Is Oko Banned in Commander? The Simple Answer You Need!

So, I got into this whole mess with the card game, Magic: The Gathering, the other day. Specifically, I was trying to figure out if this one card, Oko, Thief of Crowns, is allowed in Commander games. You see, I’ve been building this new deck, and Oko seemed like he’d fit right in, but something about him just felt too powerful. I’ve had my suspicions about this card for a while, I mean, just look at its power level! It’s insane!

I started by checking out the official rules and, what do you know, Oko isn’t on the banned list for Commander! But then, I remembered, Commander isn’t the only format out there, so I dug a little deeper.

First I went to the official Wizards of the Coast website. It lists all the banned cards for each format. After sifting through the list for Commander, I could not find Oko’s name, and I was so happy. But that joy didn’t last long, because when I switched to other formats, I found Oko on a bunch of banned lists – Historic, Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and even Brawl. That got me thinking, why would he be banned in all these other formats but not Commander?

Next, I jumped onto some forums and discussion groups. There were tons of people talking about Oko, and most of them agreed he was totally busted. A lot of folks were saying he should be banned in Commander too, but he just wasn’t… yet.

I even stumbled upon some tournament results. It turned out that Oko was dominating almost every format he was legal in. I read that some pro players were basically building their entire decks around either using Oko or trying to counter him. It sounded like he was warping the whole game!

Then there’s the whole thing about him not being able to be a commander in the first place. Apparently, only legendary creatures, or planeswalkers that specifically say they can be your commander, are allowed. And guess what? Oko doesn’t have that written on his card.

After all this digging, here’s the deal:

• Oko, Thief of Crowns, is NOT banned in Commander. He’s legal to play in your deck.
• But, he CANNOT be your commander. He’s not a legendary creature, and he doesn’t have the special text that allows some planeswalkers to be commanders.
• He IS banned in a bunch of other formats, including Historic, Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and Brawl.

So, there you have it. My deep dive into the world of Oko. I ended up not putting him in my Commander deck anyway. Even though he’s technically legal, he just felt too unfair. Plus, I like the challenge of winning without relying on a card that’s so obviously overpowered.