On October 21st, Gavin Verhey posted this article on Bracket Updates on behalf of the Commander Format Panel. In it, Gavin reviews the changes that have been made to change the rules regarding hybrid mana, describes and differentiates the brackets, with removals to the Game Changers List that reflect the new definitions.
Legendary Commander Format Panel member Rachel Weeks updated her graphic to encompass the bracket changes:
What I appreciate most about these changes is the difference markers between the numbers in the image above. I’m excited to try playing Commander outside my typical meta to see how helpful these changes are.
Here’s a screenshot of the changes made to the Game Changers list:
There is another noteworthy discussion topic: in this video, Gaven mentions four potential changes that could be made:
Rhystic Study is noteworthy for its power and iconic cultural place in the format, and thus is unlikely to be banned. That said, this is an active discussion the Commander Format Panel is discussing.
Thassa’s Oracle is under review, although also leaning towards not being banned because it doesn’t appear as frequently in casual games.
A sixth bracket, potentially to further differentiate the middling levels of power, specifically brackets 2, 3, and 4.
Of the potential changes, this one is the most interesting: allowing hybrid mana to be treated as either of its colors rather than both. This would not include cards like Deathrite Shaman, which have mana symbols printed on the card that are green and black, with neither being hybrid mana and thus still being restricted to Golgari decks.
I don’t have many thoughts on these changes at the moment, to be honest. But this update was too important not to post about, so I’m breaking from my typical posting schedule. I am excited to build a Food Chain deck to see how abusable the card really is, so be on the lookout for that post in the future.
Let me know what you think about these changes by replying to this email or commenting on the post.