A few days before writing this, on September 23rd, 2024, Wizards of the Coast’s Rules Committee announced that four more cards will be banned in Commander. That same day, I – being an avid casual EDH player – joined the discourse in staunch agreement with these bans and was greeted with shock and vitriol from across the playerbase. To everyone out there who may need to hear this: you’re not mad because they banned fast mana, you’re mad because Wizards of the Coast is a slave to their bottom line. 

Nadu, Winged Wisdom, one of the recently banned cards.

If the Rules Committee (RC) is really as committed to the health of the game as they claim to be, banning these cards should have happened long ago. Fast mana to this degree leads to a meta where even casual players feel like they have to run these effects because the normal pace of the game is not a speed you can move at and still win. EDH is a format in which you can build any deck you can dream up. I’ve seen Treefolk Tribal with Doran and mana burn decks with Yurlok. I run an Eligeth deck that only wins if I draw myself out. On paper, EDH rewards creativity in spades. However, as I recall from a game I played not a month ago, when a creative deck builder sits down for a casual game with a deck full of silliness, watching their opponent drop a first turn Mana Crypt to Sol Ring to Arcane Signet to Cultivate can make them feel like they’ve lost before they even get to see their favorite pet card. I can’t speak for cEDH, but fast mana like this has no place in a casual format. I would even go a step further and say that, despite their paragraph about it in their announcement stating that they never would, the RC should ban Sol Ring next.

Not only were these cards unhealthy from a gameplay standpoint, but it’s my belief that they are bad from a financial one too. I have seen people throwing numbers around this week, some even speculating that millions of dollars were lost in the secondary market because of this ban. I have some strong opinions on Magic: The Gathering as a financial investment, but suffice it to say that all Magic is and has ever been is a card game; it was never intended to be anyone’s retirement plan (perhaps with the exception of Dr. Richard Garfield). None of these cards should have been retailing at the prices they were at, and when the cards you need to be competitive in your meta are $80 and up, it fosters a pay-to-win mentality that drives new players away. This is a mentality that Commander, by its very nature and creation as a player-made casual format, should be immune to.

No discussion of this ban announcement is complete without addressing Jeweled Lotus, which was reprinted in Commander Masters, a set that was released only a year ago, along with Mana Crypt, reprinted in Lost Caverns of Ixalan only a few months later. Both of these reprints were included in their respective sets as high-value ultra-rare chase cards to drive up sales. Wizards themselves even highlighted Mana Crypt on their marketing materials for LCI. While Mana Crypt has a long and storied history in Magic, Jeweled Lotus is one of many cards that is a victim of the breakneck pace of Magic releases since Hasbro bought WOTC. Everyone knows that new sets are now released without a moment of breathing room between them. Bloomburrow is barely settled and Duskmourn is coming in hot on its heels this upcoming weekend, and this pacing has been ongoing for the last few years. Broken cards are being released with very little playtesting, and the RC is forced to ban them after the fact – if they do anything about it at all. Nadu, Winged Wisdom never should have been printed in the first place. The Rules Committee has been relatively quiet for a while now, even as Hasbro’s demands to make the line go up have impacted game health. Hopefully this announcement is a signal that they will be taking a more active role moving forward.

Everything we as players complain about the most, from the rapid release cycle of untested cards, the increasing Universes Beyond announcements, and Secret Lairs that become harder to read (and therefore play) with every drop, is a symptom of Magic’s role as Hasbro’s cash cow. Until WOTC is able to put its game and players above profit, I think we will continue to see the health of the game suffer and mass outrage from ban announcements like the one this week.