Duel Commander: Banlist Review

Greetings!

In today's article, we'll go through the Duel Commander banlist. Our main goal is to explain why some cards are currently banned (many of them are confusing to understand if you didn't play DC when they were added to the banlist) and explore a few cards that are not banned but could be soon.

We won't go over commanders because the reasons why each of them is banned are completely unique, and they deserve an article of their own. Instead, we separated all of these banned cards into 7 groups:

Broken Cards

This section is pretty straightforward. Some cards should never have been printed, but, as they were, they had to be banned from eternal formats.

Fast Mana Cards

Cards that allow a player to create mana faster or create more of it at once also break the game. If they're available, all players are forced to play them because they're simply that good.

Bad Patterns

These cards essentially promote unhealthy game patterns. Or they create extra turns (!!!).

Philosophical Bans

These cards were banned because they don't fit what the dev team considers the main "philosophies" of the game. They're not necessarily that strong.

Game Warping Cards

These cards change the way the game is played completely, so they had to be banned.

Undesirable Game Enders

These are game finishers that are just too ahead of the curve.

Cards That Are Just Too Strong

These cards were banned because their effects are considered stronger than their counterparts, though they are somewhat common.

Without a question, the last two groups are the most interesting ones, so we'll spend more time on them!

Only a few cards stand out in this group. I believe simply reading what they do makes why they were banned quite clear.

The two cards we'll mention are Balance and Nadu because they lasted a while in Duel Commander before they were banned (both were banned in 2025). The truth is that Nadu had to be banned as a commander straight away, and since then, the dev team has had to try and keep it under control. That didn't work. While it was available in the format, many decks centered exclusively around Nadu combos (particularly with Nomads En-Kor or Shuko).

As for Balance, we were all surprised it remained in the format for so long. It makes everything equal for players in terms of lands and creatures, and you can also use it to discard creatures in Reanimator lists.

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

I don't believe any card even comes close to the cards above. None of them should be unbanned, and no other new card should join them...

Except:

Yawgmoth's Will is a lot worse than Underworld Breach (another card that was banned recently), but "a lot worse than a broken, banned card" doesn't mean "bad". I don't believe it will be banned, even more so considering it is one of the last things we have to enable Storm lists. But should a good format even have space for a Storm strategy?

These are positive mana rocks and the best rituals in MTG. When lists play these cards, the best skill a player can develop is getting them in their opening hands. Being the first to play is already an advantage, so starting with 2 "lands" in play is simply too decisive. This group is a bit controversial, though...

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

I believe banning Temple of the False God would be too much. Even more so considering a mid-game ramp doesn't really fit what this group is all about. But, in many decks, the difference between a Spirit Guide and a Lotus Petal is... What? I somewhat understand that you can reuse it once with your Yawgmoth's Will, but that's not reason enough. If the reason behind this was the Underworld Breach Loop, then, as soon as it is banned, can we get Lotus Petal back? What about Rite of Flame? Is it that different from these cards? Tinder Wall, maybe?

There are many cards in the game that are similar to these banned cards, and I believe there is a lot we can say about banning them or not. Obviously, that doesn't apply to Moxens, Lotus, or similar.

Five mana for an extra turn is certainly not that impressive. The problem is that, if you're not playing blue and you're facing a commander like Kess, Dissident Mage, replaying these extra turns is frustrating and decisive. The same goes for Time Vault, which is quite bad but works really well with cards like Twiddle or Voltaic Key.

Sensei's Divining Top was banned specifically because it changes how long each match lasts far too drastically. "As I pass, Sensei's Divining Top" is an annoying sentence because it forces you to plan ahead ("I might not get to activate it again next turn"), encourages you to sacrifice fetchlands as you pass (which eats up even more time), and it's too impactful. It's simply too powerful.

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

This group is quite unique. Out of these 5 banned cards, 3 of them are the same card, and 1 is a Power 9 card. It doesn't get more unique than that. Soothsaying is right there.

Comet, our beloved pup, struggles with the same thing Invert Polarity struggles with: it isn't strategic at all. You'll play it and hope for the best. Imagine you're playing Aragorn, you use an Invert Polarity on a Wrath of God, and you pray you lose the coinflip. Are you trying to counter an Emperor of Bones? For 3 mana, that's a very bad counter. But stealing it for 3 mana is too strong. Duel Commander is a competitive format that values well-thought-out strategies.

Lutri, on the other side, was banned simply because those responsible for the banlist believe no card should be banned just as a Companion. It might be terrible, but it is a free card, and that's why we can't use it.

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

All cards that say roll a dice or flip a coin should be considered for this group. The truth is that most of them (caham, all of them) are simply terrible, so keeping this part of the banlist short is just comfortable. The day Arden Angel or Hoarding Ogre is playable, you can expect them to be banned.

These cards completely change how the game is played and often disable strategies entirely. Realistically speaking, what could a control deck do against a Cavern of Souls? What could a creature deck do against a Humility, a Tabernacle, or an Oath of Druids?

Serra's Sanctum and Gaea's Cradle were an issue. I seriously considered adding them to our first group, our "broken cards", but the truth is I don't believe they're broken, and they're certainly not fast mana cards (they are big mana cards, however).

To me, it's absurd that Serra Sanctum is banned, considering its power level. This card only sees play in extremely "flavor-centered" decks (like Sythis, Harvest's Hand), and it's clearly not that great. I do believe its greatest strength is the fact it makes any game completely different once you draw it, though.

I won't advocate for its release, even more so because I believe it is reasonably irrelevant in the meta. I just had to mention that I had some trouble grouping all of these cards in a single category.

But there is a category inside a category in this game warping group of cards...

Land Hosers

Strip Mine and Wasteland were banned because of the timewalk factor. Duel Commander lets you land go, and most of us would struggle to come back into the game after taking a Strip Mine. And we're not even discussing stupid things like Azusa's land recursion yet.

Blood Moon and Back to Basics attack mana bases too aggressively, and that leads to non-games, that is, games in which a single thing decides the outcome and then no one gets to play.

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

Many of these cards are similar, but they only work later in the game, don't set you back too drastically, or are much easier to interact with.

We can find many other effects like these in the game, but interacting with a 2/2 creature is much easier than interacting with an enchantment. All the other ways to attack lands cost mana and rely on super slow conditions. Dust locking is one of the ways Azusa wins, but, considering its complex setup, you certainly don't feel these matches are non-games.

Dream Halls is extremely game warping in Atraxa, Grand Unifier lists. Games are completely different when you draw this card, and, though it only makes sense in some decks (well, just one, to be more precise), this was once true for many other cards that are banned nowadays.

Now that we have described each group carefully, let's actually review the banlist.

I don't believe there is a lot to be said about Field of the Dead (which is quite powerful and "free to use" in a Highlander format), Scapeshift (it's a clean win with Valakut), Thassa's Oracle (I'll argue in favor of banning Jace soon!), Protean Hulk (there are far too many ways to win the game when a Protean Hulk dies), and Food Chain (the command zone mechanic changes this card completely because any commander with an ETB essentially represents "infinite ETBs"). But, as for the other 4 cards...

I don't know why Emrakul is still banned. I understand that "casting an Emrakul" usually ends the game, but isn't that true for Emrakul, the Promised End as well, which is a lot easier to cast? Because Emrakul (the Aeons Torn) can't stay in the graveyard, there is no risk it gets reanimated. Annihilator 6 without a question is strong but what will you really do then? Play a Sneak Attack? Emrakul would be incredibly strong in ramp lists, like Azusa (with lots of lands and Eye of Ugin), Lumra (it would work as grave hate to itself, so it probably wouldn't even see play in this list), or Golos (which uses the Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cabal Coffers engine). This card was banned in 2017, and, believe me, this game was a lot different a decade ago.

On the other side, I didn't really understand why Genesis Storm was banned until I took a closer look at it. Basically, decks without permanents used this card as a way to win with just one spell. Either with Jace, Wielder of Mysteries and Thought Lash or Rest in Peace and Helm of Obedience. Because of the way this spell works, counters often don't stop it (after all, it copies itself several times), and removals also can't interact with it. There are countless decks that naturally don't use any permanents or only a few, and they'd just benefit too much from this card.

Hermit Druid is debatable. Without a question, playing your entire graveyard for 1 mana is incredibly strong, but, honestly, what can we really do with that? We certainly won't play Sutured Ghoul. If the point is exiling your entire deck (at the cost of not playing any basic lands), we can already use this effect with cards like Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation. Druid is "easier to tutor", but it's a creature that you need to tap to activate! I understand it is powerful, but I believe unbanning it could make the meta more interesting.

Finally, we have Natural Order. I'm sure this card is only banned because Craterhoof Behemoth exists. If it weren't for that, I truly believe it would be a bad card! I really prefer an Eldritch Evolution, which can get non-green creatures (like Chaos Defiler). Progenitus was once a great target, but Commander forces you to play 5 colors... and we must admit no 5-color deck will use a decent number of green creatures.

Unfortunately, because of End-Raze Forerunners, I believe Natural Order has to stay banned.

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

Nowadays, there aren't many reliable ways to end the game suddenly...

All of these cards seem super fair and need more than their other banned counterparts to work. They're also significantly worse when you don't play them in combos.

Free Spells and Mana Cheating

All of these cards are banned because they give you an absurd advantage. It's even difficult to tell how much Guardianship is better than a Negate, or a Force of Will compared to a Counterspell. Both free spells and delve cards are a problem, but please note that these cards are a lot better when their effects are proactive instead of reactive.

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

So, I understand Murderous Cut can rest in peace. We can't say the same for...

I know I just said otherwise, but Grief, the most proactive out of these 3 cards, is the least likely to be banned. Many great free spells are no longer part of this format, however, and today the MH3 Elementals certainly define Duel Commander.

Too Cheap

All of these cards are absolute staples because they're incredibly cheap, mana-wise. All of them have similar counterparts that cost more mana. Unbanning them would make them instant staples, and many matches would certainly be defined by whether you draw them or not.

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

These have obvious counterparts that have been banned. I believe the green option (Worldly Tutor) is safe, but, as we increasingly get more enchantments and artifacts that look like sorceries (that is, with enter the battlefield effects), it seems reasonable to imagine that soon these tutors will leave Duel Commander.

Others

We can compare Gifts Ungiven to Memory Deluge, which sees a lot of play. For the same 4 mana, you get a far better effect. Please note that putting cards in the graveyard lots of times is exactly what you want to do*.

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

Clearly, we must keep an eye on Intuition because its effect is similar to other cards.

I thought about adding Price of Progress and Maddening Hex to the undesirable game enders group. The truth is that these cards deal too much damage for just a small amount of mana. Hex does that because of its design (which was meant for multiplayer formats) and PoP is just incredibly powerful in multicolored formats. It's quite obvious that 10 damage for 2 mana is a lot.

Then we have Uro. Discussing this card is difficult because I really want it unbanned, but, as Growth Spiral is playable in DC, it seems obvious to me that Uro is simply broken.

I don't believe the meta would be better with Uro, but...

Cards We Should Keep An Eye On

All of these cards are outstanding staples in their decks, and, from time to time, someone says they should be banned.

As a Duel Commander player, I can effectively say that drawing them does make you win more. Playing against a Phoenix is a real nightmare because it changes the math we do when we set up attacks and it simply gives you too big of an advantage for just 1 mana (collecting evidence in a format in which Oliphaunt is used as a mana fix almost doesn't cost anything at all).

Parallax is pretty straightforward. It makes things unbalanced for the opponent and wins practically all games if resolved. We could list a lot more staples, but we decided to stick to the ones that most stand out and that make games quite difficult.

Personally, I don't believe any of them should be banned. They might be powerful, but they're out in the open, so they're easy to predict and deal with. Banning "the best cards in the format" simply makes us discover new best cards, so I believe the best path forward is to ban cards that make the format unhealthy instead.

We can hardly call the Duel Commander banlist perfect, but it is extremely consistent and straightforward. Some decisions might seem overzealous, but they're just the result of a game that changed a lot in 10 years. They were made before the power creep we can all see today came to be.

That being said, I believe many of these cards, if unbanned, wouldn't change the meta at all. Playing Emrakul is fun, but no deck would "become more playable" because of it.

Some players have been asking the team to unban these cards - for instance Lotus Petal or Rain of Filth. These would probably make the format move a little faster, but they wouldn't destroy it. Duel Commander is currently balanced and open, and it will probably remain so even if we get more changes like this.

Maybe the March 30th banlist update will change this, or not. Keep an eye out for our article centered around the commanders that are banned in DC!

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!