Amid the chaos of this week’s historic Commander bans, it’s important to stay grounded and remember what we’re all here for. Magic is a game at the end of the day, and one we all love playing. Even when new developments like this bring the salt to the surface, it’s vital that we keep that in mind. This week, a much-needed injection of levity arrived with the new EDHRec Salt Scale rankings for 2024.
This is an annual tradition for EDHRec, where users vote on which cards in the format are the saltiest. Or, for those less well-versed in internet slang, the most annoying or rage-inducing. Each card gets a rating from one to four, with one being fine and four being a problem card. The result is a set of stats that’s at once a tongue-in-cheek look at community feeling and some genuinely useful sentiment-driven data. Among this year’s crop, there’s even some evidence backing up one of this week’s bans.
Bye Bye Birdy
- Mana Value: 1GU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/4
- Card Text: Flying. Creatures you control have “Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand. This ability triggers only twice each turn.”
As you’ve probably already guessed, the card in question is Nadu, Winged Wisdom. Everyone’s favorite Simic Bird was hit on Monday alongside Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus, and Dockside Extortionist. Of these bans, many agreed that Nadu was the most deserving. The card creates deeply unfun game states where one player gets to combo off for up to 40 minutes at a time, and not even necessarily win thanks to its non-deterministic nature. While this was less consistent in Commander than in Modern, it was still a notable issue.
Pretty much no one in Commander liked Nadu, and this was reflected in its performance in the 2024 EDHRec Salt Scale rankings. Not only did the card take the top spots in the ‘Saltiest Commanders’ and ‘Saltiest New Cards’ sections, but it also came in as the third saltiest card in Commander overall. For context, the only two cards above it are Winter Orb and Stasis. These are classic resource denial cards and are generally seen as monstrously unfun. In fact, it’s often considered a social faux pas’ to add them to your deck at all.
To see Nadu, a card that’s only a few months old, in such a position says a lot about how problematic it was. It also reflects poorly on the reckless FIRE school of design that’s been powering sets like Modern Horizons 3. Even if Nadu hadn’t been banned this week, these results would’ve been a pretty big call to action. In this respect, the decision to ban Nadu looks like a solid one. Though of course, this was the least controversial card among the four banned on Monday.
A Worrying Trend
Outside of Nadu, the EDHRec Salt Scale results for 2024 offer other insights too. Looking at the top ten saltiest cards, a common theme quickly emerges. Most are resource denial cards that stop your opponent from playing the game at all. I’m talking Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, Armageddon, Static Orb, and the two mentioned above. It makes sense for cards like these to dominate the list. In general, the only decks that run them are decks that can take advantage of them. This leads to one-sided games where most players can barely interact.
Seeing Nadu ranked alongside these fun vampires isn’t surprising, since it has a similar effect on the game. What’s more surprising is the number of other cards that have also made it into the top 10. Thassa’s Oracle sits at number six, Tergrid, God of Fright at eight, and The One Ring at nine. Only The One Ring is actually a new entry this year, but the fact that more top slots are being slowly taken up by new cards should be cause for concern.
Each of these cards is on the list for their own reasons, of course. Thoracle is the premier win condition in cEDH, and also just a very anticlimactic card to play against in casual games. Tergrid is infuriating since it can steal away the cards you put in your deck to play yourself. The One Ring, meanwhile, is just too obvious an include in pretty much any deck. It’s everywhere and also very expensive, so seeing it so much creates feelings of bitterness.
It may seem inevitable with how hard the power level envelope is being pushed these days, but new cards ranking this high on the Salt Scale is not a good thing and hints at deeper issues for the format.
A Pinch Of Salt
We’ve already seen plentiful calls to ban Thassa’s Oracle, Tergrid, and The One Ring, and, as we’ve just seen with Nadu, at some point, those calls may be answered. It’s not particularly healthy for any format to be dominated by new power cards, but especially for a social format like Commander. With the way design is going right now, however, more of this seems inevitable.
That said, it’s important to take the EDHRec Salt Scale 2024 results with a pinch of salt if you’ll pardon the pin. As much as the data it collates can be useful, the humorous framing and informal structure also means that it isn’t a be-all-and-end-all source. Looking elsewhere in this year’s report, new legends like Ygra, Eater of All and Emrakul, the World Anew appear. Both are powerful cards, to be sure, but not even on the radar for bans just yet.
As much as the Nadu ban feels like an affirmation of this list as a community weather vane, it’s also a bit of a unique situation. We haven’t seen a card so universally reviled in years, thus its swift banning in Modern last month. Whether the other cards at the top end of the Salt Scale are ban-worthy too remains to be seen. Though I really wouldn’t be surprised if The One Ring is next.
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