The Commander Banlist

Commander · intermediate

Commander has a banlist: a set of cards not allowed in Commander decks. This page explains who maintains it and what kinds of cards end up on it. For the current list itself, see the Banlist view in the dashboard's Rules section, which is checked against live card data.

Who maintains the banlist

For most of the format's history, Commander was governed by an independent group called the Commander Rules Committee. In 2024, Wizards of the Coast took over stewardship of the format, and the banlist is now maintained by the Commander Format Panel, a group convened by Wizards.

The banlist changes over time. Always check a current source before assuming a card's status.

Why cards get banned

Cards are banned for the health and fun of the format, not just raw power. Common reasons include:

• Fast, unfair mana. Cards that produce a huge mana advantage very early can warp games.
• Cheap, reliable game-enders. Cards that win the game with little setup, or do so out of nowhere, cut games short.
• Oppressive lock pieces. Cards that stop opponents from meaningfully playing the game.
• Mass land denial that ends games slowly. Strategies that do not win but make the game miserable.
• Cards that break the format's assumptions. A few cards are banned because they interact badly with the singleton or color-identity rules, or with the command zone.

Bans are not the only guardrail

The banlist is a floor, not a ceiling. Two other systems shape what is appropriate at a given table:

• The bracket system (B1 to B5) gives a shared vocabulary for deck power. See the brackets page.
• The rule zero conversation: before a game, players agree on the kind of game they want. A legal card can still be a poor fit for a casual table.

Game Changers

Separate from the banlist, Wizards publishes a list of Game Changer cards: powerful, legal cards whose presence pushes a deck into a higher bracket. They are not banned; they are a signal about deck power. The dashboard can check a deck against the current Game Changer list.

Source

• Official Commander rules and banlist: <https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/rules/>
• Format news: <https://magic.wizards.com/en/news>