In a surprise announcement today, Magic: The Gathering has announced a sweeping ban of 15 cards from 4 different formats. Many players were expecting a ban after the shenanigans of Tibalt’s Trickery in Modern, but few expected Wizards of the Coast to address many of the other powerful cards in Historic, Pioneer, Modern, and Legacy.
Magic: The Gathering February 15th Banned and Restricted Announcement
Historic Bans:
Omnath, Locus of Creation, Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Pioneer Bans:
Balustrade Spy, Teferi, Time Raveler, Undercity Informer, Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, Wilderness Reclamation
Modern Bans:
Field of the Dead, Mystic Sanctuary, Simian Spirit Guide, Tibalt’s Trickery, Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Legacy Bans:
Arcum’s Astrolabe, Dreadhorde Arcanist, Oko, Thief of Crowns
Vintage Bans:
Lurrus of the Dream-Den is unbanned
Cascade Rule Changes
In addition to these bans, Wizards of the Coast also announced the following rules change to Cascade:
702.84a. Cascade is a triggered ability that functions only while the spell with cascade is on the stack. “Cascade” means “When you cast this spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card whose converted mana cost is less than this spell’s converted mana cost. You may cast that spell without paying its mana cost if its converted mana cost is less than this spell’s converted mana cost. Then put all cards exiled this way that weren’t cast on the bottom of your library in a random order.”
The Cascade rule changes will be implemented on Magic Online on February 17. All other bans and rule changes are effective as of today.
Full details of the ban announcement are available from Wizards of the Coast here.
These changes will take a while for players to digest. Many players have enjoyed or suffered at the hands of Tibalt’s Trickery’s nefarious interaction with Cascade triggers since the Kaldheim card released. There were several calls for the card to be banned, although many had already adapted sideboard cards to deal with the deadly combo.
Are you happy about the rules change for Cascade and card bans? Do you think today’s bans will improve Modern, Historic, Pioneer, and Legacy? Leave us a comment!
Related: 8 Best Kaldheim Competitive Standard Decks
