken mana acceleration and question anyone who claims to have one.
I acquired my first Sol Ring in a starter deck of Revised Edition, it was immediately obvious that this card is busted — to the point that it feels borderline condescending when explaining why to anyone familiar with the game.
I find it laughable that the rules committee thinks they can straddle the line between "this is a seriously curated format" and "can't ban this card because one time my friend cast a Craw Wurm on turn 4 and we all high-fived." Sure, Commander is a format aimed at more casual players, but that doesn't mean basic logic doesn't apply
There is marginal difference between the most explosive turn 1 Mana Crypt and Sol Ring plays, and I'm not overly impressed with scenarios involving assembling 3+ cards in an opening hand. Saying a card "defies physics in a way no other card does" is not only cringe-worthy writing it's just hand-waving away an argument that can't be won.
Only banning Jewled Lotus and Mana Crypt to reduce the "above-curve mana generation in the first few turns" possibilities is even more absurd when one considers that the two banned cards were among the most difficult to obtain, due to cost and overall supply. Mana Vault is still legal, so is Grim Monolith. Every deck can run signets and talismans that serve as a Rampant Growth for every two-colour combination. I understand the rationale is to reduce the chances of explosive starts but not prevent them entirely, I just find the solution lacking in every way.
—by Derek
Published: September 24th, 2024.