Magic: The Gathering designers Mark Rosewater and Gavin Verhey said they would like to see greater support for the popular community formats Pauper and Premodern, but stopped short of promising official products or major competitive events. The comments matter because Commander followed a similar path from grassroots format to a central, officially supported part of the game, raising hopes among players of both formats.

Pauper permits cards printed at common rarity and is already officially recognised by Wizards of the Coast, which manages bans and consults its Pauper Format Panel, but it has no qualifying-level events or ready-made decks. Verhey said he would welcome preconstructed Pauper decks, while stressing that such support is difficult to confirm; the format remains inexpensive yet powerful, with cards such as Counterspell, Brainstorm and Lightning Bolt legal. Premodern, created in 2012 and centred on sets from Fourth Edition through Scourge, is a nostalgia-focused format with a growing following but less formal backing.