We’re currently living through one of the most tumultuous events in MTG history. Most ban announcements are met with controversy of some kind, but this week’s Commander bans are on another level. They’ve already had a devastating impact on the secondary market, and set discussion forums alight with furious messages. Perhaps more than anything else, however, it’s the timing of this Commander ban announcement that has players fuming. Thanks to certain surrounding circumstances, the conspiracy theorists in the community are out in force.
Selling Into The Crash
This is a multi-layered issue, but it begins with two of the big sets of last year: Commander Masters, and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. There was plenty to love about both of these sets, but the undeniable chase cards of each were Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt, respectively. In Ixalan’s case, this was a rare Special Guest printing, but it still drove a lot of demand. After all, these were top-tier Commander reprints of expensive cards. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that many players bought these products just for the chance to open one.
The issue is that, according to a Discord message from Jim Lapage, a member of the Commander Rules Committee, the recent bans were actually in the works while these sets were being promoted and sold.
“We’ve been talking about these bans with each other, with Wizards (so they can do their own communications and align bans with MTGO) for a little over a year now.”
Jim Lapage
Naturally, players aren’t too happy about the fact that sets were being sold off the back of cards with bans in their futures. Many took to social media to voice these concerns.
“They were selling us the dream of owning a Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus while having an ongoing conversation with the RC about banning Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus.”
Jake Browne
The timing of this next to the Commander ban announcement is definitely unfortunate. That said, it’s worth keeping in mind the schedule Magic runs on. Sets are typically developed two and a half years in advance of their release. This means that both Lost Caverns of Ixalan and Commander Masters were likely finished up and ready to go long before these discussions started.
For those who opened one of these cards recently this won’t bring much relief. Nonetheless, this is an important detail to keep in mind when taking part in the ban discourse. It’s easy to slip into tin foil hat territory when big changes like this take place, but it’s very unlikely this was a calculated move on WotC’s part.
The cEDH Controversy
The timing of this Commander ban announcement was poor in a different way, too. Just a few weeks ago, drama engulfed the cEDH community as some prominent members attempted to start their own Rules Committee for the sub-format. For those unaware, cEDH stands for ‘Competitive EDH’. It’s a Commander variant where the aim is explicitly to play with the most powerful decks possible.
The issues of crafting a unique ban list for a format with power as its main goal aside, the cEDH RC debacle was plagued with other problems. The character of those involved, and the lack of diversity on their proposed RC, were both called into question. As a result, the attempt to set up a cEDH RC failed.
What does this have to do with the bans? Well, the four cards chosen, Nadu excluded, are all incredibly important in cEDH. The speed they offer gives multiple decks a chance against the power players in the format. For more information, you can check out Anthony Listener’s breakdown of the problem on Twitter.
While the bans will definitely have an impact on Commander in general, they affect cEDH much more. Perhaps not financially, since the format is so proxy-friendly, but definitely in terms of gameplay. Many who play the format have been voicing their discontent since the bans were announced.
“These bans make sense from a casual EDH perspective but are catastrophic to cEDH, a format I love above all else.”
Goldsabertooth
Because of the close proximity of the cEDH RC incident and these bans, many are speculating that the latter was a direct response to the former. That the bans are a pushback against cEDH organizing as an independent format. Given that, as mentioned above, the bans had been in the works for around a year, we can easily dismiss this as a possibility, however.
The Boring Truth
As with most MTG drama, the truth here is far less sinister and sensational than what the community dreams up. Late last night, the Commander Rules Committee released an FAQ regarding the bans. This covered a wide range of topics, including the two we’ve talked about here today. On the topic of WotC’s involvement and foreknowledge of the bans, the FAQ had this to say.
“We have discussed our concerns about fast mana, including marquee cards like Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt, with WotC for some time but had not decided to ban them until recently. We knew it would be a painful change and maybe waited too long, but once we decide to ban cards we act and have never ‘sat on’ a banning.”
Commander RC
Based on this, the theories about WotC intentionally selling sets with doomed cards collapse. There’s been controversy over Mana Crypt for decades, and Jeweled Lotus/Dockside pretty much since their inception. People have been calling for bans for years, and it just so happens the trigger was pulled now. WotC was none the wiser when the set was being promoted last year, and even less so when the sets that included them were being designed.
The theories about the bans being a coordinated attack on cEDH were also addressed in the FAQ. While the format will certainly be affected, the RC maintains that the damage to cEDH is collateral and wasn’t the primary goal by any means.
“While this set of bannings does have a large impact on the cEDH/tEDH metagame, that was neither our goal nor an overwhelming consideration (in fact it’s something we like to avoid, but not a high priority). We banned them because they’re having an increasing effect on casual games and rule-zero/pregame conversations were no longer keeping them in check.”
Commander RC
This makes perfect sense. While cEDH is certainly a sizable community, it’s tiny relative to the total Commander population. Making ban decisions with it in mind would, therefore, be a bad move overall. The proximity to the cEDH RC drama is another unfortunate coincidence, but not one that should be read into.
Overall, while these bans have been devastating for some, it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind. The Commander RC makes decisions for the health of the format, divorced from external drama or financial implications. Your wallet may have been hit today, but it’s likely your Commander games will be better tomorrow as a result.
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