For the longest time, whether or not Commander should have its own 15-card sideboards has been a controversial topic among MTG players. Some argue it would add interesting new axes of gameplay. Others counter that increasing consistency that way runs against the spirit of the format. In any case, the previous Commander Rules Committee kept them out of Commander, and players have gotten used to the system as-is.
With Wizards now in control of Commander, however, there’s the possibility for change. In a Blogatog post over the weekend, Head Designer Mark Rosewater responded to a question about adding them in. In response, many players flocked to the comments to give their two cents on the issue. While a Commander sideboard is a great move from a ‘mechanics complete’ perspective, it also comes with a lot of additional baggage. Sadly, there’s no clear-cut solution here.
Rosewater Sparks Discussion On MTG Commander Sideboards
“bobbymcbobbo: Lesson/Learn mostly doesn’t work in Commander, but WotC controls the format now. Could you pass along my request to Gavin to officially add sideboards to the format? It would fix a lot of things that “don’t work” in Commander, but it would also get rid of the mess of rules needed to make Companions work in Commander without having a sideboard.
Mark Rosewater: I’m curious to all the Question Marks that are Commander players, do you think having a sideboard/wishboard would be a good or bad idea?”
Via Blogatog
This was Rosewater’s original post, which sparked this weekend’s MTG Commander sideboards discourse. As a response, it’s an open question rather than a definitive stance. While it’s tricky to infer anything with 100% accuracy from Blogatog, this likely means that it’s something that could be changed in the future. Rosewater is often quick to stamp out suggestions with no long-term merit in his posts. The fact that he didn’t do so here means there’s hope yet.
It’s worth noting that bobbymcbobbo, the player Rosewater responded to here, is approaching the issue from a largely mechanical standpoint. They mention two specific mechanics, Learn and Companion, and both are great examples. Companion does technically work in Commander, but it probably shouldn’t, while Learn doesn’t work at all. For a format that’s intended as a bit of a ‘kitchen sink’ for all of Magic, it’s unfortunate that some aspects of gameplay just don’t function there.
This isn’t the first time players have raised concerns about the lack of such mechanics in Commander. Just two weeks ago, an r/MagicTCG thread on the topic garnered over 240 comments. ZettaiRyo came up against a similar issue to bobbymcbobbo: that Companions worked despite the lack of a sideboard, but Learn didn’t. Given how low-power Learn is as a mechanic and how broken Companion is, it’s odd that an exception was made one way and not the other.
Of course, formally introducing sideboards would solve both of these issues. It would make the format ‘feature complete’ mechanically, which would be great news for players who can’t currently play some of their favorite cards there. It’s not a simple issue, however, as this move would have many implications beyond that.
Positive Points
“I’d appreciate one, it was always weird to me that companions got a specific rules exception but lesson/learn did not. And I personally dislike asking for rule changes during rule 0, so having stuff like Spawnwsire of Ulamog be supported out the gate would be very nice.”
tybonel13, via Blogatog
On the positive side, many MTG players in the comments of Rosewater’s post were quick to point out the streamlining effect Commander sideboards would have. At the time of writing, there are 18 Commander-legal cards that grab cards from outside the game (i.e., your sideboard). This doesn’t include the 21 cards with Learn and the 20 Lessons, all of which, while technically playable in the format, are far too weak without their full functionality.
“Nobody I know doesn’t allow a wish board, and most people I know don’t even know that that’s technically not within the rules. It’s a rule 0 that most people don’t realize is a rule 0.”
laineysbucketlist, via Blogatog
For the most part, these are cards that players end up using anyway. The comments were full of players like tybonel13, who used Rule Zero conversations to run a selection of Learn cards, or an absurd finisher like Spawnsire of Ulamog. While it’s fine to leave such things up to player deliberation, making sideboards a part of the format would remove the need for these conversations, thus saving a lot of time.
“Having a codified guaranteed sideboard amount would allow more availability to play around with those sideboard access cards for more fun gimmicky decks especially for people who like traveling to conventions and whatnot because it like the tier list reduces the amount of pre-gaming discussion you have to have with people you just met or just to figure out whether or not your deck even will work”
kastumoem, via Blogatog
This streamlining logic extends to playing with new playgroups, too. If you play with the same people regularly, you’ll see a kind of natural sideboarding process happen over time. Players will switch out cards that don’t perform well against what the table tends to do. In new pods, however, this isn’t possible, which can result in hugely imbalanced games at game stores and conventions.
With access to a sideboard, players can be a lot more reactive in new pods and random games. This should lead to better gameplay overall. Tech cards against specific strategies are always tenuous includes for consistency reasons, but running them in your sideboard feels a lot better. The recently added Commander Bracket system is largely intended to streamline pre-game discussion and game finding. Adding sideboards to the format would be another step towards that goal.
The Cons Of Consistency
“Wishboards are not a good idea. My group rule zero’d them for a few months and it lead to everyone having a series of stacks pieces and silver bullets available at a moments notice. It made certain archetypes almost unplayable”
splitcodiscord, via Blogatog
Of course, every silver lining has a cloud, as adding sideboards to MTG Commander would also introduce new problems of its own. One of the biggest possible issues players identified in the comments was consistency. As splitcodiscord notes above, every player having access to an arsenal of tech cards makes some decks totally useless. Good luck popping off with Muldrotha isn’t easy when everyone has a Relic of Progenitus on tap, for example.
“No, the point of commander is to build a deck that has the answers you’ll potentially need. This really cheats the system by letting people have access to cards that are silver bullets to decks they aren’t prepared for.”
greywanderer13, via Blogatog
This issue also has a knock-on effect on deckbuilding. Part of the puzzle of Commander is figuring out how to squeeze your game plan into around 62 cards, while still leaving room for interaction. It’s such a compelling problem that many in-depth videos and articles are dedicated to the subject. Adding an extra 15 card slots removes most of the challenge in that respect. You no longer have to carefully ration your slots, since you can just put the emergency tools you need in your sideboard. With cheap Wish effects like Burning Wish you can easily access this sideboard during games, too.
“I think this is a thing best left to rule zero tbh All sideboards will do is add another area of consistency to a format designed to be promote inconsistency”
brandongcg, via Blogatog
In the end, the sideboard debate has to reckon with the fundamental nature of Commander as a format. The 100-card singleton structure was intended to promote variance, and games that felt different to those in 60-card constructed. Tutor effects already get a lot of heat for pushing against this idea, and sideboards are arguably even worse in that regard. Given how Wizards has pushed most tutors onto the Game Changer list, it seems unlikely that sideboards will be added soon. Given Rosewater’s post, however, we could see them at some point down the road.
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