Last updated on October 23, 2025
Blade Historian | Illustrated by Cristi Balanescu
WotC Principle Magic Designer Gavin Verhey recently posed a question that's been asked many times before in the Commander community: Should the rules on hybrid cards be loosened up in EDH? He posed a hypothetical rules change: Hybrid cards can be treated as either color instead of both for the purposes of Commander color identity.
No changes were actually made to the rules at this time, but the question was meant to prompt feedback from players, which means it could happen in the near future. This would allow you to play a hybrid card in any deck that touches at least one of those colors (an Izzet hybrid card in a Simic deck would be treated as a blue card, for example). People have waffled on this for years, and I'll be taking the stance that no, the rules for hybrid cards should not change.
My Stance
Wilt-Leaf Liege | Illustration by Jason Chan
My full opinion is that changing the rules behind hybrid cards invites unnecessary rules baggage into the format and weakens an overarching premise of Commander's identity as a format.
I'll lay out a few arguments against this proposed change, as well as some counterpoints worth considering, since I think there are totally valid reasons to make this change. I'd love to hear any [respectfully worded] opposing opinions as well, which matters a lot, because it sounds like this rules change will hinge on player feedback.
Argument: Hybrid Cards Are Designed to Represent Their Color Combinations
On one hand, hybrid mana is a tool Magic uses to allow cards to be played in more decks. Compare a GW gold card to a GW hybrid card. Outside of Commander, that GW card really only fits in GW+ decks. The GW hybrid card, however, can go in any deck that touches green or white. The former fits in one 2c deck, whereas the latter fits in seven.
So the whole point of hybrid from a design perspective is flexibility and deckbuilding opportunity.
However, that doesn't carry over when you talk about the flavor of a card. The flavor of a GW card is meant to evoke the GW color pair in some way. It’s supposed to combine elements of green and white together to make something that’s representative of both. That’s the entire point of gold card design. And Commander is a format all about flavor: When you select a commander, you’re flavoring your deck, at least partially, around what the color identity of that commander allows you to do. Once you lop off half of a hybrid card’s color identity, you’re changing its fundamental design.
The Lorwyn block Lieges and hybrid avatars are great examples. Let’s look at Balefire Liege. From a purely mechanical perspective, it can be played in non-white red decks, or non-red white decks, but this is a Boros card, through and through. First off, it’s a flaming spirit, which is as red-white as it gets, and it keys off both red and white spells. If you were allowed to run this in, say, a red-green Commander deck, it’s just missing half of its original design, and half the intent of the card evaporates.
I'd argue that it also fudges the color pie a bit. Ghastlord of Fugue as a mono-blue card doesn't even make sense, since blue isn't really supposed to have repeatable discard like this. That's purely the black half of the card, and by opening up hybrid cards in this way, you're breaking parts of the color pie.
Counterpoint: Hybrid Cards Aren’t Always Representative of Both Colors
I have to concede this point. It’s true that there are hybrid cards that could 100% exist as mono-colored cards
Looking at Ridgescale Tusker and Web-Warriors side-by-side, I can’t really say there’s anything about the hybrid card that makes it “more of a Selesnya card” than Tusker is a mono-green card. They’re near identical outside of stats, and the half-white pip isn’t really changing much here.
So no counterargument from me on this one. This isn't universally true of every hybrid card, but it’s certainly true of some.
Argument: This Change Adds Unnecessary Rules Baggage
Rules Lawyer | Illustration by Sean Murray
Implementing this rule would be a little cumbersome. For example, you could run an Izzet hybrid card as a blue card in an Azorius deck, but once it’s on the stack and in play, it’s just an Izzet card again. That makes me roll my eyes a little, since it seems half committal (shouldn’t it be treated as a mono-blue card in gameplay too, if we’re going to make this change)? Then there are cards that are hybrid and would still adhere to the normal color restriction rules. Deathrite Shaman, for example, would still have a green+black color identity because of its activated abilities.
There’s new-player upkeep to consider, too. These are always pros-vs.-cons questions: Is the small bit of extra rules knowledge worth it in order to allow more cards into more decks. I imagine for many people, the answer is “yes”, but I regularly caution against complexity creep in Commander.
Argument: Restrictions Are Okay
Commander is a format that’s fundamentally built on restriction. You could say that about Magic: The Gathering as a game, but Commander intentionally tightens the deckbuilding rules of Magic. You can only play cards within your color identity. The whole point is to cut some amount of the card pool off from your deck and build within the confines that your commander allows.
I know it’s a sort of worn-out adage, but restrictions do, in fact, breed creativity, and the limitations on deckbuilding in Commander are one of the things that make it special.
Counterpoint: Hybrid Changes Would Allow Decks Access to More Cards
Sure, I’m sympathetic to this point. We want to play with more cards. Or this Rakdos hybrid card is the perfect fit for my Golgari deck, except I can’t play it because of color identity restrictions. This is a totally fair argument to make, and the strongest counterpoint to my opinion overall.
Easing the restriction on hybrid cards would open up a lot more deckbuilding choices across the board. I don’t think there’s a single color combination in Magic that’s hurting for card choices right now, so I don't see how anyone's starved for card selection, but I get that giving people more choices could lead to some creative deckbuilding decisions.
In Conclusion
I think Commander would lose some of its magic if you start weakening the deckbuilding restrictions it's literally built on. It's not like the sky would be falling or anything, but this stuff matters to me, and I assume others as well. Or maybe it doesn't, and you can tell me why down below. Sounds like we'll have a follow-up of sorts early next year, so make your opinions known!
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38 Comments
I think the argument FOR this, but maybe also against it, is strongest when considering mono-colored commander decks. Allowing Yorion, Sky Nomad into my Dimir deck is one thing, but allowing it into my mono-blue blink deck? That’s a rather bigger change!
How is it that much more different in mono blue than in dimir? Blue as a color has a pretty strong blink theme, and it has both mass creature blink cards and nonland blink already.
I’d argue it’s weird to see it in dimir because of the white symbol but again, it does nothing blue couldn’t do before.
Your first point is invalid from a design perspective, respectfully. The whole point of a hybrid card, what makes G/W different from GW, is that it is supposed to be possible as a G card OR a white card. Some of the old hybrid designs don’t fit perfectly (because they forced too much hybrid in and got some incidental breaks out of it), but we don’t remove Chaos Warp, Beast Within, or Withering Boon for being breaks. All (modern) hybrid cards are designed in such a way that they only aesthetically bend at the most.
I wouldn’t say that invalidates my point. There’s a mechanical and a flavor design behind 90% of hybrid cards, and I’ve recognized the mechanical design perspective. My point is that I appreciate the representation of the gold identity of a hybrid card, but recognize that it’s intended to be a tool for gameplay purposes.
Intent for a sealed format does not change the fact that the cards are multiple colors. Mana that can be payed with either or does not erase the other color from the card. What stops them from deciding phyrexian mana skirts this too? Just because an alternate cost could be paid doesn’t change the color of the card.
Phyrexian mana’s another good example to bring up. I can play Dismember in a mono-blue deck, but it is fundamentally a black card by design. Agree there’s a difference between the intent of the card (playable in “either” color) and the actual design of the card (incorporates elements of “both” colors)
I would also say that the hybrid card in your first example represents three different color combinations. Yes the best use of it is in Selesnya, but it can work as a mono white card and a mono green card. Even the liege’s have separate abilities for each color so each individual color can use it if they want and get their flavor’s up side. Would balefire liege work best in a r/w deck? Absolutely. Would it still have a place in a Mono R or Mono W deck while still being flavorful to those colors? 100%
Yes, this is true, they’re flexible cards by design.
I second this point. As an eternal format, Commander already has many colour pie breaks, and often at a higher power than hybrid cards. Many of them are format staples for that reason. Several of these cards originated in Planar Chaos which broke colour restrictions intentionally.
I have yet to hear a s8ngle good argument for continuing with the current h6brid rule. Commanders h6brid mana rule is different from hybrid mana inneberypther format so that creates the extra rule baggage n9t the other way around. Hybrid cards are NOT representative of the two color combination. Wizard has specifically stated that the entire card is designed to fit in the color pie of each color where as a multi color card pulls things out of the different color pies combining them in new ways. Allowing the hybrid mana to work the same as in other formats has always seemed less.confusing to me than allowing fetch lands in all color identities. As far as restrictions go, the people who claim its good to restrict the card pool don’t actually believe it. If they did why don’t they advocate for additional restrictions like going back to elders as your only commander option rather than any legendary.
“hybrid cards are not representative of the two color combination”
This is easily refutable by just looking at a ton of hybrid cards. True of some, false of many.
Not wanting to retroactively add restrictions also isn’t an indication that people don’t like the current restrictions in place.
If extra combats were a thing for white then wizards would have printed them.
Also can you tall me Reaper kings color identity, or Shu Yuns color identity? It’s all 32 color combinations, and 3 for Shu yun. Jeskai, Izzet, and azorious
Yeah, feels like we’ll have to do more rules fudging to handle cards that aren’t purely 2-color hybrids.
It’s because commander is the only format that cares about color identity. It’s literally the premise of the format. Singleton 100 card decks whose charteristics are dictated by the commander’s color identity. To break that rule is to break the spirit of the format. Besides, it’s not like those cards are necessary for a deck without both colors when so many other options exist.
That’s a strong point I keep trying to make.
Yes, breaking the rule would give decks access to more cards. But… why do we need more cards? You get a couple thousand new cards every year. The next major set release will have more options for the average deck than all the hybrid cards you’d actively consider if they made the rules change.
I really like the way your arguments are laid out. I’m very pro restrictions, it’s something that draws me to the Commander format. When I think of this from a flavour perspective it feels like a potentially bad idea, but from a gameplay perspective a potentially good idea. I think something not fully addressed here is the boon it gives to mono-decks, which are often well themed but suffer from the smallest card pools (benefitting from more mana consistency). Like perhaps it’s not a big change to let a hybrid card sneak into a three-colour, but being able to run Yorion or Emeriel in a mono-white blink deck opens up a lot of doors, and mono decks do sometimes wind up fighting against “Ahh I like this commander and their flavour- but the deck needs access to this colour to work.”
Definitely pro on the added complexity can be an issue (especially for new players) but to be fair, colour identity is always in a murky place. New players are always tripped by the mana cost being one colour but an ability being another colour, or that fetch lands can go in any deck etc. But I like the extra awareness of complexity here.
Well laid out and really strong arguments. I think I’m firmly happy regardless of the decision as I can see pros and cons! And always something up for Rule-0/playtesting.
Thanks Robyn. And I agree, I won’t mind too much if they go through with it, I’m just giving my take on whether it really needs to happen or not, and I there’s something to gain & lose by doing it.
I agree with saying “No” to this change. No need to make the color identity rules more confusing.
I think it would be a fun twist if hybrid cards were allowed to be one colour or the other for deckbuilding. I feel like if they wanted the card to be purely BW or BR, they would have made the mana costs not hybrid. Therefore, hybrid costs changing to be allowed to be put into decks matching one of their colours could pave the way for a fun new experience, and I hope that the change goes through in the future!
It would definitely open up some new deckbuilding space, which is the main reason to do it. I don’t think that needs to happen, and I think there’s already plenty of creative space already, so it’s not a huge selling point for me. But if they make the change I’m fine with it, and people will have fun with the new tools.
FWIW, I’m a new player who finds the current rules counterintuitive.
My beginner understanding of the basic logic of commander color restrictions is that you can only include regular lands that produce mana used by your commander and therefore you can’t include cards that require other color mana to work. And fully hybrid cards don’t *require* other colors to work.
Commander color identity just comes down to the symbols on cards, and I believe ignoring those symbols just to make things fit into more decks is a bit strange.
Further reasons it should not change:
1) Hybrid is intended as a flexible payment, sure, but the rules are very clear – the cards are inflexibly both colors. I can always Hydroblast your Balefire Liege, even if you paid all white mana because the card is always, in all zones, both white AND red. I can never Doom Blade your Divinity of Pride, no matter how much you claim to be playing a “mono-white” life gain deck because the card is always black AND white.
2) Poorly distributed hybrid designs would break the color pie and reduce card diversity in some cases. Think about additional combat – it’s red or boros or gruul or even bant. But is there a single mono-white instance? No, because Waves of Aggression is both red AND white, even though it would get crammed in every mono-white combat based deck if they changed the rule. Because it’s the only option, everyone would run it, reducing diversity.
3) Imagine the ridiculousness of someone running a “mono-green” deck with 60+ hybrid cards and Leyline of the Guildpact while pretending it isn’t all of the other colors. It would be meme levels of willful ignorance enabled by this debated rules change.
All good points, especially that first one. I find it very cheesy when people argue that you can treat a hybrid card like just one or the other color, but must still treat it like both in all gameplay scenarios. The hybrid mechanic exists for ease of deckbuilding, but it doesn’t track to say the cards aren’t literally still both colors.
Something not brought up here but if I recall correctly was brought up on the stream: hybrid colorless cards. As I understand it, under this kind of rule change, cards like beseech the queen would be either black or colorless and therefore any color could have a tutor for 6 mana. That feels very incorrect for the way color identity is intended to work.
Yes, I believe Gavin mentioned that as well, and it seems odd to me too.
The argument I hear people saying is that those cards wouldn’t be good (ex: Beseech would be pretty bad as a 6-mana card in a mono-blue deck), but I don’t see how power level has anything to do with the change.
“Destroy target black creature” “Oh no, that card identifies as blue only this game” is going to be simple enough from a rules standpoint, but is going to utterly destroy the game for new players. Your board state being an outright lie is insane from a gameplay perspective. People already struggle to understand odd rulings.
Agree, it’s not conceptually that hard to track, but it bubbles up with all the rest of the rules baggage you need to know to start playing Commander.
I don’t like the change mainly because they trigger “when you cast a multi colored spell”
It doesn’t matter if I only pay white mana, every other instance of the game treats it as both colors!
Another smaller complaint is that I don’t like the idea of waves of aggression in my Jund deck. It feels like splashing a color in, and not a natural fit.
I think this also just takes commander a step closer to modern and with your favorite legendary tagging along.
I agree with that first point, to my point about “having your cake and eating it too.” People want to play these hybrid cards as if they’re mono-colored but we still have to treat them like multi-colored in-game. Doesn’t add up to me.
Imo, it actually makes things much simpler for color rules to match the other formats on this one. There’s no reason Rhys the Redeemed can’t be in my mono green elf commander deck, like it was in my mono green modern deck. And my opponent should have no reason to complain that they can target it also as a white card. Consider the spirit of the game and not just ‘i don’t like change’ the actual impact on gameplay will be invisible unless you’re one of the people like me who are currently locked out of viable cards simply due to the possibility of using different mana to get it out. Also, the viability part doesn’t mean much, if people wanna use sub par card, let em have at it.
You’re not locked out of viable cards, you’re adhering to the restrictions of the format you choose to play, which have been around for 10+ years. You get 2,000+ new cards every year to tinker with, you’re not hurting for options.
And “I don’t like change” is a highly reductive way to minimize the opposing argument. As I’ve laid out here, I don’t really mind if they make the change, that’s up to them. But I don’t see any reason the change needs to happen outside of people just don’t really want to play with the color restrictions they’re signing up for when they build decks for commander. They want to skirt the rules to access cards that don’t actually fit what they want to be doing.
Again, if they make the change, cool, more cards for people to play with. But also, how many more cards do people really need?
I think “how many options do people need?” Is kind of a rude take.
I also enjoy restrictions, but I have no problem following my own restrictions, and I find the hybrid restriction is more artificial from the rules and card design standpoint. I love commander color identity, but I’m fine with giving people more choices in this instance.
We already have cards that get their identity cut (off color fetches, Marang River Prowler), we already have weird cards that avoid CI rules (mono B or mono white Extort), there’s plenty of cards that generate tokens out of color etc. Players can handle that complexity.
If you’re worried about folks giving up on flavor and spiking these cards, you’ve already lost the battle. EDH is supremely breakable, but most of us choose not to because we’re here for the casual nature.
And for every player confused about including hybrid in EDH, there’s a player like me that got confused about why OR means OR everywhere but EDH.
Could you elaborate on how that statement is rude? The point is that for any given color combination (even mono-colored), we’re spoiled for card choice these days, with thousands of options already and thousands more every year. I’m not sure how that’s coming off as rude, and also didn’t intend it that way.
“Spiking” is also not how I’d describe anything, because as many people have pointed out, the hybrid cards you’d now have access to in off-color decks aren’t actually all that powerful.
I am strongly opposed to the change for the reasons you mention. Also, I think we already have a lot more legendary creatures printed because of Commander, and more colors stuffed into more legendary creatures to make them more attractive as possible commanders. If hybrid mana pips are no longer counted towards color identity, it sort of eliminates the whole concept of color identity in the long run and will lead to more and more cards being printed with hybrid pips so they are unrestricted or less restricted for commander deck usage. Considering the format is originally a fan-made format I think removing all the restrictions is a silly and bad idea. But then, I’m a radical who also thinks that the “you can have any number of cards in your deck with this name” cards shouldn’t be allowed in commander regardless of what is printed on them; same with planeswalkers or vehicles or spacecraft that say they can be your commander. I think it’s more or less the same as playing Cheatyface in a game of standard (not from your deck but from your pocket) and arguing that the text on the card allows you to put it into play so it’s legal. I think there is even much to be said for the argument that any auto-include card goes against the spirit of the format (Sol Ring, ahem) and removing deckbuilding restrictions will tend toward greater homogeneity.
Sure, I think this is all valid. Wouldn’t go as far as some of the ‘purist’ thoughts but I also think removing this restriction is just a lazy way to try and get cards that aren’t compatible with your deck into the deck.
I am totally down for this change. It always confuses me as a new Player why an OR changes in to an AND when you go for Commander deck building. As simple as that it would be more intuitive for new player. The only ones that will have a bad time are actually mtg player with no knowledge about the rules change.
Magic is a logic driven rules set so why not bring this AND -> OR change to an end?
Hey, if they make the change so be it, it’ll be more cards to play with. Don’t really need it or personally want it to happen, but the more the merrier I suppose.
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