Another Quarterly update has come and gone from the Commander Advisory Group. Tasked with overlooking the most popular format in all of Magic, there is certainly a lot to consider. Thanks to the nature of ‘Rule Zero,’ nothing has been banned or unbanned in the Commander format for a number of years. Now, we have a new MTG card that the Commander Advisory group is monitoring closely. Oh, yeah, and we might be getting a new policy on Silver-Bordered cards in Commander.
The Silver-Bordered Project
- Mana Value: 4WW
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- Card Text: If you control no cards in play other than The Cheese Stands ALone and have no cards in your hand, you win the game.
Even though a new problematic MTG card is on watch from the Commander Advisory Group, the advent of Silver-Bordered cards in Commander is the more interesting thing hinted at in this Quarterly Update. According to the announcement, a project was started about a month ago in regards to these legally contentious cards. This was largely inspired by the Sticker bans that impacted two-player formats, but did not impact Commander. For anyone curious on updates for Sticker cards, they will remain legal in Commander.
According to the recent announcement, the Commander Advisory Group is interested in putting together a curated list of Silver-Bordered cards. Right now, playing with any Silver-Bordered cards is generally a no-no. It’s nothing that a Rule Zero conversation can’t fix, but the general consensus, especially if you’re rolling up to a table of random players, is that Silver-Bordered cards aren’t allowed. As fun as they are, they’re too far onto the wild side of things for many.
While there are some Silver-Bordered cards that are way too wacky for any serious game of Magic, there are other Silver-Bordered cards that could be considered rather harmless. The goal of the Commander Advisory Group’s project is to identify the Silver-Bordered 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.” This should allow for some Silver-Bordered cards to see Commander play across a larger variety of tables.
Will these Silver-Bordered cards become officially legal in the Commander format? We have no idea. This could be a legality change, but we suspect that it’s simply going to be a recommended list of Silver-Bordered cards to consider.
Community Opinion
This is a rather large change to the Commander format. For a long time, Silver-Bordered MTG cards have been relegated to joke formats, as well as being desirable collectibles. Now, players may have a place to seriously play these silly cards.
Most MTG players actually seem fine with this potential change. There are a lot of silly Silver-Bordered cards that, as far as power level goes, would be totally ok for the Commander format. These being identified likely won’t create any new staples for the format, and may just allow for some funky-sounding cards to get a chuckle out of the table.
There are some players that are annoyed that the Commander Advisory Group is taking time to play around with Silver-Bordered cards when they could be making a more positive impact on the Commander format by making changes to the ban list:
“I really hate that the RC are devoting time to “Maybe silver border can work” rather than addressing the atrocious state the ban list is in.
It’s like seeing your neighbour’s house is on fire, and they’re out front trimming the hedges. ‘Is this really your priority right now?’”
Regarding this, the Commander Advisory Group has basically said that they don’t believe that the ban list really needs to be changed outside of extreme circumstances. A lot of Commander players do believe that the ban list is sorely out of date, in multiple ways. Not only are there some cards that should, debatably, be added to the ban list, but there are a lot of strange inclusions on the ban list that no longer really need to be there. Regardless, there seems to be no interest in making much change here:
“In an article from May, a representative from the CAG explicitly articulated that the RC does not believe shrinking the banlist should be a priority. Frankly, I think that shrinking the banlist should be among their highest priorities, but clearly the people in power disagree.”
The exception, however, comes with new, problematic cards that could create a larger problem in the Commander format, like a particularly annoying Bird from Modern Horizons 3.
Nadu, Winged Wisdom on Watch
- Mana Value: 1GU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/4
- Card Text: Flying, Creatures you control have “Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand. This ability triggers only twice each turn.”
This bird cannot stop ruffling players’ feathers across the MTG community. Nadu, Winged Wisdom is already on borrowed time in the Modern format. The card is now on watch for Commander, as well.
The Commander Advisory Group has put Nadu, Winged Wisdom ‘on watch’, contemplating a possible ban for the bird in Commander because “Nadu has become synonymous with drawn-out, non-deterministic turns that may or may not end the game.” This is not an enjoyable experience for players engaging in a largely casual format. Having to watch one player take a 5-10 minute turn that may or may not end the game can be rather frustrating.
Paradox Engine is a card cited in the Quarterly Update that left Commander for similar reasons. As someone who played while Paradox Engine is legal, I understand why the decision was made to ban the card. It appeared as a win condition in a majority of Commander decks at the time, including my own. While I am perfectly happy to watch someone ‘do the thing,’ it is generally not a great play pattern.
The biggest difference between Paradox Engine and Nadu, Winged Wisdom is the card’s color identities. Nadu is Simic, which heavily restricts what 99s the card can appear in. Paradox Engine has a colorless color identity, meaning that it can appear in any Commander deck. This created a homogenizing effect at the time.
Should Nadu get banned? I don’t really think so. Unless the card starts popping up in 99s and consistently grinding games to a halt, Nadu, Winged Wisdom may just be another popular, but powerful, Commander that may not be appropriate at some tables. Rule Zero can fix this problem, while leaving high-powered Commander players that want to employ this annoying bird the opportunity to do so.
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