Wizards of the Coast’s recent Commander-focused announcement has given the community a lot to think about. They introduced the Commander Bracket system in an attempt to improve matchmaking between strangers. The goal is to help close the distance between the powerful levels of players’ decks so that the entire table can enjoy the Commander game as much as possible.
The biggest reveal within the Commander Bracket announcement was the Game Changers list. This list essentially functions as a watchlist that helps create barriers between different levels of decks. Cards that enter and leave the Commander formats via bans will need to appear on this list before their legality changes, solving the surprise factor that plagued so many players.
While most of this list makes sense, there are a few choices that stick out. These cards should not be on the Game Changers List
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger occupies an awkward spot in the Game Changers List. According to the Bracket System, Game Changers should be available to decks starting in Bracket 3 and up. I would make the argument, however, that Vorinclex shouldn’t be playable in Bracket 3 because it violates one of the other restrictions.
I would classify Vorinclex as Mass Land Denial. This is due to Vorinclex’s second ability, which locks down any lands that were tapped for mana during their next untap steps. Of course, Vorinclex isn’t blowing up any lands, or keeping them restricted permanently, but the card is still negatively interacting with lands in a big way.
Other cards that are obvious offenders of Mass Land Denial like Armageddon and Blood Moon don’t even show up on the Game Changers List. This is because the different levels of brackets prohibit them from being played already. Vorinclex can easily be placed in the same category.
Of course, their position on the Game Changers list could mean that Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger could get banned from Commander, but that seems unlikely. You need eight mana to get this monstrosity on the board at all, which is easily enough mana to win the game with a ‘late-game infinite combo’ which is legal at Bracket level 3.
Notably, in the article dedicated to the Commander Bracket system from Wizards of the Coast, Gavin Verhey specifically mentions a very similar argument. They wanted to be crystal clear that Vorinclex is not acceptable at lower-level tables despite not being quite as egregious as other land denial cards. I, however, don’t think the distinction needs to be made.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
Jin-Gitaxias’s status as a card that changes the game is undeniable. Drawing an extra seven per turn while your opponents are not allowed to keep a hand ends games in short order, and is incredibly unenjoyable to play against. That said, this monster is also ten mana and, when viewed individually in this manner, should not be included on this list.
When including Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur on the Game Changers list, Verhey states an exact scenario where Jin-Gitaxias becomes a problem – when reanimated or cheated into play ahead of schedule. This creates an incredibly unfun scenario where three players are drained of resources in an early turn, while the final player has all the resources they could ever want. This issue isn’t really solved by placing Reanimate on the Game Changers list, either. This card is still theoretically an issue if reanimated for four mana.
Reanimating haymakers like Jin-Gitaxias on incredibly early turns is a bad-faith way of using the deck building constraints in the Brackets. Commander decks at the first and second Bracket should not be stronger than preconstructed decks. This is obviously an entire realm apart from precons.
When reanimated in the mid-game, after players have some resources accumulated, the argument can change. Removal handles Jin-Gitaxias completely, after all. As long it gets removed before the end step, Jin-Gitaxias won’t have a chance to provide any value. One-mana removal spells like Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are routinely in preconstructed decks nowadays.
Expropriate
If you ask us, Expropriate falls under the ‘Chaining Extra Turns’ restriction in the second and third Bracket and the Extra Turns restriction in the first bracket. Depending on how players vote, Expropriate is capable of creating multiple extra turns upon resolution, which violates the nature of the rules. Similar to how Blood Moon and Time Stretch aren’t on the list, Expropriate probably shouldn’t be there, either.
Gavin Verhey’s reasoning for including Expropriate is that the card can theoretically resolve in a way where you only take one extra turn and get to steal the table’s three best permanents. While this is theoretically true, I would simply add a point in the article saying that any card that could create multiple extra turns is included in the rulings against chaining extra turns. The argument against Expropriate being too powerful of a card for lower Brackets is a very sound one. I do not think the card needs to be included on the list at all and is restricted by the other rules.
Still an Amazing System
It will be interesting to see how the feedback on the Commander Bracket System and the Game Changers list affects the upcoming changes in April. Despite my lamentations on some of the decision-making, I absolutely love the clarity that this system brings to the Commander power level discussion, and am very glad to have it as part of the format.