Wizards' October 12, 2026 banned and restricted announcement left every other format untouched, from Standard to Vintage. Only one format moved: Competitive Brawl on MTG Arena, where thirteen commanders were affected.
The headline is a new kind of ban. For the first time, a card can be banned only as a commander: it can't lead your deck, but it's still legal among the 99.
The full list
Newly banned as a commander:
- Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
- Spider-Man 2099
- Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
Moved from a full ban to commander-only. These can't be your commander, but they're now legal in the 99:
- Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
- Nadu, Winged Wisdom
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Old Stickfingers
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- Rusko, Clockmaker
- Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student
- Wrenn and Six
- Tajic, Legion's Valor
Rebalanced: Nashi, Illusion Gadgeteer loses flash.
That makes twelve commanders that can no longer lead a Competitive Brawl deck: three new ones, plus nine that were already banned and now return to the 99.
Why these three
Wizards' explanation is short: players are innovating across lots of commanders, which is healthy, but a few have win rates high enough to be a problem. Yuriko, Spider-Man 2099 and Light-Paws are the three that crossed that line.
They break games in three different ways:
- Yuriko has commander ninjutsu, so for {U}{B} she swaps in for any unblocked attacker straight from the command zone. Every time a Ninja connects, you put the top card of your library into your hand and each opponent loses life equal to its mana value. That's card advantage and a drain on every hit, from a commander that's always available.
- Light-Paws is two mana and turns every Aura you cast into two: when an Aura you cast enters, you search your library for another Aura of equal or lower mana value and put it onto her. A Voltron threat assembles itself at double speed.
- Spider-Man 2099 can't be cast before your fourth turn, but then he's a two-mana 2/3 with double strike and vigilance. At each of your end steps, if you played a land or cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, he deals damage equal to his power to any target. In a format full of flashback, impulse draw and cards played from exile, that turns him into both a clock and repeatable removal.
What "banned as a commander" changes
Until now, a card that was too strong in the command zone had to be banned outright, even if it was perfectly fair as one card among a hundred. Wizards now has the client support to separate the two, and is applying it to every card banned for being too strong as a commander.
That's why nine previously banned cards come back. Ragavan, Oko and Wrenn and Six are still powerful, but a card you see once in a while from the 99 is very different from a card you can cast every game from the command zone.
Nashi loses flash
Nashi, Illusion Gadgeteer is a digital-only card, which lets Wizards edit it directly instead of banning it. It loses flash. Wizards says it doesn't expect to make changes like this often, but this card had been a problem for some time and the fix was small.
Does this affect paper Commander?
No. Competitive Brawl is an MTG Arena format with its own banned list. Paper Commander's banned list is set separately, and none of this changes it. Yuriko, Light-Paws, Spider-Man 2099, Ragavan, Oko and Wrenn and Six are all still legal commanders at your kitchen table.
Some of these cards are already restricted in paper in other ways:
- Nadu, Winged Wisdom is banned in paper Commander.
- Rusko, Clockmaker, Tajic, Legion's Valor and Nashi, Illusion Gadgeteer are Arena-only cards that can't be played in paper at all.
What it does tell you is which commanders Wizards' data shows winning too often in fast, competitive games. If your paper Yuriko or Light-Paws deck feels oppressive at the table, you're not imagining it. That's exactly the kind of deck where bracket honesty matters.
Check where your deck stands
If you play any of these commanders in paper, run the list through EDHcheck. You'll get its bracket under Wizards' rules, a power score, and the Turn Clock: how many turns it takes to win when nobody interacts. A Yuriko list that clears the table on turn six belongs in a very different pod from one that takes ten.
The next banned and restricted announcement is on November 30, 2026.
Source: Wizards of the Coast, Banned and Restricted Announcement, October 12, 2026.