Last updated on October 21, 2025
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger | Illustration by Karl Kopinski
Commander Brackets are coming up on a full year’s worth of implementation in Magic’s biggest format, with a few updates landing throughout the year. Today marks the latest update to the Bracket system, with an emphasis on clarifying some of the odds and ends with the initial system.
Bracket Clarification
Source: Rachel Weeks
Gavin Verhey kicked off Tuesday’s WeeklyMTG stream with an infographic created by Commander Format Panel member Rachel Weeks, which is a more in-depth look at what to expect from each of the Commander Brackets.
Here are some of the notable changes that come from this update:
- The expanded bracket definitions now list a rough estimate of the number of turns a match within that bracket might take.
- Bracket 2 is no longer defined as the “Commander Precon” bracket, though many precons still fall within this sapce.
- Tutor restrictions have been removed from the brackets altogether, mostly due to the presence of the format’s best tutors being on the Game Changers list.
Note that there’s discussion of potentially adding a sixth bracket, which would theoretically exist between Brackets 2-3, or between Brackets 3-4. Gavin asked for feedback on behalf of the Format Panel about whether an additional bracket is necessary, and where it should slot into the existing system if they were to add it.
Game Changers Walk-Backs
Yes, there are some changes to the Game Changers list (no bans/unbans), informed by an internal look at the philosophy behind the list. The focus was on rolling back GC status on expensive, mana-intensive cards, as well as some key commanders that should inform pre-game discussions.
The following cards are being removed from the Game Changers list:
The first four cards all fit the “expensive but replaceable category” that WotC’s releasing their grip on. The other two have been re-evaluated to fit the needs of Commander more closely. Food Chain in particular is a powerhouse combo card, but should be covered in pre-game conversations and only really fits in high-bracket decks anyway.
Additionally, the following commanders have been removed from the list:
Consecrated Sphinx, Coalition Victory, and Panoptic Mirror were also discussed as potential cards to remove from the list, though Gavin confirmed they weren’t taking any action against them right now.
He also mentioned wanting player feedback about Rhystic Study, which he noted as a banworthy card, but one that’s iconic for the format. Same goes for Thassa’s Oracle, which Gavin mentions the Panel’s not really interested in banning unless they hear feedback from the community that they should remove them from the format.
Addressing Hybrid Mana and Other Future Changes
Gavin proposed the potential rules change to Commander deckbuilding restrictions: Hybrid symbols can be treated as an “or” where you can play hybrid cards in a deck of only one of its colors and ignore the other color for deckbuilding purposes. This is a hypothetical that was discussed, and has been part of Commander-specific discussions for quite some time.
It’s important to note, there are no changes happening to hybrid color cards at this time, but Gavin is gauging the community to see how they feel about this potential change in the future.
The Silver-Bordered Project was addressed as well, which is basically WotC’s internal look at whether or not silver-bordered cards should be playable in Commander. Gavin claimed it’s still on their radar without any significant changes at this time, though he mentioned that the lower brackets already allow you to play these with the right Rule-0 conversations.
Planeswalkers as commanders was another talking point, and the Panel was “near-unanimously” against changing the rules to allow existing planeswalkers to be commanders.
Whatever changes end up coming about from the latest wave of Commander discussion, WotC landed on quarter one (Jan-Feb) of 2026 as an ideal time to take action based on the player feedback they end up getting over the next few months.
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