Note: This is an update to this post.

Greetings MTGO Commanders,

We’ve heard your reaction to the Magic Online Commander update and will be adjusting our plan to accommodate. It was never our intent to disrupt the paper multiplayer Commander community and the format you play at your local game store or at home with friends. We fully support the Rules Committee’s work to make multiplayer Commander the best it can be and will do our best to support their effort.

On May 10, we will update the Magic Online Commander format with the new banned list and begin 1v1 Commander leagues as planned. We want to start gathering data on this format as soon as possible so we can start refining it. This includes updating the banned list and evaluating the match structure (one game versus best-of-three and match length). This does mean that all Commander play on Magic Online will use the updated banned list for a short period of time.

With the Magic Online deployment of Hour of Devastation on July 5, however, we will add another Commander format with a second, separate banned list. When this happens, one format will endeavor to match the official Commander rules and banned list for multiplayer Commander as published at MTGCommander.net while the other will feature a Magic Online specific banned list tailored for 1v1 matches and will feature League and event support. Essentially, multiplayer Commander and 1v1 Commander will be treated as separate formats.

Please note that Magic Online will not always be able to support every card that is legal in paper Commander and may need to make gameplay concessions to fit Magic Online’s digital environment. We’ll try and be as transparent as possible when this is the case.

We still have some work to do to finalize the names of the formats, but we will provide more information as we get closer to the Hour of Devastation release. Finally, I want to thank you for your dedication and passion for this game we all love. We’re always looking for ways to improve the experience on Magic Online, and your continued feedback is important part of that process.





Thank you,

Chris Kiritz

Senior Product Manager

Magic Online