So the 2 names I'm thinking of are Scotsman or outlaw, but this format is focused on preventing ultra efficient decks, that aren't engaging to play against. Personally I stopped loving the game because every game felt the same. Every game was just to do everything you could, to prevent the "I win combo". While more and more players are building decks, that sole job is just comboing off. If it's not just combo off, it's get the same exact cards out, every game to win.
To me, it was fun to run those decks for a bit. But it makes games feel too fast, and very non-interactive, or drug out slog, because everyone is just trying to set up the win. So my variant idea specifically addresses those issues, so games are more about tempo, more organic in how they play out, and add variance to each game between the same decks.
So the core of the variant is this:
-No infinite combos: why? Because it prevents decks from relying on them to win, which prevents players from building their decks just to win with them. It also makes combat more important again. It also prevents situations where players hoard interaction, waiting for said combo.
-No cards that say "you win the game": why? Because mostly the same logic for the first change, it prevents the same play style of not playing the game, and less homogenous deck designs. Plus these cards aren't fun for anyone besides the player (I'm looking at you thassas oracle)
-no tutors that target non-land cards: why? I'm sure people will hate this one, but it stops decks from being extremely consistent. It creates natural variance, and prevents decks from having the right card all the time. It pushes players to build decks that have more outs, and have more cohesion. It makes the Singleton format, actually play like a Singleton deck. It also doesn't gut green, land bases, or multicolor decks.
-storm: why? Because while storm doesn't directly go infinite, its entire mechanic functions almost entirely like an infinite "I win combo". As well as the mechanic is designed to be incredibly non-interactive, while having a high density of cards that make it extremely easy to get off the ground. Spell slinger is already extremely powerful, and storm is already a problem with everything I mentioned being legal. So rather than trying to ban 20 cards to make Strom more fair, the mechanic should just be shelved for this variant. Especially because so few cards actually interact with this mechanic.
So, I know many players will tell me the equivalent of "skill issue". I didn't come up with this variant because I couldn't handle decks or players, that played this way, I've actually been building decks with these restrictions, and have seen really good success. Does the game need this variant, just by looking at how much money the game is making, clearly not. But I think the variant just lets players have a more relaxed and engaging experience. It pushes players into new strategies, different cards, and lets players experiment with cards. The current climate makes experimenting, and brewing, challenging in a more exhausting way. But this variant is designed to have a more classic commander vibe, while still being commander. I think for a lot of players, it can just fix a lot of the modern games frustration points
