Within March of the Machine, there are a vast number of powerful cards for MTG players to get excited about. Wrenn and Realmbreaker, for instance, is an awesome new three-mana Planeswalker that’s so strong that it could warp formats. Alongside this, March of the Machine has plenty of cards that create unique and devastating combos to overwhelm your opponents. As if that wasn’t enough, March of the Machine also has powerful MTG reprints galore, thanks to the Multiverse Legends bonus sheet. While this bonus sheet is incredibly exciting for many players thanks to the value on offer, sadly, it’s not all good news. Not only are some of the reprints duds, but other cards are too powerful to play with. So much so, that before the set has been released, Wizards is already banning the most problematic Multiverse Legends card.
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer Has Been Banned
As the subheading gives away, the Multiverse Legends card that Wizards has elected to prematurely ban is Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. For some players, this decision might not make a lot of sense. After all, since Ragavan was first released in mid-2021, Wizards is technically 21 months late to this premature banning. However, while Ragavan isn’t precisely a new card, Wizards hasn’t completely lost the plot either. As, thanks to the Multiverse Legends bonus sheet, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer is coming to Historic for the first time. Or rather… it was coming to Historic before Wizards pulled the plug on the monkey’s shenanigans.
Just to make it all crystal clear, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer has been banned in Historic.
Before making this decision, Wizards of the Coast had been umming and erring over this topic for quite some time. In fact, prior to the recent announcement, it seemed that Wizards was going to let Ragavan loose before taking action. This seemed to be the implication, at least, following a statement from March of the Machine Design Lead Dave Humpherys. Speaking in last week’s Weekly MTG Livestream, Humpherys stated that, when it comes to Ragavan’s legality, there was “nothing official yet, but we might have an experiment.” Unfortunately for players looking forward to that experiment, it seems Wizards has since changed their mind, as Ragavan is out!
Despite this detail being quite an important one, it’s hardly been publicized by Wizards. As, rather than this announcement getting a dedicated news post, it has instead been buried in an MTG Arena video. Within this video host, Alias V reminded players about the upcoming Multiverse Legends cards, before sneaking in the disappointing detail.
“The [Multiverse] Legends will also be legal in Historic on MTG Arena, barring Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer.”
Alias V
A Surprise, to Be Sure, but a Welcome One
Considering the expectations players had, the reveal Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer won’t be Historic legal hasn’t gone down well. After realizing what is happening, many MTG players have taken to social media to voice their frustrations. On Reddit, for instance, players such as u/Zero_Owl shouted “COWARDS!” at Wizards, while u/retypethisshit simply commented, “Booooooo.” Alongside these complaints, users on Twitter, such as @LordMumboJumbo lamented Wizards for not letting them have some fun first. “Prebanning is one of the lamest things you can do, especially with how exciting of a card Ragavan is. Just let us have that two weeks to brew and have fun. Would let us see if he really needs the ban.”
Alongside many players lamenting Wizards for ruining their fun, others took to applauding Wizards for not ruining Historic instead. Reddit user u/EmTeeEm, for instance, noted that, while boring, this decision is “probably for the best. I know it was basically four free wildcards for us, but some people would try and build around it, then get upset when it was inevitably banned.” With this in mind, it’s certainly for the better that Ragavan isn’t being released into Historic to cause needless havoc.
Having been previously banned in Legacy, it’s no secret that Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer is a good card. Providing players with Treasure Tokens as well as impulsive draw from your opponent’s deck, there’s a reason why Ragavan is a Modern and Commander menace. Subsequently, for many players, it wasn’t a question of if Ragavan would get banned in Historic, but instead when Ragavan would get banned. “We all know it would have been quickly banned in 98% of cases, but it would have been fun to run roughshod for a month,” u/Alikaoz commented.
MTG Arena Players Can Have a Little Ragavan, as a Treat
Thankfully for MTG Arena players, there is still some hope for those looking forward to monkey-based shenanigans. As, despite being banned in Historic, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer is still legal in Limited events, so long as you draft them, at least. While this is easier said than done, players should nevertheless be able to have a little taste of Ragavan, at least. Technically, Ragavan also hasn’t been officially banned in the Historic Brawl format just yet. That being said, however, it’s unclear if that is just an oversight, as we’ve had no dedicated announcement from Wizards just yet.
Alongside maybe being legal in Historic Brawl, for the time being, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer has also yet to be banned in the Commander-esque Gladiator format. However, the council overseeing this format is monitoring Ragavan closely, so it may not be around for long. Should Ragavan be banned in Gladiator too, players will at least be able to enjoy them in casual custom matches.
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