Blood MoonBlood Moon | Illustrated by Franz Vohwinkel

According to Robert Taylor (@fireshoes.bsky.social) in a post on social media, Duel Commander banned four cards from the format. This happened on Tuesday, July 29th. The bans effectively shake up the format in a way that affects quite a few strong archetypes. But what cards got banned, you may ask? Read on!

The New Cards on the Duel Commander Ban List

According to the social media announcement, the cards newly banned from the format are as follows:

• Blood MoonBlood Moon
• Dark RitualDark Ritual
• Force of WillForce of Will
• Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach

All of these cards are obscenely powerful in any format where they are present. Therefore, it is less of a surprise that they are banned, and more of a surprise that now was the time to do it.

Below, we will look at these cards and discern the specific reasoning behind each one's ban from Duel Commander.

Blood Moon

Blood Moon is one of those cards that can slow a game to a crawl if played. It doesn't even matter if it's necessarily played correctly; in Commander of any type, the card causes salt by staxing out tables. The deprivation of certain colors of mana is difficult to deal with for most players caught unawares. Therefore, in a format which is a 1v1 situation versus a multiplayer free-for-all, Blood Moon would typically be more powerful and oppressive.

Dark Ritual

Currently, within Duel Commander, Deadpool, Trading CardDeadpool, Trading Card decks are somewhat dominant in tournament play. Besides running the aforementioned Blood Moon, they can also catalyze their oppressive plays through fast mana like Dark Ritual. As such, the format rules committee has banned Dark Rit, potentially to curb the Merc with the Mouth.

Force of Will

In a similar vein as Dark Ritual, Force of Will is banned for tempo reasons. A well-timed FoW can fairly easily destabilize an opponent's plans and give an in to the caster. Decks that might thrive with Force of Will in the meta are decks that need interaction to win the game. Think Aragorn, the UniterAragorn, the Uniter, for instance. Free interaction is major for Aragorn players as it helps ensure that Aragorn resolves, thus fueling their engine.

Underworld Breach

Last but certainly not least, Underworld Breach is a huge component in many Storm-type builds in Duel Commander, at least until this ban. Plenty of commanders, including Kefka, Court MageKefka, Court Mage for example, lead Storm decks that can be utterly brutal. A key lynchpin in that strategy, especially within multiplayer Commander, is Underworld Breach. Duel Commander players have no doubt seen the impact of this card in multiplayer cEDH pods. The lines are complex and often time-consuming. As such, it's surprising that it didn't get the hammer before now.

With that, let's ask you, dear readers: Do you play with the Duel Commander ban list at all? What decks do you have that do well in the format? If you used these four cards previously, what will you replace them with now? Sound off in the comments below!