Magic: The Gathering has turned a page in the history books for the Commander format today by announcing the formation of the Commander Format Panel, or CFP for short.
The CFP is a new advisory group charged with providing feedback to Wizards of the Coast. According to WotC, the group will be working closely with the MTG design team regarding the Commander format.
The formation of the group comes on the heels of the Commander Rules Committee, a group of MTG players who were stewards of the format and ban list, disbanding and handing control of the Commander format over to Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast.
According to Gavin Verhey, Senior Game and Product Designer at WotC, the new CFP is inspired by the Pauper Format Panel.
The Commander Format Panel will initially be composed of 17 members. These members were selected from among the previous Commander Rules Committee and the Commander Advisory Group. It will also include members of the cEDH community.
The members of the panel will rotate over time, and Gavin says they will likely shrink the number of members in the future. Term lengths will be one year long; however, some will remain even after terms are rotated. It was not revealed how or why some people would rotate off the panel while others get to stay.
The Members of the First Commander Format Panel:
The inaugural Commander Format Panel will consist of the following members from the Commander community.
- Attack on Cardboard
- Bandit
- Ben Wheeler
- Charlotte Sable
- DeQuan Watson
- Deco
- Greg Sablan
- Ittetu
- Josh Lee Kwai
- Kristen Gregory
- Lua Stardust
- Olivia Gobert-Hicks
- Rachel Weeks
- Rebell Lily
- Scott Larabee
- Tim Willoughby
- Toby Elliott
Notably absent are two members of the Commander Rules Committee, Jim LaPage and Gavin Duggan. Jim stated on X that he would no longer be taking any roles in Commander format leadership after the fallout following the banning of Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus, Dockside Extortionist, and Nadu, Winged Wisdom.
Gavin Duggan, on the other hand, raised concerns earlier last week when he shared hesitation in joining the new Commander panel after revealing all members would be forced to sign a contract that is enforceable for life, which forbids disparagement of Hasbro & Wizards of the Coast, and in his view could cause legal issues if he were to criticize MTG in the future.
According to Verhey’s statement today, WotC is actually encouraging members to be public, even with criticism of their handling of the format, which appears to dispel concerns raised by Duggan.
To that end, I’ve also told the members of the panel that they’re not just welcome to express their own opinions publicly but are encouraged to. They’re here because they’re community members, and it’s important they can be honest; they shouldn’t feel beholden to back up whatever decisions the panel or Wizards of the Coast makes. I don’t want them to have to act or speak inauthentically. Stating their own opinions in public is totally fine. Disagreeing loudly is totally fine. Loudly and publicly taking issue with our decisions is totally fine. Since Wizards makes the final calls, if there is any frustration, it should be placed on us at Wizards, not on members of this panel. And many of the members of the panel are content creators, and it’s important to both us and them that they are free to disagree and offer different opinions on their own channels.
Gavin Verhey statement
The members of the Commander Format Panel will not be volunteers. Wizards of the Coast has revealed that everyone on the panel will be paid for their work, given the scope involved.
Commander Power Bracket Update
We also received an update today on the new Commander Power Bracket system MTG is developing. This new system will separate Commander decks into four tiers. The tier system is meant as a Rule Zero discussion framework where players can better split into pods of similar power levels or levels of salt.
MTG provided the following update on progress with the Power Bracket system:
You might remember the bracket system that was mentioned previously, in the initial article and on the WeeklyMTG stream. We here at Wizards have iterated on it a lot with your feedback—thank you all for that! We have something that we’re interested in trying.
However, while initially I was hoping to get something out to beta test at MagicCon: Las Vegas this weekend, it’s really important to me to involve the panel in things like this—and when I say that, I mean it. So, rather than rush anything out now to beta test at the MagicCon, I’d rather have time for the panel to dig in, provide feedback, and iterate. That could be as simple as some tiny tweaks or as large as a full overhaul based on their feedback. We’ll have more to share when it’s ready and will still aim to run a beta test at an upcoming event. But, when it does debut, you can know all these great minds of Commander have worked on it and discussed it together.
I will say, to clarify, one thing about what you can expect from the brackets: they’re a totally optional thing to help you curate your games, much like the question “What power level is your deck?” but clearer. That’s a nice thing to have, but for tons of people, I don’t expect Commander to change.
Gavin Verhey on POwer Brackets
No new information has been provided on which cards will be in which bracket; however, an unofficial community poll conducted earlier this month gives some insight into the matter.
Commander Banlist and Unbanning Update
MTG also shared their priorities for reviewing the current Commander banlist.
After aligning on a bracket system and running some tests, I expect our focus to turn to our evaluation of the banned card list. To set expectations on that timeline, I wouldn’t expect any changes before early next year at the earliest, and you will have advanced notice. As we said previously, it’s still true that you should not expect any new bans in that evaluation.
One major thing that has been stressed in conversations and feedback to me is that Commander moves slow. This isn’t like a format that wants a heavy touch or constant re-evaluations like competitive formats. So, while there are things we want to work on as we transition and look at everything together, we’re going to take our time to do it right. We don’t want to have things changing all the time. Stability is a cornerstone of what makes Commander so great. For today, I want to focus on communication so you know what’s coming next.
Gavin Verhey on Commander Banlist
Those are all the updates received today from Magic: The Gathering on the future of the Commander format.
Now that the framework for the future of Commander is in place with the Commander Format Panel and all members being announced, Commander has officially started a new direction in leadership. Will the Commander Power Bracket system be a success? Will MTG undo its recent bans of cards like Coalition Victory that some have called outdated? We will have to wait to find out!
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