According to Gavin Duggan, a member of the now disbanded Commander Rules Committee, the new MTG Commander Rules Committee advisory group will legally be prohibited from criticizing Magic: The Gathering for their entire lifetime.
According to a post by Gavin on X, “The vendor contract for the Commander panel includes a surviving non-disparagement clause, which means it limits what I can say about them forever, even if the contract ends.”
In other words, community members of the new Commander Rules Committee would open themselves up to potential legal liability if they ever say anything that MTG deems disparaging to the company.
Here is what Gavin had to say on the matter:
The non-disparagement clause is eyebrow-raising to the community, as the Commander Rules Committee recently gave ownership of the Commander format to Magic: The Gathering and Wizards of the Coast after they received credible threats of violence following a contentious banning of Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus, among other cards.
To many in the MTG community, the Commander Rules Committee was a power check on Wizards of the Coast. If MTG ever printed pushed chase rare cards that sold packs, but were harmful to the format, the RC could theoretically ban them.
This dynamic led WotC to invite the Commander RC to review Commander cards before they were printed, potentially putting future pushed cards on check before they were a problem. Even with these checks in place, MTG still printed cards like Jeweled Lotus, which members of the Commander Advisory Group told MTG not to print.
Now that MTG has full control over the Commander format, they have the authority to set the rules. It seems, however, that these rules suggest they will be shielded from public criticism by the very volunteer community advisors they appoint to help guide the format’s direction.
Stay tuned to MTG Insider for more news on Commander and Magic: The Gathering.
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