Today’s Magic: The Gathering Banned & Restricted announcement took action against individual cards in both Legacy and Pauper, as well as a slew of cards in the digital-only format, Brawl.
Legacy
Banned
According Wizards of the Coast (WotC), Legacy recently saw a concerning increase in metagame share from Colorless Tron. Despite the population increase, the deck’s win rate remained high enough that somewhat preemptive intervention was warranted.
In an effort to curb the potentially problematic deck without completely destroying its viability, WotC has opted to remove Candelabra of Tawnos from the format, stating that it is the card most likely to “…cause problems for the format in the long term and is the least likely to be a fun part of a cyclical metagame.”
Pauper
Banned
When Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes launched last week, it gave Pauper a shiny new toy in Hawkeye’s Bow, but when combined with Seeker of Skybreak, it was clear even from a small sample size that the combo was going to be problematic.
With writing already on the wall, WotC has opted to ban Seeker of Skybreak and break up the combo now rather than risk letting it impact the large upcoming Pauper events in July.
Brawl
Banned
Now that Competitive Brawl is an option on MTG Arena, WotC feels that traditional Brawl should be a place where “…all players can find a fun match with decks ranging from silly Squirrel typal to powerful streamlined strategies.” To that end, the cards above are being removed from traditional Brawl so that the format can shift to a more casual space.
For a complete breakdown of today’s Banned & Restricted announcement, read the original article from WotC.
The next Banned & Restricted announcement is scheduled for August 30.
