Magic: The Gathering Bans A Strong Blue Common Card

Wizards of the Coast has announced that the blue Magic: The Gathering card Fall from Favor has been banned in Pauper, a constructed format in which only common cards are allowed.

For one blue mana, this common blue Aura Enchantment from Commander Legends taps a creature and makes you become the monarch, and enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step unless that player is the monarch.

According to Magic R&D developer Ian Duke, Magic Online league data and tournament results for the Pauper format have revealed that the recent addition of Fall from Favor is having an adverse effect on the metagame. "Serving as both a creature removal tool and a card advantage engine, Fall from Favor pushes out aggressive creature decks and places too much emphasis on a player becoming and remaining the monarch before opposing decks can prepare counterplay," Duke said. "To create more space in the metagame for aggressive decks that punish slower decks and reduce the importance of the monarch mechanic early in the game, Fall from Favor is banned in Pauper."

This is the fastest Pauper ban in the history of this constructed format: only 55 days after it became legal vs. the previous record of 129 for Astrolabe.

"We're aware that there is continued community discussion around other aspects of the metagame, including (but not limited to), the role of Tron, other monarch-based strategies, and blue aggro," Duke continued. "However, we wanted take action to address Fall from Favor's impact on the environment prior to the upcoming Magic Online qualifier tournament on January 23."

This is the first Magic card banned in 2021, and it's definitely too powerful in Pauper. I guess the card just fell from favor.

Do you think Fall from Favor is too powerful in Pauper? Do you think Wizards should have banned this common much earlier? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Kaldheim is set to release on February 5, 2021 for tabletop, and Jan. 28 on Magic Arena and Magic Online. The set will be followed by Strixhaven: School of Mages, which is set to release sometime in Spring 2021.