Wizards of the Coast has suspended Omnath, Locus of Creation in Magic: the Gathering’s Historic format. They also unsuspended Burning-Tree Emissary and permanently banned Teferi, Time Raveler and Wilderness Reclamation.
Don’t miss our coverage of today’s other bannings in Standard and Brawl.
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Not content with banning Omanth in Standard, Wizards decided to suspend the card in Historic, as well. The decision comes the day after the 2020 Season Grand Finals, where decks featuring Omnath made up 34.4% of the Historic field.
“Much as we’ve seen in Standard, Omnath, Locus of Creation is proving to be a powerful contender in Historic,” Wizards said. “Though win rates for these decks are lower in Historic than Standard, we are still seeing the meta share of decks using Omnath, Locus of Creation increasing steadily, particularly in Best-of-Three.” Following the trend from the Grand Finals over the weekend, Wizards confirmed that the deck has become the most-played archetype in the format.
Not only is it the most-played deck, but it is even stronger outside of Standard. “Historic also provides a wider range of tools for enabling the multiple land drops the deck is looking for, such as Explore and Growth Spiral” that help maximize Omnath’s abilities, Wizards continued. “To ensure greater diversity and health for the Historic meta, Omnath, Locus of Creation is suspended in Historic.”
Historic Omnath Ramp by Austin Bursavich (1st Place, 2020 Season Grand Finals)
| Creatures (14) 4 Omnath, Locus of Creation 4 Lotus Cobra 2 Yasharn, Implacable Earth 1 Kenrith, the Returned King 3 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Planeswalkers (1) 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon Spells (15) 4 Escape to the Wilds 4 Explore 3 Genesis Ultimatum 2 Growth Spiral 1 Cultivate 1 Shatterskull Smashing Enchantments (1) 1 Felidar Retreat | Lands (29) 4 Fabled Passage 4 Ketria Triome 4 Raugrin Triome 3 Hinterland Harbo 3 Temple Garden 1 Breeding Pool 1 Sacred Foundry 3 Forest 3 Island 2 Mountain 1 Plains Sideboard (15) 4 Aether Gust 1 Dovin’s Veto 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Pact of Negation 3 Deafening Clarion 1 Kenrith, the Returned King 2 Scavenging Ooze 2 Mystical Dispute |
Burning-Tree Emissary
After spending three months on the suspended list, Burning-Tree Emissary is ready to come back to Historic.
“Since that suspension, the power level of Historic has increased considerably with the release of Jumpstart and Amonkhet Remastered,” Wizards said. Not only that, “we have seen the meta share of Gruul Aggro fall off notably,” which was the deck that Wizards was most concerned about when they originally suspended Burning-Tree Emissary.
“After considering the overall power level of the format and the matchups for Gruul Aggro, we think there is room for Burning-Tree Emissary to be a healthy and interesting addition to the format again,” they continued. Therefore, “Burning-Tree Emissary is unsuspended in Historic.”
Teferi, Time Raveler and Wilderness Reclamation
A month after Burning-Tree Emissary was suspended, both Teferi, Time Raveler and Wilderness Reclamation joined her on the suspended list—as well as getting banned in Standard.
To the surprise of no one, Wizards is ready to make those suspensions permanent after two months. “Looking at how the meta has developed as a result of these suspensions, we feel that the removal of Teferi, Time Raveler and Wilderness Reclamation have increased the diversity and interactivity of the format, improving overall health and balance,” they said. “As a result, both Teferi, Time Raveler and Wilderness Reclamation are banned in Historic.”