Seluma, Light of Aysen
Angels of any color identity, plus any basic lands.
Other card types still follow your color identity.
Mystery Booster Commander Game Changes
Mystery Booster Commander Edition
Which cards can cross color boundaries, and which rules change? Understand the new commanders, draft rules and interactions that matter to your deck.
Read the changesUpdated October 21, 2026
New main cards: Commander-legal November 13
Mystery Booster Commander game changes
Start with the changes that affect your game.
Announcement vs. effective date
The October 19 bulletin describes planned changes. The official rules link checked here still leads to the September 25 version. We distinguish corrections, announced changes and draft-only rules below.
Deckbuilding exceptions
Eight commanders, each with a specific permission.
Tolabow correction
One extra color. Check the entire identity.
Meld classification
The bulletin separates meld from double-faced cards.
Draft rules
Pick two, build at least 60, allow duplicates.
Sources: Update bulletin · Release notes · Tolabow correction
Eight commanders. Specific exceptions.
The permission applies to your designated commander before the game. Putting it in the 99 does not grant it.
Choose a name to inspect the full card.
Tolabow, Loch Rascal
Instants and sorceries within blue plus one chosen extra color; any basic lands.
One extra color for the deck, not per card.
The Unluckiest Planeswalker
Auras of any color identity, plus any basic lands.
A back face being an Aura is not enough.
Maular, the Next Evolution
Creature cards with mana value 7 or greater of any color identity; any basic lands.
Mana value, not the discounted cost.
Grizzlegom, Hurloon Hero
Land cards of any color identity.
The exception is for lands, not all spells.
Whtz, the Bibliophile
No maximum deck size.
Singleton and color limits still apply.
The Everforger
Artifact creature and Equipment cards of any color identity; any basic lands.
Not every artifact qualifies.
Valko Indorian
Phyrexian cards of any color identity; any basic lands.
Phyrexian is a card type, not a language or mana symbol.
Sources: Release notes · Tolabow correction
Use the corrected Oracle text.
Choose red. What fits?
Tolabow lets you choose one extra color for instants and sorceries. Check the full color identity, including costs in rules text.
With red chosen, Lightning Bolt and Mystic Retrieval fit. Ancient Grudge does not: its green flashback cost puts green in its identity.
Wizards' explanation and corrected text
Fits
Lightning Bolt
Mystic Retrieval
Does not fit
Ancient Grudge
Green flashback makes its identity red-green.Try a color-identity example
Fits the color restriction
Lightning Bolt is an instant with a red color identity. Red is your chosen extra color.
This illustrates color identity only, not complete deck legality. Tolabow stays blue; the exception does not add a color to its own identity.
Meld gets its own category
The bulletin plans to separate meld from double-faced cards. The meld action itself is unchanged.
Before: within double-faced cards
Since 2023, meld cards have been grouped with double-faced cards.
Announced: a separate category
A condition that specifically checks for double-faced cards will no longer include meld.
A meld land can still qualify
Overgrown Pest also allows a land. A meld land can still pass that separate part of the condition.
Sources: Update bulletin
Draft has its own rules
Pick two at a time and build at least 60 cards. These special permissions do not carry into ordinary Commander.
| At a glance | Ordinary Commander | MBC Commander Draft |
|---|---|---|
| Deck size | Exactly 100 cards | At least 60 cards |
| Duplicates | Singleton, with basic-land and card-specific exceptions | Drafted duplicates allowed |
| Two commanders | Requires an applicable ability | Eligible commanders with at most one color and no partner may be treated as having partner |
| Getting your cards | Build your deck before play | Three boosters; choose two cards with each pick |
Deck sizes include commanders. The draft-specific partner permission does not carry over to ordinary Commander.
Missing suitable commanders after drafting? Read the two-color fallback here. For the full pick-and-pass procedure, open the draft walkthrough.
How does it compare with the original and Mystery Booster 2?
Original Mystery Booster A Chaos Draft experience, with different Convention, Retail and later configurations.
Mystery Booster 2 24 packs of 15 cards, featuring white borders, Future Sight frames and playtest cards.
Commander Edition 24 packs of 20 cards, designed for Commander Draft. The main cards are only one part of the complete mixed pool.
Sources: Product details · Deck guide · Deck guide
Choose a game plan
Each route has a plan and a tradeoff. An author's brew is not a verified win rate or tournament ranking.
Valko Indorian
Start with a black mana base and Phyrexian threats.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
The Seedcore and tribal support can help cast the off-color creatures.
Watch for: Command Tower and Arcane Signet still use Valko's black identity.
Sources: Deck guide
Maular, the Next Evolution
Use green ramp and fixing to cast large creatures.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
Cultivate, Chromatic Lantern and Prismatic Omen are starting points.
Watch for: Maular is expensive too. Leave room for early plays and protection.
Sources: Deck guide
Whtz, the Bibliophile
Build redundancy into a large blink/control library.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
Yorion and Battle of Wits are possible directions.
Watch for: More cards reduce consistency; starting deck size is not current library size.
Sources: Deck guide · Community discussion
The Everforger
Choose between artifact creatures, Equipment and modular.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
Build around one coherent resource engine first.
Watch for: Off-color noncreature artifacts are not automatically legal.
Sources: Community discussion
Uugguu, the Omniplasm
Compare an Ooze sacrifice plan with a clone plan.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
Reanimation and nontoken copies provide different engines.
Watch for: Tokens do not satisfy nontoken. The legend rule is not a sacrifice.
Sources: Deck guide · Deck guide · Community discussion
Ashaya's Enduring Bond
Secure a legendary permanent, then shape the discover pool.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
A player build centers its low-cost hit on Glimpse of Tomorrow.
Watch for: Cheap enablers change your hit distribution; copy timing matters.
Sources: Community discussion · Community discussion · Community discussion
The Madcap Jester
The author proposes Grixis midrange with exile-based resources.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
Extract and Tasha's Hideous Laughter feed the plan; Oracle/Breach can finish.
Watch for: A cEDH deckbuilding article is not evidence of tournament results.
Sources: Deck guide
Ekthi, Contaminator Priest
Turn Equipment into living-weapon Germ threats.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
Colossus Hammer and Nettlecyst illustrate the payoff.
Watch for: Plan for the commander being removed and for rebuilding.
Sources: Deck guide
Grizzlegom, Hurloon Hero
Convert a high land count and land types into a way to win.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
Haste, extra combat and type-changing effects are discussion points.
Watch for: A 99-land experiment still needs a realistic closing plan.
Sources: Community discussion · Community discussion
Matoc, Lavamancer
Explore a player's non-infinite spells/storm build.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
The linked Moxfield list is a research starting point.
Watch for: Its self-described Bracket 3 rating and full legality are not independently verified.
Sources: Community discussion
Angels or Auras
Seluma and Unluckiest: Choose Angels or Auras/Curses, then identify what an extra color adds.
Pieces, pitfalls and sources
Start with a few cards that solve a specific gap.
Watch for: This is a brewing direction, not a pair of proven competitive lists.
Sources: Deck guide
Is that card in the set?
Search main cards, reprints, special treatments and playtest cards. Being in the product does not establish Commander legality.
2,347
official name records
- Main cards
- 60
- Stamped reprints
- 2,022
- Future Sight
- 134
- Playtest
- 121
- Acorn
- 10
Sources: Product details · Card gallery
Browse all 60 main cards
- ArzakonNew card
- Ashaya's Enduring BondNew card
- Autumn Willow, HarmonyNew card
- Balefang the UnslayableNew card
- Blor the ImperviousNew card
- Boss Uramon, Shadow's ReachNew card
- Chief Magistrate of MercadiaNew card
- Chira, All InNew card
- Davvol, Evincar of RathNew card
- Dragon's SmileNew card
- Dyfed, the Guiding HandNew card
- Ekthi, Contaminator PriestNew card
- Elda, Conjurer of SpectacleNew card
- Feroz, Ulgrotha's WardenNew card
- Flitwing, Lyev DetectiveNew card
- Glava, Five-Advents MageNew card
- Grakk the PacifistNew card
- Grandmother GobyNew card
- GreensleevesNew card
- Grizzlegom, Hurloon HeroNew card
- Gustha EbbasdotterNew card
- Homer, the HermitNew card
- Istvan, Butcher of ElnNew card
- Itazura, Lingering WickNew card
- Jabs, Mistress of MockeryNew card
- Jandor, Fortuned TravelerNew card
- Joven and ChandlerNew card
- Kuroki, Thief of TalentsNew card
- Lyna, Veil of VengeanceNew card
- Massimo, the MagicianNew card
- Matoc, LavamancerNew card
- Maular, the Next EvolutionNew card
- Meatsqueak, Hoard LordNew card
- Miss HighwaterNew card
- Nephilim EpochalNew card
- Nivea, Beloved BattlemageNew card
- Olag and Miau, New FriendsNew card
- Olinda the ObliviousNew card
- Rikala, Homarid KingNew card
- Sahir, Visitor in DarknessNew card
- Sash and Waistcoat, UnmenNew card
- Selenia, the Cursed HeartNew card
- Seluma, Light of AysenNew card
- Sifa GrentNew card
- The EverforgerNew card
- The Madcap JesterNew card
- The Muckslinger GangNew card
- The Unluckiest PlaneswalkerNew card
- The Weaver KingNew card
- Thomil, the DestroyerNew card
- Tolabow, Loch RascalNew card
- Tresserhorn's Lord, ReturnedNew card
- Tsagan, Raider WarlordFirst tabletop
- Uugguu, the OmniplasmNew card
- Venser, Visionary TravelerNew card
- Whtz, the BibliophileNew card
- Worzel, the ProtectorNew card
- Yume, Chronicler of ValorNew card
- Zagorka, Mother of SanctumNew card
- Valko IndorianNew card
Names and categories checked October 20, 2026. This is a product index, not a full legality checker.
Answers for your next game
39 questions, answered here. Sources sit beside the explanation when you want to verify it.
Has the October bulletin already replaced the rulebook?
The bulletin describes planned changes. The official rules link checked for this guide still points to the September 25 file. Keep the announcement date separate from the effective rules version.
Sources: Update bulletin · Comprehensive Rules · Deck guide
When are the new cards legal?
The published dates are November 13, 2026 for Commander and January 1, 2027 for Legacy, Vintage and other Eternal formats. Reprints retain their existing legality; playtest and acorn cards do not become ordinary Constructed cards.
Sources: Product details · Deck guide
Does a preview or sale mean I can already use a card?
No. Event previews, sales and format legality are separate dates. Database preview labels are not a substitute for the official schedule. Agree with your playgroup if using the cards early.
Sources: Deck guide · Product details · Community discussion
Does every Commander deck get to ignore color identity?
No. MBC is a product. A designated commander's text grants a particular exception; the rest of Commander still applies. Draft-only partner and color fallback rules are separate.
Sources: Update bulletin · Community discussion
Does Rulebreaker work from the 99 or after I copy it?
No deckbuilding permission is retroactively created. The announced framework applies before the game, with that card designated as your commander.
Sources: Update bulletin
Can I add any off-color lands or mana rocks?
No. Check each card separately. Most of these exceptions allow any basic lands. Already legal nonbasics remain legal, but off-color nonbasics and ordinary Signets are not automatically permitted.
Sources: Deck guide · Community discussion
Does Valko make Command Tower produce five colors?
With Valko as your sole commander, its color identity remains black. Command Tower and Arcane Signet therefore produce black. Your other mana sources must be both legal and capable of making the colors you need.
Sources: Deck guide
Does Tolabow choose an extra color for every card?
Choose one nonblue color for the entire deck. The exception cannot admit both the red identity of Expressive Iteration and the green identity of Bioshift in the same deck.
Sources: Tolabow correction · Community discussion
With red chosen, which of these spells fit?
Lightning Bolt and Mystic Retrieval fit. Ancient Grudge does not: its green flashback symbol makes its identity red and green, outside the blue-plus-red allowance.
Sources: Tolabow correction
Do Tolabow's blue and red tokens make it blue-red?
No. Words describing a token's colors do not add red to Tolabow's color identity. The deckbuilding exception does not change the commander's own identity.
Sources: Tolabow correction · Community discussion
Can an Adventure or back face qualify for Tolabow?
Not merely because that part is an instant or sorcery. Check the card's type for deckbuilding, then its full color identity. Creature-front examples such as Elusive Otter and Jadzi do not pass the instant-or-sorcery requirement.
Sources: Community discussion · Comprehensive Rules
Can Accursed Witch count as an Aura for Unluckiest?
No. For deckbuilding, its front face is a creature. A back face's type and the card's full color identity are different checks.
Sources: Community discussion · Comprehensive Rules
Does Maular allow every card costing seven or more?
No: the exception is for creature cards with mana value at least seven. A discount does not change mana value, and X is normally zero during deckbuilding.
Sources: Deck guide · Release notes
Does Valko mean Phyrexian mana, language or type?
The Phyrexian card type matters. Phyrexian mana symbols or a Phyrexian-language printing are not enough. Changeling cards have the relevant creature type and are checked accordingly.
Sources: Community discussion · Release notes
Does Whtz also remove singleton and color limits?
No. It removes the maximum deck size, leaving unmentioned restrictions intact. A large deck still needs practical randomization and manageable play time.
Sources: Deck guide · Community discussion
Do 200 starting cards guarantee Battle of Wits?
No. Battle of Wits checks cards in your library at the relevant time. Opening hands and later draws reduce that count. A large starting deck is not a guarantee.
Sources: Deck guide
Do we draft one card or two at a time?
Use the formal instructions: two cards per pick, with three boosters passed left, right, then left. The early Gen Con account describing one-card picks is historical.
Sources: Release notes · Community discussion
Does MBC Draft require a singleton 100-card deck?
No. Build at least 60 cards including commanders, add basic lands, and use duplicate cards if you drafted them. These permissions belong to this Limited environment.
Sources: Release notes
Does every legendary card get partner everywhere?
No. In MBC Draft, an eligible commander with at most one color in its identity and without partner can be treated as having partner. Existing partner rules still apply; this is not a general EDH change.
Sources: Release notes
What if I did not draft a matching commander?
For a two-color deck with only a matching monocolored commander, add the other color to the deck's identity. With no matching monocolored commander for either color, choose those two colors and use no commander card. Announce the colors before play. The fallback emblem does not change the actual commander's identity.
Sources: Release notes
Can four people draft? Is there a proven pick order?
The official recommendation is eight drafters splitting into two four-player games. Smaller home groups can agree on a setup, but this guide has not verified enough MBC results to publish reliable pick-order or win-rate rankings.
Sources: Product details · Community discussion · Community discussion
Why does set:mbc miss cards? Are there only 60?
The 60 main cards are one category. The product also includes stamped reprints, Future Sight treatments, playtest cards and acorn cards. Database set filters may use a different indexing scope.
Sources: Product details · Community discussion
Why is Tsagan different from the Alchemy acorn cards?
Tsagan's printing here has no acorn stamp and is its first tabletop version. A shared digital origin does not make all these cards subject to the same Constructed restrictions.
Sources: Product details · Community discussion
Does Ashaya avoid commander tax or the legendary-sorcery requirement?
No. Recasting from the command zone still incurs commander tax. Casting the legendary sorcery still requires you to control a legendary creature or planeswalker.
Sources: Release notes · Community discussion
Does Ashaya on the stack let me cast Deflecting Swat for free?
No. Controlling your commander means controlling a commander permanent on the battlefield. Your commander spell on the stack does not satisfy that condition; the same issue applies to Obscuring Haze.
Sources: Community discussion · Comprehensive Rules
Why does a Fork effect discovered by Ashaya fail to copy it?
If that spell targets the resolving Ashaya, Ashaya has finished resolving and left the stack before the copy spell resolves. This timing problem is different from casting a copy spell in response to Ashaya.
Sources: Community discussion
What does a normally created Ashaya copy discover?
Usually zero: no mana was spent to cast that copy. Its mana value has not become zero. This is a different issue from a copy spell losing its target.
Sources: Community discussion · Release notes
Does one changeling count five times for Homer?
No. Each qualifying permanent counts once. With only Homer and Changeling Outcast, one landfall mills four. Remember that qualifying kindred permanents need not be creatures.
Sources: Community discussion · Release notes
Does Yavimaya make a Forest count twice for Grizzlegom?
No. It is still one land with the Forest subtype. Adding the same subtype again does not add another object; adding a different land subtype is a separate matter.
Sources: Community discussion
Does paying one life as a cost trigger Sahir?
Yes, for the cost of your own spell or ability. Jess Dunks explicitly confirmed the second ability can trigger. The initial negative reply in the community thread was corrected.
Sources: Jess Dunks · Community discussion
Does Killing Wave at X=1 trigger Sahir five times for five creatures?
The payment in that example is one combined loss of five life, not five separate losses of one. Without other modifications, keeping exactly one creature produces the one-life case. Treat this as a community explanation pending a fresh ruling check for a full combo guide.
Community explanation; verify before relying on the full combo
Sources: Community discussion
Does one damage and its life loss trigger Sahir twice?
No. When a source you control deals exactly one damage and the other conditions are met, the resulting life loss is not a second trigger.
Sources: Release notes
Does an Effigy copy of Uugguu trigger the original when it dies?
Machine God's Effigy's copy is a noncreature artifact, not an Ooze. Its death does not meet that condition. Keeping the Effigy while the original Uugguu dies is a different direction of the interaction.
Sources: Community discussion
Can Uugguu's token Oozes keep copying themselves on death?
Not by that condition alone: the ability requires another nontoken Ooze to die. Clone routes also need to track exactly what was copied and which object died.
Sources: Community discussion · Deck guide
Is The Everforger's copy another cast?
No. Creating the copy does not itself trigger cast abilities. The copying reward also has a once-per-turn limit.
Sources: Release notes · Community discussion
Can Overgrown Pest never find a meld card after the change?
Under the announced classification, meld no longer qualifies as double-faced. It can still qualify through another allowed category, such as being a land. Confirm the effective Comprehensive Rules version before applying the change.
Sources: Update bulletin
Are conjured cards tokens in tabletop MBC?
No. Treat them as cards, use clear representations, keep face-down cards indistinguishable in hidden zones, and remove them after the game. You need not own the actual card; it can be outside the Limited pool.
Sources: Release notes
Do the new cards enter Standard, Pioneer or Modern?
Not just by appearing here. A reprint's existing legality is evaluated separately, together with the relevant format's banned and restricted list.
Sources: Release notes · Product details
Do two partner commanders share tax or 21 damage?
Track each separately. Casting one commander does not increase the other's tax, and the 21 combat-damage threshold is tracked per individual commander.
Sources: Release notes · Comprehensive Rules
No matching question. Try a card name or a different term.
October 19, 2026 bulletin
Announced changes; check against the effective Comprehensive Rules.
The complete bulletin
Search a rule number or card name to read every topic in the announcement.
Covers the MBC release and announced rules update; checked October 21, 2026. Future announcements are not added automatically.
The entries explain the announcement; proposed rule numbers are not presented as already effective text. Tolabow refers back to the August 3 correction.
Rulebreaker: which restrictions change?
The announced rule 903.5e would allow the designated commander's permission to work during deck construction. Rule 207.2c lists Rulebreaker as an ability word; the card text supplies the exception.
Seluma permits off-color Angels without waiving singleton or the 100-card requirement. Whtz removes the maximum deck size, but leaves other restrictions intact.
Basis: rules bulletin · release notes.
Tolabow: how do I build with the corrected ability?
Choose one extra color for the whole deck, not separately for each card. Every color in an instant or sorcery's identity must be blue or that color. Include colored mana symbols in rules-text costs, such as flashback.
The exception excludes creatures; any basic land is permitted. Tolabow stays blue, and its Otter-creation ability is unchanged. Try six color-identity examples.
Basis: Tolabow correction · rules bulletin.
Meld: what stops interacting with these cards?
The announced change moves meld to section 713, separate from double-faced cards in section 712. Double-faced-card effects no longer include meld cards on that basis.
Check each category an effect permits: Overgrown Pest can still find a meld land as a land. Related transform and convert rules are reorganized; the meld action is unchanged.
Basis: rules bulletin.
Zero-defense battles: which ones go to the graveyard?
Rule 122.1g aligns with existing rule 704.5w: a battle that is not a Siege and has zero defense counters goes to its owner's graveyard.
Check the subtype first. This statement does not apply to every zero-defense battle.
Basis: rules bulletin.
Naming a card: can I choose its Adventure name?
Yes. Rule 201.4f explicitly permits choosing an adventurer card's Adventure name when an effect asks for a card name.
Choose the relevant name; naming the main card does not name its Adventure too. This clarification sits alongside guidance for Omens and prepared spells.
Basis: rules bulletin.
Planeswalkers: which subtypes were added?
Rule 205.3j adds seven planeswalker subtypes: Arzakon, Dyfed, Feroz, Greensleeves, Sifa, Thomil and Worzel.
These additions update subtype references; they grant no deckbuilding exception.
Basis: rules bulletin.
Casting during resolution: who chooses the order?
Under rule 608.2g, a player allowed to cast multiple spells during a spell or ability's resolution chooses their casting order.
If two spells qualify, you choose which to cast first. The effect's restrictions still apply; this grants no permission to cast unrelated spells.
Basis: rules bulletin.
Simultaneous zone changes: what does 614.13a cover?
Rule 614.13a broadens choices for replacement effects modifying simultaneous zone changes to objects entering or leaving any zone, incorporating former rule 614.13b.
Sutured Ghoul entering from a graveyard cannot exile itself, or another card entering the battlefield from that graveyard simultaneously, for its entry effect.
Basis: rules bulletin.
MBC Draft: how do we run it?
Draft three boosters, taking two cards per pick. Pass left, right, then left. Build at least 60 cards including commanders, using your pool plus basic lands; drafted duplicates are allowed.
Commanders with at most one color in their identity and no existing partner ability may be treated as having partner. Use their combined identity, but track commander tax and damage separately. These permissions apply only to MBC Draft. Compare constructed Commander.
Basis: release notes.
No suitable commander after drafting?
For a two-color MBC draft deck, a monocolored commander covering one intended color can be used with an added color for the deck. A minimum deck then has that commander plus 59 cards.
With no monocolored commander covering either color, choose two colors and play 60 cards without a commander. Announce the colors when commanders are revealed.
A command-zone emblem records added colors for effects such as Command Tower. It changes neither the commander's identity nor other characteristics. This fallback is draft-only.
Basis: release notes.
Can I use this card in my format?
New MBC cards become Commander-legal on November 13, 2026, then legal in Legacy, Vintage and other Eternal formats on January 1, 2027. This release does not add Standard, Pioneer or Modern legality.
Reprints keep their existing legality. Playtest and acorn-stamped cards are allowed in MBC Limited, but excluded from Constructed.
These staged dates come from the updated set overview, supplementing the older release notes.
Basis: legality update · release notes.
No matching update. Try a card name, rule number or a broader term, or clear the search to see everything.
Independent guide.
Primary sources.
Sources and revisions
- October rules bulletin
The announced game-rule changes and Oracle correction. October 19, 2026.
- Release notes
Rulebreaker, Commander Draft and card-specific rulings.
- Tolabow's corrected text
The full color-identity explanation, with examples.
- Set contents and legality dates
The revised dates for Commander and Eternal formats.
What changed in this edition
Added eight-commander explanations, brewing routes, 39 questions and the full pool index. Separated announced changes, Oracle corrections and historical event reports.
Community strategies are attributed author views, not verified tournament results.