Looking for the MTG Commander banlist? With such a vast format, knowing which cards you aren’t allowed to use can be tricky. In this guide you’ll find a list of every card that’s forbidden in Commander, complete with the date it was added to the EDH banlist.
Commander has the potential to be a very high-powered format. You only have to glance at our cEDH Tier List or guide to the strongest MTG Commanders to see that. But there have to be limits, and when a card causes too much trouble, that’s when it’s confined to this MTG banlist.
Here are all the details on the MTG Commander banlist:
- Latest MTG Commander banlist update
- Commander banlist
- Conspiracy cards
- Ante cards
- Offensive cards
- Do we need an MTG Commander banlist?
Latest MTG Commander banlist update
On September 23, 2024, the Commander rules committee banned four cards: Dockside Extortionist, Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt, and Nadu, Winged Wisdom. These cards are the first new entries on the Commander banlist since 2021.
Several of these cards are particularly valuable, and Nadu in particular has been a controversial part of Commander since its release in 2023. After escaping an emergency ban and the designers admitting Nadu wasn’t playtested properly, the bird has finally been brought to the chopping block.
The newest additions to the Commander banlist received mixed reactions from the community, but those enraged by the decisions were certainly loudest. After the bans caused the cards’ prices to crash, some MTG fans petitioned for the committee behind the bans to be fired, and others unfortunately resorted to threatening the volunteers responsible.
All this controversy led Wizards of the Coast to take over the Commander format, replacing the Commander Rules Committee as the adjudicator of the banlist.
Comments from Wizards led more banned cards to spike in price as fans began speculating that these controversial Commander cards would be unbanned. While we’re in favor of new plans for a deck ranking system, we’re adamant that Wizards of the Coast must not go back on its controversial bans.
MTG Commander banlist
| Banned Card | Image | Release Date | Ban Date |
| Ancestral Recall |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Balance |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Biorhythm |  |
October 2002 | April 2005 |
| Black Lotus |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Braids, Cabal Minion |  |
August 2001 | June 2009 (as commander) September 2014 |
| Channel |  |
August 1993 | June 2010 |
| Chaos Orb |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Coalition Victory |  |
October 2000 | March 2007 |
| Dockside Extortionist |  |
August 2019 | September 2024 |
| Emrakul, the Aeons Torn |  |
April 2010 | December 2010 |
| Erayo, Soratami Ascendant |  |
June 2005 | September 2014 |
| Falling Star |  |
June 1994 | April 2005 |
| Fastbond |  |
August 1993 | June 2009 |
| Flash |  |
October 1996 | April 2020 |
| Gifts Ungiven |  |
October 2004 | June 2009 |
| Golos, Tireless Pilgrim |  |
July 2019 | September 2021 |
| Griselbrand |  |
May 2012 | June 2012 |
| Hullbreacher |  |
November 2020 | July 2021 |
| Iona, Shield of Emeria |  |
October 2009 | July 2019 |
| Jeweled Lotus |  |
November 2020 | September 2024 |
| Karakas |  |
June 1994 | September 2008 |
| Leovold, Emissary of Trest |  |
August 2016 | April 2017 |
| Library of Alexandria |  |
December 1993 | April 2005 |
| Limited Resources |  |
June 1998 | June 2008 |
| Lutri, the Spellchaser |  |
April 2020 | April 2020 |
| Mana Crypt |  |
March 1995 | September 2024 |
| Mox Emerald |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Mox Jet |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Mox Pearl |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Mox Ruby |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Mox Sapphire |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Nadu, Winged Wisdom |  |
June 2024 | September 2024 |
| Panoptic Mirror |  |
February 2004 | April 2005 |
| Paradox Engine |  |
January 2017 | July 2019 |
| Primeval Titan |  |
July 2010 | September 2012 |
| Prophet of Kruphix |  |
September 2013 | January 2016 |
| Recurring Nightmare |  |
June 1998 | February 2008 |
| Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary |  |
June 1999 | September 2014 |
| Shahrazad |  |
December 1993 | September 2011 |
| Sundering Titan |  |
February 2004 | June 2012 |
| Sway of the Stars |  |
February 2004 | April 2005 |
| Sylvan Primordial |  |
February 2013 | February 2014 |
| Time Vault |  |
August 1993 | December 2008 |
| Time Walk |  |
August 1993 | April 2005 |
| Tinker |  |
February 1999 | March 2009 |
| Tolarian Academy |  |
October 1998 | June 2010 |
| Trade Secrets |  |
October 1998 | April 2013 |
| Upheaval |  |
August 2001 | April 2005 |
| Yawgmoth’s Bargain |  |
June 1999 | May 2006 |
MTG Conspiracy cards
25 cards with the Conspiracy type are banned in Commander, and all other MTG formats. The full list of Conspiracy cards banned in Commander is:
- Adriana’s Valor
- Advantageous Proclamation
- Assemble the Rank and Vile
- Backup Plan
- Brago’s Favor
- Double Stroke
- Echoing Boon
- Emissary’s Ploy
- Hired Heist
- Hold the Perimeter
- Hymn of the Wilds
- Immediate Action
- Incendiary Dissent
- Iterative Analysis
- Muzzio’s Preparations
- Natural Unity
- Power Play
- Secret Summoning
- Secrets of Paradise
- Sentinel Dispatch
- Sovereign’s Realm
- Summoner’s Bond
- Unexpected Potential
- Weight Advantage
- Worldknit
MTG ante cards
Nine cards that reference ‘playing for ante’ are banned in Commander, and all other formats, because they don’t work within the rules. Playing for keeps in a four-player game is probably a bad bet anyhow. The banned MTG ante cards are:
- Amulet of Quoz
- Bronze Tablet
- Contract from Below
- Darkpact
- Demonic Attorney
- Jewelled Bird
- Rebirth
- Tempest Efreet
- Timmerian Fiends
Offensive MTG cards
The Commander banlist includes cards that are racially or culturally insensitive. These cards have been banned in all formats, and their images were even removed from Wizards of the Coast’s database in 2020. The seven cards currently included in this ban can be found here
Do we need an MTG Commander banlist?
Over the years, countless Magic: The Gathering fans have voiced various complaints about the Commander banlist. A common point is that it’s confusing and inconsistent, with some cards banned for crimes that other, not-banned cards also commit.
Recently, some fans and Magic commentators have suggested that the Commander banlist may be unnecessary. This is because the EDH community is strongly bound by a social contract, dictating what cards players should and shouldn’t play.
Unlike other MTG formats such as Modern and Standard, where many fans just want to locate and then play the best Standard decks, Commander players, outside of cEDH, are less focused on winning at all costs.
Often, matches will involve some form of ‘Rule 0’ discussion, where players talk about the relative power levels of their decks, and try to find a rough equilibrium that will ensure everyone has a chance at a good game.
Such discussions often keep powerful but not banned cards out of casual games. On the flipside, if all participants in a game agree, there’s nothing to stop someone using Golos as their Commander, or heck, even a made-up card they created themselves.
Because of the casual multiplayer aspect of Commander, the value of the Commander banlist is called into question. It provides a useful list of potentially problematic cards, but given that that list is in no way comprehensive, just how useful really is it?
For more content, check out our guide to the MTG release schedule, or this list of all MTG sets in order.