Custom Banlist that my EDH playgroup uses

[mjb3102]

Hello Everyone!
My local playgroup and myself came up with a custom banlist based on what we felt was a needed change in direction of both WOTC's banlist and the French 1v1 banlist. Feel free to use for your own playgroup or to ask questions about why certain cards are/aren't banned.

Enjoy!

https://deckstats.net/deck-14905392-d1ea3c9956e38b6603b0ba35eef3b768.html

[WWolfe]

When you say WOTC ban list are you referring to the online list or the paper list? WOTC doesn't maintain the paper list.

[mjb3102]

WOTC has two lists that my group was following for a while; One was for MTGO (for 1v1) and the other is just a general banlist (I assumed multiplayer). Both of these lists had some cards we disagreed with so we moved to the French 1v1 banlist. That worked for a while but then they started to ban some questionable things so we just made our own.

MTGO: https://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/banned-restricted/magic-online-commander
General: https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/commander-format
French 1v1: http://www.duelcommander.com/banlist/

[WWolfe]

The multiplayer commander banlist for paper play is not maintained by WOTC although they do recognize it, it's maintained by an independent rules committee that includes one of the founders of the format.

http://www.mtgcommander.net/rules.php

Back to your list, I agree with using "house rules" for commander since it's a casual format.

I like that you have a separate "banned as commander" list, I hate that the RC did away with it for multiplayer. Certains creatures (like Braids) is broken as a commander but is easily kept in check as one of the 99.

[Soren841]

Your group bans like all the good cards for competitive EDH :c

[Soren841]

Hermit Druid isn't even that good.. things like Doomsday, the cradle, and Food Chain are only good in specific decks and i think bans shpuld be for general over poweredness

[WWolfe]

Is this for 1v1, multiplayer, or both?

[mjb3102]

That was something we really liked about the French List; some cards are only broken as commanders so we definitely took influence from that. Although you cannot see it on the post, if you view the actual page that the list is on you can see that some cards are only banned in multiplayer as well. This was another idea we felt necessary due to come cards getting MUCH better the more opponents there are.

Regardless, our group so far likes the list (we've been using it since November) because it gives a lot if archetypes breathing room while removing cards that would be too much "pay to win" or "I play this card and now I win." We can be very competitive and fairly large at times compared to other groups (we're ~12 people) so some limits are needed.

[Soren841]

And things like strip mine and mana crypt are EDH staples

[WWolfe]

Why Strip Mine but not Dust Bowl?

[ApothecaryGeist]

WWolfe, if I were to guess, I would suspect that it is due to the 3 mana activation cost on Dust Bowl, where Strip Mine costs no mana.  When you get Crucible of Worlds and multiple land drops per turn, you can easily decimate an opponent's mana base at no mana cost.  Then you still have your whole turn.  At least with Dust Bowl it would cost you a lot of mana to pull that off.

mjb, I applaud your playgroup's use of a local ban list.

Playgroups are each unique.  What works for one may or may not work for another.  For a variety of reasons.

Of course EDH staples are on the list.  If no one is playing a card, there is no reason to ban it.  When your playgroup are not prolific deck builders, things get stale seeing the same cards in similar decks over and over again.  You need to force things to be less efficient and more creative.

Happy Brewing everybody 

[WWolfe]

That's the explanation I was expecting, the mana cost for Dust Bowl is a deterrent in running it and how you use it so it kind of polices itself.

[Soren841]

Besides it's an edited version of the current ban list. The only problem is some cards are banned that shouldn't be because it's edited version of the 1v1 ban list.. multiplayer is different

[mjb3102]

The only problem is some cards are banned that shouldn't be because it's edited version of the 1v1 ban list.. multiplayer is different

If you go view the banlist page, it will show comments that say if bans are multiplayer only. We also took into consideration 3 different banlists listed above.

[mjb3102]

"Why Strip Mine but not Dust Bowl?"

ApothecaryGeist is correct with the activation cost. I would also like to point out that Dust Bowl can only go after non-basics and Strip Mine can go after ANY land.

mjb, I applaud your playgroup's use of a local ban list.

Thank You

If no one is playing a card, there is no reason to ban it.

The "staples" on the list have more to do with the range of skill that is in our play group; we have new comers to a magic collector that has access to any card he wants. Without boundaries, the new people would be at a significant disadvantage. Not to mention, we want everyone to be judged by skill and not by what they can afford.

Hermit Druid isn't even that good...

Yes he is, google the combos you can hit with him

things like Doomsday, the cradle, and Food Chain are only good in specific decks and i think bans should be for general over poweredness

You got me on Doomsday; the big combo with that card is a way to cheat Emrakul, however, we already have him banned (even though I personally love the card) so that is one we probably will revisit.
Cradle and Food Chain is just simply out of price range for most people in the group. However, I would also argue that you wouldn't run them if they weren't a great fit for your deck and thus cause the deck to abuse those abilities.

things like strip mine and mana crypt are EDH staples

I've already addressed Strip Mine in another post, but as for Mana Crypt I would say that in a format that the loss of life for mana just simply doesn't matter makes this card broken. People still argue that Sol Ring should be banned so we felt a more powerful version of Sol Ring should be banned. This also is another card that some could afford and others can't (currently ~$70 on TCG).