Turns out Wizards of the Coast might have goofed a little with Lost Caverns of Ixalan, with one unassuming little uncommon getting smacked with the banhammer just a few weeks after the set’s release. That’s not the only card to find itself removed from competitive play, with Pioneer, Modern, Explorer, and even Pauper getting bans to help keep the formats healthy and players happy (unless you happen to play one of the decks affected.)
The Bans
Five cards are leaving competitive play for the foreseeable future, each one proving itself to be a little too oppressive to remain in the player’s hands. Not all formats saw bannings, so these cards aren’t out of Magic entirely, and one card even saw a rare unbanning, which is a nice change to the announcements.
Pioneer
- Karn, the Great Creator is banned.
- Geological Appraiser is banned.
- Smuggler’s Copter is unbanned.
Modern
- Fury is banned.
- Up the Beanstalk is banned.
Explorer
- Karn, the Great Creator is banned.
- Geological Appraiser is banned.
Pauper
- Monastery Swiftspear is banned.
The Why
Karn, the Great Creator
Turns out, having access to a bonus 15 cards to help you out of a dozen problematic situations in a deck like Mono-Green Devotion where you can have access to intense amounts of mana super early in the game makes for a bit of an oppressive force in competitive Magic. Even though Mono-Green Devotion doesn’t have an overwhelming presence in both Pioneer and Explorer, it shuts down other potential artifact decks at the same time, making it a bit of an issue in the meta.
Geological Appraiser
The second card to be banned in both Pioneer and Explorer, Geological Appraiser is a problem because of its Discover 3 ability, which allowed it to combo off in unexpected ways. The main problem came from clone effects and the format’s ability to reliably cast it regularly on turn 3, leading to game-winning plays before your opponent had time to respond in a meaningful way. Honestly, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Geological Appraiser was hit so quickly, and given the reliability and Magic’s penchant for printing three mana clone cards, it doesn’t seem likely that’ll be unbanned anytime soon.
Fury
Friendly ol’ Fury, the red iteration of a cycle of evoke Elementals from Modern Horizons 2, a set that forever warped multiple formats. Fury is certainly one of the most frustrating ones to play against, particularly in Scam decks where the card became essential since you can response to its evoke effect with spells that bring it back from the grave.
Being able to spread four points of damage across the board and then keeping a 4/4 double striking creature in play at the low cost of exiling one card and casting another meant that Fury had to go. Since Fury could act as a mini-board wipe against creature-based decks, Wizards felt that the Elemental was forcing too many unique and distinct decks out of the format and banned it because of that.
Up The Beanstalk
Another newer card in the game, Up the Beanstalk might look like a boring uncommon enchantment with a cantrip attached to it, but when combined with other cards that reduce their casting costs in various ways, it’s a reliable draw engine. Up the Beanstalk found itself getting kicked out of Modern as many players found the added draw effect to be a better cascade target than other cards, making it a bit of a problem since forcing out other cards isn’t really a fun way to build decks and ensure a diverse meta.
Monastery Swiftspear
While not as big of a ban as the others announced today, the banning of Monastery Swiftspear is part of a larger picture to slow the format down a bit. The commons-only game type suffered from the sheer speed behind this card, with players reliably being able to swing in for far more damage than a one-drop creature should be able to deal.
The Future
Magic is changing the rules on what bans will look like in the future. Instead of just announcing the bans two weeks after a set’s release, Magic will take a more floating approach, giving themselves anywhere between two to five weeks to assess the state of Magic. The primary reason is that this larger window lets them collect more data on cards, especially after major events like Pro Tours.
Standard bans are still expected to occur during the fall each year, short of an emergency banning that might be required if something absolutely broken is released in an upcoming set. All other formats will still release in the weeks after each sets launch. The next time players can expect to find a banning announcement is shortly after the release of Murders at Karlov Manor, sometime after March 11.