Card art from Edge of Eternities | Illustrated by Andrea Piparo | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast has announced two new formats for Commander play, starting with Edge of Eternities. They're both awfully familiar to players who've been around the block for a bit. That said, Wizards is making an effort to revitalize them for a modern player base. However, do these formats hit the mark? Read on and find out more!

2-Headed Giant Commander

The first of these two Commander formats is 2-Headed Giant. This format pits two teams of two players each against each other in head-to-head combat. Players have a shared life total (of 60, in the Commander context) and can block attacking creatures for each other. Other rules apply, including the other standardized rules for Commander.

Wizards of the Coast introduced this revitalization of 2HG in a Wizards Play Network article regarding Edge of Eternities events. You can read that piece for more information about this format!

Edge of Eternities Commander Box League

The second and final "new" Commander format is the Commander Box League. This format takes the unofficial Commander Boxling League and changes key points from it in a way that fundamentally challenges Commander's core rules and spirit.

According to WPN's article on this league:

After players open their Play Booster box, they construct a 60-card Commander deck from the contents. Buy-a-Box and Commander promos may not be used in deck building.

• Decks may include multiple copies of cards opened from the Play Booster.
• Any legal commander opened is allowed.
• Color identity rules in deck building are ignored; players may build decks with any colors they want, regardless of their commander's color identity. Note: commander color identity still applies when cards refer to color identity (for example, with Arcane Signet).

Players may adjust their decks between games using cards from their Play Booster box.

The fundamental differences between this and Commander as a whole are stark. As a result, the new format's rules have left many players scratching their heads about why. Magic veteran Brian David-Marshall had this to say on social media:

The difference between “Box League” and a “Boxing League” (the latter being the format I designed with [Commander format founder Sheldon Menery]) is that Boxing League is about building a Commander legal deck. Color identity, 100 card, singleton etc. only exception is Playtest cards in Mystery Boosters or stuff like that.

To this, Magic personality Brian Kibler responded, "It's odd to call something a Commander format when it doesn't follow most of the rules of Commander at all."

Commander on the Edge

So with that, we open the floor to you, dear readers. What is your opinion on the Commander revitalization of 2-Headed Giant or the recreation of the Commander Box League? Do you like these formats? Will you play either once Edge of Eternities comes out? Sound off below!