The meeting's chief rules committee is dissolved

Important takeaways

Wizards of the Coast is taking over management of Magic: The Gathering's Commander format from the community.
Four powerful cards banned from Commander due to being too strong for casual players.
Suggested power level variation system for Commander decks to classify strength based on included cards.

Wizards of the Coast has announced that they are taking over management of Magic: The Gatherings popular Commander format, which takes the role of the community-based Commander Rules Committee. This comes in the wake of a tumultuous week too Magic: The Gathering which was the result of major and unexpected format-shaking card bans.

Society saw a wild uproar after four mighty Magic: The Gathering cards were banned from Commander: fast mana artifacts Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus, combo creature Dockside Extortionist, and consistent value generator Nadu, Winged Wisdom, which was already exiled from other tournament formats. The Commander Rules Committee felt that these four cards were too powerful for the format as a whole and chose to remove them entirely to spare casual players from those who are more competitive.

In an announcement, Wizards of the Coast said they are taking over the management of Commander. Following the bans, unhappy players have not only expressed their anger at the development, but some have also taken to doxxing and threatening the five members of the Commander Rules Committee, resulting in the resignation of prominent figures. Magic: The Gathering community numbers. By overseeing the format, Wizards protects the community-based representatives from further harm and lends Commander its expertise in game development and game management.

A possible new way to classify Commander Decks

While Wizards will still remain the official face and authority of the Commander format, it has said that some members of the rules committee will still be involved with input. Another big vision the company is looking to implement is refining power level conversations in Commander gaming groups, and proposing a bracketing and leveling system that would help classify the strength of individual decks based on specific cards included. The proposed system would tier decks based on their strongest cards and help figure out if a particular table is fun and balanced, but it would also involve a lot of careful work and careful conversation to ensure its effectiveness.

In the meantime, any proposed fixes after the big bans are more long-term solutions. A major concern right now is the sudden refueling of these special valuables cards, which many players have invested considerable sums in. Many try to sell as fast as they can while the cards still have some relative value and some accommodating Magic: The Gathering vendors refund players who have recently purchased these from them.

And while the bans have upset many players, it's also entirely possible that these changes could still be reversed. A petition to reverse the bans has already received thousands of signatures Magic: The Gathering players, and with Wizards taking over the format, this could still happen as the company has proven on occasion that they listen to the pulse of the player base.