The next Magic: The Gathering ban and restricted announcement is coming next Monday, October 21, after Wizards of the Coast moved the date from November 18, and players are already speculating which cards should get banned in the Standard format next.
The obvious choice to get the ban hammer is "Field of the Dead" since the Golos archetypes that use the zombie-producing land have been so dominant in Standard recently. 28 out of the 68 players at the Mythic Championship V this weekend are playing a Golos deck, and this is probably why Wizards moved the ban and restricted announcement to an earlier date, so you can call it an emergency ban if that actually happens on Monday.
But there's another card several players want to get banned in Standard, and it's the new Planeswalker from Throne of Eldraine: "Oko, Thief of Crowns".
In a new video by Channelfireball, MTG pros Luis Scott-Vargas and Matt Nass talked about what cards they think should get banned in the next B&R announcement, and while that "Field of the Dead" is the most-likely card to get banned in Standard, they explained why "Oko, Thief of Crowns" deserves to get banned but Wizards probably won't because it's a new mythic rare card that was released in the new set. You can watch the video below:
Nass points out that big creatures are less playable in competitive Standard because Oko can just turn them into a 3/3 Elk creature. They pointed out its high loyalty, obnoxious power level, and how it makes your opponent's strategies irrelevant. However, they said that Wizards are probably reluctant to ban Oko because banning a new mythic rare card that some players have spent $100 USD a set on can hurt consumer confidence.
It's likely that Simic, Bant, or any Standard decks that use Oko will dominate the format more once "Field of the Dead" is gone. It's already seeing a lot of play right now, and as you can see below, Oko is also one of the Top 20 most used cards at this weekend's Mythic Championship V.
It's easy to see why Oko is an overpowered card in Standard: For a 3 mana cost Planeswalker that can be played on Turn-2 with "Gilded Goose" and can generate a Food token or turn any creature into a 3/3 Elk is just not fun in Standard.
Redditor Televangelis explains how a Turn-2 Oko is so oppressive:
T2 Oko feels so oppressive on the play that even when you draw the perfect counter cards, you're out of luck. Will definitely be the deck to beat if it doesn't catch a ban.
from
r/magicTCG
Do you think "Oko, Thief of Crowns" should get banned in Standard? Or do you think Wizards will wait awhile just like how they waited for a few months before banning Hogak? Let us know in the comments section below.
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