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GamesCard GameMagic: The GatheringWoTC forced to take over popular Magic: The Gathering competitive format after community tantrum over card bans involves ‘credible threats of physical assault’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)

A cowboy painfully dissolves into tetrominoes

The Magic: The Gathering community’s been in turmoil lately, but first, some much-needed context for the uninitiated among you: The Commander Rules committee is a volunteer group of MTG players who, in conjunction with Wizards of the Coast, preside over the Commander format of competitive play. It’s one of the most popular rulesets and, crucially, happens to have alist of banned cards.

The controversial bans in question are the first in the format since 2021—and, notably, also some of the first major rules decisions made after Sheldon Menery, considered the godfather of the Commander Rules committee, died September 7 2023 from throat cancer.

The forbidden cards were Dockside, Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt, and Nadu, Winged Wisdom. Some players were, it seems, very unhappy with this news.An FAQposted in the aftermath of the bans gives some insight into the complaints, based on what the committee was keen to address.

The main anger seems to be directed at the cards’ perceived reduction in value—a dent in the wallet of people who try to make money off these things, yet expect to never eat a loss—as well as frustrations towards a lack of proper notice: “We used to have a watchlist,” the FAQ states, “but it caused noticeable grief when things weren’t acted upon, slowed down our ability to react when we saw a problem, and shifted the losses to the less enfranchised players who were less aware. So we got rid of it.”

“Over the last several days we have seen some of the most vitriolic and reprehensible behaviour from people coming into this community seeking to do harm. Never before have I seen such a disgraceful example of the worst kinds of humanity in the Commander community. Anyone participating in the instigation of this behaviour should be ashamed of what they have done.”

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The threats, according to Logan, included “credible threats of physical assault at conventions, dissemination of personal information, wishes for death, and blatant toxicity.”

Lapage continues: “I am truly devastated. This is not the outcome I wanted, but it is the only option that provides both appropriate care and attention to the community, and the safety that the format’s leaders deserve as human beings.”

(Image credit: @JimTSF on Twitter/X.)

A post that reads: “Sheldon Menery reached out to me in 2019 because I was yelling into the void on Twitter. He told me it was obvious how passionate I am about Commander, and over the course of the following year we talked almost exclusively about his legacy and the long-term health of the format. I joined the Commander Advisory Group in 2021, and the Rules Committee in 2022. Since 2022 I’ve been doing a lot of work on procedures, documentation, and planning to that end. The commitment I made to Sheldon before he passed was that Commander would be a thriving game long after every single member of the current committee has passed.I haven’t been able to keep up with responding to all of the emails, DMs, and tags, but I promise you I’ve read every single one, including the ones wishing me harm and the ones calling me an idiot. I hear a lot of pain, confusion, uncertainty, and outrage.What’s become clear to me is that fulfilling my commitments requires a level of global connectedness, proactive and reactive communication, research, and skill beyond what I am capable of providing. I don’t think it’s possible for a group of part-time volunteers to rise to this task.Beyond that, my inability to protect myself and the people I care about casts the whole situation in a different light. This part needs to be dealt with immedately, and I need to acknowledge that I am not the right person to deliver on those commitments. The best chance I have of honouring Sheldon’s legacy is to hand the keys over to people who are more capable and better-resourced.Last week I reached out to Wizards of the Coast for help, and we collectively began work on transitioning all management responsibilities of the format. I’ll be providing them with my roadmap, contacts, and documentation to ensure that the transition is smooth. It’s extremely important to me that the format’s new leadership remains faithful to Sheldon’s vision of a vibrant global community with a strong focus on the people who play it.I want to express my sincere gratitude and apologies to the community, and especially to the Commander Advisory Group and our Discord moderators, who have had a hellish week through no fault of their own.I am truly devastated. This is not the outcome I wanted, but it is the only option that provides both appropriate care and attention to the community, and the safety that the format’s leaders deserve as human beings."

In other words, Wizards of the Coast is now handling the format instead of a group of passionate community experts, not because of corporate meddling, but because people who were upset over a trading card game couldn’t resist threatening real human beings over their cardboard depreciating in value.

As someone who has received similar ire from the gaming public over writing words for this website, the whole thing boils my blood, but it completely doesn’t surprise me—anonymity and bitterness is a toxic cocktail that makes certain people act terribly. It is, invariably, why we can’t have nice things.

Logan puts it well: “While there are many employees at Wizards of the Coast that are wonderful, passionate people, some who I know and appreciate immensely, the company is ultimately a for-profit piece of a larger for-profit company.”

(Image credit: Official MTG Commander Discord)

A message that reads: &ldquo;Four and a half years ago, Sheldon asked me to create a Discord server for the Commander Rules Committee. A place where the community could have a better path of communication with them and the Commander Advisory Group members. We launched the server publicly in May 2020.Since 2020, we have grown and fostered a positive and welcoming environment for players of all types, so long as they followed the community rules written by me and approved by the Rules Committee. I recruited a wonderful team of moderators to assist in the effort to make the community as awesome as it has been. Regardless of opinion on bans or unbans or power levels or whatever, the purpose we set out to achieve was a place where anyone could discuss what was on their mind so long as they participated in that positive ideology. But this is now forced to end.The threats and harassment thrown at Rules Committee members, Advisory Group members, and Moderators has resulted in an environment that is unsafe and outside of any control we have to ensure that safety. Credible threats of physical assault at conventions, dissemination of personal information, wishes for death, and blatant toxicity. Over the last several days we have seen some of the most vitriolic and reprehensible behavior from people coming into this community seeking to do harm. Never before have I seen such a disgraceful example of the worst kinds of humanity in the Commander community. Anyone participating in the instigation of this behavior should be ashamed of what they have done.With the inability to ensure the safety of the leadership of the format, we are now in a situation that is likely irreversible. While there are many employees at Wizards of the Coast that are wonderful, passionate people, some who I know and appreciate immensely, the company is ultimately a for-profit piece of a larger for-profit company. You will never again get the privilege of one-on-one communication with a decision maker of the format. There’s no doubt that the people who will be taking over managing Commander will be kept mostly anonymous for their own safety, given what just happened to the Rules Committee. This is all thanks to the most toxic and terrible kinds of people that should have no place among us.Being the RC&rsquo;s community administrator has my biggest passion project in my consulting career. This has now been taken from me by the disgusting actions of those people who sought to harm my friends. I have put so much of myself into the Commander Discord server, both from community and technical perspectives, trying my best to ensure that the members, mods, RC, and CAG all have the channels, tools, and resources they need to make our part of the community amazing. The loss of this role has broken me. But I resolve to rework and rebuild this server in an unofficial capacity. It will just take some time and a lot of healing, as we deserve a break from moderation.I want to say thank you to the many amazing members that have come to chat and share with us. The server has flourished because of your daily involvement. I feel horribly for you to lose that ability to share and be excited here, even if it may be temporary. While there are many other servers you can go to for these same things, what we have here is uniquely special. Thank you, again, from the bottom of my heart. I hope you stick around.Thank you to the moderator team, who helped me keep the server running smoothly, most especially in the last several days. I could not have done this by myself.Thank you to the Rules Committee and to the Advisory Group for allowing me to do my thing and make your lives a bit easier.And lastly, thank you, Sheldon, for trusting me. I would not have been afforded the many truly amazing opportunities I’ve had without you pushing me and believing that I could live up to the task. I miss you dearly.<em>If you have any questions, please reach out to me but bear in mind that I may not respond immediately.</em>

“You will never again get the privilege of one-on-one communication with a decision maker of the format. There’s no doubt that the people who will be taking over managing Commander will be kept mostly anonymous for their own safety, given what just happened to the Rules Committee. This is all thanks to the most toxic and terrible kinds of people that should have no place among us.”

Wizards of the Coast’s statementputs out some clarifications as to how this thing’s going to go from now on:

“While ownership of the format may be changing, members of the Rules Committee and others in the community will continue to be involved, and the vision for a social format will not change. We’ve had some preliminary conversations already about what we would like to accomplish and have some ideas we will be rolling out together in the months to come.

TOPICSWizards of the Coast

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