Unpacking the February 9th 2026 Commander Banlist Update
Posted by Magic Madhouse on 9th Feb 2026
Whether you want to use these cards yourself, or you plan on preparing to see them across the table, let's analyze both of these cards and take a look at why they're now legal to play. Whether you want to use these cards yourself, or you plan on preparing to see them across the table, let's analyze both of these cards and take a look at why they're now legal to play.
Two big unbans
Today, Wizards of the Coast updated the banlist for the Commander format, removing two cards from it. If you're a Commander player this impacts you, and opens up some new deckbuilding opportunities.
Whether you want to use these cards yourself, or you plan on preparing to see them across the table, let's analyze both of these cards and take a look at why they're now legal to play.
Biorhythm has been banned in Commander ever since the format began, so unbanning it now shakes things up pretty significantly.
For eight mana, this spell makes the life total of every player in the game equal to the number of creatures that they control. This means that if you cast Biorhythm when someone has an empty board, you have the ability to immediately knock them out of the game.
Green is not a colour that's known for its burn spells, so this effect is both incredibly radical and incredibly powerful.
Due to Biorhythm's high cost, it has been ruled fair game and can now be played once more. While the card has the potential to end games, it won't be getting cast on early turns. This is the same logic that led to Worldfire getting unbanned in 2021. Unlike Worldfire, though, Biorhythm is green, putting it in the colour with the best ability to ramp and access it early.
The card has been put on the game changers list, and Wizards of the Coast has said that they intend to keep a close eye on it to see how it impacts the format going forwards.
Lutri, the Spellchaser was banned from the moment that it was announced. The companion mechanic from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths is one of the most notoriously powerful mechanics in the history of the game.
Before a game begins, a player can set a creature with companion aside, near their deck, and then they can be added to their hand and cast during gameplay.
All companions have conditions that need to be met before they can be used, and Lutri's condition made it unsuitable for the Commander format.
To use Lutri as a companion, players need to ensure that every nonland card in their deck has a different name. Since you're not allowed to run multiple cards with the same name in your deck in Commander, every single deck that features blue and red already meets this condition and could theoretically use Lutri as a companion.
From today onwards, though, players are allowed to use Lutri as their commander, or to include the card in their deck, but they just can't use it as a companion.
This otter is now free to copy spells for you in Commander.
Conclusion
You can read the official unban announcement here.
Will you be sliding Lutri or Biorhythm into any of your decks? Let us know on the official Magic Madhouse Discord server.
For more Commander content from us, check out our analysis of the newly revealed Secrets of Strixhaven Commanders. You can also subscribe to the Magic Madhouse newsletter down below, and follow us on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.