Thanks to a last-second change in its design, Nadu, Winged Wisdom is one of the most egregious design mistakes that MTG has ever seen. Turning any free-targeting ability into an egregious combo, Nadu instantly took over multiple 60-card formats, as well as Commander. If its sheer power weren’t enough, Nadu’s combos being extremely long and indeterministic makes for an awful play experience.
Considering this, it should come as no shock to hear that Nadu has been banned in yet another MTG format. After months of deliberation, the design mistake has now also been forced to leave Value Vintage.
Nadu, Winged Wisdom Banned in Value Vintage
Created in 2016, Value Vintage is a 60-card MTG format that limits the secondary market value of decks to $30. Until now, the format used the Vintage banned and restricted list, allowing players to use each and every budget gem from across MTG’s history. Despite staying true to this for over a decade, Nadu has caused too big an issue, creating the first ban and restricted update the format has ever seen.
Similar to what got it banned in Legacy, Nadu, Winged Wisdom was dominating Value Vintage in a Breakfast combo shell. Using Nomads En-Kor and Shuko, Nadu could easily draw your deck by abusing the free targeted abilities. Throw in a graveyard combo with Cephalid Illusionist for extra speed, and this deck became almost impossible for the format to deal with.
Thankfully, for fans of this strategy, at least, this new ban shouldn’t kill this deck entirely. While banning Nadu will make it easier to counter, using graveyard hate cards like Soul-Guide Lantern, it should remain a part of the metagame.
With Value Vintage player sentiment being extremely negative towards Nadu, Winged Wisdom, it’s clear that this card has overstayed its welcome in the format. Without the more expensive cards that Vintage uses to keep Nadu balanced, there’s no way to keep up with the design mistake. Hopefully, this will be the last trouble that the bird causes for MTG players.
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