One of the Magic: The Gathering’s most popular formats is getting a big shake-up.
Announced by Wizards of the Coast, today’s Banned & Restricted announcement features four changes to the Modern format.
First introduced in 2011, the modern format includes the entire standard core set and major expansions, starting with 2003’s Eighth Edition. The philosophy is that all the cards that exist in the Modern format are, ironically, part of the design of the modern Magic game.
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Although it was designed as a permanent, non-reversible format, Wizards of the Coast has been busy with bans and unbans, in part due to the power level of the format being increased from straight to modern sets like Modern Horizons.
Here’s a full breakdown of today’s announcement, including surprise bans and bans across the country.
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Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury is banned.
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Lotus Field is restricted.
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Violent Outburst is not banned.
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Umezawa’s Jitte is not restricted.
Umezawa’s Jitte has been closed since the dawn of modernity
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: Umezawa’s Jitte is now considered strong enough to break the Modern format. It makes sense, given the fact that a card like Jace, Mind Sculptor, isn’t good enough to twist Modern. Here’s the thinking from senior game designer Carmen Klomparens:
We were often hesitant to give up a card in Modern because it’s play patterns are … unappealing, to say the least.[…]Ultimately, Modern is a solid format that can absorb a lot, both in terms of power and tolerance for novel play patterns.
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It’s absolutely true: Modern has become so powerful that the old cards that used to dominate the game seem underpowered in comparison. It’s the same logic that makes it feel like Violent Outburst is safe from being banned, despite being banned two years ago.
As for the cards that got the ban hammer, Phlage was considered the strongest of the archetypes it came from. As for Lotus Field, that seems out of left field. However, it sounds like Wizards wants to keep a card like Primeval Titan and the Amulet Titan deck as a concept, which is legitimate in the format. Therefore, it makes more sense to block problematic world cards than the name of the deck.
We’ll see how one of the most popular Magic: The Gathering formats reacts to such a big drop.
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