I want to build a deck with Geist of Saint Traft as my commander. I don't really play those colors so I have a bunch of spare cards I can use for it to make a moderately ok casual deck. However, I've heard that he is banned as a commander. From my understanding, there are no longer any "banned commanders" only cards that are banned in general, thus preventing them from being a commander. Could someone clarify this for me and if possible, provide the evidence so I can provide it to people that oppose it?
Thank you very much.
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"He displays a perverse charisma fueled by avarice. Highly dangerous. Recommend civil sanctions."
— Agmand Sarv, Azorius hussar
Geist of Saint Traft is a legendary creature card, so the comprehensive rules do not disallow that card from being in a Commander deck, whether as a commander or not, solely because of its name (C.R. 903.3, 903.2).
Also, the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules says nothing on the legality of cards in the Commander variant in particular (review M.T.R. section 6).
Third, the Brawl option for the Commander variant usually uses the Standard format (C.R. 903.11b), and at the time of this writing, Geist of Saint Traft is not legal in the Standard format because Innistrad and the Duel Decks: Blessed vs. Cursed box set, neither of which is a legal Standard set, are the only sets that card was printed in (M.T.R. 6.2, 6.3).
Finally, in unsanctioned casual games in general, the players in the game can agree on which cards are banned in a Commander variant game, either generally or as a commander.
See also this thread, which also deals with whether Geist of Saint Traft is allowed in a Commander variant game, and this thread.
It is first important to recognize that there are different variations of Commander. The Multiplayer variant, which is what is generally used when people say "Commander" does indeed match your summary. There is no Banned as Commander list and Geist is not on the regular ban list. You can use him as your general.
However, in Duel Commander (or "French") he is banned as a Commander. But, his format is for 1v1 play and should not be used in multiplayer play unless your playgroup explicitly says that is what they are using.
And, then there is the MTGO 1v1 banlist where Geist is also not banned.
There are other variants so it is important to know what your playgroup is actually using. If you are using the multiplayer rules, those rules, along with the banlist, can be found here
EDIT: I would also like to point out that this exact question was asked here by some user named....Rasalghul1989. What an amazing coincidence...
Lol. That is indeed my previous post. I totally forgot that I asked this same question a few months ago. I should double check my previous points. Either way, thanks for the answer(s).
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"He displays a perverse charisma fueled by avarice. Highly dangerous. Recommend civil sanctions."
— Agmand Sarv, Azorius hussar
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Thank you very much.
— Agmand Sarv, Azorius hussar
Also, the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules says nothing on the legality of cards in the Commander variant in particular (review M.T.R. section 6).
Third, the Brawl option for the Commander variant usually uses the Standard format (C.R. 903.11b), and at the time of this writing, Geist of Saint Traft is not legal in the Standard format because Innistrad and the Duel Decks: Blessed vs. Cursed box set, neither of which is a legal Standard set, are the only sets that card was printed in (M.T.R. 6.2, 6.3).
Finally, in unsanctioned casual games in general, the players in the game can agree on which cards are banned in a Commander variant game, either generally or as a commander.
See also this thread, which also deals with whether Geist of Saint Traft is allowed in a Commander variant game, and this thread.
However, in Duel Commander (or "French") he is banned as a Commander. But, his format is for 1v1 play and should not be used in multiplayer play unless your playgroup explicitly says that is what they are using.
And, then there is the MTGO 1v1 banlist where Geist is also not banned.
There are other variants so it is important to know what your playgroup is actually using. If you are using the multiplayer rules, those rules, along with the banlist, can be found here
EDIT: I would also like to point out that this exact question was asked here by some user named....Rasalghul1989. What an amazing coincidence...
— Agmand Sarv, Azorius hussar