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If you're at all a competitive gamer, then you know just how much a good card ban or unban can change the game for the better. But what goes into a card ban or an unban? Well, exactly 3 things. 

This week, Wizards of the Coast announced that it would be unbanning 5 cards in its Commander format. These cards include Gifts Ungiven, Sway of the Stars, Coalition Victory, Panoptic Mirror, and Braids, Cabal Minion. The unbans came into effect on April 22, so you're now free to use them at your local game shop's Commander night. 

In the announcement of the card unbans, Gavin Verhey stated that Wizards of the Coast adheres to the following criteria when considering lifting or placing a restriction on a given card:

• Cards that have some fond memories associated with them
• Cards that can contribute to positive play patterns, enjoyable decks, and/or splashy moments
• Cards that don't create runaway games or negative play patterns

This reasoning is logically sound, because no one likes to play a game where someone is stomping, or getting stomped. It just isn't fun or challenging. Maintaining a happy player base for a game as large as MTG is no easy feat, so we'll all see in the coming weeks how these card unbans in Commander fare for the rest of us. 

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