Wizards of the Coast has banned Teferi, Time Raveler in Magic: the Gathering’s Brawl Format today. The card was also banned in Standard and suspended in Historic in the same announcement.
Don’t miss today’s other bannings in Standard, Historic, and Pioneer.
According to Wizards, “Teferi, Time Raveler is one of the most played commanders in Brawl, appearing in over 10% of games, and he has one of the highest win rates. In addition, we see a similar impact in Brawl to that described in the other formats.” Therefore, Wizards has banned the card in Brawl.
When discussing their decision to ban the card in Standard, Wizards said: “We’ve often heard the feedback that the repetitive play patterns and reduced capability for interaction that Teferi, Time Raveler can create feel oppressive and limiting.”
In Historic specifically, “we also find that the power of the reduced capability for interaction that Teferi, Time Raveler brings scales with the power of the interaction he’s preventing and the board he’s consequently protecting.” He is also seen very frequently in Historic queues, “appearing in over 20% of Historic Best-of-Three games and significant percentages in other modes as well,” in archetypes like the very popular Bant Ramp deck.
An Example Teferi, Time Raveler Brawl Deck
Commander
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
Creatures (3)
1 Augur of Bolas
1 Brazen Borrower
1 Deputy of Detention
Planeswalkers (2)
1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
1 Teferi, Master of Time
Spells (25)
1 Miscast
1 Opt
1 Anticipate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dovin’s Veto
1 Essence Scatter
1 Mission Briefing
1 Negate
1 Quench
1 Unsubstantiate
1 Absorb
1 Cancel
1 Didn’t Say Please
1 Mystical Dispute
1 Sinister Sabotage
1 Bone to Ash
1 Chemister’s Insight
1 Rain of Revelation
1 Rewind
1 Shatter the Sky
1 Turn into a Pumpkin
1 Time Wipe
1 Commence the Endgame
1 Planar Cleansing
1 Into the Story
Artifacts (2)
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
1 Midnight Clock
Enchantments (3)
1 Frogify
1 Omen of the Sea
1 Shark Typhoon
Lands (24)
1 Castle Ardenvale
1 Castle Vantress
1 Command Tower
1 Hallowed Fountain
11 Island
1 Mystic Sanctuary
6 Plains
1 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Tranquil Cove
A Surprise Announcement
For the last few months, Wizards has taken the approach of announcing Banned and Restricted updates a week ahead of time. But Wizards decided not to give any advanced notice for today’s bans.
“Because of the increased focus on digital play environments during this time period, we’re choosing to forgo that advanced notice and roll out these changes as soon as possible,” Wizards said, rather than creating one-week lame duck formats. “This isn’t necessarily indicative of how we’ll announce and implement in the future, and we’re continuing to look at how we balance giving players advance notice versus staying agile with respect to changing metagames.”
While the return to unannounced Banned and Restricted updates was certainly unexpected, especially on the Monday after a major tournament, the surprise was magnified by the large number of cards banned and formats affected. Four cards were banned in Standard, four in Pioneer, one in Brawl, and two were suspended in Historic.