7 Magic: The Gathering Cards Added To Commander Banned List

Artist: Wesley Burt/ image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Ever since tournament play for 1v1 Commander was added to Magic Online, Wizards of the Coast have added several cards to the long banned list.

The official Magic Online Tumblr page has announced the 7 cards Wizards of the Coast is adding to 1v1 MTGO Commander banned list, and they include:

Baral, Chief of Compliance

Demonic Tutor

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Enlightened Tutor

Imperial Seal

Mystical Tutor

Vampiric Tutor

Note that these changes are only effective on MTGO, and doesn't affect Commander formats in paper form.

To sum it up: that's five one-mana tutor cards, Baral, and Emrakul, Aeons Torn.

Two cards have been unbanned:

Arcum Dagsson

Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

?Magic's R&D Brian Hawley explained the changes in the banned list update.

On why the 5 tutor cards were banned:

Efficient tutors were one of the big question marks on the initial ban list. Over time, decks have gotten more and more consistent and brutal in a way that we've clearly heard players are not enjoying. Our hope is that by lowering the consistency with which the interactive decks can find the perfect answer to the situation, and the combo decks can kill, the format will open up more and decks will play out more differently from game to game.

On why Baral, Chief of Compliance was banned:

Baral is a Commander who comes down extremely early in the game and warps the game around him in a significant way. The cost reduction he offers covers one of the main drawbacks of counterspell-heavy decks because it cuts off the avenue of overloading the Baral deck with multiple spells in the same turn. He also covers one of the primary weaknesses of counterspells in 100-card singleton formats by filtering away the powerful but situational counterspells you're forced to play. The overall package has shown to be overly strong and not enjoyable.

On why Emrakul, Aeons Torn was banned:

Emrakul has shown her influence in this format the same as she has in many formats over time. Primarily used in Polymorph combo decks, and also providing an "I win" option for heavy green ramp decks, Emrakul is too reliable an avenue to ending the game without recourse for the opponent. While the simultaneous removal of Baral removes the currently predominant use for the card, any cheap blue Commander would easily fill that role, and opening up more late-game interaction still means Emrakul warrants a ban.

The ban update will be effective on October 11 (with the downtime). A new 1v1 Commander league with the new banned list will start after the downtime.

What do you think about these bannings? Do you think 1v1 Commander will be more fun without these cards? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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