Wizards of the Coast announced changes to the Magic: The Gathering Commander format on April 22, 2025.
These were the first changes made to the Commander format since WotC unveiled the Commander Brackets (see “Commander Brackets“), which over the course of MagicCon Chicago, received generally positive feedback on their implementation in Beta testing. The primary criticism received about the new tiered Commander format was if certain brackets were two broad and about definitions within those brackets, such as what “mass land denial” means. The next round of changes came in the form of unbanning certain cards and adding to the Game Changers list. The following cards were unbanned in the format:
- Gifts Ungiven
- Sway of the Stars
- Braids, Cabal Minion
- Coalition Victory
- Panoptic Mirror
WotC also added the following cards to the Commander Game Changer list:
- Teferi’s Protection
- Humility
- Narset, Parter of Veils
- Intuition
- Consecrated Sphinx
- Necropotence
- Orcish Bowmasters
- Notion Thief
- Deflecting Swat
- Gamble
- Worldly Tutor
- Crop Rotation
- Seedborn Muse
- Natural Order
- Food Chain
- Aura Shards
- Field of the Dead
- Mishra’s Workshop
There were also two cards removed from the Game Changers list: Trouble in Pairs and Trinisphere. These cards were delisted as Game Changers because they were ultimately not overpowered or as advantageous as the panel had thought originally.
Check out ICv2’s 2025 Magic: The Gathering product calendar for more information on future releases (see “‘Magic: The Gathering’ 2025 Release Calendar“).
Source: ICv2
