On the whole, yesterday’s long-awaited banned and restricted announcement wasn’t quite as exciting as expected for Commander. While we got a couple of unbans, neither seems likely to majorly shift anything in the format. More interesting, however, were the additional proposed MTG Commander unbans that Wizards mentioned later in the announcement. These unbans are still up in the air for now, but if enacted they could seriously switch up the format. Commander players, as a result, are feeling a little trepidatious right now.
Griselbrand
The first, and perhaps most exciting, of the proposed MTG Commander unbans is Griselbrand. This card has been banned in Commander for 14 years, and for good reason. In a format with a starting life total of 40, it’s trivial to sink a bunch of life into Griselbrand and draw much of your deck immediately. This, in turn, can power easy combo wins, or just bury pods in card advantage.
According to Principal Designer Gavin Verhey, Griselbrand is a “high-risk, high-reward” unban. While he acknowledges that the card is incredibly powerful, he also notes that “players love it.” Griselbrand is undeniably an iconic character in Magic lore, and, its strong performance in pretty much every constructed format has earned it a serious reputation.
Based on the early response, however, players aren’t too jazzed about the mechanical implications of having Griselbrand back in Commander. Many are concerned about unleashing such a strong draw engine into the format, especially one with Griselbrand’s advantages. While it’s comparable to cards like Necropotence and Ad Nauseum in terms of life-for-cards rate, the fact that it’s a legendary creature makes it a different kettle of fish. Since it’s a creature, Griselbrand is easy to cheat into play with tools like Entomb and Reanimate, making it more accessible than its peers. This makes the card a scary prospect, especially for bracket three tables.
Interestingly, discussion from the cEDH community on the card so far suggests it’s likely not good enough to see play there, which puts Griselbrand in an odd middle ground. It’s too good for casual, and not good enough for competitive. That alone is a strong argument against unbanning the card, as it would likely end up a drifter in the format with no real home.
Iona, Shield Of Emeria
Griselbrand, in Wizards’ eyes, has huge potential, both positive and negative. The other two proposed MTG Commander unbans, however, have less on both axes. Iona, Shield of Emeria, for example, is seen as a safe unban, but not one with a ton of upside. Verhey pointed out the card’s interesting political elements in the ban announcement article. He also noted, however, how it, in many ways, is “not fun to play against.”
While Iona is generally fine at a table full of multicolored decks, it’s absolutely miserable for mono-colored decks to face. This single card can completely shut out a mono-colored player from the game, which feels disproportionate power-wise. This is theoretically balanced out by Iona’s cost but, like Griselbrand, most players get around this with reanimation effects.
Sadly, because of Iona’s ability to shut out specific Commander strategies, the Angel remains on the MTG ban list. While it might be okay on average, the abysmal lows of the card likely don’t justify the highs.
Sundering Titan
Of the three cards up for unban consideration this week, Sundering Titan seems like the most reasonable one overall. While it is a powerful and potentially repeatable form of mass land destruction, it’s also incredibly expensive.
As Verhey noted in today’s episode of WeeklyMTG, the bar is much higher than it used to be for a card at this mana value to be banned. Recent unbannings, like Sway of the Stars and Biorhythm, are testament to that. There’s also the fact that mass land destruction is now kept in check by the bracket system, which would keep Sundering Titan out of bracket three for the most part.
In general, player discussion of a Sundering Titan unban so far has aligned with Verhey’s points. When picking one of the three as a safe unban, most players opted for Sundering Titan. That said, there was still a fair bit of pushback here. Several players noted how Sundering Titan has the potential to lock out games just like Iona can. It’s just as easy to cheat out, too, arguably even more so since it’s both colorless and an artifact. In many cases, it was lumped in with the other two as a bad unban, due to its likelihood of subtracting from the format without adding to it in return. Though at bracket four, this card is theoretically fine.
The Slow Road
On top of the three main proposed MTG Commander unbans, Verhey also touched on one other notable card in yesterday’s announcement. The notorious Jeweled Lotus, banned in 2024 in one of the most explosive announcements we’ve ever seen, is now back in the conversation. Verhey, admittedly, didn’t say a ton about the card. He mostly noted that Wizards’ “stance on it hasn’t changed” since 2024. That said, he did mention that it could come off the list at some point.
While Jeweled Lotus is now back on the table, it’s clearly not as far along in discussion as the other three cards from today. Iona, in particular, was noted as being “right on the cusp” of an unban by Verhey. This means we’ll likely see action on those before the Lotus gets a real look in.
As to when that will be, things are fairly unclear at present. Verhey noted on WeeklyMTG that the Commander panel can “come back at any time,” and that they’re not “attached to the normal ban schedule” for 60-card formats. On the other hand, he also said that the panel will deliver another update in “May or June,” which gives a vague window as to when changes could happen. Until then, Verhey also stated that Wizards is looking for player feedback before they make final decisions on the three cards discussed today. If you feel strongly on any of them one way or another, get out there and vote with your digital ink.
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