Magic: The Gathering's Banned & Restricted announcement last month was an intriguing one for Commander players. No doubt Biorhythm had its champions who were happy to see the card struck from the Commander banlist, but I was more interested in the decision to add Farewell to the list of game changers.
True, this is a card that makes some players groan, but is it actually that good? I was determined to pick Gavin Verhey's brains about the Commander Format Panel's choices and process. Admittedly, the man had already written a pretty sizable article about exactly those choices and that process. But, for me, that just wasn't enough!
He snuck past us through the sewers of New York, but eventually we were able to catch up to Verhey waiting to enter a Strixhaven classroom and hit him with our queries. Read the full interview below:
Wargamer: Do you think adding Farewell to the gamechangers list demonstrates a shift in the purpose of the bracket system? Previously you've mentioned pushing cards and combos that end the game too early to higher brackets, but is this a nod towards avoiding dragging games out too long as well?
Gavin Verhey: Great question! Farewell is a card we have talked about a lot, ever since the creation of the bracket system. And it's no coincidence to me that the community has also talked about it as a card that could go on the Game Changer list since the moment it was revealed! It's a card which truly does reshape the game: it's a hard reset on the board and graveyards.
One of the things that bracket 1 and 2 are supposed to let you do is let players opt out of general gameplay experiences many don't like. And while it will never catch everything, enough people just don't want their game reset to the level Farewell does that it fits on the list to me. I do not think you'll see us add many more cards that are at this level of expensive to cast, as the bar for a six mana card to make it is extremely high - but Farewell does clear that bar.
Wargamer: How do you balance power versus enjoyability when considering brackets and bans? Especially when you'd probably struggle to find two fans who fully agree on what is 'enjoyable'.
Gavin Verhey: That is the trick, isn't it! The range of what people enjoy in Commander can vary so wildly. An unfun and unenjoyable card, those are the easy ones to axe. But what about the ones players love?
How much people love a card is something we take into account, especially given Commander is mostly a social game about playing cards you enjoy. But ultimately even things many people love but make the game unfun for the table could go. The bar to remove one of those cards is extremely high though - we'd have to be extremely sure on it.
Wargamer: Do you factor in how often cards are played when making decisions. And do you think there are cards out there right now that you'd add to the gamechangers list if they were played as often as Farewell?
Gavin Verhey: What gets widely played is absolutely a factor. There are tens of thousands of Magic cards, and they aren't all super fun. Some cards are on the list that aren't played a ton, such as The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale which is very difficult to acquire, but that's mostly because of historical precedent.
For example, and this is a bit of an absurd example for example's sake, if the card Planar Chaos for some reason saw so much play it became ubiquitous, and people were complaining about how frustrating it was in games, we'd at least take a look at it. But it doesn't, so it's mostly just a silly quirky card whenever it shows up. The line between "that's cute and clever" and "I'm so tired of playing against this" is often just how much it's played.
Wargamer: How much difference of opinion is there in the Commander Format Panel? And how much agreement do you require before you make a change. Hybrid mana was left alone because it was pretty split, but would you unban a card or instate a new gamechanger on a 51/49 split, or can one person hold out against everyone else and veto a decision like this?
Gavin Verhey: There are a LOT of different opinions. One of the things I value most about the panel is we've brought in diverse perspectives from across the community, and we want to look at all of them to make the decisions.
It's certainly not a majority rules situation, nor is it a unanimous one. And there's a lot of feedback to weigh in from different places too - like the rest of the community and Wizards of the Coast. The threshold for different things is at different levels. The threshold to change a fundamental rule of commander should be extremely high. That's a big deal! The decision to make something a game changer sits at a lower threshold because it's easier to tinker with and we're still learning and experimenting with the system. I'd still want a majority, but it's a matter of different degrees depending on the topic.
Ultimately, I appreciate all the different perspectives as a strength here, and look forward to working with the Commander Format Panel to continue crafting the format.
What do you think about the state of Commander right now? Is it your favorite format, or do you prefer to play another way? Let us know over at the Wargamer Discord.