A Second CAG Member Resigns Following Commander Bans

Another member of the Commander Advisory Group (CAG) has resigned. 

Following the departure of CAG member Josh Lee Kwai, another member of the advisory group, Kristen Gregory, announced via social media her own resignation, effective immediately.

Gregory, who had been a member of the CAG since 2021, said in the statement that after "taking a few days to reflect on things," the conclusion to resign from the CAG "makes sense for me." 

Gregory is a former Commander's Herald writer and has an extensive resume related to Magic, with her work appearing in a number of publications and YouTube content.

Other members of the CAG, like Charlotte Sable and Shivam Bhatt, have stated on social media that as of this time, they do not intend to follow suit and tender their own resignations from the advisory group.

Sable said that she's "committed" to remaining on the CAG, and of Gregory's departure said "she was a valued and active colleague and I'll miss working with her. She's making the choice she feels is right for her."

Other members like Tim Willoughby have urged Commander players to keep conversations related to the bans civil. 

It's the civility of discussion, or lack thereof, that have in some cases led to threats and other aggressive statements made toward members of the CAG and RC.

The CAG is an invite-only collection of format community leaders who serve to provide their perspective on Commander to the Rules Committee, and while the RC takes CAG members' thoughts on format actions into account, it's the RC who determines rule alterations, including the banning of cards. 

With the departure from the CAG of Kwai and Gregory, 10 members remain. One of those remaining members, Rachel Weeks, shared her own thoughts about the bans yesterday (Sept. 26), stating that while she "likes the bans, in theory," the sudden excision of four very popular and expensive staples of the format simultaneously "felt harsh, final, and unconsidered."

She followed up her statement by saying that while the reasoning for the bans is sound, "this was too big a decision over too little time, based on too little data."

In a recently released video on The Command Zone's YouTube channel, Kwai, along with Weeks, shared their thoughts in detail, with Kwai stating that the RC did not consult with the CAG members regarding these bans.

According to Weeks, CAG members knew about the bans only a day before the general public. 

Commander's Herald will continue to follow and report the continued ramifications of the recent bannings as they develop. Click here more information on Kwai's resignation. For a report on the card bans as they happened, read Andy Zupke's report here.

In the interest of disclosure, Archidekt is a sponsor of The Command Zone, a property alongside Commander's Herald that is under the ownership of Space Cow Media. We would like to take the opportunity to remind our readers that harassment, abuse, and threats will not be tolerated regardless of your position on the ban.