The Commander Format Panel offered its first update to the format since implementing the new bracket tier system and inclusion of Game Changers back in February. While the bracket ratings and guidelines remained the same, the panel did unban five cards and made 20 changes to the list of Game Changers, which are cards that dramatically warp games of Commander.
Gavin Verhey authored both the update to the Commander Banned & Restricted Announcement and Commander Brackets Beta Update articles today, then joined Blake Rasmussen on Weekly MTG to discuss all the changes and feedback the panel has received on the bracket system.
The Commander Format Panel has unbanned five cards from the ban list.
- Gifts Ungiven
- Sway of the Stars
- Braids, Cabal Minion
- Coalition Victory
- Panoptic Mirror
Verhey did clarify that this will be the only change to the Commander ban list this year unless something warping like Nadu, Winged Wisdom is released.
The brackets were created just two months ago, so the Commander Format Panel isn’t looking to shake things up with them at this point. What the panel did do, however, was clear up the ideology behind the brackets and clarify deck and play-pattern intent. Verhey did note that a lot of feedback the panel received is there should be an extra bracket between 2 and 3. The panel has discussed that possibility, but Verhey insists that pregame discussions can alleviate many issue. He also recommends erring toward Bracket 3 if a group can’t agree on where a deck falls between 2 and 3.
Two cards are losing their Game Changer status, while 18 are being added to the list. The graphic above shows all Game Changers with the highlighted cards being the new additions.
- Trouble in Pairs
- Trinisphere
- Teferi’s Protection
- Humility
- Narset, Parter of Veils
- Intuition
- Consecrated Sphinx
- Necropotence
- Orcish Bowmasters
- Notion Thief
- Deflecting Swat
- Gamble
- Worldly Tutor
- Crop Rotation
- Seedborn Muse
- Natural Order
- Food Chain
- Aura Shards
- Field of the Dead
- Mishra’s Workshop
Verhey reiterated that Commander moves very slowly and that the panel will let players engage with the format and continue to give feedback on the brackets, unbans, and Game Changers. There won’t be any updates until at least June — sometime after MagicCon: Las Vegas. The Commander Format Panel will continue to do quarterly check-ins, but the primary focus is solidifying the philosophies on bracket and Game Changers.
Read the official Brackets Update and Ban List Announcement articles from WotC.
