The Commander Format Panel (CFP) has issued updates for their Commander Brackets as well as their list of Game Changers for Magic: The Gathering.
Over the course of three MagicCons and months of organized play, the CFP has been beta testing the Commander Brackets they put forth in February 2025 (see “Commander Brackets“). Principal MTG Designer Gavin Verhey noted that these Commander Brackets were a “success,” but “not without failings.” With all that said, the Commander Brackets received their latest update.
The biggest change to the Commander Brackets since the last update (see “Update“) is that now players have been given an expectation of the number of turns a game of Commander will last based on the bracket they were playing in. Each bracket has an estimated number of turns a game will last before any player wins or loses, which essentially puts a clock games.
Putting a clock on Commander games is actually a fairly ingenious move by WotC designers, no doubt borrowed from Eurogame designers who have been doing this with their board game designs for decades to increase or decrease playing time. Commander players, on some level, are more akin to board gamers than competitive TCG players are, as most Commander games are generally low-key multiplayer events played for the enjoyment of gathering with friends to play. The new turn clock allows casual players to enjoy fiddling with the spells in their hand, while they set up obscure long-game strategies, as opposed to going for the two or three-turn optimized kill. Players who like playing singleton power formats and enjoy games of “speed kill” will undoubtedly gravitate toward the cEDH format, which is more no-holds barred that the other four brackets and has no turn clock.
Other major changes include the second Core bracket not being tied to preconstructed Commander decks anymore, and the removal of “Tutor” restrictions. The “Tutor” restriction turned out to be wholly unnecessary after the Game Changer list was instated, according to community feedback. Speaking of Game Changers, the following cards have been removed from the Game Changer list:
- Expropriate
- Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
- Sway of the Stars
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
- Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
- Urza, Lord High Artificer
- Winota, Joiner of Forces
- Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow
- Deflecting Swat
- Food Chain
There were no new cards added to the Game Changers list.
Check out ICv2’s 2025 Magic: The Gathering product calendar for more information on future releases (see “‘Magic: The Gathering’ 2025 Release Calendar“).
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