Recently, MTG players were shocked by the news of a major rules change coming to Commander. When Edge of Eternities launches, Legendary Vehicles and Spacecraft will become legal Commander options. Excitingly, this has opened the door for the new Spacecraft Commanders in the Edge of Eternities precons.
Admittedly, while this sounds like a major shift, to the landscape of Commander, the existing Legendary Vehiclies aren’t amazing. The vast majority of these cards are mono colored and don’t offer exciting enough abilities to be Commander viable. Thankfully for anyone not excited by this change, it seems a much bigger shift might be on the horizon.
In a recent discussion stirring comment from Mark Rosewater is anything to go by, Planeswalkers might be legal Commanders in MTG soon.
A Big If
Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s worth stressing that Mark Rosewater hasn’t explicitly announced any impending change. In fact, the chances of anything happening are currently an “If” at best. On its own, this is bad news for Planeswalker-loving Commander fans as the stars would have to align for this to happen.
If that “if” was all this statement was, there really wouldn’t be much news here. That extra question asking readers what they’d like to see, however, changes the story entirely. By stirring up a whirlwind of discussion, Mark Rosewater has potentially just set the winds of change in motion.
A Big Yes
To say that a lot of MTG players wanted this change would be an understatement. In fact, some players feel like this change is inevitable, regardless of which way MTG players and Blogatog readers end up voting. While nothing is set in stone, there are definitely a lot of compelling reasons to implement this change.
For starters, as HonorBasquiat notes on Reddit, the flavor win from this change would be huge. Following the rise of Universes Beyond, Planeswalkers are one of the few things that make Magic feel like Magic. Leaning into these iconic cards and allowing them to helm decks in Magic’s most popular format just feels like a no-brainer.
On top of this, arguably the most important detail is that it would just be fun. Planeswalkers in MTG have tons of useful, powerful, and just plain interesting abilities that’d make for great Commanders. Having something like Elspeth, Storm Slayer or Ral, Crackling Wit in the Commander Zone would just be neat.
Wizards of the Coast already knows this fact. To date, Wizards has created 34 Planeswalkers that are specifically eligible to be your Commander. While undoubtedly beloved, these cards do have one key difference from this hypothetical rules change. These cards have each been designed to be legal Commanders.
As many players pointed out, this change could cause some wonky interactions that need to be fixed. While this is possible, playable Planeswalker Commanders haven’t been causing problems so far. In Brawl, on MTG Arena, it’s legal to have any Planeswalker as your Commander, yet that format is hardly a toxic hellscape.
Far From Perfect
While Brawl is running smoothly while having Planeswalkers as legal Commanders, this change definitely wouldn’t be seamless. There are a fair few Planeswalkers that would be absolutely abhorrent in the Command Zone, for instance. Having Oko, Thief of Crowns or Teferi, Time Raveler as a Commander could easily create miserable play experiences.
In theory, Wizards of the Coast could solve this problem using the Game Changers list. Doing this, however, would make getting into Commander more complex, while potentially punishing Planeswalkers in the 99. Potentially, Wizards could bring back having “Banned as Commander,” however, that’d be yet another complexity spike.
Admittedly, while not perfect, these changes are hardly impossible to implement. From the looks of the discussion on Reddit and Blogatog, the vast majority of players want this change to happen. It might cause a slight complexity spike, but it definitely seems like that would be worth it.
That said, while most players were positive, some weren’t fond of this idea. On Blogatog, some users like feyd-rautha-apologist claimed it’d “absolutely ruin the format,” while adeetaprime commented, “No, please God no.” While these dissenting voices will carry weight, it definitely seems like the majority of players are more receptive.
An Impending Change
“If he asks this, they’ve already decided it behind the curtains most likely.”
kingfede1985
If you ask some MTG players, like kingfede1985, this is already a done deal. Similarly, Infinite_Bananas expects that Wizards are just waiting for the right opportunity to make this change. Much like the Commander rules change for Edge of Eternities, a Planeswalker-focused set would be the perfect opportunity.
Looking ahead, there’s no guarantee when this could happen. That said, we do know that the 2026 capstone set, codenamed Ziplining, will be a big deal. Potentially, if this set has all the current Planeswalkers coming together, it could be the opportunity Wizards was waiting for.
Before then, Wizards may experiment with Commander events at LGSs and MagicCons. If this happens, it’ll definitely seem like Wizards is testing the waters for an impending wide-scale change. That said, the same didn’t happen for Legendary Vehicles, so Wizards may keep their cards close to their chests.
Alternatively, we might have to wait a long while if this change is only being discussed right now. We know that MTG sets take around two years in the development pipeline, and this decision could take a similar amount of time. Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens, as nothing is set in stone right now.
That said, if you do like the idea, you can always Rule Zero Planeswalker Commanders to be legal already.
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