Wizards of the Coast has made its Magic: The Gathering ban and restricted announcement today, and they're making a lot of changes across Modern, Standard, and Vintage formats, including the banning of an overpowered Modern Horizons card. Here are the cards they banned, unbanned, and restricted.
Modern
Wizards banned "Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis" and "Faithless Looting" have been banned in Modern.
It's not surprising to see Hogaak get banned. Hogaak Modern decks have been dominating Modern tournaments. Over the weekend, the Modern Grand Prix Las Vegas saw five Hogaak decks make it in the Top 8. MTG pro Ben Stark even ranted about how the card is ruining Modern during the coverage of the Grand Prix.
However, it's a bit surprising to see "Faithless Looting" get banned in Modern. This will change Modern in a big way since a lot of viable Modern decks rely on this card to fill the graveyard. Decks like Hollow One, Mardu Pyromancer, Izzet Phoenix, Bridgevine variants, and Dredge will be weakened. Here's Ian Duke's explanation to why they banned it: "By our data gathered from Magic Online and tabletop tournament results, over the past year the winningest Modern deck at any given point in time has usually been a Faithless Looting deck."
And "Stoneforge Mystic" has been unbanned.
"The danger in reintroducing Stoneforge Mystic and the reason it's remained on the banned list up until this point, is that it's at its strongest against straightforward decks that play to the battlefield," Duke explained. "While we think it's unlikely, there is a scenario where Stoneforge Mystic could come to suppress this type of gameplay, in which case we would re-examine its legality (similar to Golgari Grave-Troll's history in Modern). Instead, our hope is that as gameplay becomes less graveyard focused, Stone Forge Mystic serves as an enticing draw for decks to refocus toward the battlefield, creature combat, and card advantage."
Standard
"Rampaging Ferocidon" has been unbanned.
Although this Ixalan card is rotating out this October, Wizards decided to ban this card to give Mono-Red, Jund Dino decks, and other red decks an answer to Scapeshift decks and Vampires.
Vintage
4 cards have been restricted from Vintage:
1) "Karn, the Great Creator"
2) "Mystic Forge"
3) "Mental Misstep"
4) "Golgari Grave-Troll"
"Fastbond" (Unrestricted)
What do you think about these changes? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The next MTG Ban & Restricted announcement will be on October 7, 2019.
Related: MTG Throne of Eldraine: The Wildered Quest Spoilers Revealed
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