I haven’t played since before Wizards started pushing Commander, at that time called EDH. I felt the Standard Format was a perfect setup to keep the game fresh and innovative while still making money, and the Legacy Format was perfect for the people who had cards that are no longer in Standard. I think the Commander Format killed a perfect system, and Wizards/Hasbro are just trying everything to make money and keep the game mostly unplayable with the licensed tie-ins.
Commander is by far the most popular format for many good reasons.
I however am not a fan of some recent sets design wise. Bloomburrow was peak though, and felt like a return to a more classic mtg experience.
Personally I’m a fan of budget commander, where it’s still commander with these 3 deck building rules:
Your total deck price l, if you price it online, cannot exceed $70 USD
You cannot play any cards that have ever been banned in any mainstream constructive format (discluding rarity based formats like pauper)
Proxies are not allowed, as it goes against the spirit of this format
The core spirit is “stop feeling compelled to proxy shit, support your LGS!”
I feel like you’re implying that proxying and supporting your LGS is mutually exclusive, which I would argue is categorically untrue.