This Week in Magic: Friday, April 25th

Posted on April 25, 2025

Major Commander Changes Unveiled

Far and away the biggest news of the week was the latest Commander format updates provided by Gavin Verhey and the Commander Format Panel. We knew of unbans coming down the line, and we got them! Five cards in total were unbanned: Coalition Victory, Sway of the Stars, Gifts Ungiven, Panoptic Mirror, and Braids, Cabal Minion. In addition, tons of new cards were added to the Game Changers list, while two others were removed. The bracket system was clarified further, though no changes were made to that at this time.

You can find my full write-up on the announcement here on CoolStuffInc.com, or you can go check out Gavin's two articles which are far more substantial and really dive into the nitty gritty of it all. The first covers the unbans as well as discussing the rest of the ban list while the second article covers the bracket system and the Game Changers updates.

Through the Omenpaths Announced for Digital Releases

On Monday, Wizards of the Coast dropped an unexpected bombshell of a news article. In it, Wizards revealed that not all Standard-legal Universes Beyond would be coming to digital clients. Instead, these releases will have special Universes Within versions - complete with new names and artwork - exclusively on these digital clients such as MTG Arena and Magic Online. While this change won't be impacting Magic: the Gathering - FINAL FANTASY or Magic: the Gathering - Avatar: the Last Airbender, it was noted that this will affect all Marvel releases, including Magic: the Gathering - Marvel's Spider-Man.

For full details, check out the announcement article on DailyMTG.com or check out my full write-up on the matter here on CoolStuffInc.com.

A New Chaos Vault Secret Lair Goes on Sale

Wizards has once again rolled out another surprise Secret Lair release under the Chaos Vault branding. Titled "Adventures of the Little Witch," this set of cards is as the title would suggest: depicting a young witch in a variety of settings on a handful of cards. While the art direction on this lair drew praise, the valuation of the cards didn't. In fact, the foil version of this lair is on sale for a substantially higher price than most foil lairs, which has drawn criticism and controversy.

You can find the full details of the Secret Lair drop - including a special unique decklist for Legacy - in the announcement article here.

The Professor Talks With Richard Garfield

Two giants of Magic: The Gathering gathered together as The Professor of Tolarian Community College had an opportunity to talk with the game's creator, Richard Garfield. The discussion provides interesting insight into the mind of the man behind the game that many players had not heard before. Richard also talked about other games he has made over the years, including his latest upcoming title Vanguard Exiles. I highly recommend checking this one out, and you can do so right here.

Decklist of the Week

Jeskai Oculus | TDM Standard | theasiankid, 1st Place MTGO Standard Challenge

Instants (5)
1 Spell Pierce
4 Torch the Tower

Enchantments (4)
4 Proft's Eidetic Memory

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

As we gear up for some upcoming Standard Regional Championship events, it's time to turn our eye to some newer decks. Jeskai Oculus broke out at Pro Tour Aetherdrift and while it hasn't quite been one of the so-called "big three" of the format, it's managed to get a foothold and carve out its own niche in the meta. The deck wins by cycling through your deck with draw plus discard effects that either fill up your graveyard to cast an Abhorrent Oculus or else put one into the graveyard that you can then reanimate. The deck is good enough to win a MTGO Challenge, so it's definitely you should keep in mind as you practice the Standard format more!

Paige Smith

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