Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and the Commander Format Panel (CFP) have revealed a series of changes as part of the scheduled Banned and Restricted Announcement for Magic: The Gathering’s Commander format.
Unbans:
- Biorhythm
- Lutri, the Spellchaser (will remained banned as a companion)
Speaking on behalf of the panel, Principal Magic Designer, Gavin Verhey, shared that they would be unbanning both Biorhythm and Lutri, the Spellchaser, with the caveat that Lutri would continue to be banned as a Companion.
According to Verhey, the panel discussed the risks and rewards of Biorhythm in-depth, and ultimately decided to give the game-ending green card another chance in the format, citing the successful reintegration of other expensive, previously banned spells like Worldfire, Sway of the Stars, and Coalition Victory.
“We accept there is some risk here, but it’s also a card with big moments that will generate some excitement. I personally can imagine a lot of games totally turned upside down in a memorable way as a Biorhythm resolves and suddenly the game is changed. It makes for a very memorable experience, as long as it isn’t happening too often.”
As the panel has done with other unbans in the past, Biorhythm will be added to the Game Changers list and monitored in the early stages of its freedom.
When Companions were introduced in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, they completely turned Magic on its head. Even after the mechanic was reworked, Lutri as a Companion provided too much value for blue-red Commander decks – acting as a free extra card with no downside – and this ubiquity led to it being banned almost immediately after its release.
While the legendary Otter remains too problematic for the Companion slot to this day, the CFP feels that Lutri is perfectly fine as a Commander or just another card among the 99.
“…Lutri has a lot going for it. Copying spells is fun! It’s a cute otter! Since the day Lutri was revealed, players have been asking to play with the card in Commander—a request which has only risen in popularity post-Bloomburrow.”
In the past, each card that has been unbanned in Commander has been placed on the Game Changers list, but since Lutri’s impact was almost exclusively tied to being a Companion, the CFP will not be adding the Otter as a Game Changer at this time.
Cards to Watch
Verhey closed out this month’s Commander B&R by calling out a few cards that the CFP is currently discussing as potential bans and unbans in future updates.
Potential Bans
Potential Unbans
For a full breakdown of this month’s Commander B&R, read the original article from WotC.
Commander Bracket Updates
In addition to today’s Banned & Restricted Announcement, Verhey also addressed the on-going Commander Bracket Beta, including the Game Changers list.
According to Verhey, the CFP is overall very pleased with how the Brackets have shaped the format since the last update back in October, and the feedback for the Game Changers list has been equally positive. As such, there won’t be any changes to the core of the Brackets or Game Changers, however two cards have been added to the Game Changers list: Biorhythm (discussed above) and Farewell.
“It removes pretty much everything, adding a lot of rebuilding time and starting from square one, which isn’t enjoyable for many players. When you think about the goal of having cards on the Game Changers list, they’re often cards that people would want to know about appearing in their games and would prefer opting out of playing if needed. By putting it only at Bracket 3 and above, that lets people get into games that could have a Farewell only if they want to.”
Another topic that Verhey addressed was hybrid mana cards and how they should work in Commander going forward. In the time since the last update, the CFP collected a great deal of community feedback on the topic, but ran into an unexpected result – a nearly perfect split between positive and negative opinions.
Jokingly, Verhey admits that he had “…never seen something quite so split right down the middle in terms of community sentiment…” and as a result, the CFP has opted to put the hybrid mana card discussion on hold for the foreseeable future.
Read the full Commander Brackets Beta Update here from WotC.
