Wizards of the Coast Takes Over Commander Game Format

In 2006, Wizards of the Coast introduced the Commander format, which was initially met with skepticism by some players.

The format's popularity grew over time, with Commander becoming one of the most popular Magic: The Gathering formats.

The format's success can be attributed to its unique rules and gameplay style, which allowed players to build decks around a single legendary creature.

Wizards of the Coast's acquisition of the format allows for more official support and resources for players.

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Wizards of the Coast is taking control of Magic: The Gathering's Commander format after the volunteer RC faced "unacceptable personal threats" from fans.

The threats were allegedly made by fans angry at the banning of certain cards, including Jeweled Lotus, Dockside Extortionist, and Mana Crypt.

Wizards' post on the official Magic website starts off by discussing these threats and concludes that "the task of managing Commander has far outgrown the scope and safety of being attached to any five people."

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Commander RC member Jim Lapage also made a statement on Twitter, explaining that during the events of last week he decided it wasn't possible for "a group of part-time volunteers" to manage the format successfully.

Wizards will not put up with this kind of behavior and will take action against individuals who threaten to harm community members or employees.

The company plans to involve the community in creating a system to calculate the power levels of decks, which will be divided into four brackets.

This system will be open to community input and will be rolled out in an open beta format.

Wizards of the Coast is taking over the duties of the Commander Rules Committee, which has sparked controversy in the Magic community.

The proposed solution is to create four brackets of "deck power level" based on individual cards and combos, but this approach feels heavy-handed and might not be well-received by the player base.

Commander isn't like any other format in Magic, and it's not easily codified, which makes this approach seem like a bad fit.

Wizards should consider separating the competitive format out and managing it with a banned list, similar to the one the community already uses.

cEDH already exists and has a loyal player base, making it a natural fit as the official Competitive Commander format.

This would allow Wizards to show the players that this change isn't a hostile takeover and let the vast majority of the player base retain control of the kind of fun they want to have with the game.

Balanced cards will likely result from Wizards managing the rules, which means high-cost chase cards won't immediately get banned, and the financial aspect of the game will be healthier.

This could lead to more Commander-focused products like Masters and Forgotten Realms sets in all MtG colors.

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The Commander Rules Committee (RC) members have shared their thoughts and feelings about the handover of the format to Wizards of the Coast.

Commander RC member Jim Lapage cited the excessive number of threatening messages he and other members received as the final push to contact WotC and transition the management of the format to the company that makes Magic.

Toby Elliott, another RC member, declared that when you can't make difficult decisions without worrying about your safety and well-being, you can't run a format, especially one with a nontraditional point of view.

Olivia Gobert-Hicks, a third RC member, expressed her devastation and sadness about the handover, hoping she didn't fail the memory of her friend Sheldon Menery, a late Commander RC member and foundational figure of the format.

Wizards of the Coast has also weighed in on the situation, stating that it will not tolerate threats against community members or employees and will take action against individuals who engage in such behavior.

The company is now working on a new system to judge the power levels of decks, which will involve the community and be launched in an open beta format.

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