Today, Wizards of the Coast announced an important update to the Magic Banned & Restricted list, which you can read by clicking here. In addition, you can check out the explanation by Magic Research & Development member Erik Lauer here. Moreover, you can view the entire Magic Banned & Restricted list by format here.
Now, that said, it’s certainly clear given the results of 2011 Pro Tour Philadelphia featuring the brand new Modern format that something needed to be done. Let’s analyze what Wizards of the Coast decided to do:
Modern
Blazing Shoal is banned.
Cloudpost is banned.
Green Sun’s Zenith is banned.
Ponder is banned.
Preordain is banned.
Rite of Flame is banned.
Clearly designed to impact as many of the combo decks as possible, we see that the blindingly-fast Poison Shoal decks lost their namesake in Blazing Shoal, which I agree with. Originally, WotC set out to make the fundemental turn of Modern, turn four. This means that the fastest combo deck (or any deck) can win is turn four. Not so with the Poison Shoal deck, capable of wins as fast as turn two!
Next up is Cloudpost, which I also agree with. It is arguable that the reason combo performed so well at the Pro Tour is due to this card, as the apparent best way to beat the 12-post decks was to assemble a combo they couldn’t interact with. In addition, the ability to make an unfair amount of mana quickly is exactly that, unfair. Thus, a deck like 12-Post severely limits deck diversity. Well done.
Green Sun’s Zenith surprised me, but after reading the explanation, I can see it. In short, they did this in order to encourage more diversity among green decks, since they argue that this is all the green decks did. In other words, you either searched up a Dryad Arbor, a toolbox creature or Primeval Titan – that’s it. Makes sense, since the only decks that utilized this card in Modern are 12-Post and Catfish (or Counter-Cat, the Bant-colored “Zoo” deck). I, for one, don’t believe a color like green should have access to that type of efficient tutoring either and am not unhappy to see this card go.
Rite of Flame, however, doesn’t surprise me even though the Storm-based and Pyromancer Ascension-based decks didn’t perform as well as other combo decks (i.e. Through the Breach, Blazing Shoal and Splinter Twin) did at the Pro Tour. Yet, by banning this card – especially since Mental Misstep isn’t legal – it slows virtually any Storm-based deck down by at least a turn while still allowing for these types of decks to exist. This change should bring decks that would otherwise utilize this card in line with the “fundamental turn four” vision that WotC seems to have for Modern. If Mental Misstep was legal however, I wouldn’t be scared of this card.
Finally, with regards to Modern, we come to Ponder and Preordain. This move actually disappoints me. Banning cards because they are widely used doesn’t strike me as a good enough reason. There are plenty of cards that are heavily utilized; does this imply that all heavily played cards warrant examination for banning? Even in Standard, the blue-red Splinter Twin deck never became super popular because filling your deck with cantrips, like Ponder and Preordain, isn’t enough. Furthermore, the format already is severely lacking in blue card draw and now they’re taking away the best two blue selection spells as well? If you want a more diverse format Wizards, killing control decks won’t get you there. Its the other spells that are worth finding that make these cards strong, not Ponder and Preordain themselves. At the very least, we should have been allowed to keep one of them, likely Preordain, since it doesn’t dig as deeply.
I would have liked to see a couple of cards released from banishment as well, which severely disappoints me. In a world of combo decks, Jace, the Mind Sculptor is both slow and encourages interaction with the opponent. I certainly don’t wish to tap out on turn four when my opponent and can untap and kill me. This feels a lot safer, too, than giving the community back Ancestral Vision which doesn’t encourage diversity and interaction. In addition, if WotC gave us back Ancestral Vision, I couldn’t argue for the release of Bitterblossom either, which is another card I believe could have been freed given the results of the Pro Tour. Given the power level of the format, a two-cost enchantment that produces 1/1′s, encourages a lot of interaction, and kills very slowly is quite fair. Plus, there are tons of ways to deal with such a card available as well. Moreover, there are fewer powerful ways to supplement it as well. Consider that Chrome Mox, Umezawa’s Jitte, Mental Misstep, big Jace, Ancestral Visions, etc. are all unavailable. It is actually a risky play to tap out on turn two in Modern, as you might just find yourself starring down an Emrakul if you do.
Other than that, a fine mix of cards overall that should most certainly effect some major changes to the metagame. Zoo will still be around, Splinter Twin and Pyromancer Ascension combo decks are still powerful, control decks are likely still dead, and Through the Breach looks to have been largely untouched. Amulet of Vigor is still very real, as is Hive Mind. I suppose we’ll see how things pan out, as Modern is to be played at World’s this year.
Extended
Jace, the Mind Sculptor is banned.
Mental Misstep is banned.
Ponder is banned.
Preordain is banned.
Stoneforge Mystic is banned.
The more Wizards messes with Extended, the more I hate it. There are literally no decks I want to play in this format. Standard two-plus years ago just isn’t interesting whatsoever and moves like this make it worse. Why do anything to this format when Lorwyn/Shadowmoor rotate out in October, anyway? In this case, I can see Stoneforge Mystic going away but no reason to ban the others. In addition, removing Jace encourages decks like Jund to dominate and that isn’t any fun either. Furthermore, Splinter Twin may well have been the best combo deck available and if the Standard version has proven anything, it’s that Ponder and Preordain are often times just not enough. In short, Stoneforge Mystic yes, the rest a resounding no.
Legacy
Mental Misstep is banned.
Couldn’t agree more. This card makes Legacy super boring, hands down, even though I feel like the format could have adjusted by just slowing down and playing more expensive spells. Nevertheless, more free counter magic is not something a format like Legacy needs, so I agree with this change.
Vintage
Fact or Fiction is no longer restricted.
Honestly, aside from the price of Fact or Fiction going up a little bit, I don’t see this having much effect on Vintage at all. Simply put, I see no reason to spend four mana on a card like this in Vintage when I could just play Jace, the Mind Sculptor and win. Therefore, I see no problem with unrestricting Fact or Fiction whatsoever.
There you have it folks. Overall, a good thing for Modern, Legacy and Vintage and poor for Extended, despite the fact that I think a couple of Modern-legal cards could easily have been freed from banishment. I’m super curious to see how the Modern format evolves from here on, as well as Legacy. Extended, of course, I’d like to leave by the wayside and bury in a shallow grave, never to be seen or heard from again. Perhaps someday, I’ll get my wish.
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Yesterday, popular culture news website ICv2.com had a rare chance to sit with with Wizards of the Coast Chief Executive Officer Greg Leeds for a wide-ranging interview. The article is broken up into two parts. Part one covers WotC’s strategy for retailers for both Magic and D&D. In part two, they discuss product ideas from fans, media development of WotC properties, plans for Dungeons & Dragons and board games, and the coolest up coming WotC products.
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