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Banlist Update End of the Year – Edition

 

Zendikar Rising is out for a while, Commander Legends is also available – and we are late, but we have many changes, and had many discussions.

So, we like to explain you according to our philosophy what is changing.

We know that we can’t dodge future cards, and we can’t deny that new cards tend to be a bit stronger from set to set – remember, we had the example that older rares like Mahamoti Djinn don’t effect the game as they did 25 years ago. So, we will re-evaluate our banlist from time to time, and unban cards, which dominated the game some years ago, but now they may just be on par with other, newer cards. We even thought some months ago about banning Golos, tireless Pilgrim, as he was so dominant, and nowadays, he is still strong, but not that much of a secure win anymore.

Also, we still like to keep true to our philosophy, which in short words means that we prefer long, epic games with extraordinary cards and decks which are built around their commander – the opposite would be a very aggressive play which tries to win with a combo within turns 2-4 (and the commander just provides the colors for the combo).

So, let’s look again at our ban-categories:

Mass Discard.
We define this as a condition that leads to „Creates Undesirable Games. Losing is not an undesirable game state. However, a game in which one or more players having minimal participation in the game is something which players should be steered away from. Warning signs include massive overall resource imbalance.“ We don’t want to exclude the discard mechanic as a whole. But we also don’t want games, in which players have no cards in hand, and feel that they can just draw-go and sit uninvolved at the table. Discard often creates a card advantage, as a single card often discards two or more cards. On the other side, carddraw is unrestrictedly allowed in our format, and counterspells, too – so discard is kind of needed as a countermeasure. So, what do we do in this dilemma ?
 
– We ban cards, which can easily be abused to let the cards of BOTH opponents be discarded. We ban cards, which can discard the whole hand of a player (at least theoretically – we know that cards like Amnesia can also hit a hand with just lands. There is no hard line at which a card is a mass-discard card (we also know that card combos can be abused to trigger several times) – but as a baseline we look at cards which let more than the half of a hand be discarded (7 : 2 = 3.5 -> meaning every card that lets 4 or more cards to be discarded is a potential candidate to be classified as mass discard.) Still remember, that cards like {c]Fugue[/c] let 3 cards to be discarded at the cmc of 5 at free choice, while cards like Concentrate draw 3 for a cmc of 4, so discard is still harder than carddraw.
Mass Landdestruction.
We define this also as a condition that leads to „Creates Undesirable Games. Losing is not an undesirable game state. However, a game in which one or more players having minimal participation in the game is something which players should be steered away from. Warning signs include massive overall resource imbalance.“ We don’t want to exclude the landdestruction mechanic as a whole. But we also don’t want games, in which players have no lands and can’t play cards, and feel that they can just draw-go and sit uninvolved at the table. Landdestruction often also leads to color-screw, as players use the landdestruction to cut off players from their main resources. In a team based game, the problem is that the mana-shortage, which follows a mass-landdestruction spell is not that equally divided as it is in a one-on-one game: In a duel, the player who plays a landdestruction spell like an Armageddon needs his mana to play that spell, and he mostly can’t play additional cards during that turn. In a team game, the teammember will draw his mana in his manapool as reaction to the landdestruction spell and then play a threat, which cannot be answered to anymore as most opponents will have no mana available anymore. This is a big difference towartds mass-landdestruction in a duel, and therefore we try to avoid it in Team Commander. On the other side, there are very powerful lands which aren’t banned, and some of these lands can lead to powerful locks or game states. So, what do we do in this dilemma ?
 

– We ban mass-landdestruction cards. We ban cards, which can destroy several or all lands of a player (at least theoretically – we know that cards like Acid Rain can also encounter opponents which don’t play green at all, nevertheless we don’t want to encourage players to play such color-hate landdestruction-cards. There is no hard line at which a card is a mass-discard card (we also know that card combos can be abused to trigger several times) – but as a baseline we weigh spells more problematic if they destroy lands from all opponents > all players > or all lands from a single player. Seplls are also often less problematic as permanents that destroy lands, as they can be blinked etc. Still remember, that there is also a lot of land-ramp allowed (often fetching 2 or more lands), which can only be encountered by landdestruction or counterspells.

Combo cards and Combo enablers.
Our philosophy is that we prefer long, epic Games. We don’t want games to be consistantly end in turn 2-4. We don’t want to see generic, interchangeable combos in every deck. But we also don’t want to ban every card which could be used in a combo. So, this is a tough category. Where do we draw the line ?
 

– We ban cards, which win the game with a single card: Godo, Bandit Warlord or Tooth and Nails are such cards. You play such a card, and normally you win the game then instantly. The more cards are needed for a combo though, the lesser the likelyhood that we would ban the card. Commanders, which do function as part of a combo are also more problematic, as one of the combo cards is then always available, meaning you often just need one card to draw to win. The more expansive and fragile the combo is, however, the more forgiving we are. If the Commander’s color identity allows little or nor tutors for the combo, we also rate it as less problematic and random than decks which are just built around a combo. Remember, we don’t forbid combo play, we just want to limit it for late game and to not to be too generic. A good example would be Kiki-Jiki: Mono-Red Decks aren’t overly dominating the game, and red has no search for Zealous Conscripts – if you draw it and play it (we assume you don’t have the mana to play both cards in a single turn) nad your Kiki-Jiki is still alive and there are no blockers, yes, then you combo-win. But as you may see, this is not that easy to pull off. Also, if cards on their own aren’t any good, the chance for a ban is lower than for a combo-card, which pulls off combo from several cards and is a good card on its own.

Format Abuse.
We define this as a „Exploits the Structure of a Team based game. A team based game alters the game in certain elements as there is an enhanced Starting Life pool, the presence of two or more oppopnents, more spells and land drops per turn and other aspects. Some cards were not desigend with team based games in mind and exploit these occurences in a way too overpowered manner.„ Cards which simply deal too much damage for their cmc compared with other, similar cards just because they are played in a teamgame are such cards that we rate as a format abuse. As a hint: normally, in a duel game, you wouldn’t play these cards.
 

– We ban cards, which also don’t work in TeamCommander is intended like Havoc Festival. We do believe that such a card was meant as a clock, halving the life each turn, and not as a finisher for a cmc of , killing the opponent in their upkeep.

Some cards in this category seem a bit misplaced, though, as they don’t fit very good in any category. We nevertheless think that they kind of fit in this category as the topic „Format“ also shows that such cards perform better or can be misused more efficiently in a Teambased game.

Fast Mana.
Our philosophy is that we prefer long, epic Games. We don’t want games to be consistantly end in turn 2-4. We don’t want a player to be lucky and draw two or three of these cards in theri starting hand, play this cards on turn one and propably end the game ob turn 2 or 3. We know that it is not total randomness, but if strong decks get a strong start (and in worst case, both players of a team have such a start), you can normally just scoop your cards.
 

– We ban fast mana cards which would accelerate the game too much without a big drawback.

The following cards are unbanned:
 
The following cards are newly banned:

We do think that the card-bannings are self-explanatory.

Some additional information though to our unbannings:

Fraying Omnipotence – Works like Heartless Hidetsugu or Scourge of the Skyclaves and is kind of a format abuse, ending the game instantly. Nevertheless we believe that noone would/should play or activate such a card to commit suicide, but we will allow such cards if you try to combo out with cards that prevent you from loosing the game. Therefore we will unban it, as it works different than cards like Pox which reduces the life of a team disproportionate – it is simply unplayable without combo, so we expect rare occasions to be seen.

Ancestral Statue – we know that this card is working just for one deck, Animar, Soul of Elements. We also know that this card is insane in this deck, making Animar about infinitely large and with other cards, draws your entire deck. Nevertheless, an infinitely large Animar is still no guaranteed instant win, and needs other cards / conditions to be met for a win. When we allow card combos like Heliod and Walking Ballista, we can’t ban this on the other side when being fair. 

Dread Return – a combo card, and maybe one of the best reanimation spells printed. In other formats he saw more play as Narcomoeba and Bridge was a thing. We don’t see much Reanimate Decks currently, so we like to push it a bit with unbanning Dread.

Curiosity and Ophidian Eye – we know they combo-off with Niv-Mizzet, Parun or Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. So basically, it is a one and a half card combo as your Commander is always available. Even worse, the Parun can’t be countered itself, and draws cards if you want to react and kill him or counter the enchantment with an instant. So this is a hard instant-kill-infinite-combo. But the Commander is quite expansive, too, and the combo-cards can’t be searched. While we think that Niv may be a top-notch deck with counters/stax available and an easy infinite combo, we don’t think he will be unbeatable or pull off his combo in every game. Also, the enchantments by itself have no effect in the deck without the commander. Let’s find out.

Grindstone and Painter’s Servant is a combo, which lets you just win on activation if not hindered in response. The combo pieces are searchable, but do not have a big game impact on its own. We don’t expect to see them get much play. There are better combos out there, and no deck comes to mind relying on these cards so the combo would be an auto-include.

Marath, Will of the Wild – uinlike Ghave, who needs about 2 or more additional cards to combo-off, Marath can do this with just one more card, as itself has a built-in damage-outlet. On the other hand, we do have other commanders which can do the same, Heliod, Niv, and thelike. Marath is also quite mana intensive, he can shoot and kill and kinda control the board, and get big with doubling Season and thelike, but he needs tons of Mana to be played and activated, so we give him a shot. He will likely be a strong, but not overly dominating Commander.

Ghave, Guru of Spores – Ghave resembles Marath, as he creates Tokens, and benefits from similar cards like Marath, and also is open for infinite combos. While he needs more cards to accomplish this, he has more Tutors available and more cards interact with him for combos, too. In an environment, where lots of counters are played, and game starts already with drops at 2 or 3 mana, this commander may be a bit too slow to be cEDH tech and therefore we would like him to see if he is a big threat at high end commanders in our format.

Maelstrom Wanderer – Seems like a neverending ban/unban story with this one, eh ? We know: he is insanely strong, his cascade trigger can hardly be countered and once you cast him, you can turn the game or even instantyl win. But he costs 7 mana, which is also quite expansive, and once you pout in too many cheap ramp, you will likely just cascade into ramp. In an environment, where the game starts already with drops at 2 or 3
mana, this commander may gotten a bit too slow to be all-dominant – we think that he still is top-notch, but now with other commanders at bay not a win-guarantee anymore.

Zacama, Primal Calamity – Seems like a neverending ban/unban story with this one, too, like Maelstrom Wanderer. His similarities to the Wanderer are obvious: once he hits the table, he controls the board. But if you outrace or outcombo him, you win – he still costs 9 mana. This commander may gotten a bit too slow to be all-dominant – we think that he still is top-notch, but if you do run combos or other things, you may win before he hits the board. Games will be a bit one-sided, though: race or loose. Let’s also try him again.

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Finally, we are aware of Opposition Agent – and we know that he will draw a lot of hate. BUT as we do not allow Mass-Landdestruction, he seems a good card againbst Ramp and Combo. If you don’t search your library, you don’t have anything to fear. We think he will alter the way the game is played a lot, but not necessarily tinto a bad direction.

We also saw that in Duelcommander Genesis Storm got banned. If you built your deck around this card (meaning you just play two nonland permanents) – it’s a one-card instant win combo, yes. But you also have to draw the Storm, and you are limited in deck building. We Think it is possible and viable to built such decks, but we don’t think it’s super-dominant.

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And at last, one word about the Secret Lair Drop „The Walking Dead“: we highly disagree to this kind of monetization !  A high cost limited run set with limited timely availability and high custom costs outside the US is not what we like to see – because the trend is dangerous: Magic always had the „pay to win“ image. Yet, if this trend continues, we could see „must include to be competetive / to win“ cards which are only printed in Secret Lair drops. We don’t think that the Walking Dead cards yet fulfill the criterias, but if this „test“ if such cards will be bought might be successful, we fear the future of Magic. We will nevertheless reevaluate in the future if we ban such cards.

Have Fun and Good Games ! – The Teamcommander-Team