Commander banned announcement: Two notable unbans land on the 2026 Commander ban list

A new Commander ban announcement on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 (ET) delivered a rare kind of shake-up: no new bans, but two headline-grabbing unbans that immediately sparked debate across casual tables and high-power pods. The update legalized Biorhythm again and made Lutri, the Spellchaser playable in the 99 and as a commander—while keeping Lutri barred from being used as a companion.

The changes took effect immediately on Feb. 9, meaning players could legally sleeve the cards up the same day, while organizers and playgroups began re-evaluating house rules, power expectations, and “Rule 0” conversations.

What changed in the MTG Commander banlist update

The banlist update is short and clear: two cards move in a more permissive direction, and nothing else changes.

Commander banned announcement: Why these two cards, and why now

The decision points to a broader trend in how Commander’s stewards are approaching the format: the bar for new bans remains high, while the bar for selective unbans is gradually lowering—especially for older, expensive spells that are powerful but slow and easier to answer in today’s card pool.

Biorhythm has always been feared for how abruptly it can end games—setting each player’s life total to the number of creatures they control. In practice, the card often reads as “win immediately” when one player has a board and the others don’t. The counterweight is that it’s an eight-mana sorcery that needs setup, survives a turn cycle of table politics, and can be disrupted by removal, countermagic, or even a timely creature flash-in effect. Supporters argue that many Commander tables already tolerate quicker, more consistent finishes than an eight-mana sorcery requires.

Lutri has been a special case since it was effectively preempted from day one in Commander due to the companion mechanic: in a singleton format, the “different card names” restriction is essentially free for any deck with the right colors. The new solution—legal as a normal card but illegal as a companion—aims to keep the gameplay interesting without creating a universal, costless advantage for Izzet decks.

What “banned as a companion” means in practice

This update introduces a nuance many Commander players have asked for: a card can be legal in the deck, but illegal in the companion zone.

In plain terms:

• You can put Lutri in your deck and cast it normally.

• You can play Lutri as your commander if it’s otherwise legal for your chosen approach.

• You cannot begin the game with Lutri as a guaranteed extra card outside your deck.

That distinction matters because the companion zone changes the texture of games: it reduces variance and raises baseline power in a way that’s especially noticeable in Commander, where table balance often depends on imperfect draws and imperfect information.

How this affects decks and tables immediately

For most groups, Biorhythm won’t suddenly appear everywhere—its cost and its reputation will keep it from being a “default include.” But it does create new incentives:

• Token and swarm decks get another high-ceiling finisher that rewards going wide.

• Control decks may treat it as a must-answer threat and hold interaction longer.

• Low-creature strategies are more likely to adjust play patterns (or pack more instant-speed creature creation) to avoid being caught empty.

For Lutri, the impact is likely broader, simply because it’s a flexible value card: copying a removal spell, counterspell, or draw spell can swing a turn without needing an elaborate combo. Still, being stuck inside the deck keeps it honest; it has to be drawn, tutored, or reanimated like everything else.

What to watch for in the next ban list update

With no new bans, the conversation now shifts to what was not touched. Expect attention to stay on cards that create repetitive play patterns, compress game length, or warp deckbuilding in casual environments—especially staples that show up in a huge share of lists.

The next real signals to track are:

• Whether playgroups report more “gotcha” endings tied to Biorhythm.

• Whether Lutri becomes a ubiquitous value piece in blue-red shells.

• Whether future updates expand the idea of conditional legality (similar to “banned as companion”) for other edge cases.

Sources consulted: Magic: The Gathering, MTGCommander.net, EDHREC, Draftsim