Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast released the latest banned and restricted announcement for MTG. While eight cards were banned during this announcement, only the two in Legacy and Pauper were expected. Curiously, the rest of the bans were all found in Brawl, which received a partial overhaul following the release of Competitive Brawl.
As much as Wizards hit upon a few problem cards within this announcement, MTG players weren’t entirely satisfied. Not only were potentially problematic cards, like The Fantasticar, missed, but Standard didn’t get any changes. Considering this ban window was once positioned as a soft rotation for the format, it’s no wonder players weren’t happy about this.
Responding to these complaints, today, Wizards went over their reasoning behind their changes during the latest WeeklyMTG. While much of this was as expected, Wizards did reveal a few unexpected tidbits that are sure to delight some players.
Standard Stays Speedy
After the bans were announced yesterday, many MTG players took to social media to vent their frustrations. While seeing “No changes” in Standard when players want change is hardly new, it felt unusual this time around. Rather than saying that the format is “flourishing,” Wizards outright admitted there are problems.
“In previous banned and restricted announcements, we’ve discussed gameplay problems with Standard. Namely, that the format is too fast, and that too wide a swath of the format can end games too soon. These problems still exist, but they aren’t insurmountable.”
Wizards of the Coast
According to Wizards, the existence of Four Color Control decks proves that speed isn’t everything in Standard. While this is somewhat true, this defense rang hollow for many players. After all, Wizards literally has the power to slow the format down, yet they’re not doing anything about it.
Touching upon this during the WeeklyMTG, Wizards highlighted that banning upwards of seven cards in Standard, like last year, introduces tons of uncertainty. While it could make the metagame fresh, you’re gambling on the unknown results being better than the current format. Last year, it was clear this was needed, but currently, Standard is somewhat stable, at the very least.
As much as seeing Badgermole Cub and Stormchaser’s Talent everywhere isn’t fun, the format isn’t entirely lopsided. Looking past how much certain cards are played, there’s a lot of archetypal variety at the top. As such, during the WeeklyMTG, Carmen Klomparens stressed how banning even two cards could upset the balance.
“We didn’t want to end up in a position where we removed one or two cards from the format and end up with a much worse format than the one we have right now. The one we have at the moment we feel is good enough, and is able to self-correct on a week-over-week basis.”
Carmen Klomparens | Via: WeeklyMTG
Thankfully, for anyone who doesn’t like the current state of Standard, it is still due a shakeup. Not only is rotation happening with the first MTG set in 2027, but there is still an “early rotation” ban window planned. Supposedly, this will happen closer to the actual rotation, with more information being provided in future ban windows.
Banning the Old Bombs
The other big talking point from the WeeklyMTG was why Wizards chose to ban Candelabra of Tawnos and Seeker of Spybreak in particular. In either case, Wizards of the Coast could have banned the more recent card that’s actually causing problems. With Planar Nexus and Hawkeye’s Bow being easy targets in mind, some MTG players were surprised they weren’t picked.
For better or worse, the reasoning behind these specific bans is a bit boring. Essentially, Wizards doesn’t feel they’ll make cards like Candelabra or Seeker again. As such, banning them now prevents them from causing any future problems, should another synergy or combo piece get released.
Notably, this isn’t just hypothetical, as during the WeeklyMTG, Klomparens essentially confirmed Wizards’ intent to do this. Stating “we’re going to keep printing exciting lands,” it’d only be a matter of time before Candelabra of Tawnos gets broken again. Given that this card has a history of doing this, it’s understandable that it has been banned now.
Alchemy-Free Formats on MTG Arena?
Toward the end of the WeeklyMTG, Dave Finseth confirmed that MTG Arena players might get what they’ve been asking for. At long last, it appears that Alchemy-less formats might finally exist on MTG Arena. That being said, I wouldn’t hold your breath, as they’re hardly imminent, and they’re not even a done deal.
Late in the broadcast, Finseth responded to a question that asked for a Brawl format without Alchemy cards, for a closer-to-paper experience. In response, Finseth stated Wizards was “interested in exploring more formats,” which is surprisingly a long way from a no. While it doesn’t guarantee anything, it does sound like Wizards is open to the idea.
Continuing on, Finseth mentioned that these future formats might not get permanent queues, but instead could be limited-time events. While this caveat may be disappointing, limited-time events have become fully fledged formats before, like Competitive Brawl.
As if this wasn’t enough to be excited about, Finseth also acknowledged the desire for more cards and Commanders on MTG Arena. Sadly, while the interest in more precons and anthologies is clear, Finseth noted that the Arena team is already stretched thin. With more cards coming to Arena now than ever before, finding time for extra additions on top is a struggle.
Ultimately, while there are big plans for the future, it’s unclear when things will happen. For Standard, we should hopefully hear more in August, which is likely when we’ll know more about The Fantasticar’s fate, too.
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