<p>According to <a href="http://mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/204244-edh-banlist-timeline" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this MTG Salvation forum post</a>, the very first EDH ban list that applied to the very first decks that were played in the format is as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Collector's Edition, &quot;Promotional cards&quot;, poker cards and silver-bordered cards are banned. (I'm assuming poker cards are the 52-card, Magic-backed standard playing-card decks given to early DCI members.)</p>
<p>Unique Portal and Starter cards are banned. (This means Portal and Starter cards that don't share a name with &quot;standard&quot; Magic cards.)</p>
<p>Vintage-illegal cards are banned.</p>
<p><a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bTest%20of%20Endurance%5d">Test of Endurance</a> is banned.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Later in that thread it says that Test of Endurance was unbanned in 2008. I'm not really sure what Portal and Starter cards it's referring to, but no such cards are listed in the current Commander banlist so either they were unbanned at some point or they were never Vintage-legal anyway. Based on the information in <a href="https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Banned_and_restricted_cards/Timeline" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this article</a>, it looks like the only cards banned in Vintage at the time were <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bShahrazad%5d">Shahrazad</a>, <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bChaos%20Orb%5d">Chaos Orb</a>, <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bFalling%20Star%5d">Falling Star</a>, and ante cards.</p>
<p>So, the list of cards that have never had a chance to see play is just the Vintage banlist.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T10:49:06.917Z
[Starter](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Starter_1999) and [Portal](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Portal) (commonly used as a phrase also encompassing [Portal Second Age](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Portal_Second_Age) and [Portal Three Kingdoms](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Portal_Three_Kingdoms)) are sets that were printed for starting players. The cards within those weren't tournament-legal at the time of their printing, so it makes sense to also exclude them from any third-party format.
TheThirdMan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T15:21:28.060Z
Note that later (October 20, 2005) Starter and Portal (starter-level sets) cards were made tournament legal.
Aulis Ronkainen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T16:50:03.970Z
BTW, the reason the Portal/Starter cards were illegal was because if they weren't printed in a non-beginner product then they didn't have official Oracle text at the time.  Without official Oracle text the cards could not receive proper rulings if there was a dispute.
CALEB F
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T08:41:31.877Z
2020-01-19T08:41:31.877Z
2020-06-17T09:01:24.697Z
murgatroid99
<p>The Commander format has a relatively big ban-list. Which cards were banned upon Commander/EDH becoming a format? Which cards never got the chance to justify their ban on the fields of battle?</p>

<magic-the-gathering><mtg-commander>
What cards were never allowed in Commander?
The Man
# What cards were never allowed in Commander?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-19)

The Commander format has a relatively big ban-list. Which cards were banned upon Commander/EDH becoming a format? Which cards never got the chance to justify their ban on the fields of battle?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering, mtg-commander


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-01-19. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

According to [this MTG Salvation forum post](http://mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/204244-edh-banlist-timeline), the very first EDH ban list that applied to the very first decks that were played in the format is as follows:

> Collector's Edition, "Promotional cards", poker cards and silver-bordered cards are banned. (I'm assuming poker cards are the 52-card, Magic-backed standard playing-card decks given to early DCI members.)
>
> Unique Portal and Starter cards are banned. (This means Portal and Starter cards that don't share a name with "standard" Magic cards.)
>
> Vintage-illegal cards are banned.
>
> [Test of Endurance](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bTest%20of%20Endurance%5d) is banned.

Later in that thread it says that Test of Endurance was unbanned in 2008. I'm not really sure what Portal and Starter cards it's referring to, but no such cards are listed in the current Commander banlist so either they were unbanned at some point or they were never Vintage-legal anyway. Based on the information in [this article](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Banned_and_restricted_cards/Timeline), it looks like the only cards banned in Vintage at the time were [Shahrazad](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bShahrazad%5d), [Chaos Orb](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bChaos%20Orb%5d), [Falling Star](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bFalling%20Star%5d), and ante cards.

So, the list of cards that have never had a chance to see play is just the Vintage banlist.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: [Starter](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Starter_1999) and [Portal](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Portal) (commonly used as a phrase also encompassing [Portal Second Age](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Portal_Second_Age) and [Portal Three Kingdoms](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Portal_Three_Kingdoms)) are sets that were printed for starting players. The cards within those weren't tournament-legal at the time of their printing, so it makes sense to also exclude them from any third-party format.  
> **username_3**: Note that later (October 20, 2005) Starter and Portal (starter-level sets) cards were made tournament legal.  
> **username_4**: BTW, the reason the Portal/Starter cards were illegal was because if they weren't printed in a non-beginner product then they didn't have official Oracle text at the time.  Without official Oracle text the cards could not receive proper rulings if there was a dispute.  

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