Back when the Covid pandemic was in full force, Canadian Highlander enthusiasts were eager to play a Singleton format online. While MTG Arena didn’t have anywhere near the dense card pool of Canadian Highlander, the platform did offer a way for players to link up and play Singleton at their leisure. It was from this idea that Gladiator was born, and it continued to blossom over the years.
Gladiator is a 100-card competitive format driven by the players, but with no Commanders involved. As expected with most competitive formats, Gladiator features its own banlist. Up to this point, that list has been rather small. With so many incredible cards entering Arena via Special Guests and bonus sheets, though, it was only a matter of time before a major update took place. Today, six cards were added to the banlist.
White Ahead of the Pack
Starting off the list of banned cards, we have Guide of Souls. Guide of Souls remains one of the most important elements of Boros Energy in Modern. In Gladiator, its ability to buff your attackers and send them to the skies makes it an incredible option for nearly any white deck.
The Council that oversees the Gladiator banlist noted that the card’s opportunity cost is extremely low, while its floor and ceiling are very high. After all, it doesn’t take much for Guide of Souls to take over a game, and you don’t have to build heavily around it. Just play creatures, and you’re good.
The combination of Ocelot Pride and Guide of Souls was also a major area of concern. These two cards can single-handedly create a huge board of creatures, all without Ocelot Pride ever needing to attack. Banning at least one of these cards to prevent games from spiraling out of control makes a lot of sense.
Ultimately, Ocelot Pride was discussed, but banning it wasn’t deemed necessary. The Council mentioned that Ocelot Pride is easier to handle, since it can be halted by burly blockers.
From a gameplay perspective, there’s a strong argument to banning cards like Ocelot Pride and Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, due to the unfun play patterns they create. Forcing a player to have an answer to a one-mana play or risk falling too far behind right out of the gates isn’t ideal. Regardless, the Council seems content to let both Ragavan and Ocelot Pride stay in the format.
Beyond Guide of Souls, Solitude also bit the dust. Solitude isn’t inherently problematic, but the Council notes that white’s elite removal package has made white a dominant color for quite some time. Solitude is super efficient and allows white decks to push their advantage without investing any mana.
The Council hopes that Solitude’s removal from the format will help open up midrange strategies a bit more. Interestingly, though, Fury remains legal after discussion. Fury doesn’t answer the same range of threats that Solitude does, though it can answer multiple Creatures at once. The Council believes Fury isn’t a problem, and even helps contain other frustrating threats like Nadu, Winged Wisdom.
Still, from a gameplay perspective, Fury letting you push damage through at no cost isn’t ideal. It wouldn’t be surprising if Fury ends up getting banned in the future. For now, just Solitude is out.
Alchemy Additions
The next two cards entering the banlist have a lot in common. Both are four-drops from Alchemy sets, both require very specific answers to take down, and both warp games around them in a rather unfun manner.
In Tajic’s case, you get an Indestructible card that generates value every turn. With Solitude getting banned, Tajic only gets harder for the average deck to answer.
Meanwhile, Tasha is a nuisance for any creature deck to try to take down. Tasha has the potential to instantly stabilize the board. Much like Oko, Thief of Crowns, Tasha does a great job protecting itself, and if you don’t have Planeswalker removal, trying to race by attacking with creatures often won’t get the job done.
The Council mentions that many of the cards on the banlist, like Oko, The One Ring, and Psychic Frog, demand an answer yet aren’t the easiest to cleanly get rid of. Tasha and Tajic suffer a lot of the same problems, even if they’re a little lower on power level. Their bans aren’t too shocking as a result.
Brutal Play Patterns
The last two bans come in large part because they create unenjoyable play experiences. Invert Polarity is a common source of complaints due to the variance associated with it. The card ranges from being a reasonable Counterspell to a game-breaking play that immediately shifts the game in your favor.
On power level, Invert Polarity isn’t outrageous by any stretch, however, added variance is inherently frustrating. Invert Polarity was recently banned in Duel Commander for similar reasons, so seeing it get the axe in Gladiator is not shocking.
Lastly, we have Emperor of Bones. Emperor of Bones is capable of winning games on its own, so long as you have ways to get creatures into the graveyard. The main concern with Emperor of Bones is that it gives Reanimator decks an aggressively costed threat that doubles as a cheap reanimation source.
Reanimate is already banned in Gladiator due to its ability to win games on the cheap. With Solitude out of the picture, ways to cheat huge bombs into play only get better. Banning Emperor of Bones will further keep broken starts from Reanimator decks in check.
This is the biggest ban announcement in Gladiator’s history. These bans are effective June 10th, 2025. The Council made it clear that they will continue to monitor the format’s health and make any other changes as necessary. As more and more broken cards enter the Arena sphere, expect more bans to take place.
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