Wizards of the Coast released their latest Banned & Restricted Announcement for MTG, and one of the cards that has been in a popular format for less than nine months has already eaten a ban. Magic: The Gathering’s Banned & Restricted List is Wizard of the Coast’s way of trying to ensure that each format stays both fun and healthy so as to not drive away players.
Popular cards that have been put on the ban list include Oko, Thief of Crowns, which only lasted in standard for 45 days before being banned, Splinter Twin in Modern, and Teferi, Time Raveler in Pioneer.
Sticker/Attraction Cards Banned in Legacy and Vintage
Unfinity is part of an MTG product known as the Un-sets which are meant to be more fun and light-hearted sets than the mainline story sets. Unfinity was the latest un-set to be released back in October of 2022. One of the big themes of that set was that it took place at a carnival in space and to show that off mechanics wise, WOTC designed sticker and attraction cards for the set.
In their latest Banned & Restricted list update, all sticker and attraction cards have been banned in Legacy and Vintage. Infinity broke the mold of other un-sets because it allowed for some of the cards to be playable in sanctioned tournaments, whereas other un-set cards were never playable outside of drafting the set.
Wizard of the Coast’s reasoning for banning all sticker and attraction cards in Legacy and Vintage was due to Goblin and how players who played with Shapeshifter cards, such as Clone, felt the need to bring their own sticker decks to tournaments in case they would have to clone the goblin card. Overall, it sounds like they were banned due to how annoying they were making the Legacy and Vintage formats. How the two formats shift after the bans will be interesting to see.
Pauper Loses A Strong Card
All That Glitters was originally released in Throne of Eldraine in 2019 at an uncommon rarity. It was then reprinted in Commander Masters in 2023 at a common rarity, which allowed it to be played in the Pauper format. Pauper is an MTG format where only cards that have been printed at common rarity throughout magic’s history can legally be played.
When All That Glitters hit Pauper back in 2023 it helped enable decks like Azorius Affinity and Jeskai Affinity. A common win condition with the deck would be to put it on either an Ornithopter or Gingerbrute and then increase the power of said creature by playing more artifacts like Springleaf Drum, artifact creatures like Frogmite, and even artifact lands such as Ancient Den.
The banning of All That Glitters for sure lowers the power level of these decks and while they aren’t unplayable, they more than likely won’t be played as much.
MTG Bans Can Hurt
As someone who likes to play competitive and high-level MTG decks, I understand how it feels when a card gets banned. Not only are you unable to continue playing that card in what might be your favorite format, but it also might tank the price, hurting any resale value on the secondary market. Some of my favorite cards, such as Teferi, Time Raveler, Oko, Thief of Crowns, and Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, all ate a ban on Magic’s Banned & Restricted List.
By far, the worst MTG ban I ever experienced was with a card I never even got to play. The cards I listed above I at least was able to play with before they were banned, whereas Smuggler’s Copter, which was unbanned in Pioneer in December of 2023, was initially added to the Pioneer ban list back at the end of 2019. I had ordered four copies of the card to be played in Izzet Prowess and on the day they arrived is when WOTC put out the new ban list with Smuggler’s Copter on it.
So buying a playset of cards only to be banned on the day they arrived didn’t feel great but overall, I was able to get over it and play Izzet Phoenix instead which is a deck I still love. What about you, what are your worst card ban stories from MTG’s history?
For More Great Content
Check out Total Apex Sports for awesome sports content, follow us on X @TotalApexEandG, as well as Total Apex Entertainment, Total Apex Gaming, Total Apex Sports Bets, and Total Apex Fantasy Sports.
