Brackets Beta Leads to Price Jumps for Banned Commander Cards

Nick Wolf • February 13, 2025

Header Image: Dockside Extortionist, by Forrest Imel

It's been less than 100 hours since The Commander Format Panel revealed the "beta" for the new Commander matchmaking system referred to as Commander Brackets.

The Brackets system has driven significant discussion among Commander players since the reveal, but one comment in particular made by the CFP's Gavin Verhey stuck out to many:

"The goal here, provided the system works, will be to come back with one big article in late April that both rolls out the full system and any unbans all together. And, as we said back in October, no bans will be happening at that time—just potentially some unbans. So, if you're eager to hear about unbans, late April is the date to circle on your calendar."

This statement from Verhey has driven plenty of speculation regarding exactly what cards might see rescue from the Commander Ban List. For reference, cards currently banned in Commander are:

In perusing this list, if Dockside Extortionist leapt out at you as a particularly juicy un-ban, then it's likely you're contributing to the surge in price for the card we're currently seeing.

Since Verhey's comment about potential un-bans coming in April, speculators have been working to amass a stockpile of possible candidates for that un-ban, and Dockside Extortionist is the most popular. In the past 48 hours, we've seen the price of the original printing of Dockside Extortionist, from Commander 2019, rise more than 500%, from approximately $12 USD to $80.

Every version of the card is seeing massive price spikes. Is Dockside Extortionist the likliest choice for an unbanning? It's certainly possible, but considering the recent history of the card's placement on the Commander Ban List in the first place, it would be a surprising move. Still, all versions are approaching, and nearly eclipsing, their all-time highs set in the summer of last year.

But Dockside Extortionist was only one of four cards banned last September; do we see similar price spikes for the others?

In short, yes. At least for the first two. Nadu was never an expensive card, and wasn't legal long enough to see its price climb — between the release of Modern Horizons 3 and the card's banning, only three months passed.

As for Jeweled Lotus, we're seeing price movement very similar to Dockside Extortionist, with prices for all versions roughly tripling over the past few days. Mana Crypt's prices are rising too, though not quite at the same rate, likely due to the fact that the card is still very useful in other Eternal formats.

It's Just Business

What about cards that have occupied space on the Commander Ban List for longer? Are prices trending upward for those, as well?

It's moving at a much slower pace, but yes, a select few currently banned cards are seeing their prices rise, namely Hullbreacher, Primeval Titan, and Biorhythm. All three are seeing price increases across all versions, though not nearly at the rate of Dockside Extortionist. We're talking increases in the 20-40% range over the past 24 hours; minor compared to the cards we discussed previously, but still significant in a vacuum.

Definitely keep an eye on these and other currently banned cards.

Will we see price increases follow suit up and down the Commander Ban List? Obviously the price of the Power Nine and other Reserved List options won't be as directly affected by the speculation of un-bans. But should an un-ban occur to a card like, say, Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary, what's the ceiling?

Nick Wolf

Nick Wolf

Nick Wolf is a freelance writer, editor, and photographer based in Michigan. He has over a decade of newsmedia experience and has been a fan of Magic: The Gathering since Tempest.