Summary
Magic: The Gatheringhas announced its first big change to the Commander format since Wizards of the Coast took over last year, with the unbanning of a number of cards that have been highly requested by the community.
Braids Is Back
As revealed on theofficial MTG site, five cards have been unbanned in Commander with immediate effect. However, they have been immediately placed on the Game Changers list, joining cards like Tergrid, Smothering Tithe, and Ancient Tomb as cards intended for the most powerful of decks:
With the commander bracket system introduced last year, all of these cards are deemed acceptable in higher-bracket decks. For instance, Coalition Victory requires eight mana and your commander to be out to win, while Gifts Ungiven is effectively either a combo piece in high-powered decks, or a fun alternative to Fact or Fiction anywhere else.
Braids in particular is an interesting unban, as it has been banned in Commander since 2009.
Of course, three cards many expected would be unbanned are last year’s Mana Crypt, Jewelled Lotus, and Dockside Extortionist. On discussing the possibility of an unban for any of these, Verhey said that “we did talk about these cards and are not unbanning them at this time”, and that the “book is closed on these three cards”.
Don’t Expect Golos Back Any Time Soon
As previously announced, no new cards were banned. It was also confirmed that no cards will be banned for at least the rest of 2025, bar any Nadu-type situations where a card becomes “generally reviled” and requires a banning.
In September last year, Wizards of the Coast announced it wastaking controlof the until-then fan-managed Commander format. Though it created a new Commander Format Panel to discuss bans and guide the format as it had been before, Wizards ultimately now has the final say on whether cards like my darling merfolk man Hullbreacher should be unbanned.
