#MTG card previews typically show the newest printing, which is often unfamiliar art, like the new Zeta Set. For vulcanhighlander.com card previews, I wanted art familiar to players. But defining "familiar" turned out to be a surprisingly tricky puzzle. Here's how I worked it out. #MTGCommander

Reality Fracture is out: 8 cards cost 1 point. They're all in Draftsim's top 15 most expensive cards in the set. Brand new sets don't have popularity data yet, so price drives the initial points. Points for recent sets can move in my quarterly updates. #MTGCommander vulcanhighlander.com/changelog/14

Vulcan Highlander points cards based on popularity and price, not by trying to read over 31,000 Magic cards.

The data reveals 3 eras in Magic's history, and the power creep era started in 2019. It confirms what long-time #MTGCommander players like me feel (the 2025-26 dip is just lag in play data).

I created Vulcan Highlander to re-create the Commander 2016-2018 era gameplay experience – when games were longer, more strategic, and more fun – while still allowing new cards. Cards cost 0 to 5 points, and a deck may spend 50, instead of complex brackets. vulcanhighlander.com #MTGCommander #MTG

The 2 cards from my last post:

Stone Haven Outfitter (2016): 0 points, 2 mana, in 0.2% of the Commander decks that can run it.

Guide of Souls (2024): 1 point, 1 mana, 2.3% & clearly more powerful.

Power creep mostly isn't new bombs. It's a set's 40th best card being this good. #MTGCommander #MTG

A Commander power creep illustration using two cards: one from 2016 and one from 2024. According to EDHREC, they are each the 40th most popular from their set. Guess which one has more points in Vulcan Highlander and sees more play. I'll share the cards and the answer tomorrow. #MTGCommander #MTG

The Hobbit is the first new set since launching Vulcan Highlander, and I've put its 207 new cards through the price + popularity algorithm. Gleaming Splendor costs the most, at 2 points. 15 cards cost 1 point, and the other 191 cost 0. #MTGCommander #MTG

vulcanhighlander.com/cards/gleami...

Vulcan Highlander is Commander plus one rule: every card costs 0 to 5 points, and a deck may spend at most 50 points.

If you and your play group are frustrated by power creep, it caps decks at a 2016–2018 power level, without having to ban newer cards. vulcanhighlander.com #MTGCommander #MTG

Demonic Tutor, first printed in 1993, is in 19% of the Commander decks that can run it. In Vulcan Highlander it costs 4 of a deck's 50 points. I created the format to cap recent power creep, but older overpowered cards get points too. vulcanhighlander.com/cards/demonic-tutor #MTG #MTGCommander

Nearly half of the cards that cost points in Vulcan Highlander were 1st printed in 2019 or later. Bloomburrow's 40th-best card sees more play in Commander than Zendikar's 20th-best does. Power creep isn't a few new bomb cards to ban, it's new sets with deep pools of strong cards. #MTG #MTGCommander

My 1st Vulcan Highlander deck's Commander is "Inti, Seneschal of the Sun," with an artifact recursion & top-deck manipulation theme. It hits the 50-point budget & runs plenty of newer cards but would fit right into a 2016-18 era game. Check it out! vulcanhighlander.com/deck/pWRby6U... #MTGCommander

A Vulcan Highlander deck gets 50 points. What does that buy?

- 29,325 cards cost 0 points
- 1,972 cost 1
- 213 cost 2
- Only 48 cards in all of Magic cost 3 or more

Nearly half of all the cards with points were printed after 2018. That's the power creep the point budget caps

#MTG #MTGCommander

Vulcan Highlander is Commander plus one rule: every card costs 0 to 5 points, and a deck may spend at most 50 points.

If you and your play group are frustrated by power creep, it gives you an even-handed framework to return to less over-powered game play. Learn more at vulcanhighlander.com