2020 Commander Summit Details

DETAILS:

  • You will be recording (either video or audio) your response to questions listed later in the email. 
  • You do not have to respond to all the questions, just the ones you feel most compelled to address.
  • DEADLINE: We need your video/audio files by Friday, June 12th

RECORDING INSTRUCTIONS – VERY IMPORTANT

  • Response Length: 2 MINUTES MAXIMUM – this is the time limit, per question. It’s perfectly fine (and often preferable) to be shorter than 2 minutes, try not to go longer.

Each time you respond to a question please do the following:

  1. Introduce Yourself: Begin each response by introducing yourself & who you are/who you are with, as if you were addressing a large gathering of esteemed Commander players
    • “Greetings Commander Luminaries – I am Sheldon Menery from the Commander Rules Committee” etc
  2. Restate the Question: After your intro, please restate the question you are responding to
  3. State Your Stance: Start by clearly stating your position/opinion on the topic & then get into why
  4. Rinse & Repeat: Do all of these steps for EACH question you choose to respond to

(Yes, re-introduce yourself for EACH question/topic. This will seem repetitive but trust us, it will make sense when you see the final product)

Note: No editing is required on your part. We will handle all of that. Just hit record, have fun.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSES

Please use the subject heading “Commander Summit Response 2020” so we can easily locate it.

  • Email:  Send footage/audio recording to: CommandZoneCast@gmail.com
  • WeTransfer: This is a free 3rd party service that allows files of up to 2GB.
  • Post to YouTube as Unlisted: Upload and email us the link.

Please also include your full name, the name of your content/channel/show, your public social info (twitter, IG, etc) and links to where to find your content.

Additional notes:

  • We prefer a video response but audio-only is perfectly acceptable for those that don’t have the means to record video.
    • Even just recording it on your phone & sending us the file should be fine.
    • If you do record audio-only: Please also send us a photo or two of yourself that we can show on screen while people are hearing your lovely voice.
  • Production quality does not have to be perfect but the better you can make it look and sound, the more usable it will be.
  • If you are a group and want to record as a group, that’s perfectly fine. Just make sure your collective response/discussion is within the 2 minutes.

TOPICS/QUESTIONS:

**Reminder, you don’t have to respond to every topic/question.**

(note: some questions overlap – if you find yourself touching on a point you previously stated, please avoid referencing what you said before with things like “As I said before,” because there is no guarantee that we will use the previous clip. Just continue talking as if it’s the first time you’ve touched on the subject)

TOPIC #1 – BANS / UNBANS:

Note:  For each card you wish to address, please speak about it separately rather than talking about all of the banned cards in one clip/thought.

-PARADOX ENGINE

-IONA, SHIELD OF EMERIA

-FLASH

(follow-up question: do you think banning cards because of cEDH is ok? Does it set a precedent? Does that matter? Should Protean Hulk have maybe been banned instead of Flash? etc.)

-LUTRI, THE SPELLCHASER

(follow-up: Is it ok for the RC to ban a card before release? Does this set a bad precedent? etc.)

-PAINTER’S SERVANT

Overall follow-up question: We’ve seen 4 bannings in less than a year. This is a marked increase from the amount of bans they’ve done in the past. How do you feel about that?

TOPIC #2 – RC PERFORMANCE:

How would you judge the performance of the Rules Committee in the past year? In your opinion, are they leading the format in the right direction?

TOPIC #3 – CAG PERFORMANCE:

The Commander Advisory Group has been around for just over a year. How would you judge their performance so far? What should an ideal CAG do?

TOPIC #4 – WIZARDS PERFORMANCE:

How would you judge WotC’s performance in relation to how they handle the Commander format?

Examples: More Commander precons and EDH-focused products than ever before, upcoming Commander Legends, quality of card design, etc.

TOPIC #5 – CARD DESIGN:

1) What is your opinion on the 2019 and/or the 2020 Commander products? Price, new card design, reprints – what did you like/dislike?

2) Which legendary creature printed in the past year do you think was best designed?

3) Which one was most problematic?

4) What do you think is most needed in the format from a card design perspective?

TOPIC #6 – COLOR BALANCE:

There’s been a lot of chatter in the community recently about the relative power levels of the colors in the format, with many complaining about how White has been consistently falling behind, while Green seems to get the most powerful cards in each set. 

Do you agree or disagree with this premise? If you don’t agree with the specific colors named, which colors (or groupings) do you think are unbalanced? Do you believe Wizards needs to do something about it? If so, what should they do? If you think everything is fine, make your case.

TOPIC #7 – COMPANIONS:

This mechanic has caused problems in several formats but how do you feel about it specifically in Commander? Do you like/dislike companions? Do you think they were a good design idea?

TOPIC #8 – THE USUAL SUSPECTS:

Certain topics are always being debated. Feel free to weigh in on the following (separately):

1) Hybrid Mana

2) Planeswalkers as Commanders

3) Sideboard and Wish cards

TOPIC #9 – YOU’RE IN CHARGE:

You have just been appointed as the sole person in charge of the Commander format.

1) What (if any) rule would you add/subtract/change?

2) What would you ban or unban?

TOPIC #10 – STATE OF THE FORMAT:

By all indications, Commander has become the most popular format in all of Magic. Certainly it is more popular than it’s ever been. But popularity isn’t everything. How do you feel about the current state of the format? As you look into the future, what are the biggest challenges facing its continued growth?

Ok that’s it. We look forward to showcasing your responses and thank you for participating!

-Jimmy and Josh

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