Magic: The Gathering’s Commander format is known for its diversity, creativity, and social gameplay. With access to an enormous card pool and a singleton deck structure, players often wonder about the legality of specific cards, especially those known for powerful or disruptive effects. One such card that frequently raises questions is Smokestack. Known for its punishing control mechanics, Smokestack has a reputation as a ‘grief’ card in many formats. But is Smokestack banned in Commander? This is a question that continues to be relevant for many players building competitive or casual decks alike.
Understanding Smokestack and Its Effect
Smokestack is a four-mana artifact first printed in the set Urza’s Saga. Its rules text reads:
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a soot counter on Smokestack.
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player sacrifices a permanent for each soot counter on Smokestack.
This card introduces a slow but devastating effect that grows over time, forcing opponents to sacrifice more and more of their board. In multiplayer formats like Commander, Smokestack can quickly become oppressive, especially when supported by recursion, token generation, or prison-style strategies. It fits naturally into decks that aim to grind out resources and maintain long-term board dominance, often leading to negative experiences for more casual playgroups.
Is Smokestack Banned in Commander?
No,Smokestack is not banned in Commander. As of the most recent Commander rules update, Smokestack remains fully legal in the format. It is not included on the official Commander Rules Committee’s banned list, which means players are free to include it in any legal Commander deck, assuming it fits within the color identity of their commander.
That said, legality is only one part of the equation. While Smokestack is legal, it is also considered controversial due to the negative play experience (NPE) it can generate, especially in more casual or social settings. Many playgroups and local game stores have their own ‘house rules’ or social agreements that discourage or outright ban cards like Smokestack, even if they are technically allowed.
Why Some Players Dislike Smokestack
In Commander, the social contract is often just as important as the rulebook. Smokestack has developed a negative reputation for several reasons:
- Resource Denial: It forces players to sacrifice their permanents, making it difficult to build and maintain a board presence.
- Long Games: Smokestack doesn’t win the game quickly but rather slows it down significantly, which can lead to grindy, unfun experiences.
- Asymmetrical Impact: It usually benefits the player who plays it the most, especially when combined with strategies that produce expendable tokens or have ways to break the symmetry.
- Targeted Hate: Once Smokestack hits the board, it often draws the ire of all other players at the table, leading to archenemy situations.
When Is Smokestack Effective?
Despite its reputation, Smokestack can be an effective part of a well-built Commander deck, particularly those built around stax, prison, or control archetypes. The card works best when the controller can mitigate its effect through smart deckbuilding. Decks that include lots of token generation, recursion, or indestructible permanents can sacrifice expendable resources while opponents lose critical parts of their boards.
Some commanders that can make good use of Smokestack include:
- Daretti, Scrap Savant: Recursion for artifacts, which lets you recover key pieces while opponents struggle.
- Ghave, Guru of Spores: Token generation that fuels sacrifices.
- Yogmoth, Thran Physician: Sacrifice outlets and recursion synergy.
- Teysa Karlov: Death triggers and token synergies that offset the cost of sacrifice.
The Role of Stax in Commander
Smokestack is often categorized under ‘stax’ strategies a playstyle that seeks to slow down or tax opponents through cards that limit actions, force sacrifices, or restrict gameplay options. While stax can be a viable archetype in competitive Commander, it tends to be frowned upon in more casual circles due to its oppressive nature.
Examples of stax cards often seen alongside Smokestack include:
- Winter Orb: Limits untapping of lands.
- Static Orb: Limits untapping of creatures and artifacts.
- Tangle Wire: Temporarily taps permanents and stalls tempo.
- Armageddon: Destroys all lands.
When combined, these cards can create a game state where opponents cannot meaningfully interact, leaving them locked out of the game while the stax player slowly builds an advantage. This leads many players to see such strategies as unfun or uninteractive, even if they are not banned by the official rules.
Commander Rules Committee’s Stance
The Commander Rules Committee (RC), which governs the ban list for the format, generally avoids banning cards based solely on power level. Their main criteria for banning include creating a consistently problematic play experience, being too ubiquitous across decks, or fundamentally breaking the format’s rules.
While Smokestack is powerful and disruptive, it does not meet these criteria broadly enough to justify a ban. It is not ubiquitous in Commander, and while it can be strong, it requires setup and deckbuilding commitment. The RC often emphasizes that social agreements and group expectations are better tools for managing unfun experiences than banning niche cards.
House Rules and Social Contracts
In many playgroups, Smokestack is considered a gentleman’s ban card meaning that while it’s technically legal, it is banned or discouraged by mutual agreement. This allows groups to tailor their experience to their desired level of competitiveness and interaction.
Before including Smokestack in your deck, it’s a good idea to talk with your playgroup. Make sure everyone is comfortable with its inclusion, especially in casual environments where the spirit of fun and interaction is prioritized over winning at any cost.
To summarize, Smokestack is not banned in Commander and is legal for use in any deck where it fits the color identity. However, it remains a highly controversial card due to its punishing mechanics and slow, grindy gameplay. Whether or not you should include Smokestack in your Commander deck depends heavily on your playgroup, the environment, and the tone of the game you’re hoping to create. In competitive settings, it may be welcomed as part of an efficient control strategy. In casual games, it might be best left out in favor of more interactive and enjoyable experiences for all players.