Summary
A few of the recently-bannedMagic: The GatheringCommander cards are rebounding in price followingWizards of the Coast’s announcement that its game design team would betaking over the Commander format.
Just over a week ago, the independent Commander Rules Committee (CRC)banned several cards from the Commander format: Dockside Extortionist, Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt and Nadu, Winged Wisdom. The market value of these cards plummeted shortly after that, reflecting their newfound illegal status in Magic’s most popular format.
A lot has happened in the week since that announcement, with the most notable being that Wizards of the Coast is now in charge of Commander. This transfer of stewardship was done to protect the safety of the individuals on the Commander Rules Committee who received death threats following their ruling. These individuals have been invited to act as independent advisors on the format within Wizards of the Coast.
Market Rebound
In itspost about the switchover, Wizards of the Coast introduced the concept of tier brackets - a way of classifying the power level of cards within the format. There was a brief mention of the current Commander ban list, which numbers over 80 cards.
“We will also be evaluating the current banned list alongside both the Commander Rules Committee and the community. We will not ban additional cards as part of this evaluation. While discussion of the banned list started this, immediate changes to the list are not our priority,” the post reads.
While this language doesn’t outright say some cards will be making a return, it doesn’t quite rule it out either. This statement has prompted a price rebound for some of these cards as hopefuls buy at a low price in preparation for an improbable ban reversal and subsequent price spike.
According to Cardmarket data,Dockside Extortionistwas selling for €80 ($88) pre-ban and €18.50 ($21) post-ban. The price has since recovered to around €28 ($31). The other banned cards have followed similar trajectories;Mana Crypt: from €155 ($171) to €48 ($53) and has recovered to €86 ($95).Jeweled Lotus: from €110 ($122) to €21 ($23) and has recovered to €56 ($62).Nadu’s recovery has been smaller but appears to be growing.
Wizards of the Coast clearly stated that adjusting the ban list is not a priority, so these hopeful buyers may have to wait a while to see if their gamble has paid off.
