Since Lantern Control won the Pro Tour last weekend there has been a lot of talk about the Modern banlist. Some people are calling for banning a card from Lantern Control while others are angry that people are calling for bannings. But I’ve managed to find one thing that everyone seems to agree on: no one likes the Modern banlist as currently constructed—whether or not they like Lantern Control.
The list of cards that have been banned in Modern is fairly long and Wizards rarely removes any cards from the list. Since Modern’s creation in August 2011 only six cards have been unbanned: Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (September 2012), Bitterblossom and Wild Nacatl (February 2014), Golgari Grave-Troll (January 2015, banned again in January 2017), Thopter Foundry (April 2016), and Ancestral Vision (April 2016). Outside of those cards, Wizards hasn’t experimented much with removing cards the Modern banlist, preferring instead to prune decks that it sees as reducing format diversity (or in the case of Eggs, too boring). Is it time for Wizards to think about a mass unbanning for Modern to give the format a new life?
I’ve put together a really short (two question) survey. We want to know what the community thinks so please take a second to submit a response and next week I’ll put together what I learn and update you!
Is Splinter Twin really that oppressive if Jund gets back Bloodbraid Elf? Is Birthing Pod that still too consistent if control decks get back Jace, the Mind Sculptor? With absurd one-mana 13/13 creatures running around, is it time to unban Ponder and Preordain?
I’m not saying that unbanning any of the cards above would necessarily be the right move but you’d be hard pressed to find someone familiar with the format who doesn’t believe the banlist should be rethought. A healthy format is about balance, a bit of dance as each deck’s popularity ebbs and flows, but are we at the point where Wizards has just banned too many cards?
Would some unbannings help create more balance? It’s hard to say, it would take extensive testing to even pretend to know the answer to that question. It has left me curious though, what does the community as a whole think should be on the modern ban list and what should be removed? Again, I’ve put together a really short (two question) survey. Please take a second to submit a response and next week I’ll put together what I learn and update you!
Kate hails from Worcester MA and also does a bit of Card Altering. Check her Stuff out on Facebook! She mainly plays legacy and modern though will occasionally find herself playing EDH.