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One of the main draws forMagic: The Gathering’s Commander format is that you can play almost every card printed in over thirty years' worth of sets. But the key word there is “almost.” Just like every other format, Commander has a list of banned cards, and one of those cards is Hullbreacher.
At a glance, Hullbreacher may not seem powerful enough to ban, especially when there are other legal cards with similar abilities. But cards aren’t banned for no reason, and Hullbreacher is no exception. So, what’s the reason for Hullbreacher’s ban?
What Is Hullbreacher?
Originally printed in Commander Legends, a set specifically made for the Commander format, Hullbreacher isa Merfolk Pirate with flash that can block your opponents from drawing cardsoutside their draw stepand replace those cards with Treasure tokensunder your control.
Since it has flash,you may cast it in response to an opponent casting Treasure Cruise or tapping The One Ring in order to block their drawsand get some Treasure Tokens to cast your own spells later.
Hullbreacher is notable for beinga card specifically printed for Commander, then banned just nine months later. In fact, it was printed in the same set that introduced Jeweled Lotus,which was also later banned.
Why Is Hullbreacher Banned?
Hullbreacher isn’t particularly powerful in a void, butinteractions with other cardsmake it extremely powerful and no fun to play against. The most obvious example is Wheel of Fortune and similar effects.
“Wheels” force every player to discard their hands and draw new cards. If you control Hullbreacher and then cast Wheel of Fortune, each player will discard their hand, and thenyou will only get to draw a new handand make 21 Treasure tokensif there are still four players at the table.
Getting a fresh hand and 21 mana means you’ll be able to run away with the game while the rest of the table twiddles their thumbs, which isn’t a fun experience.Hullbreacher’s ban is primarily because it stops the game from being fun, which is the entire point of Commander.
What About Notion Thief?
Notably,similar cards like Notion Thief and Narset, Parter of Veils aren’t banned. Narset, Parter of Veils has the same three-mana cost as Hullbreacher, but doesn’t create any Treasure and can’t be played as an instant. Those two details make it much more balanced.
Notion Thief is a little trickier. It also has flash, so you can play it in response to another player’s draw effect, and an effect that allows you to draw cards instead of your opponents drawing. Combined with effects like Wheel of Fortune,this can allow you to draw a third of your deck while denying your opponents.
But Notion Thief isn’t quite as overwhelming as Hullbreacher: It costs one more mana and requires another color, making it more restrictive.It also doesn’t give you mana acceleration, outside of drawing your Chrome Mox from its effect, which means your opponents will have room to play before you win.
Notion Thief is also slightly easier to remove, with a toughness of one, but this isn’t a major contribution to the ban.
In other words,Hullbreacher gives two major benefits(draw denial and mana acceleration) at a low cost, while similar spells that were not banned only give one of those benefits or have a higher cost.
Even with that higher cost,Notion Thief and Narset, Parter of Veils are onthe Game Changers list, limiting their use to higher-powered games.
