In the first Banned and Restricted Announcement for Magic: the Gathering’s newest format, Pioneer, Wizards of the Coast banned Felidar Guardian, Leyline of Abundance, and Oath of Nissa.
Since Pioneer’s premiere on Magic Online on October 23, two decks are “head and shoulders above the field”: Four-Color Copy Cat Combo and Mono-Green Green Ramp. “These two decks have earned the most 5-0 league finishes on Magic Online and have problematically high win rates against the field,” Wizards said in their announcement.
“Both decks feature play patterns that would reduce metagame diversity over time,” the continued. “Based on Magic Online data, we don’t believe that regular metagame pressure alone will be enough to keep these strategies in check.” Therefore, Wizards is banning key cards in each archetype in order to reign in their power levels.
Felidar Guardian
Felidar Guardian was already on the shortlist for Pioneer’s banlist due to the infinite combo it forms with Saheeli Rai that resulted in the Guardian’s ban from Standard in April 2017.
This combo forms the core of the Copy Cat Combo decks and “threatens metagame diversity by requiring decks to present specific types of early interaction while developing their own strategy or else immediately lose the game,” Wizards said. “Rather than allow this combination to warp deck building and the metagame around it, we’re choosing to ban a card. Of the two options, Felidar Guardian is the most likely to break again with existing or future cards.”
Pioneer Four-Color Copy Cat Combo
| Creatures (18) 3 Elvish Mystic 4 Gilded Goose 2 Llanowar Elves 1 Brazen Borrower 2 Reflector Mage 2 Rogue Refiner 4 Felidar Guardian Planeswalkers (12) 4 Oko, Thief of Crowns 4 Saheeli Rai 4 Teferi, Time Raveler Spells (3) 2 Wild Slash 1 Once Upon a Time Artifacts (2) 2 Heart of Kiran Enchantments (4) 4 Oath of Nissa | Lands (21) 2 Aether Hub 4 Botanical Sanctum 4 Breeding Pool 4 Inspiring Vantage 1 Island 1 Mana Confluence 1 Stomping Ground 3 Temple Garden 1 Yavimaya Coast Sideboard (15) 2 Veil of Summer 1 Declaration in Stone 1 Fry 2 Rest in Peace 1 Sorcerous Spyglass 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric 2 Knight of Autumn 3 Mystical Dispute 2 Radiant Flames |
Leyline of Abundance and Oath of Nissa
Leyline of Abundance is a key component of Mono-Green Ramp strategies not only due to it’s natural synergy with traditional ramp creatures like Llanowar Elves but also because it provides two free Green mana symbols for Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, allowing the deck to ramp even more quickly.
“Our hope is that in the long term, Nykthos can add diversity to the metagame as a part of fun and healthy devotion strategies,” Wizards said. “Therefore, we’re choosing to ban Leyline of Abundance as the card that enables the deck’s fastest, most powerful opening turns.”
Oath of Nissa didn’t enable explosive starts from the Mono-Green decks but it was “a strong contributor to the strength and consistency of these and other strong decks,” including Four-Color Copy Cat, and will “continue to exacerbate problematic strategies going forward.”
“It also greatly contributes to the consistency of strategies that utilize a large number of three-mana planeswalkers in a way that can create unhealthy play patterns,” Wizards continued. “For these reasons, we believe Pioneer will be a more fun and diverse format without Oath of Nissa.”
Pioneer Mono-Green Ramp
| Creatures (20) 4 Walking Ballista 4 Elvish Mystic 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Burning-Tree Emissary 4 Voracious Hydra Planeswalkers (8) 4 Vivien, Arkbow Ranger 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World Spells (4) 4 Once Upon a Time Enchantments (8) 4 Oath of Nissa 4 Leyline of Abundance | Lands (20) 16 Forest 4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx Sideboard (15) 4 Veil of Summer 3 Scavenging Ooze 1 Reclamation Sage 3 Nylea’s Disciple 2 Whisperwood Elemental 1 Hornet Queen 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger |
The first bans in Pioneer come less than two weeks before the Star City Games Invitational, which switched its Standard portion to Pioneer last week.
Wizards has said that they are keeping a close eye on the evolving Pioneer metagame and will ban cards frequently in order to maintain a healthy format. Pioneer’s Banned and Restricted Announcements will occur every Monday, whether or not cards are actually banned or not, meaning there will be one more chance for cards to get banned ahead of the Invitational.
Stay tuned for the more rounds of Pioneer bans every Monday for the foreseeable future.