Potential Commander Unbans Tomorrow, Superpowered EDH Staples Rise in Price

Last updated on April 21, 2025

Prophet of Kruphix – illus. Winona Nelson

Tomorrow looks to be a fateful day for Commander players, as Principle Magic Designer Gavin Verhey previously announced that that April 22nd would be the day that unbans in Commander may occur. We've known about the possibility of further unbans since the original Commander Brackets article, but speculation has never been more intense. To this effect, we've seen a lot of movers in the financial market, as many players seem to believe certain cards may be let off the hook!

Possible Unbans

Let's go over some cards that might be unbanned tomorrow, and a few are seeing price changes to match this possibility!

Mana Crypt

source: MTGstocks

Mana Crypt also seems to be one of the cards that has the most attention from finance speculators right now, as it's seen a substantial bump since its last ban. If it does end up legalized, it will definitely go back to being a cEDH staple.

Jeweled Lotus

source: MTGstocks

Jeweled Lotus was an interesting case where a card specifically made for Commander ended up being too good in Commander! Turns out once again that fast mana is just busted, so the old Rules Committee decided to give Jeweled Lotus the old banhammer. That's not stopping speculators right now though, as the possibility of Lotus being freed feels incredibly real.

Dockside Extortionist

source: MTGstocks

Dockside Extortionist is just an insane Commander card, period. The ubiquity of mana rocks means this is almost always making more mana than it costs, and that's without taking into account flicker effects, Raise Dead, or any other ways to repeat it.

Dockside Extortionist may be unbanned either way though, as it's not like cEDH games aren't full of other busted cards.

Coalition Victory

source: MTGstocks

Coalition Victory likely made this list by virtue of being a Sorcery, as you can just flat out win the game on the spot with it (unlike Mayael's Anima or similar effects). Coalition Victory does require a lot of setup though, and probably wouldn't even be “truly broken” in 2025. It may not be the kind of gameplay WotC wants to encourage though, so I could go either way on this one.

Primeval Titan

source: MTGstocks

“I'm going to go grab Strip Mine and Wasteland, any responses?”

Jokes aside, Primeval Titan has absurd potential in Commander. You can't even necessarily attribute the graph rise above to Commander, as it's also a Modern powerhouse thanks to Amulet Titan. It could conceivably be unbanned, though that would be a questionable decision!

Gifts Ungiven

source: MTGstocks

Gifts Ungiven is never setting up anything “nice” in Commander, as having such a broad card pool means you can pull some real nonsense with this. Unburial Rites + creature lines were some of the most common setups when it was legal. Gifts Ungiven isn't seeing much price movement at all, though it's not as unlikely to be unbanned as some other cards later in this article.

Sway of the Stars

source: MTGstocks

Sway of the Stars is easily the least broken card on this list, though there's definitely some ways to abuse it (suspend being the most obvious). Mostly though, it's just a gigantic time waster, and unlikely to do anything healthy! Sway of the Stars is seeing some modest price bumps, and could be freed depending on how WotC feels about it.

Biorhythm

source: MTGstocks

Biorhythm is cool but also kind of busted, as this is another card that can instantly win the game with a bit of setup. Even if played fairly, Biorhythm is still going to be putting the whole table at single digit life totals! If that's what WotC wants, it's possible this is freed; if so, they should unban Coalition Victory alongside it, as both feel pretty similar.

Never to be Unbanned

Here are some cards that nobody seems to believe will be unbanned tomorrow.

Lutri, the Spellchaser

source: MTGstocks

Lutri, the Spellchaser would be one of the single most broken cards in all of Commander if it were unbanned. This is because Commander is inherently a singleton format, meaning that Lutri essentially reads “I go in all of your URx decks, bro”. That's just way too much free power for no cost, so it's no surprise Lutri was banned before its set even released, and has remained so!

Nadu, Winged Wisdom

source: MTGstocks

Nadu, Winged Wisdom‘s price graph looks like a flat-lined ECG, which is the fate this evil Bird Wizard always deserved. After monopolizing an entire Modern Pro Tour and making the format all about itself, it went on to be banned both there and in Commander.

It was shocking to learn that this absurdly broken dumpster fire of a card was actually printed for Commander, as it's even more miserable in 99 card formats! Watching your opponent play solitaire with this Bird Wizard is many things, but “fun” is not one of them.

Karakas

source: MTGstocks

Karakas comes from an era of card design that was uh, different. The idea of this being in the same set as vanilla Legendary creatures is utterly hilarious, and makes you wonder how this game ended up being so successful. Anyways, for Commander, the jury is out on Karakas. Getting to stun lock one player over and over for the price of putting a Plains in your deck is extremely degenerate, so the odds of Karakas being unbanned are zero to nil. It still commands a heavy price tag due to its power in Legacy/Vintage and rarity, but will never see 99 card formats.

Flash

source: MTGstocks

Speaking of degenerate cards, Flash has to among the game's most busted combo pieces. There's all sorts of brutal nonsense you can pull with this, though most chains these days start with this + Protean Hulk. Flash probably wouldn't feel too out of place in cEDH or anything (and is far less offensive to my personal tastes than Nadu, Winged Wisdom), but the odds of it being unbanned are slim to none.

Griselbrand

source: MTGstocks

Griselbrand is a cool card that wasn't designed for 40 life formats, where it is free to tear through your deck with only an uneven downside stopping it. If its price is any indication, no one expects Griselbrand to be unbanned, as it's just too easy to abuse this in Commander. It's a shame too, as it's definitely flavorful, and the art is still among the game's best.

Wrap Up

And with that, we await the future of Commander to unfold tomorrow. It's been quite a journey to get here, so hopefully WotC makes some good calls! Now if you excuse me, I have to go pick up the Mana Crypt I just ordered…