What is Modern Commander
Modern Commander is a variant of Commander that utilizes a more up to date cardpool and a few rules changes with an emphasis on built in balance. It is designed with multiplayer event play, both casual and competitive, in mind. It also presents itself as a great format for players just starting out with an Commander cardpool or simply looking to play a version of Commander with more toned down decks that encourages more interaction and player decisions. You can find more info at ModernCommander.com!
Rules
Modern Commander runs the same rules as Classic EDH (Classic EDH Rules for reference) with the following exceptions:
Life totals begin at 30
Mulligans are "Free Partial Paris" *
There is no Scry for mulligans
There are separate legal sets and ban lists
* "Free Partial Paris" means players select cards to keep and set aside cards they don't want when they mulligan (do NOT shuffle them into the deck yet). On the first use of this you draw as many cards as you set aside. If you choose to mulligan again, you now must draw one less card than is set aside from that mulligan. After you declare you will keep your hand, then shuffle all cards set aside into your deck.
Set List
The biggest change of the format is the legal set list. Players may only use cards printed within the following sets:
Every block and core set starting from 8th Edition till current (Every set legal in constructed Modern format)
Commander's Arsenal (This includes oversized cards)
All preconstructed Commander deck products
Conspiracy
Ban List
Constructed Modern format and Classic EDH bans do not apply. As well there is potential for Commander specific bans in the event a Commander is deemed fair within the deck, but too powerful as a Commander (currently none are banned however). The following cards are banned:
Prophet of Kruphix
Protean Hulk
Sol Ring
Tooth and Nail
Trade Secrets
Rule Philosophy
Rules are made with competitive event play in mind. Generally, we try to avoid bans/rules shifts whenever possible and have established 2 main points of issue when debating changes:
Meta Balance and Diversity - We want to avoid saying what can and cannot exist, but if we sense that the meta becomes dominated by a narrow selection of decks we will make changes to encourage more diversity.
In-Game Decisions Over Volatility - While volatility and luck are inherit in all card games, it is important to the ideals of good game design that how you play the game matters. We can't stop all the potentially wild plays possible in Commander, nor do we want to, but we value the potential of outplay rather than being victims of fate whenever possible. Part of this is a bias against cards/rules that present too much influence in dictating wins before players have a reasonable chance to interact with the game.
Why A New Format?
A long time ago, before the numerous constructed formats existed, there was just Magic Constructed. Players used most of the cards existing at their disposal and it was the wild west of creativity. This eventually lead to a problem down the road as more and more sets were added and the game itself evolved, vastly changing mechanics, card balance, etc... The huge card pool and unintended imbalances of older cards began to create a barrier of play for new players entering the fray, as well as defining what types of decks were viable. Collecting old and often unintentionally overpowered cards became an issue that didn't resonate with all players and Wizards decided to create two formats: Type 1 and Type 2. These loosely translate to Legacy and Standard today and were made to appease the growing diversity of players wanting different types of games.
Jump to today and we have Commander, a Legacy cardpool format that is still growing in popularity and gaining new types of players with diverse interests in the format. Similar to Type 1, many old and expensive cards with powerful effects are common use in deck designs and it can be a bit over whelming for some players to compete with these decks and are often restricted to opponents with similar collections. Even with players purposefully avoiding some of the more powerful Legacy cards or running less than optimal decks, it can still feel like you’re not playing the same type of game when those differing players sit down. Adding a format like Modern Commander allows players an easier barrier of entry to compete with more types of players and decks.
Another point of contention with the diverse group of players is how it impacts the reliance of the social contract. Originally a format played by small groups, this explosion of new players brings with it differing views on what is fun and fair. This can lead to some awkwardness when sitting down with new people or trying to form events. Some players like to take the cardlist to the fullest extent and can create a divide for players embracing the more "Timmy-esque" nature of the format or simply leave new players behind trying to learn with underpowered decks. In short, it's becoming harder for so many players to rely purely on a social contract in its evolving state and sometimes players are left trying to play a different type of Commander when they sit down at an event. This is where Modern Commander comes into play, a way to help standardize the format for more broad use when the social contract becomes too cumbersome and debate-centric to cater to so many different players. The emphasis on built in balance in place of social contracts means players can build the decks they want and still get fun and interactive games with different types of players.
In regards to which and when sets are legal for Modern Commander, all block sets and Commander Precons are automatically cleared as legal upon prerelease date. Other sets will be approved individually once the spoilers are reviewed and will be legal upon prerelease date as well. Only in cases where a concerning Legacy card is present will a preemptive ban take place.
Conspiracy 2 is approved as Legal...and yes Monarch is legal as well. No preemptive bans.
The Modern Card pool is one of the selling points of your format. How do you address concerns about previously Legacy era cards being reprinted saturating the format and making it so that it is less set apart from "classic EDH," as it were?
I like that cards printed in supplemental and novelty sets are being made legal as Conspiracy has been one of the coolest sets (both of them) for EDH over the last several years. Most cool cards printed in these sets are new printings and I can understand that players want to run them in their decks, whether they are Classic or Modern. However, since WotC has chosen to reprint money Legacy staples in some of these sets, I don't know that it aids your format's sustainability by allowing them.
Show and Tell, for example, is almost certainly catapulted into being an immediate bomb in your format. I'd caution you against allowing Legacy Power staples from supplemental sets to be legal just because you are legalizing the set in your format.
Admittedly Show and Tell caused me a lot of stress over how to go about allowing Conspiracy 2 into the format. The intention is that sets that benefit an interactive multiplayer environment will actively be considered alongside block sets, in the assumption Wizard's more matured view on the game will avoid some of the more concerning EDH staples. In regards to Conspiracy 2, the set itself seems overwhelmingly healthy to the format and I welcome many of the reprints and new cards as approved for Modern Commander...with the one caveat being Show and Tell. My initial reaction was to simply ban it, however I feel it is important that bias and knee jerk reactions not dictate bans and the use of check points and review be instituted to make sure that down the road our ban list is lead by coherent and consistent reasoning. The card pool and meta shift Modern Commander presents leaves a few questions as to how Show and Tell will fit into the format. There's some clearly obvious assumptions for how the card will play out (Omniscience!), but we're going to see just to be sure.
I have already informed my local scene that I am cautiously not banning the card and encourage testing before the next ban review. But yes, you are fully right in this logic, I am simply trying to apply a method of fair and rational review to the process. The next ban review is in about 2 months and from then we expect we'll have enough info to put the next check point at every 6 months. In the future we'll have enough meta knowledge to have stronger justification of preemptive bans.
I'll be writing an article on the main site in regards to the methodology of how bans and watchlists will be done as to not surprise players and showcase consistency in philosophies. As well an FAQ is needed.
That's fair enough. I don't want to insinuate that you shouldn't make CN2 a legal set (you should). I was only saying that particularly concerning Legacy reprints could easily be banned while making the majority of a set legal. I almost think that most Legacy staples, even if not themselves banworthy in Modern Commander, should be banned if reprinted in MC-legal sets, if only to maintain the separation between the MC and Classic EDH.
The card pool is the big selling point here for your format and the more crossover there is, the less pronounced the differences between the two formats becomes and the less players are likely to opt for yours over Classic EDH. If the formats need to feel different (which I think they do, for the survival of yours), keeping out impactful Legacy cards that do happen to be reprinted in supplemental products should be at the top of your list to maintain that separation.
Yeah there may be an update to possibly put all Legacy reprints in non-block on hold for review and announce the ones that pass review...with the hope they all make it...going forward. We're just making sure that a few months down the road, the ban list is a rife with solid and convincing reasons to see this cards removed. Right now though the big issue is the meta is still settling and we need to see what it does. We may find the a card like Show and Tell is so wildly inconsistent or risky, that it's nonissue and isn't strong enough in comp deck lists to use.
These are the types of stat tracking we do each tournament and I keep them for long term review to spot patterns. We'll be adding more areas to it soon to form ideas of why we see these results:
Show and tell is probably fine. How are you going to set it up without fast mana and cheap tutors? Sure, it's a strong card, but it's high risk and inconsistent short of making a deck with mostly draw spells. This isn't legacy where you're talking 4/60.
I get why Commander supplemental products (the annual release and Commander's Arsenal) are included, but why is Conspiracy included but Planechase isn't? By excluding that set, you lose out on a few cards. Luckily Maelstrom Wanderer and Vela the Night-Clad were in Commander's Arsenal but this excludes Krond the Dawn-Clad and decent cards like Sakashima's Student.
Krond isn't a competitive card, anyway. Even in my rather casual meta, it just isn't a particularly effective card. Unless it is enchanted, it's a hard to cast 6/6 flier for 6 and it often gets removed in response to auras. I really doubt Student is all that useful anymore with Stunt Double, either. We already have a million clones and get more practically every set.
I agree Krond is underwhelming though I still do like Student. In any case that wasn't really the point. If the exclusion of Planechase is intentional, that is fine. I was really just curious about the rationale for including Conspiracy but excluding Planechase as they are both supplemental products that are outside Modern's card pool and both introduce new cards (though Conspiracy adds more than Planechase).
According to the original post, this includes all cards in Commander Products (both reprints and new cards) which would normally make Sol Ring legal. However, Sol Ring is on the banned cards list that is also in the original post.
Reprints are legal. As for not including Planechase, we didn't want to over complicate the card pool list for reference and going through Planechase there were only a handful of cards that were EDH viable, as well a concerning card I personally wasn't huge on seeing. In short I just didn't see enough pros to include it with all the complications and risks of future products. It may down the road be included, as the few cards it does offer are nice. Conspiracy just had an overwhelming amount of good cards that brought in useful tools that a lot of colors needed.
Keep up with the feedback though. We're still firing tournaments weekly with good turn outs. We're testing with some pros for feedback as well to make sure the balance is just right. If you have any stories of testing, please share. We read and discuss everything we see in boards.
Reprints are legal. As for not including Planechase, we didn't want to over complicate the card pool list for reference and going through Planechase there were only a handful of cards that were EDH viable, as well a concerning card I personally wasn't huge on seeing. In short I just didn't see enough pros to include it with all the complications and risks of future products. It may down the road be included, as the few cards it does offer are nice. Conspiracy just had an overwhelming amount of good cards that brought in useful tools that a lot of colors needed.
Keep up with the feedback though. We're still firing tournaments weekly with good turn outs. We're testing with some pros for feedback as well to make sure the balance is just right. If you have any stories of testing, please share. We read and discuss everything we see in boards.
I can certainly see how that would be preferable. I just took and look and found there are only 19 cards in Planechase that aren't legal anyway. The reast were reprinted in Modern Legal or Commander sets.
In any case, this format looks like a lot of fun and I hope more people look to it to get another variant on Commander that offers a few differences to the general Commander format.
First post CS2 Modern EDH event tonight..Should be interesting. I cant wait to use Burgeoning! And im hoping there will be a monumental Show & Tell Fail
Kaladesh is coming up. The "Expeditions" won't be legal (unless currently valid reprints). Tournaments are still going strong and we're reaching out to other states now. If anyone has feedback please post as it greatly helps review balance and influence rule changes.
Was curious what your stance on the Masterpieces in general would be. Kind of what I figured, and it's good to establish going forward given how big they are. Though given they aren't coming out in Modern anyways not surprising.
The Masterpieces will not legalize any new cards in the card pool. Similar to other current formats, special legacy reprints are simply a fun perk of the set and not intended for use within the scope of what the format allows to be playable. I'm going to be taking fairly careful stances on Legacy card reprints as it's important the philosophies of this format are maintained and that this feel different than normal Commander.
As an update on how well the format is doing locally, here is a posting of some of the recorded data we have so far. We have stores expressing interest in the format as well:
It's interesting watching the colors fluctuate. Red shows up a lot more than I'd expect, likely a lot higher than it does in regular Commander, and White/Black never manage to break the halfway mark. Blue is also surprisingly rare at times.
Yeah. the only constant in colors is green is always good and red has gained more popularity as a base color rather than a splash color. The meta is still very much experimental as we have a limited sample size (a rotation of 30+ players currently) and only with it becoming a reliable weekly event have we finally started seeing people actually invest money into modern specific builds. A lot of data is impacted by how easy normal EDH decks were to convert and that's where we see blue and black take a huge dip in popularity, but green remains strong. Thankfully some of the players are rising to the challenge when I say things like "I want boros to actually be a thing in this format" and it's helping give better data. So far though we've had success in every archetype and color, which is great to see. It's looking like the promise of this format increasing comp diversity is delivering as opposed to normal cEDH (which has a VERY narrow selection of comp viable archetypes and color choices).
This is really interesting. However being a huge fan of colorless and not have the ability to utilize Sol Ring makes me really sad, I get why it's been ban hammered but with a competitive type game that you have structured out, you would think the ramp would be acceptable in a 1 of 99 type deck. I get that lots of people hate the t1 sol ring, but it does have its place in blue, colorless, and white decks. Not only does it feel a bit aggro red favored, but you have effectively killed off battlecruisers as a deck type.
That being said... I feel my colorless cruiser could still play with the best of them, more so with sundering titan being available to use with conjurer's closet. I wouldn't be able to t3 a Emmie but I could sure as hell hold the whole field until then. I can't wait to see more data on this.
Battle cruiser actually does well. many of the GR decks are big stompy swingy spells, Omnath in particular. A major thing we see if board states on all boards, so while aggro is a thing, it's not all there is. The meta is in a wild west phase an we don't have anything solved, so currently Battlecruiser is still very much a thing.
Colorless loses it's 3 best rocks for sure...but there are still tons of 0-2cc mana rocks/ramps in colorless, many of which are optimal picks. The slower format also means you don't have to rush as fast too. If anything this probably opens the doors for artifact decks that aren't purely about ramp into early win...which is basically the only viable strategy of colorless decks in cEDH.
Modern Commander is a variant of Commander that utilizes a more up to date cardpool and a few rules changes with an emphasis on built in balance. It is designed with multiplayer event play, both casual and competitive, in mind. It also presents itself as a great format for players just starting out with an Commander cardpool or simply looking to play a version of Commander with more toned down decks that encourages more interaction and player decisions. You can find more info at ModernCommander.com!
Rules
Modern Commander runs the same rules as Classic EDH (Classic EDH Rules for reference) with the following exceptions:
* "Free Partial Paris" means players select cards to keep and set aside cards they don't want when they mulligan (do NOT shuffle them into the deck yet). On the first use of this you draw as many cards as you set aside. If you choose to mulligan again, you now must draw one less card than is set aside from that mulligan. After you declare you will keep your hand, then shuffle all cards set aside into your deck.
Set List
The biggest change of the format is the legal set list. Players may only use cards printed within the following sets:
Constructed Modern format and Classic EDH bans do not apply. As well there is potential for Commander specific bans in the event a Commander is deemed fair within the deck, but too powerful as a Commander (currently none are banned however). The following cards are banned:
Rules are made with competitive event play in mind. Generally, we try to avoid bans/rules shifts whenever possible and have established 2 main points of issue when debating changes:
A long time ago, before the numerous constructed formats existed, there was just Magic Constructed. Players used most of the cards existing at their disposal and it was the wild west of creativity. This eventually lead to a problem down the road as more and more sets were added and the game itself evolved, vastly changing mechanics, card balance, etc... The huge card pool and unintended imbalances of older cards began to create a barrier of play for new players entering the fray, as well as defining what types of decks were viable. Collecting old and often unintentionally overpowered cards became an issue that didn't resonate with all players and Wizards decided to create two formats: Type 1 and Type 2. These loosely translate to Legacy and Standard today and were made to appease the growing diversity of players wanting different types of games.
Jump to today and we have Commander, a Legacy cardpool format that is still growing in popularity and gaining new types of players with diverse interests in the format. Similar to Type 1, many old and expensive cards with powerful effects are common use in deck designs and it can be a bit over whelming for some players to compete with these decks and are often restricted to opponents with similar collections. Even with players purposefully avoiding some of the more powerful Legacy cards or running less than optimal decks, it can still feel like you’re not playing the same type of game when those differing players sit down. Adding a format like Modern Commander allows players an easier barrier of entry to compete with more types of players and decks.
Another point of contention with the diverse group of players is how it impacts the reliance of the social contract. Originally a format played by small groups, this explosion of new players brings with it differing views on what is fun and fair. This can lead to some awkwardness when sitting down with new people or trying to form events. Some players like to take the cardlist to the fullest extent and can create a divide for players embracing the more "Timmy-esque" nature of the format or simply leave new players behind trying to learn with underpowered decks. In short, it's becoming harder for so many players to rely purely on a social contract in its evolving state and sometimes players are left trying to play a different type of Commander when they sit down at an event. This is where Modern Commander comes into play, a way to help standardize the format for more broad use when the social contract becomes too cumbersome and debate-centric to cater to so many different players. The emphasis on built in balance in place of social contracts means players can build the decks they want and still get fun and interactive games with different types of players.
Conspiracy 2 Approved for Play!
In regards to which and when sets are legal for Modern Commander, all block sets and Commander Precons are automatically cleared as legal upon prerelease date. Other sets will be approved individually once the spoilers are reviewed and will be legal upon prerelease date as well. Only in cases where a concerning Legacy card is present will a preemptive ban take place.
Conspiracy 2 is approved as Legal...and yes Monarch is legal as well. No preemptive bans.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
I like that cards printed in supplemental and novelty sets are being made legal as Conspiracy has been one of the coolest sets (both of them) for EDH over the last several years. Most cool cards printed in these sets are new printings and I can understand that players want to run them in their decks, whether they are Classic or Modern. However, since WotC has chosen to reprint money Legacy staples in some of these sets, I don't know that it aids your format's sustainability by allowing them.
Show and Tell, for example, is almost certainly catapulted into being an immediate bomb in your format. I'd caution you against allowing Legacy Power staples from supplemental sets to be legal just because you are legalizing the set in your format.
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
I have already informed my local scene that I am cautiously not banning the card and encourage testing before the next ban review. But yes, you are fully right in this logic, I am simply trying to apply a method of fair and rational review to the process. The next ban review is in about 2 months and from then we expect we'll have enough info to put the next check point at every 6 months. In the future we'll have enough meta knowledge to have stronger justification of preemptive bans.
I'll be writing an article on the main site in regards to the methodology of how bans and watchlists will be done as to not surprise players and showcase consistency in philosophies. As well an FAQ is needed.
The card pool is the big selling point here for your format and the more crossover there is, the less pronounced the differences between the two formats becomes and the less players are likely to opt for yours over Classic EDH. If the formats need to feel different (which I think they do, for the survival of yours), keeping out impactful Legacy cards that do happen to be reprinted in supplemental products should be at the top of your list to maintain that separation.
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
These are the types of stat tracking we do each tournament and I keep them for long term review to spot patterns. We'll be adding more areas to it soon to form ideas of why we see these results:
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
Keep up with the feedback though. We're still firing tournaments weekly with good turn outs. We're testing with some pros for feedback as well to make sure the balance is just right. If you have any stories of testing, please share. We read and discuss everything we see in boards.
If you care, here is the list:
In any case, this format looks like a lot of fun and I hope more people look to it to get another variant on Commander that offers a few differences to the general Commander format.
As an update on how well the format is doing locally, here is a posting of some of the recorded data we have so far. We have stores expressing interest in the format as well:
That being said... I feel my colorless cruiser could still play with the best of them, more so with sundering titan being available to use with conjurer's closet. I wouldn't be able to t3 a Emmie but I could sure as hell hold the whole field until then. I can't wait to see more data on this.
Colorless loses it's 3 best rocks for sure...but there are still tons of 0-2cc mana rocks/ramps in colorless, many of which are optimal picks. The slower format also means you don't have to rush as fast too. If anything this probably opens the doors for artifact decks that aren't purely about ramp into early win...which is basically the only viable strategy of colorless decks in cEDH.