Huge Changes With New Banned and Restricted Announcement

Without a doubt, the biggest news of the week was the banned and restricted announcement that dropped Monday morning. This update featured a whopping four formats being impacted, including Pioneer (as well as the linked Explorer format on Arena), Modern, Legacy, and Vintage. Here's the list of what was banned and restricted and where:

Pioneer (bans):

• Amalia Benavides Aguirre
• Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord

Modern (bans):

• Grief
• Nadu, Winged Wisdom

Legacy (bans):

• Grief

Vintage (restrictions):

• Urza's Saga
• Vexing Bauble

Many players were expecting both Nadu, Winged Wisdom to be banned in Modern and Grief to be banned in Legacy given the overwhelming dominance of both cards. The two bans in Pioneer were also little surprise given how oppressively powerful both Rakdos Vampires and Amalia Combo proved to be. Removing them from the format gives Pioneer a little room to breathe ahead of the upcoming regional championships. Lastly, Urza's Saga and Vexing Bauble were long speculated for Vintage restrictions given just how oppressive both cards can be in that kind of format. The full details of the B&R announcement can be read here.

In addition to the general B&R announcement article, there were numerous write-ups and discussions surrounding the main discussion point of the bans: Nadu. The first of these was a companion piece to the main announcement titled "On Banning Nadu, Winged Wisdom in Modern" written by Michael Majors, the Modern Horizons 3 lead designer. He provided explanations of how we got the card that we did, why it was such a problem, and the detailed reasoning of why the card was banned. Many players clung to the fact that it was noted the fix was to improve it for Commander as a poor indication of the current state of Magic design. This prompted further write-ups and deep discussions from other Wizards employees like Aaron Forsythe and Mark Rosewater.

In addition to these actual bans, Wizards noted cards that were potentially on watch lists going forward. These primarily include Treasure Cruise and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki in Pioneer, The One Ring in Modern, and Psychic Frog in Legacy. Further discussion amongst players occurred following the decision to not ban The One Ring as well due to its overall ubiquity in the format and high price tag, while Grief has been on a downturn in format relevance in the past few months.

Duskmourn Previews Coming Tomorrow

#MTGDuskmourn Debut will soon consume us...

We'll be streaming from #PAX at 2:00pm PST on 8/31
Meet us at the #PAXWest Main Stage, or tune in here:https://t.co/nUzYF5lf0v pic.twitter.com/fqbMB2zJ2W

— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) August 26, 2024

Duskmourn: House of Horror previews kick off tomorrow with the debut video stream taking place during the MTG panel happening at Pax West. Tune into the official Magic Twitch channel tomorrow at 2PM PST/5PM EST for the first true look at what spooky new cards are coming in this terrifying homage to the modern horror genre.

If you're looking to get some early info on the set, you can check out the previous First Look article released a few months ago as well as Mark Rosewater's teaser for the set. Additionally you can check out the Where to Find Duskmourn Previews article for more info on, well, where you might find previews as they come out. If you're more interested in the story and flavor, you can check out the set's story as well here.

Magic Online Requiring Two-Factor Authentication for Trading

Following continued issues with players getting their accounts hacked and emptied of all their contents, Magic Online announced changes to their trading process. Now in order to be able to trade cards between accounts, you must set up two-factor authentication on your account. This is for security so that it makes it more difficult for people to steal your goods out of your account in the event that you get hacked, thereby making it easier for the MTGO team to get you access back. Be sure to check all the details for this change here.

Decklist of the Week

Boros Convoke | Pioneer | komattaman, 1st Place MTGO Challenge

• Companion (1)
• 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring

• Creatures (33)
• 3 Imodane's Recruiter
• 3 Resolute Reinforcements
• 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 4 Knight-Errant of Eos
• 4 Novice Inspector
• 4 Thraben Inspector
• 4 Venerated Loxodon
• 4 Voldaren Epicure
• 4 Warden of the Inner Sky

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Gleeful Demolition

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Case of the Gateway Express

• Lands (22)
• 1 Plains
• 1 Den of the Bugbear
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 2 Shefet Foundry
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Inspiring Vantage
• 4 Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway
• 4 Sacred Foundry

• Sideboard (14)
• 1 Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield
• 2 Deafening Silence
• 2 Forge Devil
• 2 Invasion of Gobakhan // Lightshield Array
• 2 Rending Volley
• 2 Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity
• 3 Get Lost

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Following the week's bans, early results have started trickling in from the first bans since multiple formats had cards removed from them. As you might expect, this includes a resurgence in decks that struggled against the decks utilizing these banned cards. Case in point is Boros Convoke winning a MTGO Pioneer Challenge earlier this week. The deck had fallen out of favor over the last year due to Amalia Combo's dominance in the format. Now with that deck and Rakdos Vampires getting banned, the deck is one of many showing a comeback. Whether it will stick around in the long term remains to be seen, but it's a sight for sore eyes seeing it back in the fray once again.

Paige Smith

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