Should Sol Ring be banned? - EDH
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Aug. 6, 2021, 12:25 p.m. by TypicalTimmy
Every couple of months I see a new video crop up on YouTube as to why or why not Sol Ring should be banned.
Curious as to what users on this site think.
I vote no. Sure it allows a faster T1 play but that's honestly not very common you draw it. It's probably more likely you'll roll a Nat 20, to be honest. And with how common it is in precons, everybody has reasonable access to it.
I think it's fine.
TypicalTimmy says... #3
I find it funny how Sol Ring is always advocated for banning but Mana Crypt is not.
August 6, 2021 12:54 p.m.
Because Sol Ring is so much more prevalent. Ring costs $2 while Mana Crypt is considerably more expensive. Mana Crypt also has the life drain, so it is counterbalanced somewhat. More people complain about Ring because more people see it and play against it. All that being said, no, sol ring shouldn't be banned. The primary arguement is how it would breed creativity because Sol Ring is an "auto-include" in every commander deck ever. (Heavy sarcasm). The card is good, but it isn't game breaking. Just my opinion of course.
August 6, 2021 1:25 p.m.
This thread was moved to a more appropriate forum (auto-generated comment)
August 6, 2021 1:25 p.m.
TriusMalarky says... #6
A lot of powerful cards are balanced by the fact that you're up against three people. Thus, a card generally has about a third of the potential value(of course, wraths have double value, cards that say "each opponent" have triple, etc). Additionally, you only have one of each card in a 99 card deck, so each individual card draw only has about a 1% chance to be that specific card. You only really have a ~7% chance for Sol Ring to be in your opener, not including mulligans, which is enough so that it gets seen fairly often but not so much that you can plan around it always being there turn one.
And you don't even really want to tutor for Ring, as when you tutor you typically want a win con or an answer to someone else's win con.
Plus, your average commander game is filled with taplands and inefficient cards anyways, Ring just sort of nullifies that.
August 6, 2021 1:33 p.m.
Grubbernaut says... #7
It's the most iconic card of the format, and only a meaningful issue in the context of hypertuned decks, anyway. I don't have any issue with it, or even Crypt/Vault, for that matter. They're enablers, and for people who want to abuse them, that's fine - but I don't blame them for the results when used in a competitive context. If we're saying Ring is worthy of a ban, there are a LOT of other cards that would be in contention.
August 6, 2021 6:44 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #8
It's about the only format left where you still can play it. Stop meddling with the little details, bans are only for real problems.
August 7, 2021 5:12 a.m.
Lol no... This is a joke, go back to Facebook. This comes up every single day....
August 9, 2021 12:04 p.m.
yummynbeefy says... #11
Think of it this way, If the format never had sol ring, no one would be calling for it to be unbanned...
November 14, 2021 4:15 a.m.
forest_imp says... #12
If you're playing with multiple people, definitely not. But for 1v1 games, it gives too much of an advantage and ruins the pace of the game too much
May 21, 2022 12:21 a.m.
xtechnetia says... #13
It should be based on raw power level and ubiquity (I guarantee you people would have the same discussions about cards like Mana Crypt if those were as accessible as Sol Ring).
But it's part of the format identity. Part of the very attraction of Commander is that you get to play this powerful yet highly accessible card.
Commander is "the Sol Ring format" (yes I'm aware it's also playable in Vintage, but Vintage is defined by other cards). The same way Legacy is "the Brainstorm format", etc.
Omniscience_is_life says... #2
Yeah, IMO the only cards that should be banned are the ones that create insurmountable--generally uninteractable--value for their casters, or deny resources too absolutely. While Sol Ring certainly grants a considerable buff, it's hardly enough to put the player miles in front of their opponents.
August 6, 2021 12:31 p.m.