You play with 20 life, and you duel one-on-one only
I evaluate commanders on power, of course, but I also consider the vibe: Are these commanders introducing a novel new archetype or breaking new ground within an established archetype
Balance The name Balance sounds fair, but the card absolutely isnt
Now compare those joke-only cards or bad cards with those that work within the rules of Magic well enough to have value at the kitchen table, and which are more than just a joke: Consider Giant Fan and Goblin Bookie as two cards that sort of counter the above issues
I doubt Hasbro will release precise numbers, but if I had to guess Id say the number of active Magic Arena players has skyrocketed, just as it has for other online platforms like Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams