Banlist Justifications

[ERMTD]

I am one of those that think that Commander does not need a banlist except the „ante“ cards, but a discussion previous to the game. There are players who play mainly to win, while others do want to have fun, regardless of the outcome. People who like primarily to win, will most likely streamline their decks and go for combos and so on for the optimal play. A lot of the cards in the banlist would make for nice additions in competitive situations, but would be out of place in casual pods, leading to a more pubstompy feel. Therefore, I think it would not matter as much in situations were the goals of the pod vs. one player would be at odds, because the situation would occur anyways if someone is going for that combo win. + certain cards or combination of them would lead to having a target on your back anyway. Where I would draw the line is for cEDH or official tournaments, where a banlist makes sense, just to keep a balanced feel to the game. Regarding the explanations given for some cards in the banlist, seems to adress the fear of creating a „pay to win“ feel.

[jlutzxinc]

I'm also just now seeing this topic, and my main question is how the wording for their explanation for Sway of the Stars doesn't also apply to Worldfire.  (Yes, I hate that card...can't you tell?)  I also had to laugh a bit at the claim for Biorhythm, as if "oops, I killed someone, TOTES didn't mean to" isn't a hella toxic attitude.  OF COURSE you meant to, knock off with that crap.

I hard agree with the logic behind my two favorite cards and hope they'll ban the new Chthonian Nightmare for being effectively the same thing most of the time.  Yes, a whopping one more opportunity for interaction, one that most casuals won't realize they have.

@ERMTD: I've already seen the line that "Oh no, 'cEDH' is getting its own (apparently sanctioned) tournaments, time to throw out the Rules Commitee and bring in the people that understand competitive Magic because Commander is now only a competitive format and should be treated as such", and think it's super dangerous.  I'm only a Magic fan because other games don't have casual formats like Commander and I'd hate for the only format I like to lose the only reason I like it.

[ERMTD]

@jlutzxinc I think I was misunderstood here. I am all for casual commander and cEDH is not my thing. What I was saying is, that as soon as the games are shaped towards the competitive form, where there might be something on the line, even if it is just a booster pack (including pre-releases), then a banlist is absolutely needed. Same counts for pods where you do not know the players. In kitchentable casual commander, if you have a pod that you know, I do not think that it is needed. It reminds me, when we starded playing with my playgroup again in 2017 in 60 card format, after more than 17 years of hiatus, we used 4 sol rings in every deck...because we did not know better and did not know the restrictions and banlist. Is it broken? Surely. But we had still fun and leveled the plainfield around it. If a player had more than two on the battlefield, he would probably be targeted and loose all or most sol rings. At the end of the day, if you want to make a card or deck broken, you will find a way. It is up to the player and the pod to decide if they want to have fun or break the game.