The newest Magic: The Gathering Banned & Restricted list update is now live, and Wizards of the Coast is banning 15 cards in what will inevitably be one of the biggest group of changes in the game's history. Magic: The Gathering is the popular tabletop trading card game from Wizards of the Coast that has also successfully established a presence in the digital card game space thanks to its combination of Magic: The Gathering Online and Magic Arena platforms.
While pre-announcement of banning Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath was a herald of more to come.
Today, Wizards of the Coast released an article on the official Magic website that announced the latest Magic: The Gathering B&R announcement would not only ban 15 cards across 4 formats, it would also fundamentally change the way a rules interaction works to prevent it from being exploited by new card designs. The announcement revealed that major changes are coming to each format, with the team discussing its logic behind each banning. Here's a complete rundown of the changes coming as a result of the Magic: The Gathering B&R announcement in February 2021:
Historic:
- Omnath, Locus of Creation is banned.
- Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath is banned.
Pioneer:
- Balustrade Spy is banned.
- Teferi, Time Raveler is banned.
- Undercity Informer is banned.
- Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath is banned.
- Wilderness Reclamation is banned.
Modern:
- Field of the Dead is banned.
- Mystic Sanctuary is banned.
- Simian Spirit Guide is banned.
- Tibalt's Trickery is banned.
- Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath is banned.
Legacy:
- Arcum's Astrolabe is banned.
- Dreadhorde Arcanist is banned.
- Oko, Thief of Crowns is banned.
Vintage:
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den is unbanned.
Alongside those sweeping changes, the Magic: The Gathering B&R announcement also changes the way the cascade mechanic functions with the new Modal Double-Faced Cards. Essentially, players can no longer use cascade to hit Valki, God of Lies and then cast the 7 mana side of the card for free - cards being cast must now be less than the converted mana cost of the cascade card both when it is selected from the deck and when it is being played.
It's a huge number of changes that will be difficult to fully appreciate until the formats begin playing out without the many powerful cards that once formed the foundation of their respective metagames. The Magic: The Gathering B&R announcement is an absolute bombshell, and this is the kind of change that may never happen on this scale and across this many formats again. It's also a welcome change, and shows that the team behind the game is unafraid to make dramatic changes if it means players will be happier and experience a healthier metagame. The only truly certain thing is that right now, in pretty well every format in Magic: The Gathering, it's a great time to be a deck-builder - and it will be exciting to see what people come up with moving forward.
Source: Magic