The MTG Arena banlist doesn’t change often, but when it does, it’s always a big deal. After all, not only do bans have format-warping consequences, but they also inherently increase confusion. Thanks to this, Wizards of the Coast doesn’t ban cards lightly, but it does happen. Since 2023, MTG bans now happen on a mostly fixed schedule.
Thanks to this schedule, we know the next MTG ban announcement will take place on December 16th, 2024.
Thankfully, on MTG Arena, bans are both easy to keep track of and provide compensation. If you own a card that gets banned in any format, you’ll receive an equal amount of Wildcards for your trouble. Unfortunately, Wildcards are not awarded when a card is rebalanced in Historic or Alchemy.
Here is everything you need to know about each format’s banlist on MTG Arena.
MTG Arena Banlist Standard
Currently, there is only one card that is banned in the Standard format on MTG Arena. This banning, however, is unlike most others in Magic: The Gathering’s history, as it only affects half the format.
Here’s the entire banlist for the Standard format on MTG Arena
- Leyline of Resonance (Best-of-One)
Notably, Leyline of Resonance is only banned in best-of-one matches. In Traditional/Best-of-Three games, the card is able to be used in either the main deck or sideboard. The card is also still legal in Limited events and in special formats.
Almost exclusively affecting MTG Arena, this unusual ban was necessitated by the lack of counterplay available in Best-of-One matches. Potentially fueling turn-two kills, Leyine of Resonance necessitated instant removal, which is difficult in Best-of-One matches. In Best-of-Three matches, however, the sideboard becomes a valuable tool, allowing opponents to stabilize.
Without the sideboard, Leyline of Resonance was able to completely dominate in the Best-of-One Standard metagame. No top of being overly powerful, it was also incredibly un-fun to play against, typically winning before interaction is available. As a result, this card was banned, but only in Best-of-One matches on MTG Arena.
MTG Arena Banlist Historic
Wizards of the Coast tends to be rather aggressive with the Historic banlist. Time and time again when new powerful sets have been released, Wizards has chosen to pre-ban cards. This is done to keep the format’s metagame intact while keeping it distinct from other formats.
Most recently, Wizards pre-banned 18 cards from Modern Horizons 3 to keep Historic feeling like itself. This ban wave primarily targeted free spells, showing they’re a touch too much for Arena’s original eternal format
The cards currently banned in Historic on MTG Arena are as follows:
- Agent of Treachery
- Arid Mesa
- Blood Moon
- Bloodstained Mire
- Brainstorm
- Channel
- Commandeer
- Counterspell
- Dark Ritual
- Demonic Tutor
- Endurance
- Field of the Dead
- Flare of Cultivation
- Flare of Denial
- Flare of Duplication
- Flare of Fortitude
- Flare of Malice
- Flooded Strand
- Force of Vigor
- Fury
- Grief
- Harbinger of the Seas
- Intruder Alarm
- Land Tax
- Lightning Bolt
- Mana Drain
- Marsh Flats
- Memory Lapse
- Misty Rainforest
- Natural Order
- Necropotence
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Once Upon a Time
- Polluted Delta
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- Reanimate
- Scalding Tarn
- Show and Tell
- Sneak Attack
- Solitude
- Spreading Seas
- Subtlety
- Swords to Plowshares
- Thassa’s Oracle
- Tibalt’s Trickery
- Time Warp
- Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
- Veil of Summer
- Verdant Catacombs
- Wilderness Reclamation
- Windswept Heath
- Winter Moon
- Wooded Foothills
MTG Arena Banlist Timeless
There is no banlist for the Timeless format on MTG Arena. Instead, Timeless has a Restricted List, just like Vintage on paper. When a card is on the Restricted List, only one copy of it can be used in the main deck and sideboard combined.
Currently, three cards are on the Restricted List for Timeless. These cards were determined following a series of preliminary events that tested the format’s viability. Since its debut, Wizards has been hesitant to add more cards to the Restricted List, but it is an option where needs be.
The cards currently Restricted in the Timeless format on MTG Arena are as follows:
- Channel
- Demonic Tutor
- Tibalt’s Trickery
As a note, when a card is added to Timeless’ Restricted List, players can receive compensation. Somewhat unlike typical bans, players will receive wildcards for each copy of the card in their collection greater than one. For example, if you have four copies of Show and Tell and the card gets restricted, you’ll receive three mythic Wildcards.
MTG Arena Banlist Explorer
Currently, there are 29 cards on the Explorer banlist on MTG Arena. Notably, this list is much smaller than Pioneer’s current banlist. As more cards get added to Arena and the formats become more aligned, this divide between banlists will slowly be closed.
The cards currently banned in Explorer on MTG Arena are as follows:
- Amalia Benavides Aguirre
- Arid Mesa
- Bloodstained Mire
- Expressive Iteration
- Field of the Dead
- Flooded Strand
- Geological Appraiser
- Karn, the Great Creator
- Kethis, the Hidden Hand
- Leyline of Abundance
- Lurrus, of the Dream-Den
- Marsh Flats
- Misty Rainforest
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Once Upon a Time
- Polluted Delta
- Scalding Tarn
- Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord
- Teferi, Time Raveler
- Tibalt’s Trickery
- Underworld Breach
- Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
- Veil of Summer
- Verdant Catacombs
- Wilderness Reclamation
- Windswept Heath
- Winota, Joiner of Forces
- Wooded Foothills
MTG Arena Banlist Brawl
While the Brawl format primarily relies of matchmaking to keep games fair, there’s also a robust banlist. For better or worse, some MTG cards are just too strong, even for this vastly diverse casual-oriented format. At the moment, there are 19 cards banned in Brawl on Arena.
The cards currently banned in Brawl on MTG Arena are as follows:
- Agent of Treachery
- Chalice of the Void
- Channel
- Demonic Tutor
- Disruptor Flute
- Drannith Magistrate
- Field of the Dead
- Gideon’s Intervention
- Lutri, the Spellchaser
- Meddling Mage
- Natural Order
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Theif of Crowns
- Phyrexian Revoker
- Pithing Needle
- Runed Halo
- Sorcerous Spyglass
- Tainted Pact
- Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
MTG Arena Banlist Standard Brawl
Right now, there is only one card on the Standard Brawl banlist on MTG Arena. This card won’t even be there for long, as it’s rotating out on July 30th.
Pithing Needle is currently the only card banned in Standard Brawl on MTG Arena.
MTG Arena Banlist Alchemy
Currently, one card is suspended in the Alchemy format.
- Leyline of Resonance
According to Wizards of the Coast, this decision was made due to the card disrupting “what we consider normal play.” Games were ending too quickly for Wizards’ tastes and a lack of interaction stopped counterplay from neutralizing the combo. Simply put, the card was just too good, and something needed to be done.
In Alchemy, this is not a permanent decision. Wizards of the Coast is going to rebalance Leyline of Resonance once they have the resources to do so. A date for this rebalancing has not yet been announced, but hopefully, it will happen soon. At the end of the day, Alchemy shouldn’t really have any banned or Suspended cards since rebalancing is an option in most cases.
The Next MTG Bans
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, the MTG Arena banlist now changes on a fixed schedule. Once per year, and following the release of each set, Wizards of the Coast has assigned a window to make ban changes, if needed. Alongside this loose calendar, Wizards confirms the exact date for the next bans whenever making a ban announcement.
Currently, the next ban announcement is scheduled to take place on the 16th of December, 2024. While this is quite a while away, it seems Wizards is sensibly waiting until after MTG Foundations launches to make any changes. Hopefully, major changes won’t be needed, but you never know when or where a format-warping combo will appear.
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