A week ago, the independent Rules Committee for Magic: The Gathering Commander, the collectible card game’s most popular format in recent years, announced a surprise ban of three of its most popular and expensive cards. The reaction from some fans was swift, loud, and in some cases escalated to violent threats against the people involved. The company that makes the game, Wizards of the Coast, has now responded with more shocking news: the Rules Committee has been voluntarily dissolved and the future of the Commander format will now be decided in house.
The controversial card bans that kicked off the backlash on September 23 included Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt , two cards that offer players mana cheap and early to ramp up their game winning arsenal quickly, as well as Dockside Extortionist and Nadu, Winged Wisdom , two creatures with powerful effects depending on when and how they’re deployed. While Nadu is relatively cheap, the rest go for anywhere between $US50 and $US150 a piece. Most of them are banned in other MTG formats, but some of them were created specifically for Commander, a variant rule set where players have more health and can’t have more than one copy of any given card in their deck.
And as that format has exploded in popularity in recent years, with Wizards of the Coast printing multiple Commander-specific sets a year, the meta around the most strategic cards has made them more sought after than ever. Let’s hope the bans stick. I’d hate to reward u.