Magic Monday: Should Sol Ring be Banned in Commander?

This Monday, I find myself thinking about a hot topic in the Commander community: Should Sol Ring be banned in Commander?

Sol Ring is one of the most iconic and powerful cards in Magic: The Gathering, and it’s a staple in almost every Commander deck. But with great power comes great debate!

Costing just one colourless mana to cast, Sol Ring is an artifact that can then be tapped to produce two colourless mana. It’s a great example of fast mana, and getting one out in the first couple of turns can really get a deck moving in the early game. The thing is, with cards Mana Crypt and Jewelled Lotus being banned this year, it’s clear that fast mana is seen as something of a problem.

There are a few reasons that people want to see it banned. One prominent reason is the significant mana boost it can give on turn one, giving its controller a substantial advantage right from the start. This can, it sufficiently capitalised on, help the player to snowball and make it hard for others to catch up.

Homogeny and/or consistency is another reason. It’s a common staple of almost every deck, and is included in all of the recent precons. Having the same cards appear in deck after deck can reduce diversity in gameplay. Players do often feel compelled to include this card to stay competitive.

If someone does get an early lead, Commander is a social game, and they’ll likely become the target for a while, hopefully mitigating the effect of the card when played in the early game. It’s really not a problem in the mid to late game; just in those early stages.

On the other hand, unlike many expensive fast mana cards that are still legal, this card is accessible. Without cards like Sol Ring, fast mana becomes the domain of the big spenders alone.

As I said, Wizards of the Coast have been putting Sol Rings into all of their commander decks and it has become something of an icon for the format. The sense of identity and the fact that it would invalidate all out-of-the-box precons makes me doubtful we’re likely to see a ban.

What do you reckon? Should there be a ban on Sol Ring in this format? Could there be one? It would certainly shake things up, but whether that’s for the right reasons would remain to be seen. Personally, I remain unconvinced.

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