The Commander Rules Committee has banned Hullbreacher from Magic: the Gathering’s Commander format.
“Hullbreacher has been a problem card since its release [last year],” they said. “Its ostensible defensive use against extra card draw has been dwarfed by offensively combining it with mass-draw effects to easily strip players hands while accelerating the controller. That play pattern isn’t something we want prevalent in casual play (see the Leovold ban), and we have seen a lot of evidence that it is too tempting even there, as it combines with wheels and other popular casual staples.
“The case against the card was overwhelming,” they concluded.
Hullbreacher was released as a part of Commander Legends at the end of 2020. Its main ability prevents other players from drawing more than one card per turn which, when combined with cards like Wheel of Fortune or Timetwister, allows its controller to draw seven new cards while forcing their opponents to basically discard their entire hand.
However, Hullbreacher wasn’t the first card to see play in Commander that could be combined with so-called “wheel” effects in such a way. While Leovold, Emissary of Trest had previously been banned, both Notion Thief and Narset, Parter of Veils will remain legal going forward.
“The additional hoops required (an additional color pip for Notion Thief, and sorcery speed for Narset) appear to be keeping them to the appropriate level of play,” the Rules Committee said, “though we’ll continue to keep an eye on them.”