10 Cards That I’d Add to the Game Changers List
By now, you’ve probably heard about Commander Brackets, the optional matchmaking tool recently debuted in beta form by the folks on the Commander Format Panel (CFP). One of the biggest things to come out of this development is the Game Changers list. This list currently contains 40 cards that were selected by the CFP members. In today’s article, I’m going to go over the 10 cards that I think belong on this list.
What are Game Changers?
I’m going to quote Gavin Verhey from the article that I linked up above:
“Game Changers dramatically warp Commander games, allowing players to run away with resources, shift games in ways that many players dislike, block people from play, efficiently search for their strongest cards, or have commanders that tend to take away from more casual games. And unlike some previous systems that were discussed, it's only a single additional list to track.
In addition to that function, you can imagine this as a sort of watch-list. Any future bans are likely to come from this list, save for maybe something that shows up in a new set and immediately causes problems, like Nadu. Similarly, unbanned cards are likely to end up here. This creates a nice half-step between the banned list and showing up everywhere. It also really helps ensure that you know what cards we have our eyes on so cards won't feel like they're banned out of nowhere in the future.
It also gives us a tool to unban cards to try them or nudge around cards without a ban needed. If a card shows up and is frustrating at casual tables but fine by competitive players, we can add it to the Game Changers list in an update to get it to the right place. And similarly, if times or opinions change and a card on this list looks fine in casual play now, we can take it off. It's not unlike how Canadian Highlander adjusts point values every now and then.
Now, to be clear: most of these cards are unlikely to be banned. You shouldn't go trading away your Gaea's Cradles in concern. However, it is a clear signal for players to know that these cards indicate a different kind of play and that others might prefer not to play against them.”
While I don’t agree completely with Commander Brackets or the cards on this list, I do think that this is an interesting tool for Commander players to use when talking about power levels and game expectations before shuffling up and playing a game together. I also think that the possibility of seeing some unbans that would wind up on the Game Changers list has a lot of potential if done properly.
You may also have noticed that some colors barely have anything on this list or that certain powerful cards are absent. Gavin and the CFP have already said that this is the beta form of the Commander Brackets and Game Changers, which means that we can probably expect changes and additions to this list. It’s been a while since I’ve done a predictions article, so I figured that I’d have some fun. Let’s do this!
Humility
This is one of my favorite Magic cards of all time. The art is absolutely incredible and it perfectly captures what the card does when it hits the battlefield. In a casual format like Commander where people like to play with big, splashy cards and fun creatures, an enchantment like Humility can completely turn the game on its head with a powerful effect that nerfs most commanders and popular creature cards into oblivion.
Rest in Peace
This is the nuclear option against graveyard decks. While black has more enchantment removal than ever, this card can be a challenge for some decks to remove and it can completely disable anything that needs the graveyard in order to work. I’m all for players playing more graveyard hate, but there’s no doubt that Rest in Peace is overkill when playing at very casual tables.
Consecrated Sphinx
This creature rapidly spirals out of control and it can be difficult to answer it if you’re not prepared, because the card advantage that it provides its controller will rapidly outpace the rest of the table and likely keep them stocked up on counterspells and other protection to keep this engine going until they’re able to win the game. I was honestly surprised that Consecrated Sphinx wasn’t already on the list.
Intuition
Why settle for tutoring one card when you can tutor three cards instead? The strength of Intuition comes from the fact that you can typically create a no-win situation with the cards that you select that allow you to get exactly what you need to become unstoppable or win the game on the spot, especially because putting cards in the graveyard isn’t even a real disadvantage these days.
Cabal Coffers
As targeted land destruction continues to be woefully underplayed in Commander, it’s not uncommon to see powerful lands run rampant when you sit down for a game. Cabal Coffers is one of the lands that continues to get away with murder turn after turn because all that it needs to do its thing is for you to control a handful of swamps, with a card like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth readily available to make it even easier.
Necropotence
This card is almost a shoe-in at this point because tons of people asked why it wasn’t already there when during the initial Commander Brackets presentation. Necropotence is a classic example of a card that was thought to be clunky that actually turned out to be a powerhouse. In Commander, you have 40 life to play with, meaning that you’ll almost always be able to find a way to win with this enchantment.
Gamble
This is definitely one of the strongest red cards and one of the best tutors in the game. It’s a given that you might discard the card that you searched for, but the chances are usually pretty low and the best decks won’t really care if they happen to discard something important because they have ways to play it from the graveyard in the current era of Commander where the graveyard often feels like a second hand.
Seedborn Muse
Getting access to four times as much mana as everyone else is so much fun…for the person doing it. Everyone else is going to have to focus on finding a way to end the value train while hoping that the Seedborn Muse player has nothing that they can use to protect it. When I’m thinking about cards that really allow one player to do it all every time they hit the board, this is one of the first that comes to mind.
Worldly Tutor
I thought that it was hilarious to see Enlightened Tutor on the list while this card was absent. Green really does have plot armor in Commander, huh? To be honest, I could probably make an entire article about green cards like this one that could be Game Changers. Creatures used to be a lot worse than they are now, but there is no shortage of incredible things to tutor up in 2025 when casting this card.
Gemstone Caverns
How strong could having a land before your first turn even begins possibly be? It turns out that this is actually incredibly powerful, which is why a land with such a generic name is legendary for the sake of formats that don’t use singleton rules. If you begin the game with this land, it’s not much different than having a Mox Diamond and definitely signifies that you’re willing to trade resources to turbo ahead of other players at the table.
Conclusion
I did want to take some time to mention a couple of powerful cards that I don’t think need to be on the Game Changers list. Craterhoof Behemoth is an incredibly powerful game-ender, but it does almost nothing without you amassing a sizeable number of creatures that can swing out and attack the turn that it comes down. Farewell can also be an incredibly oppressive sweeper, but it’s only a one-time effect.
What about you? Are there any cards that you think belong on the Game Changers list that I haven’t already mentioned? Is there anything that you don’t think belongs on the list? It’s still early, so I’m sure that the Commander Brackets and Game Changers will change quite a bit as the CFP monitors the state of the game and how things are developing. We’ll have plenty of time to offer feedback.
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