5 Cards Players Want BANNED in Commander 

Wizards: "The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a Sol Ring, is a good guy with a Sol Ring."

It's interesting how people use availability as an argument against banning Sol Ring *and* as an argument against banning Gaea's Cradle, but for the exact opposite reason.

When talking about "dies to removal" its important to keep in mind that every color has access to cards that easily deal with creatures, that isn't true for artifacts and enchantments so having powerful static effects on creatures is intentional design, because wizards know that they can "die to removal"

Wizards has made decks with banned cards in it before and the solution they came up with was that you could play the banned card in that deck if you ran the deck completely unaltered.

I better not see Grave Titan on this list.

I'm actually in favor of cards like Sol Ring and Arcane Signet remaining in the format since they are cheap and very powerful mana rocks that can kind of compensate for not having the budget/not willing to spend huge amounts for Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Jeweled Lotus and Ancient Tomb. I know you guys normally don't take budget into account, but I personally think budget is actually a very important factor in most playgroups.

From what it was said, "Some people just like seeing people go off" it's highly arguable because you could also say "Some people just like stopping people from going off" because that's their fun, and who are you to say any of those is wrong in a game? The one who stops something powerful happening could actually be seen as the hero of the match if stops someone from casting their commander . It's all a matter of perspective, a complicated one at that tbh.

I agree that shutting down a players deck entirely isn't fun. At the same time, we encourage people to play how they want. I personally feel that when you build a deck, you understand that if you build a deck without targeted removal you will have a hard time answering threats right away. I don't feel like most of these are ban worthy, but I would argue that there should be a set of cards that is similar to the ban list, but rather than being banned players have to agree that they are good with facing decks with those listed cards, accepting the risk of a bad time.

i guess imo i don’t think sol ring should be banned. is it SUPER powerful?? absolutely. but that’s what’s kinda fun about it. in higher power pods where ppl r comboing off or ramping a ton, sol ring helps get an advantage and can help u do some crazy early turn plays. for me, part of the appeal of sol ring is that it is rlly powerful. i don’t think it goes against the spirit of the format at all, I actually think it encourages it. I know sol ring isn’t for everyone, but i personally like it :) have a great day y’all

I love how "fixing" the format usually just devolves into people wanting to ban the good red and white cards because they're either stax pieces or it just is a way to ramp that isn't land based (dockside)

Drannith magistrate is fine, hatebears are balanced. They're creatures, if you can't interact with them, something is wrong with your deck.

Mass land destruction is frowned upon, but single land destruction is something I always go for. There are so many good lands; Cradle, Coffers, Sanctum, Field of the Dead etc.

Sol Ring into a signet does indeed suck, but it never feels like a game ender to me either. Sometimes you gotta play from behind, and that is its own kind of fun, in my experience. What I like about its ubiquity in the game is that I've seen Sol Ring really help less experienced players or players with less money not only compete with others at the table, but also feel like there's less of a barrier of entry because that awesome thing in their opponent's deck is an awesome thing they can have too.

My argument for keeping Sol Ring legal in the format is this: If the goal of Commander is the promotion of "Fun" magic, then Sol Ring is the #1 perpetrator for that. The goal of commander as a format is to follow the game-plan you've set out for the deck, whether it's super specific or generally vague in terms of card focus (An Ad Naus deck vs A Tribal deck), and the secondary goal of commander in relation to that is to achieve/fulfill your plan as fast as possible. How this applies to Sol Ring is that it is a ubiquitous card that only serves to speed up game plans, effectively allowing people to have more fun so things are faster. Therefore, it promotes fun in a form attainable to EVERY person playing the game, at a relatively cheap price, and in a way that does not profit off of the downfall of others (Such as why Drannith Magistrate is so controversial now). If ramping in a deck leads to a lack of fun, I believe that to be the fault of the deck and it's goal, not the fault of the pieces that help you get there, especially when it's something that everyone runs (Since that same level of fun is available for all players and they have the same chance of experiencing it). (Also personally, the "tradition" argument is completely overused and wrong :P)

The “dies to removal” argument is extremely valid. If you don’t run removal because of “self expression” then banning cards like drannith that slow people down ruins other peoples self expression. Creature removal is the most common in the format and a 1/3 is definitely killable if not counterable. Beat them down if not and force a trade Im also a firm believer that if your deck cant perform without the commander in play then its time to maybe reevaluate. If you’re win condition is your commander alone then what’s the difference between drannith and blowing up ur commander or countering it whenever you play it?

On this day: Dockside Extortionist was banned, Jeweled Lotus was banned, and Mana Crypt was banned. Nadu also got banned, but wasn't released when this video was released.

Sol ring adds a possibility that 1 or 2 players goes ahead early in the game to create a 1v3 scenario that is a different play experience.

Wait, don’t y’all do a whole video series on “creatures you need to kill on sight or you’re f***ed?” It seems a little weird to then turn around and say it’s some kind of cop-out to argue that people need to play more removal to deal with stuff like Drannith Magistrate. Surely part of the assessment of how problematic or unfun or overpowered a card is has to be “how hard is it for other players to interact with or deal with?” It’s not like you’re forcing people to play removal to deal with this one card… there are tons of cards that will take over the game if nobody’s playing removal.

My playgroup decided to make a rule where if someone wins by an alternate win con that says "you win the game" we keep playing without that player to find out who gets second. It kinda creates a feel bad moment for the player that wins that way because they may as well have lost at that point for how it plays out. People eventually stopped playing alternate win cons, this was a direct response to thassa's oracle.

Expanding on the first pick, as a mono-white player, my whole gameplan is to play police, slow people down, and force people to play "fair magic". If you can't deal with a 1/3 slowing you down, your deck needs some change

I understand Drannith Magistrate is a card that stops people from playing their commanders but I will continue to play it because I am not focusing on that idea but the fact that it can slow down other strategies like cascade, graveyard based decks and more.

Dockside could read: For each opponent with more lands than you, create a treasure token for each land they control - the # of lands you control. Let it punish actual ramp.

This only reinforces my love of Drannith and hatred of Thoracle

Drannith Magistrate is the biggest nothing card ive ever seen argued to be banned. Its a 1/3 with no protection. At worst it will stop you from playing your commander 1 or 2 turns and if your deck cant run without your commander a few turns you need to rework your deck.

Banning drannith over people actually using more removal, is letting people who dont want to build their deck correctly tellling us that do what we can put in our decks. The card is fine, we can not start banning cards because they are not fun that is a slippery slope.

If magistrate simply said “players” instead of “your opponents” it would be an interesting card to build around and fine.

I am incredibly intrigued by the Sol Ring conversation. I'm a relatively new commander player and I've seen Sol Ring often. It seems whoever plays the turn one Sol Ring becomes an immediate target, creating a different kind of game than might have been expected pregame. I find that to be fun. I get the argument to ban it, but I'd vote no.

The read I get from Dockside/Thassas being the top of the community at larges' banlist is that most people seem to playing in that (what I would define as) 5-8 power level where people are playing both for fun and for power, where cards like those are playable, accessible hopefully through proxies, and super super impactful and regularly win games on their own. Also I had no idea Dranith Magistrate existed before that poll and this videos points on that card and the results seems to line up with my idea, where it's too unfun and not powerful enough to play in that kind of environment.

Serra Ascendent... 6/6 flying lifelink for 1 mana is pretty busted, especially when someone drops it turn 1

The format is healthy and doesn't need any bans.

I've never felt like Sol Ring ruined a game for me. I've seen turn 1 Land into Sol Ring into Signet but it never felt like it outright stopped a game from being playable. But then again, my play group doesn't do cEDH or play decks intentionally to . Sol Ring is so versatile that it can be both harmful and harmless depending hon how seriously you're personally taking your games. For me, I don't mind the fact that my opponent Sol Ring'd his way into Gin-Gitaxias. I'm more upset that he's actually running Gin-Gitaxias in the first place. Sol Ring didn't ruin my game. Not having a hand did... Sol Ring sped up the process, but banning Sol Ring doesn't save me from my actual enemy... My opponent's audacity to make me rely on topdecking removal or forcing me to run blue so I have access to counterspells 😐 ANYHOW, that's how most of my Sol Ring experiences go. The ring itself usually doesn't ruin my games. Half the time, people who play it flub land draws and the ring only keeps them on curve instead of pushing them forward. It's what people play with that mana that can ruin games but since my pod started discussing what types of stuff we don't like to see and and since jumping people also exists, Sol Ring has never felt like the villain to me. It's just another ramp card (that we can blow up if need be). If it ever gets out of control, it's because someone's leaning into it way too hard and our group can fix that 😏

Drannith Magistrate - Dies to everything, and hated by the RC. Dockside Extortionist - Gives player possible obscene ramp after resolution, perfectly okay with RC. Thassa's Oracle - Combos into "you win...RC: *silence* (Definitely does not need ban) Sol Ring - LOL Gaea;s Cradle - Obscene creature based ramp on a land, RC says nothing. Moral of the story: the Rules Committee are petulant children. If a card is a problem, play to overcome the card. Play removal. Play counters. Learn to have your deck say no.

The dockside debate reminds me of the channel fireball debate, as once there was a ready combo for two mana to go extreme it was banned. Treasure tokens in a multiplayer game after a few turns on a creature that can be revived or recast is nuts.

Just ban them at you table if you don't like them or don't feel like having answers in your deck.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone asking for a Drannith ban

People need to be reminded that the people on the rules committee are old players that don't compete in competitive commander so they have no idea what is running rampant right now. The rules committee need to step down and re-evaluate their conditions on what needs to make a card "bannable", remember when they said they banned all the power-nine moxes because they said not everyone could afford it. Are they dumb? Commander is the format that is basically the most casual and everyone has proxies in their deck. #DownWithTheCRC

My problem with the drannith magistrate argument is there are blanket other things that just might shut down your commander and telling people to play removal is now telling them how to play. Yeah it is, and it fine. If you decide not to solve the obvious problem with your deck you have to accept you will get got. I have decks that are all in on the commander sometimes i can't cast my commander or it get removed, countered etc. It is what it is.

It always feels weird when people talk about banning cards like drannith because it stops players from doing what they want to be doing, and in the next minute say "be sure to pack tons of removal in your deck so you can stop your opponents from doing what they want to be doing". Counterspell your commander = good Stopping you from casting your commander = bad

If you ban drannith you might as well ban elesh norn or sheoldred because it gives people “the feel bads”. I’ve had way more oppressive things than drannith keep my commander off the field via -1/-1 counters or pinging damage or making me sacrifice 3 creatures every turn.

Drannith Magistrate can be a good answer to help with people who play extremely abusive commanders.

Personally I almost feel that Drannith Magistrate starts to fall under Rule 0... it shuts down Commanders, graveyard cast decks, top card of library cast decks, Adventure decks, impulse decks. I kinda feel it doesn't need to be banned because the only reason to put this in your deck is to be an absolute dick. The main issue with Dockside Extortionist is it's so expensive... It's a bit more of an "I have money so I win." card because of how hard it is to get.

Here's the thing... don't complain that cards are op or stop you from winning the game when you don't build your deck to remove things that can stop you from winning the game... this is still a game where the objective is the play the game.. and if you don't build your deck properly do be able to do that very thing don't blame your opponents blame yourself... build your deck to do what it's supposed to do and play the game to that moments circumstances... it's that simple...

The made up sorcery that removes all commanders is actually a better card than the magistrate. The sorcery required a counterspell at that exact moment or its effect lingers the rest of the game with no way to interact. The magistrate only has 1 power so it cant reasonably kill anyone, and must sit on the field for an entire commander game with multiple opponents. The sorcery NEEDS a blue player to stop it, which there could just be no blue players on table. The magistrate can be removed by any player regardless of colors(doom blade/fatal push, lightning bolt/chaos warp, swords to plowshares/path to exile, pognify/reality shift, & beast within).

My playgroup did a test where we tracked win % of first turn Sol ring. After 20 or so games, the player(s) with turn 1 sol ring plays had roughly a 50% win rate. In a 4 player game, a single card shouldn’t bolster a single players win rate that much imo granted this could just be how things played out in our group and it is a really low sample size so take this with a grain of salt but I was on the fence for banning sol ring prior to this and since we did the test I’m entirely on board with banning it

I don't think sol ring should be banned and my reason for that is it doesn't over power any one deck. If it cost one blue but was the exact same card other than that I think it would be ban worthy because blue decks would get such a strong magic card that would unbalance the color pie. Though magic is a game people play to have fun and getting a turn one sol ring is really fun because it lets you pop off quicker which decks should have a chance to pop off sometimes. Also someone playing it doesn't take away from someone else's fun. So I don't think it's ban worthy because it doesn't negatively impact the other players, besides than them being a bit behind which you could say that if you played any card it would put your at a slight advantage, even grave titan. It also doesn't overpower any one strategy since every deck can run it. I also like that it can let budget players have explosive turns without breaking the bank. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

You guys probably have such a similar opinion on cards like sol ring/mana crypt. If banned it may hurt the "spirit of the format" for some players but I think it would also help make games more consistent across the board both 1v1 or 3+ player games. It's my personal opinion and maybe even just a fact that the less "auto includes" in your deck the more slots you have for synergy and personal expression, on top of that it would help push the general mana curve of all commander decks closer to how it was when we called it edh, before people optimized their decks and had internet resources we have today. Resources like the Nitpicking Nerds or.... Moxfield for example. :) Idk about your group but whenever one of us cast a sol ring and mana crypt/signet on turn 1 the game very often turns into a sketchy 3v1 situation, it just doesn't feel great to me and it's not an uncommon scenario.

On the topic of gaea's cradle; where is this "taboo" against land destruction that is spoken of? Because I haven't experienced it. If someone plays a problematic land, like field of the dead, or nykthos, or cradle, or cabal coffers..... (or any one of many non-basics that can be problematic).... then you take your ghost quarter, or tectonic edge, demolition field, field of ruin (or maybe one of the more expensive options if you have access to them) You take your targeted land destruction & you do what needs to be done. I.e. you blow up their land. Nobody I've played with where this situation has arisen has taken umbrage at that land being blown up because they know better than anyone how powerful that card is & what it can do. There's no valid reason why a land cannot be a threat that needs to be answered & no valid reason why players should not feel free to run the targeted land removal necessary to deal with these threats. After all, the opportunity cost of playing a basic suite of targeted answers to lands is so low that the vast majority of decks can meet it without even the slightest trouble. I also groaned internally when I heard words to the effect of 'if it was cheaper then we'd definitely want to ban it' Price (or availability) of a card should never be a consideration when talking about whether it should be banned or not. Especially not in a format like commander, where the vast majority of play is unsanctioned & proxies are not exactly uncommon. Price is no barrier to the card being played since anyone whom can't afford it can simply proxy it.

i think there is a very large amount of cards that get called problematic that are legitimately just an indicator of someone not playing adequate interaction. it has nothing to do with telling people how to play the game and everything to do with being realistic about your expectation. in a four-player format, you have to be able to interact, and if you can't you should expect to win fewer games. it is just the nature of the format.

I played in a commander league at an LGS for a while that had an optional extended ban list, one of which was Sol Ring. The main argument was that just because everyone can have access to it, not everyone does, and those who do get WAY ahead. Honestly, I didn’t miss it at all. Each game seemed much more fun, unique, and adequately paced. Also on the list was Thoracle and Dockside, as well as some high dollar cards like Gaea’s Cradle and “I win” cards. I’m not saying it was a better format with the extended bans because there were people who really loved the high power, regular bans commander too. But it definitely suited my preferences of fun over winning.

Magistrate keeps casting cards from graveyard for free, casting cards from exile for free, casting cards from libraries. I think it’s needed to keep decks that can get out of hand just from playing one card. I think it should be okay but rules should allow you to play your commander.

Cards like Drannith Magistrate are important because they help people learn an important thing about deckbuilding: add spot removal to your commander deck. I can't tell you how many times I've played in a pod with half the table not having any answers to anything that was going on in the game. Please at least try to interact a little bit with your opponents, it helps a lot. Also I realize that you basically stated that my argument is "garbage", but it is what it is - just my IRL experience. (And I only play this card in a mono white commander deck to begin with)

Thassa's Oracle isnt ban worthy its the pieces it combos with Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation that are both tutors and combo pieces that need the ban, Thoracle is the most powerful empty library wincon but it's the ability to win with the trigger on the stack with no board state and a full library that breaks it.

Player 1: "White is the most garbage color in commander/magic in general" Player 2: "I tap two and play drannith magistrate" Player 1: "Oh this card is too powerfull and needs to be banned"

I don't want any of these to be banned.

I think you folks have a weird perception of commander. “Play whatever cards you want” seems to have become functionally “I’m entitled to a game of solitaire”. If your deck relies on combat and your buddies ensnaring bridge shuts you down, then you have a choice…hope they don’t draw it or put one or two artifact removal spells in there. If your mono blue deck scoops to oubliette, maybe put some bounce in there. Running removal or not running removal requires some form of risk/reward assessment. If you don’t run removal, you risk the blowouts. When that risk is realized, you can be upset, you can complain, but ultimately you have to bear some responsibility for that decision. If you are saying I shouldn’t have to run targeted land destruction to deal with field of the dead despite losing to it several times, and they should change their deck instead of me changing mine…that’s just selfish and entitled.

With Drannith Magistrate, I like that it keeps things like impulse draw pr Bolas' Citadel under control. I wish it could be erattad for commander to allow for casting from the command zone as well as hand. The fact this came out in Ikoria, as a standard card, means it isn't quite optimized for the commander format, unfortunately.

For the argument of play more removal, the best counter argument is timing and reasoning. If they play magistrate turn 2, you can either spend your turn killing it or developing your board. By turn 3, do you want to spend your turn killing magistrate or drawing cards? What about playing mana rocks? A ramp spell or a kill spell? Moreso, by turn 3 you've seen 10 cards, of which at least 2 were lands probably. You are only at 70-80% chance to have seen removal. By turn 3 or 4, you might be out of luck cause no one else is willing to take the disadvantage in removing it or have drawn into an opportunity to remove it while still developing.

My argument on sol ring, is why sol ring? why not any other of those explosive mana rocks (mana vault, mana crypt, etc.) Sol ring is good, but there's a reason those other ones are about 100$.

I am tired of dealing with cascade, graveyard, and game changing commanders. I'm not even locking people out of the game. If this card gets banned, I'll show people not being able to play.

Who was that insane person telling people to not play Mana Rocks and Value Enchantments because Dockside exists!? Seriously... PS: I'd love a Thassa's Oracle ban solely to see what next broken thing the cEDH drones migrate to.

I play a very strong token deck, and gaeas cradles has taped for 0 more times than it has tapped for 6+ in my experience. The only answer isnt just to remove the land, it is a set up card that requires the player already to be in a strong or winning position, and only helps that player end the game a little faster. Maybe my play groups just run more boardwipes than the usual? But then again i dont run any search for cradle the deck is more focused on token production.

As a newer player I find it interesting how divisive Sol Ring is mainly because I have seen more games with players playing the card and whiffing the rest of the game. Even in my own experience, I have played a turn 1 or 2 Sol Ring, then just kept drawing in to lands or other cards not useful in the moment. It seems more like a card that is scary in the vacuum of an opening hand, since drawing in to it late doesn't seem to help as much. As for the others... Magistrate seems to show how much players want to discourage hatebears in general, which seems odd if we are fine with control as a play style. Dockside has the potential to be far more problematic than Sol Ring by virtue of it being a recurrable creature. Thassa's Oracle just seems to be unfun in general. It seems to encourage deck building in a way that has a player making as few contributions to the game as possible because the deck is centered around resolving the win con ASAP. Gaia's Cradle doesn't need to exist in Commander. We already have Growing Rights, & green has more than enough ways to generate mana without it. Also, proxying isn't a good solution for any of these cards. For my own LGS, we only allow proxies if a person owns the original. As such, it would be moot to proxy a card you don't own & most of us do not want to spend hundreds or thousands on a single card to proxy in all of our decks.

Wait, people actually play decks without removal?

Dockside may be a combo piece that gets you infinite mana, but it doesn't matter if you don't have anything to sink that mana into.

I don’t “want” anything banned. I want to be able to play whatever tf i want to play and i want the same for people I play against. If they want to tell us what’s allowed then they should make it so that people can only play with precons.

You should also consider the balancing involved for a multiplayer game (also threat assessment). e.g. If you play a Dranith Magistrate, chances are there's removal/wipe/someone that can deal with it. Unfun, yes, but it doesn't give out so much advantage that there won't be a chance to beat that player using it. For Sol Ring, I think it can still be balanced out by proper threat assessment. It doesn't win outright, so there's a chance for the table to gang up on the Sol Ring player.

Here is where I’m at with these cards. Drannith: A strong card for sure. IMO the strongest Stax piece in the format. I don’t think it’s ban worthy. Creature removal is the most common and I’ve you play you have probably pissed of 3 other people in the pod. Essentially it puts a target on your head. Now there is also threat assessment where you have to determine if there is another player threatening a win. Drannith potentially can also be a helping piece so you can further your board state. Dockside: Another strong card that I don’t think is ban worthy. Reason being you need an outlet and it makes you reconsider if you should ramp out into oblivion with artifacts in a pod with red. Thoracle: Not bannable at all, rule 0 exists. Just have the conversation before hand. If you are gonna play thoracle you are probably playing cedh where there is so much interaction that format. I personally don’t believe that thoracle should be played else where other than cedh. Sol ring: I can see the appeal of a sol ring ban. I am indifferent with banning this card. Though I will say if you want to ban sol ring ban all mana positive rocks. Personally I prefer a the faster format but I can see why people want a slower format. Gaeas cradle: I think this card is ban worthy. This card is strong a little to strong. Hard to interact with and if you play this card you are going to have a higher ratio of creatures. It’s free and will net you more mana than a rock. When a card nets you potentially Infinite mana for free that is this hard to interact with its is ban worthy. If it was opponents it would be a different story you don’t have to play into it, but you can turn this card online yourself, not to mention that it is repeatable every turn Unlike dockside. I hold these opinions from playing a lot of cedh, a lot of high power games, but not so much in the lower powers though I would like to know others opinions on the matter.

Dranith Magistrate doesn't bother me too much, although I would say I only expect to see it at a higher power level where effects that are more good than fun are par for the coarse. Usually rule 0 conversation involves saying if you play Stax pieces and Dranith Magistrate is definitely a stax piece.

Dockside is seriously strong but not ban worthy. A card that denies or prevents game actions like Hullbreacher for example are banned. Dockside is entirely ramp, its doesn’t interfere with other players it simply reads what THEY chose to play, then ramps based off that. If you want Dockside banned it’s ether because you don’t own it or you don’t like other players ramping, which is cringe. Also it’s in red, give the card a break.

I think "dies to removal" is overused but still a valid statement on a card's power. The creature Narset is pretty universally disliked because of its effect but Yennet can do pretty much the exact same play pattern and even has evasion to avoid trading on a block, but the fact that Narset is hexproof makes a lot of difference. Not everything "dies to removal". Some of the most frustrating cards are frustrating because of their ability to protect themselves.

I like how they try to make the argument that everything dies to removal with Magistrate, so it's not a valid counter-argument. Then literally the very next card isn't stopped by removal because it does all it's crap immediately upon entering the battlefield. That's what we're talking about. Dockside Extortionist isn't stopped by removal, Drannith Magistrate is. You can't Path to Exile the 27 treasures it craps out.

If something creates a power imbalance in the game it has become a 3v1. Nothing is actually broken people just don't look at it in the right context.

Let’s just ban every 1 power 2 drop, that gets rid of magistrate, extortionist, and thoracle

dranith is the fairest and easiest card to interact with, therefore based on Rules Commite’s previous work I expect them to ban it, then unban some red card card that exiles everything.

Banning Sol Ring is the biggest way to say "I'm afraid of everything" I've ever seen.

Bans are against the spirit of the format

If you don't utilize rule zero your complaints are less valid. People should be setting and managing expectations for the game(s) they are about to play

If anything should be banned it should be all tutors. That evens the playing field to a 1 in 100 chance unless you build to draw cards. Thanks for a list of cards to buy. 😈😁

When someone plays Sol ring turn 1 the game is 90% of the time still fun. Whenever someone plays Thassa at ANY turn, even if the game was fun it retroactively sucks all the fun I've had at that point since nothing that happened mattered.

Commander is the format where you can express yourself. I express myself by playing Drannith Magistrate and stopping you from playing your commander. So it's a perfect fit in the format.

Gaea's Cradle isn't any better than Cabal Coffers or Nykthos, Shrine to Nix. As far as land destruction being taboo goes, it's mass land destruction that's a big fat no but single target removal like Strip Mine or Wasteland should be ran just to stop the above lands and a few combos, but just tap for colorless the other 90% of games.

Solving the sol ring conundrum: Commander is 101 cards. You have a sol ring as card 101 on the side. Resolve mulligans, add sol ring to hand. Play game. Of course this sounds silly, but the point of magic is that you don’t get a perfect opener, and there’s a ton of variance. I’m not sure you should ban any card really, unless it makes the game stop. Or go forever. It would also be nice to have a separate ban list for commander and cEDH

Cards shouldn't be banned but players should reflect on what cards they plan to include as to not be annoying/unfun for the other players.

I personally like Sol Ring because its an example of what commander is. Its a splashy showy thing you can play on turn 1 and paints a target on your back if you play it on turn 1. It starts the politics game early which can be fun. Though I do think Mana Crypt is too much because going turn 1 into sol ring and then mana crypt is super annoying because not everyone has the money for mana crypt. I can understand the argument either way though.

my argument against sol ring being banned is simply that anytime someone actually runs the data like game knights or scg commander vs or commander clash in their data episodes it actually doesnt unbalance things half as much people say it does and its such a cool thing to see a new player do a turn 1 ring and turn 2 4 cmc commander

"Land card that produces mana bad because I was talking to someone about a different land card that doesn't produce mana and they told me that there wasn't a way to counter what that land card does, and my whole world view was just changed." 1 ungabunga = 1 prayer

About Drannith Magistrate, the worst part is than Juriko jumps this (Ragavan, I imagine others), because you can put it on play by abilities and not casting it.

"Just take artifacts and enchantments out" -Guy who only plays Mono Green Elves

That is such a misunderstanding of the "dies to removal" argument. "Dies to removal" is a bad argument for saying why a card is bad. As in “It is bad because it dies to removal". Drannith being easily removed is however a factor in now bad it is for the format. It being answerable in every color is a pretty important factor in how much of a problem it is. But let’s say you don’t play any removal. Ok so you don’t have access to your commander, but you still have the rest of your 99. You can still attack and go to the face. You can still play the game. The only decks that are really negatively affected by Drannith are decks that play no removal AND require the commander to be in play at all times to even function. So, the same decks that would fail against any other deck that has any interaction. So that happens. They experience it. They go home and modify their deck a bit to have an out for the situation. Life goes on. The card is fine really.

Ok, with Drannith Magistrate, it is annoying. However, no good commander deck is built without some sort of spot removal. Multiply that by 3 opponents at the table all equally likely to kill a 1/3 on the spot. As a matter of fact, I also believe that a good deck should still be able to function without the commander. I have a Muldrotha deck that often times I don’t even need to play her to win. Your argument against “forcing people to play removal” is a form of meta adaptation. Sometimes a meta “forces” players to play cards they wouldn’t play normally.

Let's just ban Everything: No counter spells No infinites No removal Errata all creatures to 1/1s with no abilities Ban all lands that produce blue mana And then we can all sit at Weenie Hut Jr.s' and play a fair game. All jokes aside this is a self policed format. If you don't like certain cards and combos just say "I'm not playing against that" and either ask the person to switch decks or switch pods.

Thoracle I consider to be a rule zero kinda card. Sol ring I definitely want out. The rest I could go either way on.

We've decided to ban Sol Ring in our playgroup. Game's (and DECKS) have been better for it. It was the only card that we played in every one of our decks, reason enough to ban it imo.

"The casual format of self-expression?" Screw self-expression, it's a game. I'm tired of all the worry about people's delicate, hurt feelings and 'rule 0 conversations' and all of it. 'Don't play this deck, don't play that card, our playgroup does't allow land destruction or Chulane or Sol Rings and the last player in order gets to draw four extra cards so they don't feel bad." Drannith Magistrate is a viable card and if you have a bad game because of it, well, that's just the way it goes sometimes. Stop whining about how 'unfun' it is and killspell the damn thing.

I removed Sol Ring from all my decks. It's just feels better to not have a stupid card warping the game every early game it hits the table and it frees a slot for another card. I only run it in cEDH, not even High Power

No amber!!! 🥺 First!!!

I was 11 seconds off predicting the moxfield ad this time I'm literally fuming I was so close

Tolarian Academy is banned due to 0 and 1 drops in format being played in every meta deck

Dockside is necessary for certain decks to even be viable.

Thassa’s oracle less bannable than magistrate? Insane take. One is easily extremely more interactable and until then just makes people play regular fair magic. The other is nearly uninteractable without another blue player with counter in hand and mana up, AND immediately ends the game. Multiple two card combos immediately win with oracle. You cannot win with magistrate.