While last year’s Vivi Cauldron debacle literally ruined Standard for months, it did bring about some positive changes. After the problematic combo ruled Standard with an iron grip, Wizards of the Coast upped MTG’s ban windows. Now, if a problematic strategy breaks out in any format, it should only be legal for a few months, at most.
This coming Monday, one of the many 2026 ban windows is coming up, but it might be a rather quiet one. Despite a lot of potential problems cropping up over the weeks, it appears like everything has settled down for now. With lots of new cards making impacts across formats, anything is possible.
MTG Standard
Coming into the Pro Tour, with an 48.9% representation, it was clear that Izzet-colored MTG decks were an issue. Between Izzet Prowess, Spellementals, Lessons, and Opus, the color combination seemed to be slowly dominating Standard. Even after Selesnya Landfall won the Pro Tour, players were still left with an Izzet versus Cub Standard. Despite this result, the format’s Izzet-related homogeneity is, rightfully, still causing some calls for a Stormchaser’s Talent ban. Thanks to recent developments, however, it seems unlikely that Wizards will take action right away.
Taking place this past weekend, Spotlight Series: Secrets introduced a lot of new decks into the fold, expanding Standard’s potential metagame. With Azorius Momo, Mardu Discard, and Temur Omniscience added to the conversation, Standard feels like a new format again. Because the format hasn’t had a chance to settle from this unexpected turn of events, we would be extremely surprised if Standard saw any bans this coming Monday.
MTG Modern
While Modern appears to be fairly balanced at the time of writing, there is one minor outlier that could get itself in trouble soon. With the rise of Boros Energy and Affinity, Amulet Titan’s position has become even stronger than usual. Thanks to its nauseatingly long combo turns, this deck was already getting itself in trouble at paper events for slowing down tournament play. While this deck certainly appears to be becoming a bigger issue over time, recent developments, once again, suggest that things won’t be touched for now.
A recent MTGO Modern Showcase, the most noteworthy Modern event of the year so far, was dominated by two new archetypes that have never been seen before. Between a new Mono-Black Lessons deck and a bizarre new Agatha’s Soul Cauldron combo, Modern has also been plunged into a newish metagame. Because of this, even unbanning cards in the format seems unlikely, as there are lots of new developments for players to chew on. We expect no changes for Modern for this coming ban announcement, but Amulet Titan seems to remain on thin ice.
MTG Legacy
Unlike Standard and Modern, Legacy has a far more sinister undercurrent. While colorless decks have been a major part of the format for some time, the current rise of Tron looks like it might become an outlier. Focusing on a more fair colorless plan that exchanges combo potential for an Urzatron land package, this new deck looks extremely dominant.
Routinely putting up multiple top-eight appearances in each Legacy Challenge, online results make this newish deck look like its ahead of the rest. While Dimir Tempo is still the most popular Legacy deck, the results it’s putting up greatly pale in comparison.
While this could mean that a ban may be in Urzatron’s future, the deck doesn’t seem like it’s considered an issue right now. Because of this, we don’t expect any changes to the format this coming Monday, but something from Tron may need to go eventually.
MTG Historic
Thanks to the Mystical Archive from Secrets of Strixhaven, a lot of powerful fast mana has been introduced to Historic. Between Culling the Weak, Pyretic Ritual, and Jeska’s Will, multiple decks that win on turns one and two have appeared in the format. While the format is now faster overall, these new additions are causing the most issues in Best of One Historic. Culling the Weak, in particular, has enabled a refined Balustrade Spy combo line, winning the game as early as turn one.
While this new turn-one Spy Combo isn’t the most competitive deck, it does encourage some toxic play patterns. Whether the deck wins on turn one or just concedes, the play experience it creates isn’t particularly enjoyable. This is rather similar to what Tibalt’s Trickery did to Historic in the past, suggesting that Culling the Weak might get banned in Best of One Historic.
Best of Three Historic, on the other hand, is a bit harder to read. Combo decks, like Boros Storm, are performing extremely well, but new decks with lots of anti-combo cards have also risen up to fight these menaces. With lots of new decks constantly popping up, Best of Three Historic still appears to be evolving. Thanks to this, bans in the format seem unlikely.
Even if this weren’t the case, however, thanks to an upcoming event, a Best of Three Historic ban would be incredibly risky. Less than a week after the May 18th ban announcement, Arena Championship 12 is taking place on May 23rd-24th. Banning cards so close to a major event would throw participants into turmoil, ruining weeks or months of preparation.
MTG Pioneer
Despite Pioneer being forgotten about, the metagame is still developing. Professor Dellian Fel from Secrets of Strixhaven has had a profound impact on the format, giving birth to a completely new deck. Golgari Midrange, replacing its old Rakdos variant, is now the most popular deck in the format. That said, despite its 24.5% metagame representation, it hardly seems to be dominant.
With this being the only notable change in Pioneer as of late, bans in this format seem rather unlikely. Frankly, until Pioneer receives some form of official support, we may not see bans for quite some time.
MTG Pauper
Of all the formats that could see changes on May 18th, Pauper seems the least likely. With tons of deck diversity in the metagame share and tournament results, this format appears to be at the pinnacle of health. While Madness decks, helmed by Sneaky Snacker, are the clear frontrunners here, it’s by a tiny 0.3% margin, which is unheard of in other formats. With tons of different archetypes seeing competitive success, bans in Pauper seem extremely unlikely.
May 18th Waiting Room
All in all, if our predictions are right, the May 18th MTG ban announcement will be a quiet one, but that’s hardly a bad thing. With so many ban windows available in 2026, quiet ones like this reinforce that MTG is in a good place. With tons of new developments in Standard and Modern, there is a real chance that something broken is slipping through the cracks, but the current ban windows help fight against that, too. Thankfully, if any of the currently emerging decks turn into a problem, they could leave the format in just a few weeks on June 3rd.
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