Commander Bans Make One Magic: The Gathering Card Completely Useless

Commander Bans Make One Magic: The Gathering Card Completely Useless

Key Takeaways

  • The Jeweled Lotus is banned in Magic: The Gathering‘s Commander format, rendering the card functionally useless.
  • Although banned in Commander, Jeweled Lotus can still be played in Legacy and Vintage formats.
  • Casual playgroups can decide to continue using Jeweled Lotus despite tournament bans.

As a long-time Magic: The Gathering enthusiast with a soft spot for the Commander format, I find myself disheartened by the recent ban of the Jeweled Lotus card. This ban, while necessary to balance the game, has left me and many others in a predicament – now we have an expensive, unplayable card that was once a staple of our decks.


In the popular game Magic: The Gathering, the Jeweled Lotus card has been rendered completely ineffective after the Commander Rules Committee imposed a ban on it. This Mythic Artifact allows players to cast it for free and tap it for mana, but the new ruling restricts spending this mana exclusively on the commander. Consequently, the Jeweled Lotus now serves no purpose in gameplay.

Introduced in 2020 as part of the Commander Legends collection, Jeweled Lotus has been a cornerstone of the game since its debut, with multiple reprints and alternate versions appearing over time. Known for providing three mana and enabling potent early-game plays when luck is on one’s side, it was designed to emulate Magic: The Gathering’s iconic Black Lotus card, with the crucial difference that the mana from Jeweled Lotus can only be used for your commander. However, due to its power level, it has been banned in the Commander format according to the latest ban list announced by the Commander Rules Committee.

Discussing the ban on a Commander-exclusive card in Magic: The Gathering, it’s important to note that the card, Jeweled Lotus, has become essentially unusable due to its limited function within the Commander format. Fans on Reddit have been quick to voice their concerns about this issue, as other banned cards can still find a place in different formats. However, Jeweled Lotus was designed specifically for the Commander format, and its removal aims to control early game speed and restrict the amount of fast mana available to players. The recent ban of Mana Vault, another free mana generator, further emphasizes this intent. Despite other fans accepting these Magic: The Gathering bans, Jeweled Lotus’s high cost and current unplayability has made it a particularly contentious decision among players.

Jeweled Lotus is Now Unplayable Following Commander Ban

There is a small, albeit niche rebuff to this claim, in that Jeweled Lotus can still be played in two formats: Legacy and Vintage. Legacy and Vintage are “eternal” formats that allow almost every printed card in the game’s history to be played, including Magic: The Gathering‘s famous Power Nine. While there is no “commander” to spend the mana on, nothing stops players from casting it or even tapping it for mana in these formats, and some incredibly niche interactions can be done here with the fact that Jeweled Lotus can be cast for free, and if anything duplicates the mana it creates, it is not held to the same restrictions.

It’s clear that these bans apply exclusively to tournaments. However, within casual player groups, it’s up to everyone involved to agree whether they choose to keep using the card. With the upcoming horror-themed Commander set for Magic: The Gathering, players must decide if they will follow the ban during casual play or opt to retain use of these cards.

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2024-09-25 23:05