At the very end of June, Wizards of the Coast delivered a monster of an MTG ban announcement. Seven cards were banned from Standard to shake up the format ahead of rotation. While this decision didn’t appease everyone, it made it clearer than ever the monumental impact that bans can have on a format. With this in mind, you may well be wondering when the next MTG ban announcement is going to happen.
Technically, there’s a simple answer to this question; however, Wizards of the Coast has thrown a spanner in the works. In a recent Weekly MTG livestream, Wizards revealed that an emergency ban is on the table, should things get out of hand. Considering Wizards has been actively trying to avoid this style of unexpected announcement, it certainly feels like a significant departure.
A Ban Worthy Problem
As usual, Wizards followed up the latest Banned and Restricted announcement with a Weekly MTG livestream dedicated to explaining their decisions. There were plenty of points of contention to discuss; however, Legacy was a real sticking point for fans. The lack of bans to Oops All Spells decks and Reanimator decks caused immense immediate outcry.
According to Wizards, Oops All Spells, while often unfun to play against, isn’t overly powerful or prevalent. Due to this, Wizards has been hesitant to ban the deck outright since some players enjoy it and it’s not ruining everything. That said, Wizards has been watching it closely since Modern Horizons 3 was released.
“If it’s regularly cracking more than 10% of the metagame. If it’s winning more than 55% of its matches on the regular. Or if it’s winning a bunch of the Eternal Weekends coming up… Really easy for us to end up going after it because it’s not something we want to be the best thing to do in Legacy.”
Carmen Klomparens
For better or worse, Wizards is now pretty clear-cut about Oops All Spells’ future in the Legacy format. This is both good and bad news for MTG players. On one hand, it clearly shows that Wizards is watching the deck and will deal with it if it’s a problem. On the other hand, however, it may encourage players to run the deck to increase its meta share and force a ban.
Whether or not this will happen currently remains to be seen. Even if it doesn’t, Wizards may end up caving to public pressure. Even if it’s not the most powerful deck, the calls to ban Oops All Spells are hardly unfounded, after all. It might not be dominant, but playing against it and running a sideboard to combat it hardly makes for engaging gameplay.
Unfortunately, the next MTG bans are scheduled to happen just before a major Legacy tournament. The European Eternal Weekend event takes place on November 27th – 30th, just three days after the next ban announcement. This could easily make Legacy bans impossible during this announcement; however, Wizards has a solution.
Emergency Bans Are on the Table
“I would not say it’s completely off the table.”
Carmen Klomparens
Speaking during the WeeklyMTG, Blake Rasmussen and Carmen Klomparens directly discussed the problematic upcoming ban timing. At the moment, it sounds like no plans are in place to solve this issue immediately; however, options are available. Emergency bans, for instance, seem to be on the table, although it’s unlikely Wizards will go for this nuclear option
Instead, it’s far more likely that Wizards will announce a new date for Legacy bans in the near future. Wizards may even move the entire next Banned and Restricted announcement, although that does feel unlikely. Whatever happens, Wizards isn’t in the business of surprising players with bans if they can help it anymore.
Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens with Legacy bans specifically. Should Oops All Spells become a problem, an announcement may be pushed up sooner than expected. Alternatively, we might get one a couple of weeks before the European Eternal Weekend if there’s a suitable spot.
Sadly, for now, there’s no fixed date to look forward to. Thankfully, that’s not the case for every other format, as Wizards has already confirmed the next MTG ban announcement date.
When Are the Next MTG Bans?
Currently, the next MTG ban announcement is scheduled to take place on November 24th, 2025. As usual, this announcement will be published at 9 am PT and will go into effect immediately. Thanks to recent changes, MTG Arena will receive the update later in the day. Wizards will also host a WeeklyMTG discussing the changes on the 25th.
Notably, this next MTG ban announcement is a lot further away than many players would have expected. Typically, Wizards have been holding these announcements after every one or two sets, in case problems arose. By the time this next MTG ban announcement happens, however, three sets will have been released.
Potentially, this may mean that Wizards knows the upcoming sets won’t cause any major problems in any formats. What’s more likely, however, is that this is the only suitable window for bans left available this year. With so many tournaments happening around the world, it can be difficult to find a time that doesn’t interfere with at least one format.
As mentioned, this date may be changed due to the timing of the European Eternal Weekend, although this is unlikely.
When Are the Next MTG Commander Bans?
For better or worse, the next MTG Commander ban announcement won’t happen until 2026. This was confirmed by Wizards of the Coast back in April, during the last Commander-focused B&R update. The exact date for the next Commander bans has not yet been confirmed, but it will likely be revealed in early 2026.
Notably, in 2026, Wizards of the Coast will be more regular with their Commander ban schedule. Currently, it’s unclear how often Commander will have ban announcements, but it’ll be more than once per year. Like with other formats, Wizards may also use an emergency ban window to stop an extremely overpowered card.
When Are the Next MTG Pauper Bans?
Lastly, but by no means least, Pauper will be getting a Baned and Restricted update sooner than November. Sadly, Wizards didn’t give an exact date to look forward to beyond a vague “likely August.” As usual, the exact timing for this ban should be announced in advance. According to Wizards, this will be a “Pauper only ban window.”
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage!