Wizards Takes Over the Commander Format

Early on this past Monday, Wizards dropped yet another major bombshell onto the greater Magic community: they were taking over the Commander format from the Commander Rules Committee. This news came as a tremendous shock to many yet was simultaneously unsurprising given the past week's issues brought about due to the Rules Committee's quarterly update from last Monday.

Many players and community members reacted to this with a wide array of emotions, ranging from sadness and grief to the end of an era while others cheered it as a positive change. There were, however, concerns about how things might change under Wizards, such as greater incentives to create cash grabs and the like. Many of these fears and concerns were put to rest, however, when Wizards ran their Weekly MTG stream for the week, with both Gavin Verhey and Aaron Forsythe coming in to talk about this monumental shift for the game's most popular format. The details are too great in length to discuss here, however you can find a reasonable summary on Reddit as well as the VOD of the stream on YouTube. Many players seem satisfied with these updates, though many questions and doubt continue to linger for many others at the same time.

In the article and Weekly MTG stream, Wizards also shined some light on the supposed power level/rule zero tools they were working on alongside the Rules Committee. This includes brackets, putting various cards in brackets from 1-4, with 1 being the lowest power and 4 being the highest. Many players were confused and put off by this until the stream took place, which helped visualize and explain things a bit more clearly. This system is expected to be rolled out first at MagicCon Las Vegas so we'll soon see how public reception to this system goes.

This is no doubt going to be a major shift in the game we know and love to date. It's going to take some time to adjust and heal, but there's no doubt that given what went on over the last two weeks, it was sadly necessary. Time will tell how things turn out in the long run.

New Secret Lairs On Sale

The latest Secret Lair superdrop - titled the Camp Totally Safe Superdrop - has gone on sale on the MTG Secret Lair website! This includes all kinds of themes ranging from the third Hatsune Miku release, Ghostbusters, Chucky, and Duskmourn: House of Horror showcase releases. Amazingly, only one release has sold out at the time of writing (the foil version of Featuring: Peach Momoko), though a handful of others are running low at this time. You can find them all here on the Secret Lair store page.

In one additional funny bit of Secret Lair-related news, the Superdrop hub page included an interesting link to a Secret Lair branded hatchet. Yes, you read that right: an actual, factual hatchet. The listing noted that the sale was canceled at the last minute due to Wizards' legal team stepping in. However, the notion that we came close to receiving such a product amused many to no end amidst a week of particularly rough news.

MagicCon Las Vegas Sells Out

#MCVegas is 100% SOLD OUT!

For those of you unable to join us: look out for our 2025 MagicCon announcement, so you can begin planning to join us next year! pic.twitter.com/AiCUEMmqFU

— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) September 27, 2024

Arguably the biggest event of every year, MagicCon Las Vegas has once again completely sold out! This event is expected to be a major home run for all things Magic, but if you were looking to get in and didn't get a badge, it might be time to start asking around. The event kicks off in just a few weeks with the 2024 World Championship, several panels, and more!

Decklist of the Week

Azorius Control | Pioneer | Vinicius Karam, 1st Place City Class Games Showdown

• Instants (21)
• 1 Change the Equation
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 2 Deduce
• 2 Get Lost
• 2 Memory Deluge
• 2 Three Steps Ahead
• 3 Dovin's Veto
• 4 March of Otherworldly Light
• 4 No More Lies

• Sorceries (2)
• 1 Farewell
• 1 Supreme Verdict

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Portable Hole

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 4 The Wandering Emperor

• Lands (27)
• 3 Island
• 3 Plains
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Fountainport
• 1 Hall of Storm Giants
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 3 Deserted Beach
• 3 Field of Ruin
• 3 Restless Anchorage
• 4 Floodfarm Verge
• 4 Hallowed Fountain

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 2 Chrome Host Seedshark
• 2 High Noon
• 2 Knockout Blow
• 2 Mystical Dispute
• 2 Shark Typhoon
• 3 Beza, the Bounding Spring

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We're finally into the actual season for Pioneer Regional Championships and we kicked things off this past weekend with the Brazilian RC: the City Class Games Showdown. This event was taken down by Vinicius Karam piloting an Azorius Control list. Azorius Control dominated the event with a mighty 58% win rate, though the field seemed fairly diverse on the whole. This includes in the greater top 8 as a whole. Will this continue this weekend with the US Regional Championship in DC? We'll just have to wait and see!

Paige Smith

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