If you’re reading this, then you’ve probably heard about the new Brackets system announced by WotC and the Commander Format Panel. I was originally planning on writing this article about the new system, but a lot of ink has already been spilled on that topic and I’m not sure my voice would really be adding anything new to the conversation. So instead, I’ve decided to write about something I was already thinking about anyway: Now that we have the Gamechangers list, what cards can be unbanned?

We already know that some cards will be unbanned late April, but the question is what? Obviously we won’t be getting Conspiracies or ante cards. I also wouldn’t place any bets on Black Lotus or the Moxen. But there are some cards that I, personally, think could’ve been unbanned a looooooong time ago. And maybe now, with the help of the Gamechangers list, we could finally see it happen.

Full Freedom?

Before I get to the Gamechanger-level cards, I want to talk about one card in particular that I think should just be fully unbanned. Not put on the Gamechanger list, just fully set free: Coalition Victory. People have been talking about this card for years, and I think now is the time to just let it run wild. It’s 8 mana, you need WUBRG to cast it, and the conditions for it to actually work are, in my mind, significantly more difficult to achieve than combos that already exist in the format.

BUT WAIT! You have been deceived, because there’s actually one other card I want to see fully unbanned: Braids, Cabal Minion. This 4-mana 2/2 has been banned for far too long, and for what crime? Shrinking the board state? If anything, we should be thanking her!

More seriously, it feels like this card is only on the banlist due to being a strong engine for keeping the game “small” that can exist in the command zone. In my mind, Braids is far weaker than commanders like Tergrid, God of Fright, who is herself a Gamechanger, but not banned.

Changing the Game

Now we finally get to the meat of this piece: The cards that can come off the banlist, and go directly onto the Gamechangers list. My main criteria for these, as a non-cEDH player, is this: Is this card doing anything more destructive, more powerful, or more soul-sucking than other high-power cards?

First up, we have Golos, Tireless Pilgrim. Golos was banned a few years back in part for homogenizing 5-color deckbuilding. And while that is a fair reason to ban a card in a normal format, it does feel a bit out of place in Commander. Golos was occasionally frustrating, but I never found it to be the absolute strongest commander out there, and I could easily see it returning to higher-power tables.

And also Gates decks.

While we’re on the Golos topic, I’d like to talk about a pair of cards next: Biorhythm and Sway of the Stars. Both of these cards are similar to Worldfire, which was unbanned in the same update that banned Golos. Sway of the Stars I can understand a bit. It soft-resets the game, but doesn’t put it into a true “sudden death” mode like Worldfire does. But Sway does give players gas to actually rebuild with, while Worldfire, if not done as part of a combo, just leaves everyone struggling to end the game with no resources.

Biorhythm, at 8 mana, seems like a scary card, but not one that players are very likely to run in my opinion. The obvious worse-case scenario here is that someone wipes the board then passes the turn to the green player, who proceeds to play a 1-mana creature like Llanowar Elves and then cast Biorhythm to end the game immediately. This is a fair concern to have, but is it better than the likes of Rhystic Study and The One Ring? My gut says “no.”

And while we’re talking about green cards, let’s take a look at two more: Primeval Titan and Sylvan Primordial. Primeval Titan has combo concerns, obviously: Being able to play it and immediately tutor something like Thespian’s Stage/Dark Depths does make it a scary play. Not to mention you could also get Field of the Dead, Glacial Chasm, or any of the other powerful lands available in Commander. The card is very powerful, and was obviously banned for a reason, but I Commander isn’t the format it once was. Players have access to more answers – and more competing haymakers – than ever, and for that reason, I say it's prime time for Primeval Titan to make his return.

As for Sylvan Primordial, this is another case of “seven mana card syndrome.” Yes, it’s a big splashy card, with a big splashy effect. And yes, it can hit lands. But to me, this card is the perfect embodiment of green: Destroy anything unnatural, and get more nature as you do. The scariest thing you can do with this is blink it, but considering what else exists on the Gamechangers list, I don’t think that play pattern is anything decks of that caliber can’t handle.

Finally, I’d like to cap things off with a colorless card. Perhaps even one of the most iconic cards in all of Magic: Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. Emrakul is a game-ending card, and would be a popular top-end in a variety of decks. But again, Commander isn’t the format it used to be. Players at bracket 3 or higher are not, generally, going to be trying to ramp out a 15-mana card when there are much cheaper ways to win the game available. And if they are, it’s probably because they wanted to play with Emrakul specifically and not because she was the “best” thing to be doing.

There are also some cards that I suspect could come off the banlist and onto the Gamechangers list, but would probably be more cEDH-caliber cards and I have no idea if cEDH players would even want them unbanned. These are cards like Panoptic Mirror, Ancestral Recall, and the recently-banned Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt.

Wrapping Up

Now that I’ve talked through my reasoning on what I want to see back in the format come April, I want to know: What do you want to see happen? What do you think is safe to unban? You can find my full list of unbans on Moxfield here, and you can find me on Bluesky here if you want to yell at me for suggesting that we unban Primeval Titan.

Oh, and one last thing:

FREE LUTRI