Commander Brackets Beta Update – Unbans, Game Changer Swaps and More!

The Commander Bracket System was updated today, April 22, in an article from Gavin Verhey. Five cards have been unbanned, including Coalition Victory and Gifts Ungiven, and the Game Changer list has seen two cards removed and eighteen cards added to the list. The update adds a lot more guidance on the brackets system, too. Kristen breaks it down. 

In today’s breakdown of the Commander Brackets Beta update, we’ll be covering the main points of the announcement. If you do want to read in greater detail (and we recommend that you do) then you should head over to Wizards to read Gavin’s full article. It includes some great reasonings behind the decisions, insight into the process, and what might come next.

The updates we’ll cover are:

• The Commander Bracket System
• Reiterating Intent
• Cards Moving Off of the Game Changer List
• Cards Added to the Game Changer List
• Commander Unbannings

COMMANDER BRACKETS BETA [X] UPDATE

It’s finally here: the first update to the Commander Brackets Beta. It may have felt like it took a while, but considering the need to collect data and feedback, and to test the system at events, it’s actually a pretty reasonable turnaround time – especially with the size of the update. That couple of months kinda flew by, really. 

First up, the results of testing the new system. In the official survey done for MagicCon Chicago, “87% of people who tried the bracket system said it was helpful in finding an appropriately powered match”. That’s some positive reinforcement that things are moving in a positive direction. Gavin goes on to report that “about half of all Commander games on Magic Online are using the Bracket System”, and that “54% of all games [using spelltable bot, for online matchmaking on Discord servers] are using brackets to pair people, and trending upward”. 

That said, the Commander Format Panel are doing anything but resting on their laurels. As we’re about to cover, they’ve made Game Changers swaps, and even Unbans. While they consider different ways of overhauling the current way brackets are set up, they are committed to allowing more time for things to percolate. The Bracket Beta will continue to run this year, and any bigger system changes will come later in the year. 

COMMANDER BRACKETS: PLAY INTENT

The big takeaway from this update is the re-emphasis of Intent. Intent is the most important piece of the bracket system.

While deckbuilding sites offer tools to help arbitrarily classify decks based on decklists, these classifications are only estimates at the end of the day. It’s still on players to decide more accurately what their deck’s intent and power might be, and to choose a bracket appropriately. You can technically build a deck that satisfies the constraints of Core (Bracket 2), but actually plays at the Optimized (Bracket 4) level of play. 

Don’t be afraid to have wider pregame conversations about the decks people are considering playing, and remember: “if you’re building your deck to be technically in bounds by the card guidelines but substantially stronger than what other people are doing at that bracket so you can stomp them, then you are being a bad actor”. 

TROUBLE IN PAIRS AND TRINISPHERE REMOVED AS GAMECHANGERS

Considering feedback, and reviewing the Gamechanger list, two cards are being removed.

The first, Trouble in Pairs, is deemed on par with enough cards not on the list that it’s slightly under the bar for being a Game Changer.

The second, Trinisphere, fits into a broader category of “unfun” cards in the stax & tax category that aren’t on the list. Coupled with the idea that you’re not going to be playing Stax in Bracket 2 (which doesn’t allow Gamechangers), Trinisphere has been deemed reasonable to come off. 

18 NEW GAMECHANGER CARDS

The Commander Format Panel received a lot of feedback, and through community outreach, listening to players, and discussions, they arrived at the following cards as being added as Gamechangers:

• Teferi’s Protection
• Humility
• Narset, Parter of Veils
• Intuition
• Consecrated Sphinx 
• Necropotence
• Orcish Bowmasters
• Deflecting Swat
• Gamble
• Worldly Tutor
• Seedborn Muse
• Crop Rotation
• Natural Order
• Food Chain
• Aura Shards
• Notion Thief
• Field of the Dead
• Mishra’s Workshop

For a full breakdown of the ethos behind these cards being made Gamechangers, head to Gavin’s article. It’s clear from the current list that some are due to efficiency, oppressiveness, time-equity, or because they’re very powerful. 

In addition to discussing these cards’ addition to the list, there has been dialogue surrounding cards that didn’t make it to the list, despite player request and feedback. This is great communication on the part of the Panel and Wizards, as it shows that community feedback is valued. Gavin discusses more of these in the article, but some of the cards discussed – Farewell, Craterhoof Behemoth, The Great Henge, and Mana Drain — are powerful, sure, but not quite in the same league as the other Gamechangers on the current list. 

One that has been at the forefront of discussion is Sol Ring. Gavin states that “Sol Ring is (the) face of Commander, handed down from Sheldon, and we are not planning to change or restrict it at this time”, adding “an important piece of the Game Changer system is creating a safety bubble: if you don’t want to have to play against Rhystic Study, Smothering Tithe, or Cyclonic Rift, you have a bracket you can play at where you don’t have to. Allowing everybody to play one (in Bracket 2) flies in the face of that, as people have to stare down these cards they thought they were opting out of fighting through.”

COMMANDER BANLIST UPDATE: FIVE UNBANNINGS

Gavin and the team also reviewed the current banlist and settled upon five cards that they felt suitable for banning at this time. These cards are going straight onto the Gamechangers list, where their impact will be reviewed. These are detailed in the Banned and Restricted Update.

The unbannings are deemed safe at the power level of Upgraded (Bracket 3) and above. However, not everyone has or will adopt this system, so some consideration has been made for these cards showing up at casual tables. 

The following five cards are now unbanned, but on the Gamechangers list. 

Gifts Ungiven

Sway of the Stars

Braids, Cabal Minion

Coalition Victory

Panoptic Mirror

Gavin has an excellent breakdown of exactly why these cards were unbanned, and under what context, so please do head over to the article to get the lowdown. The general gist of it is that these cards feel safe in Bracket 3 and above, are less detrimental than they used to be, and that other cards are not on the banlist that do very similar things. 

Like with the Gamechangers, the full article has a breakdown of thoughts on the cards that remain on the banlist, and why.

Notably, Dockside Extortionist, Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt are not being unbanned at this time. Opinions on the Panel were varied: “Commander is just more fun without them, to others who would like more time to see how the Bracket system is adopted before doing anything here, to simply feeling it’s too soon to do anything with these cards”. 

For this year at least, the book is closed on these bans. 

END STEP

The latter part of this year will be a time for the changes to the Gamechangers and Banlist to settle, and for more feedback and data to be collected about the Bracket System Beta. 

As ever, Wizards is open to feedback. In addition to posting on socials, or telling them in person, you can use the official MtG Discord for sharing feedback.

If you want to hear more about these changes and this process, check out Gavin’s video over on Youtube.

What do you think of these changes? Share your thoughts on Socials.