Wizards of the Coast and Magic: The Gathering have changed the way they do the ban list. It’s been like this for awhile, but it leads to fervor and excitement for all. For the past few it’s been changes to Standard, Companions, and Vintage. Now it looks like we’re getting a big shakeup across Magic.
Historic, Pioneer, Modern, and Pauper. I can’t remember the last announcement that knocked off cards from that many formats. As with any announcement like this, it could also impact cards that might be unbanned. Modern is the prime format for this, as while card power level has risen, some of the older cards might be able to see the light of day. Cards like Birthing Pod, Splinter Twin, or the cycle of artifact lands from Mirrodin could come off. As we saw with Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Stoneforge Mystic, those cards didn’t fundamentally destroy Modern like we thought they would.
Taking A Guess What’s Going To Get Hit
My best guess for Historic would be Nexus of Fate. The card was a mistake and is horribly obnoxious to play against. Historic is a great format, but it feels all too much like Standard at the moment. My guess is that once MTG: Arena gets Pioneer support, it’ll go by the wayside. Nexus is a blight upon the format that leads to the worst kinds of games.
Modern could be really anything, and like I said before, it could be unbans. But if you’re pressing me to pick something, it’s probably something like Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath or Arcum’s Astrolabe. Uro is likely to go the way of Oko, Thief of Crowns at some point, it’s just too powerful for what it does and it stifles other decks.
Pauper, I don’t play much, so I’m not sure what could get the axe here. This could also be a place for an unban.
Pioneer Highlights The Talk Of Bans
Pioneer was once a flagship format for Magic. Now it’s relegated to not even firing events on Magic: Online. Not having support for the format on Arena will do that. Right now, if you’re not playing Inverter of Truth in Pioneer, you better have a damn good reason why. That makes it most likely that a card from the Blue/Black Inverter deck sees the axe. I would guess it’s the namesake card. Something from Lotus Field/Breach Combo could also go by the wayside, and you might see a completely different Pioneer format overnight.
As with everything in Magic, we’ll have to see when the 13th rolls around! What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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