What Magic: The Gathering's New Commander Bans Really Mean

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's Commander Rules Committee (CRC) recently announced the banning of four cards from the Commander format, sending a shockwave of controversy through the player base. Commander is a unique, casual format of play in which each participant builds a deck of 100 cards, all centered on a single, powerful commander. The Commander format (sometimes called by its old name Elder Dragon Highlander, or EDH) encourages distinct creative playstyles, many of which border on the overpowered. Because Commander decks can be both preconstructed or perfected over time, it's become a popular format with seasoned collectors and casual players alike.

As a casual, welcoming format, it's rare for Commander to expand on its banlist at all. It's even rarer for it to ban four different cards at a time, especially so many that were bound to cause controversy. The resulting outrage has led to a pair of petitions regarding the bans; one to overturn them, and one to fire the members of the Commander Rules Committee responsible for enacting the bans. The CRC also claims that its members have received threats of violence, of which no one is deserving over bans in a card game.

The four cards banned from the Commander format on September 23, 2024, are:

Now, it's worth noting that a large percentage of the player base has long since been clamoring for Dockside Extortionist and Nadu to be banned. Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt were unexpected, though, and have since become the main source of controversy. An FAQ document published by the Commander Rules Committee on X (formerly Twitter) explains the rules for all four bans.

Dockside in particular can generate multiple treasures easily and early, which might allow the player controlling it to pull off overpowered, mid-to-late-game plays in the first couple of turns. Nadu, meanwhile, is inexpensive to play and incredibly powerful. The player controlling it may also wind up taking very long turns, during which other players have few chances to interact,