Last updated on February 9, 2026
Prophet of Kruphix | Illustration by Winona Nelson
Speculation about today’s changes to the Commander ban list have caused upheaval in the card market as players speculate on what could be unbanned, with some cards nearly quintupling in price.
Primeval Titan – 188%
Source: MTGstocks.com
Primeval Titan has enjoyed a long stay on the Commander ban list due its enters ability. Modern players are likely familiar with Prime Time ending the game in a flurry of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers.
In Commander, the options get juicier with combos like Dark Depths + Thespian’s Stage or Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Even ignoring combos, Magic has so many busted lands like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Gaea’s Cradle that this giant would become premium green top-end.
Golos, Tireless Pilgrim – 302%
Source: MTGstocks.com
Golos, Tireless Pilgrim was a powerhouse 5-color commander. It asks nothing of you yet supports any 5-color strategy while serving as an infinite mana outlet.
The closest parallel is Kenrith, the Returned King, which also does pretty much anything. The difference lies in the enters ability. Golos putting a land into play firstly brings up the same issue of busted lands as Prime Time, but also means that Golos pays for half the commander tax. It takes just one land drop to recast it, which makes it impossible to remove.
Dockside Extortionist – 166%
Source: MTGstocks.com
Commander’s most infamous goblin, Dockside Extortionist was a frontrunner for one of the best cEDH cards and a red powerhouse. It was the game’s best ritual as it not only created huge surges of mana, but ‘stored’ the mana as Treasure. Additionally, it went infinite with practically everything, a la Devoted Druid.
Its banning was highly controversial. Banned alongside Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus, player backlash dissolved the Commander Advisory Committee, and authority of Commander went to WotC.
Sylvan Primordial – 353%
Source: MTGstocks.com
Sylvan Primordial has a devastating enters ability that sets up explosive games for the player casting it. At its scariest, this card blows up lands controlled by each opponent while jumping its caster ahead three mana for a huge resource swing.
Even tamer situations, like destroying a few random mana rocks or Oblivion Ring-esque cards makes it scary due to the huge mana advantage it provides. Green has always been excellent in casual EDH due to its ramp, and this would only amplify that.
Mana Crypt – 88%
Source: MTGstocks.com
Mana Crypt is one of the most broken cards ever printed, and works especially well in Commander. In 1v1 formats when players have 20 life and aggro decks thrive, the risk of losing 3 life a turn adds up. In Commander, where players have life to spare and generally focus on building up a mana advantage and overwhelming the table with resources and value? The mostly insignificant life loss gets far outweighed by the benefits of plays like turn 1 Rhystic Study. This puts Mana Crypt in a similar space to cards like Griselbrand banned for exploiting Commander’s high starting life.
Biorhythm – 137%
Source: MTGstocks.com
Biorhythm might be the safest unban of the cards spiking. Though expensive, it can cut a players life total from 40 to single digits with ease, and potentially even wins the game if combined with a board wipe. But Commander has grown much, much faster over the years. It has a similar power level to Sway of the Stars, which the CFP saw fit to unban last year. It’s perfect Game Changer material.
Jeweled Lotus – 56%
Source: MTGstocks.com
Jeweled Lotus was another cEDH darling that caught the axe. As far as speculative unbans go, this one has some merit—last year, the CFP discussed the trifecta of Dockside Extortionist, Jeweled Lotus, and Mana Crypt, and said the Lotus was the one they would be most likely to unban if any of the three came off the ban list.
Contextually, it’s important to note the CFP gave the statement to address player curiosity, not because they were eager to unban one or more of the cards.
Prophet of Kruphix – 428%
Source: MTGstocks.com
Seedborn Muse is one of the strongest ways to untap lands in Commander as it effectively quadruples your mana (not to mention ability to activate permanents like Baylen, the Haymaker and The One Ring multiple times a turn). Prophet of Kruphix does it better since your creatures get flash, making it easy to play around effects like board wipes and countermagic. Of all the cards spiking because players want to see them unbanned, this seems like the most dangerous card that should stay banned.
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A.L. Walser
A. L. Walser – also known as nissaflamecaller online – has been playing Magic since 2009 and the release of the original Zendikar set. An avid drafter with a bit of a Vorthos streak, his favorite aspect of playing Magic comes from the act of building a deck from nothing.