Oubliette is now banned in Two-Player Pauper Commander, effective September 1, 2022. (This does not affect multiplayer PDH.)
Background
Have you ever watched a bully and had to grit your teeth, hoping they get a taste of their own medicine? Well, Oubliette, this is how it feels!
Over the past month the PDC RC have met to review the state of the format. Following the forming of the Pauper Duel Commander Rules Committee earlier this year, there has been a lot of discussion, and overall we are happy with where the format is heading.
Arguments For Banning
Oubliette is a relic of MTG’s first-ever expansion, coming in long before they worked it all out. Its wording has been problematic since day one *, its abilities sit outside the modern “Color Pie“, and some have said its unique ability flies in the face of the ‘Spirit of Commander’.
As an RC, our priority for the format is growth. So if a card threatens that growth, or if it’s creating feel-bads, it goes on the watch-list. Of course these are subjective reasons, but they’re not the only ones:
- Oubliette is the only card which can completely lock a commander out of the Command Zone. It was not designed with this in mind, and is uniquely powerful as a result.
- Unlike similar effects (Deep Freeze, Reprobation, etc) Oubliette cannot be removed through Combat, sacrifice, bounce, protection, or even a players own kill-spells.
- It has the power to single-handedly shut down Commander-centric strategies. We believe this is bad for the health and diversity of the format.
- The last Oracle update (2020) not only changed the way Oubliette interacts with commanders, but it was upshifted to uncommon. The card – as worded now – has never existed at common.