On August 7, there is going to be an official ban announcement by Wizards of the Coast that could affect a bunch of formats. Pro Tour Lord of the Rings really put some specific issues in Modern on full display. It’s easy to look at data and draw conclusions about the metagame.
For example, it’s clear that Rakdos Scam dominated the event. It’s also clear that
the One Ring
the One Ring
Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
{T}: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring.
was absolutely everywhere.
The question is, what is the best way to help solve these problems? Sometimes when specific cards get banned, the format shifts from one arguably toxic archetype or card to another, which doesn’t exactly solve our problems.
The idea behind a ban announcement is to both remove overwhelming cards from the metagame while simultaneously improving the overall health of the format, which can be relatively difficult to accomplish. However, there have been a reasonable number of complaints about the health of different formats, especially Modern, so it is definitely worth starting somewhere.
In this article, we will discuss potential bannings (and unbannings) that may occur, how they would shake up formats, and give an ultimate prediction for how some major formats will be treated. So, let’s start with the elephant in the room: the Modern format after Pro Tour LOTR.
Modern Bans: Rakdos
Ever since Modern Horizons Two came out, there have been talks of potential bans and ways to improve the format. Lord of the Rings seems to have exacerbated the situation, and given the prevalence of Rakdos Scam and decks featuring The One Ring, it’s reasonable to assume that if any format will see major changes, it would be Modern.
Starting with Rakdos Scam, I think it is very reasonable to assume that at least one card from this deck is going to get the axe. Not only is this deck overly abundant, but it also promotes somewhat toxic gameplay.
While the deck has the capability of playing like a Midrange deck thanks to
Seasoned Pyromancer
Seasoned Pyromancer
When this creature enters, discard two cards, then draw two cards. For each nonland card discarded this way, create a 1/1 red Elemental creature token.
{3}{R}{R}, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create two 1/1 red Elemental creature tokens.
and the ability to hard cast
Grief
Grief
Menace
When this creature enters, target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card.
Evoke—Exile a black card from your hand.
and
Fury
Fury
Double strike
When this creature enters, it deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or planeswalkers.
Evoke—Exile a red card from your hand.
, that’s not what makes the deck so powerful. The combination of either Grief or Fury and
Feign Death
Feign Death
Until end of turn, target creature gains "When this creature dies, return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it."
lets you both get double the triggers from your Evoked Elementals and keep the Elemental around with a counter on it as a bonus. Grief takes your opponent’s two best cards in the process, which can potentially be game-ending by itself, and Fury wrecks your board, leaving behind a Creature that attacks for eight each combat. While this play pattern with Grief is frustrating, Fury’s ability to devastate opposing board states is not only absurdly powerful, but also forces go-wide decks out of the format. Decks like Modern Humans have pretty much been non-existent, and Fury is a huge reason why.
Read More: The Best Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Pro Tour Moments
Beyond Rakdos
Beyond Rakdos, it’s clear that The One Ring has become outrageously homogenous. It’s a colorless source of absurd card advantage that encourages you to play a playset so you can “reset” its burden counters thanks to the card’s legendary status.
Given that the card goes in tons of different decks and forces games to revolve around it and nothing else, it makes sense that it would also get the axe.
Other cards to strongly consider would be
Violent Outburst
Violent Outburst
Cascade (When you cast this spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card that costs less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost. Put the exiled cards on the bottom in a random order.)
Creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
, which allows both
Living End
Living End
Suspend 3—{2}{B}{B}
Each player exiles all creature cards from their graveyard, then sacrifices all creatures they control, then puts all cards they exiled this way onto the battlefield.
and
Crashing Footfalls
Crashing Footfalls
Suspend 4—{G} (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay {G} and exile it with four time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.)
Create two 4/4 green Rhino creature tokens with trample.
to Cascade at Instant speed, and
Wrenn and Six
Wrenn and Six
+1: Return up to one target land card from your graveyard to your hand.
−1: Wrenn and Six deals 1 damage to any target.
−7: You get an emblem with "Instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard have retrace." (You may cast instant and sorcery cards from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying their other costs.)
, which has garnered discussion for a while.
Three Temur Rhinos players making top eight at PT LOTR, despite
Chalice of the Void
Chalice of the Void
This artifact enters with X charge counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact, counter that spell.
being one of the most played cards at the event, is definitely alarming. While Outburst is replaceable with other Cascade cards like
Ardent Plea
Ardent Plea
Exalted (Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
Cascade (When you cast this spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card that costs less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost. Put the exiled cards on the bottom in a random order.)
, getting to Cascade at Instant speed with
Force of Negation
Force of Negation
If it's not your turn, you may exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target noncreature spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
backup, then Cascade again on your own turn forces a lot of specific interaction from the opponent in one turn cycle.
As for Wrenn and Six, I personally think the format would improve with the card gone, given its ability to both force one toughness Creatures out of the format and provide a steady flow of Lands and colors for multi-color decks. Still, the card was not overwhelming at Pro Tour LOTR and has been around a long time, so it’s less likely to be banned in my opinion.
As a result, my final prediction for Modern bans is that Fury, the One Ring, and Violent Outburst will be banned, with cards like Wrenn and Six on the watch list for the future. That said, there is a good chance that they may just ban The One Ring and leave it at that.
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Potential Unbans
With every major ban announcement, there is always speculation regarding whether any cards will be removed from the ban list. Back before
Stoneforge Mystic
Stoneforge Mystic
When this creature enters, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
{1}{W}, {T}: You may put an Equipment card from your hand onto the battlefield.
and
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
+2: Look at the top card of target player's library. You may put that card on the bottom of that player's library.
0: Draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.
−1: Return target creature to its owner's hand.
−12: Exile all cards from target player's library, then that player shuffles their hand into their library.
were unbanned, there were a lot of people who felt that unbanning anything was too risky. As it turns out, Jace has never been much of a threat and Stoneforge was relatively mediocre when not searching for a combo piece like
Colossus Hammer
Colossus Hammer
Equipped creature gets +10/+10 and loses flying.
Equip {8} ({8}: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.)
.
There are likely more cards on the Modern ban list that could be unbanned and not cause too much damage. Of course, you do have to consider not just the risks of unbanning cards, but also the rewards. What would unbanning certain cards improve if the card does see a decent amount of play?
This is an important question to consider. Technically,
Umezawa’s Jitte
Umezawa’s Jitte
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage, put two charge counters on Umezawa's Jitte.
Remove a charge counter from Umezawa's Jitte: Choose one —
• Equipped creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
• Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
• You gain 2 life.
Equip {2}
may not be too powerful for the format anymore. After all, power creep has certainly played a big role in the printing of newer cards. The problem is that if the card does see significant play, it only further pushes out decks with lots of small Creatures or forces them to play Jittes of their own and fight fire with fire. Similarly,
Punishing Fire
Punishing Fire
Punishing Fire deals 2 damage to any target.
Whenever an opponent gains life, you may pay {R}. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand.
could be too slow to abuse in Modern today but would only make Creature decks worse. Then there are cards like
Blazing Shoal
Blazing Shoal
You may exile a red card with mana value X from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Target creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn.
where the risks of unbanning the card far outweigh the rewards, regardless of whether the card would be too format-warping or not.
Splinter Twin
Splinter Twin
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has "{T}: Create a token that's a copy of this creature, except it has haste. Exile that token at the beginning of the next end step."
is an interesting card to consider because it is quite polarizing. Some people love it, some people hate it, and there’s a good chance in a format with
Solitude
Solitude
Flash
Lifelink
When this creature enters, exile up to one other target creature. That creature's controller gains life equal to its power.
Evoke—Exile a white card from your hand.
and
Unholy Heat
Unholy Heat
Unholy Heat deals 2 damage to target creature or planeswalker.
Delirium — Unholy Heat deals 6 damage instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
that the card is not outrageously strong. Still, considering the hope is to improve the health of the format, unbanning another combo piece may not be the most likely outcome. If any card will be unbanned, it is likely to be something like
Green Sun’s Zenith
Green Sun’s Zenith
Search your library for a green creature card with mana value X or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Shuffle Green Sun's Zenith into its owner's library.
, which may actually improve the format by giving Creature decks more staying power. My guess is that there won’t be any cards unbanned next week as Wizards of the Coast focuses on getting toxic cards out of the format as a priority, but Green Sun’s Zenith is likely the safest of the bunch with the highest upside.
Read More: Pro Tour LOTR Showcases Meta-Warping Adaptations!
Potential Pioneer and Standard Changes
Pioneer is a relatively polarizing format to begin with. No deck is necessarily holds too overwhelming a percentage of the metagame, yet many players still believe the gameplay is uninteresting and the format is a bit stale. Well, the one deck that has stayed constant as a top tier deck at least since the banning of
Winota, Joiner of Forces
Winota, Joiner of Forces
Whenever a non-Human creature you control attacks, look at the top six cards of your library. You may put a Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. It gains indestructible until end of turn. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.
is mono-green devotion. There is very little room for innovation within the deck, and the games generally play out very similarly. If anything gets banned in Pioneer, it will likely be from this archetype.
While I believe
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
{T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}: Choose a color. Add an amount of mana of that color equal to your devotion to that color. (Your devotion to a color is the number of mana symbols of that color in the mana costs of permanents you control.)
is the biggest offender in the deck given the insane amounts of mana it can produce, removing the card does largely kill the deck and any other devotion shell. Because of this, it’s likely that
Karn, the Great Creator
Karn, the Great Creator
Activated abilities of artifacts your opponents control can't be activated.
+1: Until your next turn, up to one target noncreature artifact becomes an artifact creature with power and toughness each equal to its mana value.
−2: You may reveal an artifact card you own from outside the game or choose a face-up artifact card you own in exile. Put that card into your hand.
will get the axe if anything. Karn allows this deck to both combo kill thanks to the existence of
Pestilent Cauldron
Pestilent Cauldron
{T}, Discard a card: Create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with "When this token dies, you gain 1 life."
{1}, {T}: Each opponent mills cards equal to the amount of life you gained this turn.
{4}, {T}: Exile four target cards from a single graveyard. Draw a card.
and run a toolbox sideboard that is extremely strong with tons of mana. For this reason, along with the fact that the deck has been dominant for so long, I’d expect Karn to join the Modern cards mentioned above in getting banned.
As for Standard,
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Deathtouch
Whenever you draw a card, you gain 2 life.
Whenever an opponent draws a card, they lose 2 life.
is definitely the biggest offender. However, there are still enough tier one archetypes like Esper control and four-color ramp that don’t play the card that I’m expecting no changes, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Sheoldred got the axe too as a way to shake up all of the major formats. Modern should definitely be the primary focus for these bans, especially after the results of Pro Tour LOTR. Only time will tell how my predictions hold up, but I am hopeful for some improvements across the board.
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