After the slow burn of the set’s spoiler season, MTG Foundations is almost finally upon us. On November 12th, the set will launch on both MTG Arena and Magic Online, making it available to the masses. Ahead of this major release, it seems Wizards has wanted to make sure MTG Arena is spick and span.
To this end, today, Wizards has announced two new bans on MTG Arena alongside 11 cards being rebalanced. As if this wasn’t enough, new details about new decks have also been revealed. It seems like November 12th is going to be a big day for Arena for more than just the launch of MTG Foundations.
Two New Bans
Somewhat unexpectedly, Wizards has quietly announced two brand-new bans today. One of these is fairly plain and simple, a pre-ban to Temporal Manipulation in Historic. Arriving on Arena as part of MTG Foundations this card isn’t exceptionally powerful, but it’s nonetheless being cut.
In the recent weekly MTG Arena Announcements post, Wizards explained their reasoning for this decision. Simply put, “Historic is not the place to force multiple turns in a row,” so abusable cards like Temporal Manipulation are automatically banned. Admittedly, Temporal Manipulation might not be the strongest extra-turns engine, but it’s functionally identical to Time Warp which is already banned.
Ultimately, this ban is definitely for the better of Historic, as the format deserves to have its own identity. Even if it’s significantly more popular than Timeless, it’s still a good thing that the format’s play patterns are distinct. As such, the lack of free spells and extra turns will hopefully be upheld going forward.
While it’ll affect fewer players, the other new ban is a lot more interesting. On November 12th, Monstrous Rage will be banned outright in Alchemy. Considering that Alchemy isn’t meant to rebalance away any problematic cards, this is a major decision by Wizards. Hopefully, this decision will be for the better.
Right now, Monstrous Rage is one of the best red cards in the Alchemy metagame. Seeing play in Mono Red decks and Boros Mice lists, this card enables massive swings and provides lasting stats too. It’s a dream combat trick, and it’s evidently too strong for the format. Sadly, rebalancing it isn’t easy.
While Monstrous Rage is too strong for Alchemy, it’s just fine in Historic and Brawl. Thanks to this connection, rebalancing this card could have unintended consequences across MTG Arena. Subsequently, banning it exclusively in Alchemy is the simplest solution.
“It is challenging to adjust Monstrous Rage without making too small a change or rendering the card unplayable. We do not want the card to see play in Alchemy (and recognize there are less aggressive replacement combat tricks) but are happy with it continuing to be played in nonrotating formats like Historic and Brawl. So, we are deciding to take the unusual step of banning it outright in Alchemy.”
Wizards of the Coast
A Range of Rebalances
On top of banning two cards, Wizards of the Coast is rebalancing 11 cards on November 12th. Affecting Alchemy, Brawl, Historic, and Timeless these changes should hopefully help keep games feeling balanced and interesting. Brawl players, in particular, should be very pleased by some nerfs being implemented at long last.
Before we get to those, however, Leyline of Resonance is undeniably the big rebalance of today. Back in October, this card was suspended in Alchemy due to being overly powerful, but now it’s back in a neutered state. While it’s still powerful, you’ll need mana to activate its ability now which massively limits its early-game potential.
A similar nerf has happened to the aggressive potential of Heartfire Hero, which has had its power reduced. Now starting as a 0/1, players should hopefully have a little more time to deal with this adorable threat. When combined with the outright banning of Monsterous Rage, it seems red Alchemy decks are getting a serious nerf.
Outside of fixes to the Alchemy metagame, Brawl is also getting some much-needed love. At long last, the power of Grenzo, Crooked Jailer is being addressed, as they’ll no longer let you cast anything for free. Instead, Grenzo can only cheat out a spell that costs three mana or less each turn.
Considering that Grenzo, Crooked Jailer has long been seen as a plight in Brawl, this change should be great news. The same is true for the Nadu, Winged Wisdom nerf, which overhauls the way the card plays. Rather than giving creatures the twice-per-turn ability, Nadu now does everything themselves, which crushes its combo potential.
Thanks to both these Brawl all-stars being changed so dramatically, their place in Brawl’s matchmaking has also been changed.
Subtle Changes
On top of the four main rebalances that should have a clear and noticeable impact, many smaller rebalances were revealed too. Stalwart Speartail is getting a small tweak, for example, to boost its performance in Dinosaur decks. Hymn to the Ages and Ribald Shanty, meanwhile, are both being buffed to make Chorus spells more appealing.
Wizards are also pushing small changes to Tome of Gadwick, Nashi, Illusion Gadgeteer, Talion’s Throneguard, and Fountainport Charmer. While less impactful, these buffs should nonetheless give extra support to otherwise somewhat underwhelming archetypes. Whether or not these subtle changes will give existing decks the push they need to be competitive remains to be seen.
Looking outside of Alchemy, Wizards also explained what’s going on with MTG Foundation’s litany of new cards. While the Starter Collection and Beginner Box aren’t coming one-to-one to the client, Wizards does have some tricks up their sleeves. Once MTG Foundations launches on Arena, players will get ten new beginner-friendly decks to play with.
According to Wizards, these decks will contain “over 400” cards,” over 50 of which are rare or mythic. While existing players may already own many of these cards, these decks should nonetheless be a great boon for new players. If nothing else, they contributed to the well-rounded state of MTG Arena right now following these bans and rebalances.
