All posts by Jim Lapage

Announcements

The Silver-Bordered Project

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In our recent Quarterly Update, I dropped a bit of a teaser for a project we’re working on. I really like the idea of providing a more transparent look into what we’re doing, but based on some feedback I’ve received it appears I could have been a lot clearer when describing what it’s all about.

Rather than waiting until the next Quarterly Update (Sept 30), I’d like to lay out a bit more information about this project, where it came from, and what it is and isn’t. I’ll also address some of the more common questions I’ve received over the past 2 weeks.

At the moment, the Commander card pool consists of all regulation-sized Magic cards publicly released by Wizards of the Coast other than those with silver borders, gold borders, or acorn-shaped security stamps.

This project will not change the legality of any cards with silver borders or acorn-shaped security stamps.

What will it look like?

When we’re done, we’ll have classified all of the silver-bordered and acorn-stamped cards into one of three categories:

  1. These are fine.
    These are cards that could mechanically exist in Magic’s existing rules framework, and could be printed into a black-bordered set.
  2. These could be fine if you’re willing to play along.
    These are cards that aren’t fully supported by Magic’s ruleset, but are intuitive, and otherwise non-problematic.
  3. These are not okay
    These are cards that would probably be banned in Commander in a hypothetical world where all silver-bordered cards are legal. They represent negative play patterns and interactions that you generally shouldn’t spring on unsuspecting opponents.

Essentially, the result of this project will be a guide to help people navigate the world of silver-bordered cards in Commander.

Where did it come from?

I’ve seen a lot of speculation about our motivations for doing this, so I want to be clear. This project was not forced on us by Mark Rosewater or Wizards of the Coast, and in fact they didn’t know about it until about a week before we started.

This project was my idea, and I started thinking about it about a year ago. Several real people have reached out to me to ask why their silver-bordered cards aren’t legal in Commander, and I’ve heard from some of the more casual-focused folks on the CAG that they’ve heard the same from their communities. I emphasize that they’re real people because I’ve seen a lot of people suggest that nobody was asking for more silver-bordered support, or that silver-bordered cards are universally hated.

Silver-bordered enthusiasts do exist, even if you don’t have any at your LGS. Their arguments generally fall into one of two categories:

  1. Commander talks a lot about how it wants to be the fun, casual format that doesn’t take itself too seriously;
  2. Many ideas and mechanics that used to be silver-border are now printed in black-bordered sets, sometimes 1-for-1

When people approach me about silver-bordered cards in Commander, the most common topics are (in no particular order) Host/Augment (and Surgeon General Commander), Acornelia, Krark’s Other Thumb (and other coin flipping/dice rolling cards from Unglued), and Contraptions.

My personal opinion

When people ask me to legalize silver-bordered cards, it reminds me of December 2017, when the then-RC temporarily legalized them for about 6 weeks following the release of Unstable. I was writing articles at the time, and here’s what I wrote about that decision:

The intent of this rule [change] was to generate hype around the first un-set in nearly 15 years. Sheldon Menery explained that the change was motivated by a desire among the Rules Committee members to “allow players to play with cards you can’t (or don’t want to) play in other formats”. (Source) His rationale behind making the change is that it would allow people to try out cards they wouldn’t normally for a defined period of time in order to determine whether or not they wanted to house rule them to be legal within their own playgroups for a longer period of time.

There were two fairly major problems with the way this change was implemented. The first being that Commander is played at large events like GPs, and the announcement caused confusion and outrage towards tournament organizers who had to explain to paying customers their decision to either adhere to or deviate from the official rules of the format of the event they were hosting.

The second was that a similar result could have been accomplished with a slightly lighter touch. Although Commander is often known for its wacky interactions, not everyone who plays Commander enjoys the incredibly unique experience of playing with silver-bordered cards. The negative reaction towards this decision was entirely foreseeable given the community’s collective repulsion towards chaos mechanics. I firmly believe that – given the soapbox that Sheldon and the other members of the Rules Committee have – an article extolling the virtues of playing with un-set cards and a sincere personal recommendation to try it would have been enough. The Rules Committee would be wise to consider the fact that changes to the official rules of the format affect everyone who plays with strangers, no matter how loudly they beat that house-rule-social-contract drum of theirs.

To be clear, I’m one of the folks who doesn’t enjoy the “incredibly unique experience” of playing with silver-bordered cards. The style of humour and quirky gimmicks just never really resonated with me. I’ve gone into it with an open mind, tried it, and determined that it’s not a product for me.

Clarity and communication

Beyond my own personal aversion to the cards themselves, silver-bordered cards as a whole are a bit of a challenge. As of today there are about 800 silver-bordered or acorn stamped cards, including things like Wizards of the Coast Holiday and SDCC promos. These cards exist on a really broad spectrum.

On the one hand, you’ve got card designs that are really obnoxious, especially in a multiplayer setting. These cards can be pretty toxic when you’re trying to cultivate a positive social environment.

On the other hand, there are some really interesting and creative designs. Some of them were so compelling and popular that they formed the foundation for future card designs in tournament-legal sets.

When it comes to silver-bordered cards, it’s not always immediately evident which ones are babies and which ones are bathwater, and when someone asks whether they can play their silver-bordered Commander deck, it’s often met with groans and eye rolls. People (myself included) assume that they’re going to be shot with NERF guns, or have to sing something or high five a stranger.

Short of a PowerPoint presentation, it’s difficult for silver-bordered enthusiasts to quickly communicate the type of experience they’re bringing to the table.

The RC’s role

In April 2024 we updated the Commander Philosophy document to highlight the three pillars of the format. The new document lays out our responsibilities and serves as a roadmap for us. At its core, Commander is Social:

Each game is a journey the players share, where every player is considerate of the experiences of everyone involved. Magic is a competition in the same sense that all games are competitions, but whenever the act of competing comes into conflict with a social atmosphere, Commander prioritizes and protects the social atmosphere. Format management decisions are intended to:

  • Encourage positive, communal experiences where people can bond over the shared experience of gaming
  • Help players communicate their preferences and arrive at a shared set of expectations

When I think about the folks who want to play Acornelia or Surgeon General Commander, I don’t see a problem that’s solved by a blanket legality change that shoehorns silver-bordered cards into the format. Rather, I see a communication problem that could be alleviated by useful shared language, and that’s really what’s at the core of this Silver-Bordered Project.

We already use heuristics like this in the Commander community in a number of ways. You generally don’t have to describe your deck card-by-card if you say you’re playing cEDH, or playing stax, or playing elfball. The terms themselves carry enough information that your opponents can make a quick, informed decision about the type of experience they’re signing up for.

I’ll consider it a success if the working group is able to come up with a manageable number of snappy, descriptive names to describe the groups of cards that I see in the silver-bordered cardpool. If the names actually catch on and start seeing regular use within the community, there may even be other applications for this type of framework that can help to alleviate other clunky aspects of pregame discussions.

Q&A

Q: Why start with silver-bordered cards and not something more broadly applicable?
A: We’re relatively new to working group projects like this. I wanted the problem statement to be something with relatively defined edges, and one that had some personal significance to the folks who are working on it. This also is not the only thing we’re working on at the moment, but I can’t always share the details of our other projects.

Q: Will I have to play against more silver-bordered cards as a result of this?
A: It’s possible that more folks might try out silver-bordered cards if there’s a reasonable chance they might get to play them. The default position is still that these cards are not legal, so if these cards are not your vibe you do not have to opt-in to playing with them.

Q: Will [specific card] be considered [specific category]?
A: The classification work is currently underway and we plan on sharing the results with the Duskmourn quarterly format update on September 30.

Q: Are you looking at Mystery Booster/Unknown Event playtest cards as part of this project?
A: No.

Q: Are you looking at Acorn-stamped Mystery Booster cards?
A: There are only 7 of these. They weren’t part of our initial analysis because we didn’t know about them until after we started, but we’ll be adding them to the list and they’ll be part of the project.

Announcements

July 2024 Quarterly Update

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Cards
A couple major things have happened in the Magic world since our last quarterly update in April:

On May 13, Wizards of the Coast banned all cards that bring a sticker or attraction into the game from all tournament formats in which they were previously legal. This action did not ban stickers or attractions in Commander, and we’d like to reaffirm their legality here.

Modern Horizons also brought us Nadu, Winged Wisdom.

Nadu has become synonymous with drawn-out, non-deterministic turns that may or may not end the game. In a lot of ways, this card resembles Paradox Engine, but it remains to be seen whether Nadu’s impact on the format will rise to that level. We’ll be closely monitoring Nadu (and the online conversations about it) to see if it self-selects to tables and pods that are prepared to deal with it. If you want to share your experiences playing with or against Nadu, reach out to folks on the Commander Advisory Group or hop into our Discord and join the discussion.



No cards are being banned or unbanned in Commander at this time.

Rules
No changes

SIlver-Bordered Cards
Last month, inspired by the Sticker and Attraction changes in other formats, we started a project that’s focused entirely on Silver-Bordered cards. This includes UN-set cards, as well as a number of promos that are not officially legal in Commander.

The intent of this project is to equip players with the tools they need to communicate their preferences and arrive at a shared set of expectations.

We know that silver-bordered cards are often contentious (and often with good reason), but we want to put the collective expertise of the Commander Advisory Group and Rules Committee to work in classifying the cards that are generally fine, the cards that can be fine with a little work, and the cards that people should generally steer clear of. There’s a group of folks out there who love playing with silver-bordered cards, and we want to remove as much friction as possible in their pre-game conversations.

This project is set to conclude at the end of August, and we’ll hopefully have more to communicate in September’s Quarterly Update alongside Duskmourn.

Bloomburrow Rules Notes
By all accounts, Bloomburrow looks to be an exciting set packed with incredible art and a strong thematic framework. We don’t anticipate any format-level changes being necessary as a result of anything in this set.

Our next quarterly update will be September 30, 2024.

Announcements

State of the Format 2024

Continuity and Process

This year we’ve been forced to grapple with a lot of change and transition. Sheldon’s passing left huge holes in our hearts, and much of our work this year involved structural, behind-the-scenes things to ensure continuity. We want to honour Sheldon’s legacy through a format that remains vibrant and social.

To that end, we’re going to continue posting annual State of the Format articles in late January of each year, with two key changes. They’ll:

  • be posted here, on www.mtgcommander.net rather than their traditional home on Star City Games as part of Sheldon’s weekly articles;

AND

  • follow a more structured format, focusing on accomplishments of the previous year as well as setting goals for the upcoming year

We’re hoping that this will provide a better look at what we’re seeing, where we think we can improve, and the concrete steps we’re taking in service of our goals.

Snapshot of the Format

Complexity and Diversity

Commander in 2023 was marked by an often overwhelming injection of new cards into the format. The format gained a little less than 2000 new cards (which is slightly less than 2022), and 398 of those were legendary creatures.*

*Huge thanks to @mtg_ds on twitter for helping to gather this data

This has led to a pretty drastic change in player behaviour. Ten years ago, for example, it may have been possible to maintain an encyclopedic knowledge of every new card, as well as the most common strategies associated with common commanders. Today, that’s nearly impossible. The deluge of new cards – combined with their complexity – has even the most experienced players asking what cards do multiple times per game. This has three predictable outcomes, all of which we’re seeing today:

  1. The format has a steeper learning curve and higher cognitive load;
  2. The format is more diverse than it ever has been;
  3. Even more gameplay is improvised on the spot rather than practiced for.

Diversity doesn’t mean that there’s a total lack of cards that land in a majority of decks – simply that the format is drastically different than it was 5 or 10 years ago, when plenty of people could rattle off the entire list of 5-colour legendary creatures off the top of their head.

When cards do land in the majority of decks, they often seem to be cards that were designed specifically with Commander in mind. This does carry a benefit in that newer cards tend to be more available and more readily reprinted, but it does run the risk of eroding Commander’s charm and personality. This isn’t necessarily a problem to be solved, but it is something we’re aware of. If you’re reading this, one way you can help to preserve Commander’s charm is to dig deep and play weird cards just because they don’t have a home elsewhere. 

All the new cards make it ever more likely that you’ll find some perfect card that your opponents will have to read and try to figure out what to do with. That idea was inherent in the origins of Commander – a place to play the cards that weren’t seen in other games, giving the format a more improvisational feel. Though the underlying cause is slightly different, the net effect is similar; in 2024 you’ll need to play around cards you have to read.

Although Commander today has a steeper learning curve than it did in years past, there are no shortage of avenues to get people to start learning and playing. Widely available, well-built pre-constructed decks can allow anyone to sit down, enjoy a game and begin to grasp and learn all the concepts of magic gameplay. While Commander will never be the ideal way to learn the basics of Magic, a focus on the fun of the game goes a long way in carrying a player through that initial confusion.

We’re really excited by the idea that you can pick up a preconstructed deck from your LGS and – with a little luck and skill – be able to hang with the folks who show up to play or the friends who have invited you to join their hobby. We are conscious, though, that as preconstructed decks become more powerful, people might skip over the experience of digging through bulk boxes for niche cards to upgrade or customize their decks. As ambassadors to the format, we love to share the joy of creativity and self-expression through deckbuilding, and we don’t plan on shutting up about it.

Events Galore

In the past year, we’ve been thrilled to see numerous events spring back up across the globe, allowing people to play Commander in every way imaginable. We’ve seen packed Local Game Stores, CommandFests and MagicCon Command Zones filled with players representing the entire spectrum of Magic play. We love that folks are able to find like-minded people to enjoy the game with in a way that they enjoy, no matter the power level.

Feedback to Wizards

A lot of people didn’t realize prior to 2023 that we give regular feedback to Wizards R&D on card design. This isn’t new, but it’s worth mentioning because we feel it’s an important part of managing the format. Our job is not to fix problems with card or game design, nor to tell Wizards what they have to change (they have many concerns to balance, while we have only one!) We’re able to help them identify potential problems so their skilled game designers can make informed decisions. Additionally, we highlight cards we are excited by and spaces we’re excited to see them exploring. We continued to provide feedback this year, and while we can’t talk about what’s been discussed, remain very happy with our relationship with the Casual Play Design team, with whom we work closest.

Banlist Explanation Project

One of the key principles we focused on this year is documenting institutional knowledge – capturing an enduring record of the things we have in our brains, so they’re not exclusively communicated (and often distorted) by word of mouth. 

Years ago, we identified an opportunity to do this by modifying the official Commander banlist page to include short, easy-to-understand explanations for why each card earned its spot on the banlist. Previously, the best way to research these topics was to dig through our old banlist announcements, or read articles written by Sheldon or the other members of the Rules Committee.

Today, we’re happy to announce that these modifications have been made to the banlist page. We drew heavily from archived announcements on MTGNexus, outstanding articles by Commander Advisory Group members Kristen Gregory and Tim Willoughby, and the collective recollections of folks who were involved at the time. We compiled the explanations with the assistance of  Commander Advisory Group members Rachel Weeks, Charlotte Sable, and Shivam Bhatt. The resulting explanations are by no means comprehensive or exhaustive, as one of our goals was to keep them pithy enough for a mouseover-style interaction. We did our best to focus on important elements of each card and the play patterns that led to their removal from the cardpool.

Although we consider this project to be complete at the moment, we may modify these explanations in the future if we find that our brevity has come at the expense of clarity.

Status: Complete

501(c)(3) Status

As an organization, one of our goals is to be sustainable. We have expenses such as web hosting costs, and want to make sure we compensate our Official MTG Commander Discord moderators for their time and efforts, along with anyone else who provides us with their valuable services. Historically Sheldon handled many of these expenses out of pocket, resulting in a disruption with his passing. We are taking steps to get these finances on a firmer and more structured footing. We’ve historically had people and organizations reach out to us to offer help and financial support for the things we do, but it’s important for us to avoid selling access or influence, or even the perception of doing so.

To this end, we’ve started work on establishing a 501(c)(3) – a nonprofit organization with appropriate oversight and financial transparency. Our goals here are to ensure that:

  • our financial obligations continue to be met during periods of transition;
  • any fundraising efforts we undertake are accompanied by appropriate disclosure;
    AND
  • the Rules Committee as an organization exists independently of any of its constituent members.

We want to express our gratitude to Don Miner of EDHREC and to his staff for helping us navigate the legal waters on this project. His help has been tremendously valuable.

This project is well-underway, but there are still some administrative tasks we need to complete in 2024.

Status: Ongoing

Goals for next year

In keeping with this more structured approach to the State of the Format, we’d like to share some goals we have for 2024, with the intent to revisit them in next year’s article.

  1. 501(c)(3) admin tasks
    Complete all administrative and tasks related to the establishment of the 501(c)(3).
  2. Philosophy and Operations
    In last year’s State of the Format article, Sheldon shared a preview of some potential changes to the format philosophy. It doesn’t represent a shift in the philosophy – we will always be the format that focuses on creativity, self expression and having fun – but see opportunity for improved articulation of our goals and priorities. This work is ongoing, and requires a bit more polishing before it’s ready for publication. 
  3. RC Stream
    Our Thursday games at twitch.tv/CommanderRC continue to be some of the most direct contact the RC has with the online player base.  Going into the new year, we’re aiming for a more consistent schedule involving faster-paced games featuring the entire RC along with special guests from across the community. We’re looking for more opportunities to grow and interact with the great community who join us on these streams.
Rules Updates

NOVEMBER 2023 QUARTERLY UPDATE

Cards

No changes

Rules

No changes, but here are some helpful tips regarding specific cards and mechanics in the set:

Hakbal is one of the face commanders of the new Lost Caverns of Ixalan preconstructed Commander decks.

Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Remember when you’re playing it that you choose the order for each creature to explore, but they all explore during the resolution of the trigger – no player gets priority in between each creature exploring!

Some creatures in this set also utilize finality counters.

Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake

If your Commander somehow gets a finality counter on it and it would die, it will be sent to exile instead. Once it’s there, you’ll have a choice to send it to the command zone as outlined in Rule 7: 

If a commander is in a graveyard or in exile and that card was put into that zone since the last time state-based actions were checked, its owner may put it into the command zone. If a commander would be put into its owner’s hand or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead. This replacement effect may apply more than once to the same event.

General Commentary

The format continues to be in a pretty good place overall, and LCI/LCC don’t appear to contain any cards that challenge or detract from our vision for the format.

Although this will be our final quarterly update for 2023, we’re planning on continuing Sheldon’s annual tradition of a STATE OF THE FORMAT article in early January, prior to the release of Murders at Karlov Manor in February 2024. Typically Sheldon released these on StarCity Games, but going forward we’ll be releasing them here on MTGCommander.net.

Rules Updates

AUGUST 2023 QUARTERLY UPDATE

Cards

No changes

Rules

Wilds of Eldraine brings with it two Adventure commanders. Here’s how this card type interacts with the rules of Commander!

Commander Tax
Refer to Rule 6:
Commanders begin the game in the Command Zone. While a commander is in the command zone, it may be cast, subject to the normal timing restrictions for casting creatures. Its owner must pay {2} for each time it was previously cast from the command zone; this is an additional cost.

If Beluna Grandsquall is your commander, you have the option to cast it or Seek Thrills from your command zone. In either case, you must pay commander tax according to how many times it has been cast from the command zone so far in the current game. If you choose to cast Seek Thrills, exile it as it resolves and you have the option to cast it later from exile without paying commander tax.

Colour Identity
The colour identity of a legendary creature with adventure includes the colour(s) of any mana symbols in the adventure’s casting cost. Kellan, the Fae-Blooded has a colour identity of WR.

General Commentary

In our June update, we singled out two cards – Orcish Bowmasters and Mirkwood Bats. In the last 2 months, players have started to play with them and against them. Orcish Bowmasters in particular appears to be very strong. From what we’ve seen and from what people have told us, it doesn’t appear to be making as big of a splash as many had anticipated. This aligns with our initial expectations, and unless something changes we don’t foresee either card causing problems that warrant immediate action.

We’ll be back with our next update on November 10 in advance of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan!

Announcements, Rules Updates

June 2023 Quarterly Update

Cards
No changes

Rules
The ring tempts you – This is a mechanic that – on the surface – looks a lot like venturing into the dungeon. In the past we’ve had to make changes to Rule 10 (Cards from outside the game) to accommodate these mechanics. Unlike Dungeons, though, this mechanic is tracked on an emblem! The rules today already accommodate emblems, so no changes are necessary for this to function as it does in other formats.

General Commentary
We’ve been following the community’s discussions and concerns surrounding Orcish Bowmasters, and – to a lesser extent – Mirkwood Bats. With the help of the Commander Advisory Group, we’ll be observing how and if those discussions change over time as people play and play against these cards.

We’ve also seen a ton of excitement! The idea of a fully fleshed-out set with deep lore really closely aligns with our goals in managing the format. In this set, Wizards has delivered a ton of tools to players who want to tell stories through their deckbuilding and gameplay. A property as deep as Lord of the Rings has a ton of stories to tell.

We’ll be back with our next update on August 28 in advance of Wilds of Eldraine!