The Gathering's Commander Rules Committee is disbanded.

Key Takeaways

Wizards of the Coast takes over management of the Commander format for Magic: The Gathering from the community.
Here are four powerful cards banned from Commander because they are too powerful for casual players.
A power level bracketing system proposed for Commander decks to categorize their strength based on the cards they contain.

Wizards of the Coast announced it was taking over management. Magic: The Gathering's popular Commander format, and serves as a community-based Commander Rules Committee. This is after a tumultuous week. Magic: The Gathering This was caused by an unexpected form of card ban.

The community witnessed intense disturbances following the four-strong attack. Magic: The Gathering The card is banned in Commander. Fast mana artifacts Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus, combo creature Dockside Extortionist, and consistent value generator Nadu and Winged Wisdom have already been kicked out of other tournament formats. The Commander Rules Committee decided that these four cards were too powerful for the format as a whole, so they decided to remove them entirely to protect casual players from more competitive players.

In an announcement, Wizards of the Coast said it was taking over the management of Commander. Following the ban, unhappy players not only expressed their anger over the development, but some even doxxed and threatened five members of the Commander's Rules Committee, resulting in several high-profile members resigning. Magic: The Gathering community black eye. In assuming oversight of the format, Wizards is protecting community-based representatives from further harm and providing Commander with expertise in game development and management.

A possible new way to categorize Commander decks

Wizards remains the official face and authority for the Commander format, but they have indicated that some members of the Rules Committee will still have input. Another big vision the company is trying to implement is to shape the power level conversation of Commander playgroups, proposing a bracketing and tiering system that helps sort the strengths of individual decks based on the specific cards they contain. The proposed system will tie your decks based on your strongest cards and help you figure out if a particular table is fun and balanced, but it requires a lot of careful work and thorough dialogue to ensure effectiveness.

In the meantime, the proposed fixes following the mass ban are a more long-term solution. The biggest concern right now is the sudden outflow of these particular valuable assets. This is a card that many players have invested a significant amount of money into. Many players are trying to sell their cards as quickly as possible while they still have relative value and some may accept them. Magic: The Gathering The vendor is issuing refunds to players who recently purchased the product.

The ban has upset many players, but the change may be reversed. A petition to overturn the ban has already garnered thousands of signatures. Magic: The Gathering With Wizards taking over the format, this could still happen, as the company has proven that it sometimes listens to the pulse of its player base.