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Last week, the WeeklyMTG stream ended with host Blake Rasmussen mentioning two things were coming for the next show:
- A new play series would be announced by William "Huey" Jensen, the head of WotC's Organized Play division.
- An update on Commander with a focus on the Commander Bracket System with Gavin Verhey.
Well, it's been a week and the announcement is here! The stream kicked off with Huey's announcement revealing a new annual event starting in 2027: the Magic Limited Championship! While I'm quite excited for more competitive opportunities like that, I will not be covering that topic today. Instead, you can expect an article from fellow CoolStuffInc author Roman Fusco coming soon. In the meantime, you can check out this official article for the core information.
For this article, we're going to be focusing entirely on the Commander updates. These are quite substantial and meaty, with numerous aspects worth covering. The majority of the stream (probably about 50 of the 60 minutes) was spent solely on these Commander changes.
Commander Bracket Updates
Things kicked right off with a discussion providing updates to the Commander Brackets themselves.
https://bsky.app/profile/wachelreeks.com/post/3m3ptspaivs27
The link above depicts an updated bracket graphic made by Rachel Weeks, which was discussed at length. The core to this change involved certain elements of clarity for what players can expect of decks and overall gameplay.
For example, a big focus that was added this time is on the number of turns a deck can expect to take before someone wins or loses. These include the following per bracket:
- Exhibition (Bracket 1) - 9 turns
- Core (Bracket 2) - 8 turns
- Upgraded (Bracket 3) - 6 turns
- Optimized (Bracket 4) - 4 turns
- cEDH (Bracket 5) - Any number of turns
This emphasis is meant to provide players with a general guideline and to set expectations, but isn't always guaranteed to go this way. For example, aggro decks were mentioned during the stream, and Gavin suggested setting expectations with players and if everyone's cool with it, then awesome! The example given by him was - from Ben Wheeler - "would I feel comfortable dying to a Craterhoof Behemoth by this turn?"
Additionally, the preconstructed deck element was removed from Exhibition (Bracket 2). A main example was varying power between lists. This becomes obvious when you compare a Starter Commander Deck, a normal set Commander deck, and a deck from a set like Modern Horizons 3 or Commander Masters. Some decks have contained Game Changers - and even banned cards - in them before, and some have even contained infinite combos on accident.
Additionally, the tutor restriction was lifted from throughout the entire bracket system. The prevailing theory here is that the majority of really problematic tutors are already on the Game Changers list, and that should cover this sort of restriction on its own. It also led to a lot of discussion of what constitutes a tutor. Examples included cards like Expedition Map or Tezzeret, Artifice Master. I personally saw discussion going to the extreme with the question of "is Evolving Wilds a tutor?" so this makes things much simpler and cleaner.
Last but not least, the Exhibition (Bracket 1) got a little more of an explanation just to help note how much the focus was aimed squarely on the deck theme more than anything. Lean in and have fun, power level and legalities be damned. Even Un-set cards and Mystery Booster test print cards can get played here as long as you communicate effectively with your playgroup!
Game Changer List Updates
Next up from the bracket changes came some further adjustments to the Game Changers list. Ten cards were removed from the list, with some clear philosophy explanations for each.
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The first area the Commander Format Panel wanted to adjust was certain high mana value cards. The core philosophy here is that while each of these cards are quite unfun and/or very game-ending in their own right, numerous other cards fill this role as well that aren't on the Game Changers list. For this reason, all four of these cards were removed from the list. Among all the cards removed this way, these seem to be the most contentious thus far, with several of these cards being notoriously salt-inducing.
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In the instance of these four legendary creatures, the main focus on them as Game Changers was to hinder them from being commanders at lower brackets. However, this distinction makes it hard for them to be used more fairly in the 99 of other decks. The most notable of these was noted to be Urza, Lord High Artificer - a legend who offers an intense experience in the command zone but is quite fun when used otherwise in artifact decks.
The hope is that you will see these cards in the command zone and discuss it well before the game starts. This way you can help determine if you're good with playing against one of those decks or if you'd rather see a different one played instead.
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The last two cards removed were Food Chain and Deflecting Swat. Food Chain was noted as being powerful, but the "no combos" element of lower brackets already takes care of this. Thus, it was removed. Similarly, Deflecting Swat was added for being a free spell, but has been determined to be reasonable enough compared to the likes of Force of Will and Fierce Guardianship. Both were considered overshoots in adding them to the list and are thus removed.
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A couple cards were also mentioned as being contenders for removal that were left on. Consecrated Sphinx and Coalition Victory both fall into the high mana value spell removal element. However, both had some unusual spots that made them feel a bit more egregious by comparison that led to them being left on. The same is true for Panoptic Mirror, which also has the similar combo rationale behind Food Chain. However, Panoptic Mirror can be used in problematic ways beyond simply combo uses, which caused it to be left on here - particularly since it was only unbanned fairly recently.
Commander Summit Discussions and Community Feedback
Finally, Gavin noted that the majority of the Commander Format Panel went to Wizards HQ in Renton to work directly with WotC on the future of Commander. While there, numerous things were discussed regarding the format, but the CFP decided to zero in on four specific topics. Each of these has been presented with the opportunity for players to provide feedback to Wizards and the CFP directly.
1. The first of these was whether or not Rhystic Study should be banned from the format. This was noted as being extremely frustrating for many casual players to deal with, leading to the now infamous question of "do you pay the 1?" It was also noted to cause even further issues at higher level play such as cEDH. The question is whether the format would be better off with the card removed. As of now, it remains, but the Panel is seeking player feedback on the matter given its iconic status in the format.
2. Similarly, Thassa's Oracle was discussed as well. Commonly, it's used alongside cards such as Demonic Consultation and Tainted Pact to win the game on the spot and can be used to secure victory in other ways as well. This is a common line for high level games to end and makes for a polarizing experience in brackets that aren't cEDH. Thus the Panel wonders if this is a good thing to have in the format for long-term format health. It too remains unbanned right now, pending further discussion.
3. The third aspect talked about was whether or not there should be an additional bracket system to help better define lower level brackets. The team is unsure how necessary this might be, but is being floated to make the experience better - particularly for newer players. The team wants feedback on how this should be approached or if they even should in the first place.
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4. Last but not least, the hybrid mana discussion has stirred up once again, this time at the official level within WotC. As Gavin notes in the update article, the whole point of hybrid mana is that it should work with either color. Given this, should they count as both colors or should it instead be one or the other? The idea proposed would be that Wizards and the CFP could alter the deck-building rule so that it counts as either or for deck-building purposes, but retains its actual colors during gameplay.
Here are some provided examples about these guidelines:
- Rhys the Redeemed has hybrid colored mana symbols in its mana cost and activated abilities. Given this, it would be considered either Mono-White or Mono-Green for the purposes of deck construction, but would be Selesnya colors within the game itself.
- Beseech the Queen presents an odd spot for "two-brid" mana given the Colorless nature of the 2. By these rules, it could work into any deck and simply cost 6 mana for a non-Black deck, though this has its own problems thanks to cards like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth existing.
- Finally, Deathrite Shaman was used to highlight that the non-hybrid color identity rules still apply. That means that even though Deathrite Shaman has a hybrid mana cost, it still has individual Black and Green mana symbols in its text box which means it must be treated still as a Golgari card during deck construction.
Once more, this change has not yet been implemented, but remains yet another topic Wizards and the CFP want feedback on.
Commander Format Panel Rotation Coming Next
The announcements ended with one more note that the final update of 2025 for Commander won't include any further gameplay updates. Instead, this will see shifts in the Commander Format Panel, with some members exiting and new faces coming on board - leading to a smaller number of members when all is said and done. This was originally slated for early November, but is now expected to come at some undetermined point in the next few months.
Wrapping Up
That does it for this round of Commander Format Panel updates! There's a ton going on and a lot to cover. Be sure to check out some of the additional resources below for more details on everything covered here:
Finally, the Commander Format Panel wants your feedback! Check out the Official Magic: the Gathering Discord server to get in on the discussion. Please remember to be civil while there! The team is doing their best to make things better and low-effort, bad faith responses and insults do little to improve things.
Until next time!
Paige Smith
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