Why are The Power 9 (Except Timetwister) Banned in Commander?

While Commander’s grassroots origins make it different from many other Magic formats, it still has a ban list like the rest of them. However, since Commander is not a format with tons of tournament data to back up banning certain cards, some players are unsure why certain offenders end up on the list. 

Over the last year, I’ve been making my way through the banlist and discussing the rationale behind the bannings and discussing whether or not those cards can be unbanned. So far I’ve covered all but 8 cards on the list. And today, I’m completing this series with a look at those remaining cards, all of which happen to be part of the Power 9. In this article I’m going to take a look at those 8 cards and discuss whether or not they should be unbanned.

What’s The Power 9?

As you can probably surmise from the name, “Power 9” refers to 9 powerful cards that were printed at rare in Limited Edition Alpha. These 9 cards were the most sought after in the set, pretty much from day one, because it was so clear they were utterly broken. These cards are: Black Lotus, the five Moxen (yes, that’s the plural for Mox), Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, and Timetwister.

In 1994, when Wizards of the Coast decided to create sanctioned tournament play, the Power 9 were restricted in the very first Banned & Restricted announcement. This meant that you could only play one of them per deck. They have never been removed from the list. Today, they are banned in every format but Vintage where you can play a singleton copy of each of them.

In other words, none of the cards in the Power 9 have ever been legal as more than a one-of in any sanctioned Magic format. That’s not going to change, either. There may have been some power creep over the years, but it’s largely been restricted to creatures. The Power 9 are still arguably the most powerful cards ever printed.

In addition to being some of the most powerful cards ever printed, the Power 9 are also the most expensive cards ever printed. There are a number of factors at play that cause this. Chief among these is that they are on the Reserved List. This is a list of cards that Wizards of the Coast has promised never to reprint. 

So, all the copies of the Power 9 in existence have already been printed. And they were all printed by 1995. On top of that, the Power 9 are in high demand for Vintage players, as they tend to be necessary if you want to keep up in that format.

Why Are the Power 9 (Apart from Timetwister) Banned in Commander?

The Power 9 (Apart from Timetwister – more on that later) have been banned in Commander since 2005. The reason for this is twofold. 

First, the cards are just incredibly powerful. Any player who can get them in their opening hand has a much higher chance of winning the game than their opponent. 

Second, they are incredibly difficult to obtain. This exacerbates the first problem, because only a very small subset of players are actually capable of owning the cards from the Power 9. It would make things feel extra unfair when your opponent wins a game thanks to owning one of these cards.

Why are Black Lotus and the Moxen Banned in Commander?

Black Lotus and the Moxen are the best fast-mana cards in the game. Many players find it very frustrating to have to play against Sol Ring and Mana Crypt. Well, multiply that frustration by about 10 and that’s how you would feel if your opponent drops a Black Lotus on turn one. Especially because it’s very likely that you aren’t wealthy enough to have one in your deck too. You almost definitely have Sol Ring in your deck too.

While the mana boost the lotus offers is only temporary, it’s very easy to recur Black Lotus throughout the game, especially because returning it to your hand is effectively like returning it to the battlefield, since you never have to pay any mana to cast it. 

While you can’t recur the Moxen for quite as absurd of an advantage, the fact that they cost no mana and stick around on the battlefield to produce mana is going to give your opponent a huge advantage in the early game.

Add in the fact that these are all artifacts that could really be easily abused by artifact Commander decks, and we’re talking about cards that are utterly broken.

Why are Ancestral Recall and Time Walk Banned in Commander?

Ancestral Recall and Time Walk are, respectively, the most powerful Instant and most powerful Sorcery ever printed. 

Recall draws you three cards for a single Blue mana. That’s about three mana less than you expect to pay to draw that many cards, especially at Instant speed. Paying so little mana also means that it’s fairly likely you can make use of the cards you drew immediately. 

Recall’s power is best put into perspective by comparing it to more recent one mana card draw spells that have had to be banned despite being significantly weaker, like Ponder and Preordain. Both of these cards let you see three, but they only give you a single card in the end.

Time Walk gives you an extra turn for only two mana. This card is so iconic that we generally call any extra turn effect a “Time Walk.” As with Recall, this is about three mana less than we expect to pay for the effect. After all, Time Warp is a very powerful Magic card.

Why Isn’t Timetwister Banned Too?

Timetwister remains unbanned because it is the runt of the Power 9 litter. It’s simply less powerful than the other 8 cards. This is backed up by data, as the other 8 cards in the Power 9 are staples in Vintage, while Timetwister only sees play sporadically. That’s not to say it isn’t insanely strong, though. 

After all, it has the words “draw[s] seven cards” in the text box. Sure, it’s symmetrical, but that doesn’t change the fact that it draws you a ton of cards. And, because you’re the one who cast it, you also get the first crack at using them! But, the fact it’s symmetrical does mean it’s much harder to abuse.

Should the Power 9 Remain Banned in Commander?

They definitely should. They are incredibly difficult to obtain and insanely powerful. This would give a huge leg up to the small percentage of players who actually have access to these cards.

In fact, I think Timetwister should be added to the list too. While it doesn’t reach the same heights in terms of power level, it’s still a very strong card that is just as scarce as the rest of the Power 9. This would level the playing field between players a little bit more. 

Since that’s the rationale for banning the other cards in the Power 9, it seems very strange to me that Timetwister has managed to stay off of the list for all of these years.

End Step

Well, that does it for this article and this series! I’m sure I’ll be checking back in every time a change is made to the Commander ban list, but for now we’ve completed our journey.