A new ban list has been dropped for Magic: The Gathering, and much to everyone’s surprise… there are no changes. None. Absolutely zero to any format (well, except for commander, but it has its own special, separate ban list now). As a matter of fact, though, that’s probably a good thing. We’ll talk about the current state of each format pretty briefly here, and then give you a chance to tell us what you think.
Standard
The current state of Standard is, well… in flux. Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan, M19, and Dominaria have all rotated, and Throne of Eldraine has just entered the scene. No one has figured out what the best deck is yet, but there are some known contenders, such as Simic Flash. The card that is on everyone’s mind, though, is Teferi, Time Raveler. That card tends to completely skew games just by being on the battlefield, and it doubles as a source of removal and card draw. However, it looks like everyone’s favorite Azorious planeswalker isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Modern
The format is arguably in the best place it’s been in years. With Faithless Looting and Hogaak gone, the need of maindecking 8 flavors of graveyard hate is no longer the trend. Stoneforge Mystic has proven to be a powerful card in the format, but it is nowhere near as dominant as people expected. In fact, the only argument to be made about a banning is Tron. The deck has benefited immensely from the London mulligan, and extremely consistently has turn 3 Tron with a threat. This alone tends to force midrange decks out and cause other decks to sideboard massive amounts of hate for the deck. Will it get hit? Probably not, but it won’t stop people asking for Ancient Stirrings or a Tron land to go.
Legacy & Vintage
Legacy has been healthy since Deathrite Shaman left the format, and there’s a wide variety of decks running around at the moment. Nothing feels too insane, at least by Legacy standards. Vintage is always a bit crazy, but with Karn, The Great Creator and Golgari Grave-Troll limited, the field has opened up a bit more. Karn locking people out of their moxes on turn one was very common, but with the card at one, it’s a bit less likely to happen now.
Conclusion
Overall, I’d say each format is in a very healthy state. No deck is particularly dominant in any format, and no cards stand out as must bans. The next ban list will be released on Nov 18, so if you’re wanting a card to go away or come back, you’ll have to wait a bit longer at least. If that is the case, let us know about it down in the comments below!
