Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast have made another Magic: The Gatheringbanned and restricted announcement today but only the Pauper format got some changes with the bannings of 3 cards.
As of May 24, 2019, Gush, Gitaxian Probe, and Daze are banned in Pauper, a format where only common cards are allowed.
According to MTG developer Ian Duke, there was a rise in both play rate and win rate of blue-based decks in Pauper, "with Blue-Black Delver sustaining a +55% win rate on Magic Online" and this is because of the recent additions of Augur of Bolas and the Foil/Gush combination.
"Therefore, in order to weaken blue tempo decks without impacting the core cantrip-plus-Delver of Secrets gameplay, we are banning Gush, Daze, and Gitaxian Probe in Pauper," Duke explained.
Duke went on to explain why there were no changes in other formats like Standard and Modern: "Other competitive formats are generally looking healthy at this time, and we've determined no need for changes. We were happy with the outcome of the Modern portion of Mythic Championship II, and will continue to research and debate whether the London mulligan is the right change for all Magic formats."
Do you think they should ban or restrict cards in other formats? What do you think about the bannings in Pauper? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
You can check out the list of all banned and restricted cards here.
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