Changes to the MagicPlayer Highlander Format as of October 15, 2005, 12:00 a.m. CET:
Banned
- Umezawa’s Jitte
Unbanned
- No changes
Added to the Watchlist
- Back to Basics
- Gifts Ungiven
- Wonder
Removed from the Watchlist
- Eternal Witness
- Price of Progress
- Regrowth
- Umezawa’s Jitte
Reasoning
The council has decided to ban Umezawa’s Jitte for the following reasons:
- Power Level and Casting Cost:
For its cost (2 mana) and type (artifact), Umezawa’s Jitte has a power level that is too high. It serves several strong functions at once — board control and faster kills — for too little mana. Unlike Sword of Fire and Ice, the equipped creature does not need to deal damage to a player but only needs to deal combat damage at all, meaning the Jitte is usually active immediately. - Lack of Self-Regulation:
The self-regulation mechanism intended by R&D due to the Jitte’s Legendary type (where “my Jitte destroys your Jitte”) does not work in the Highlander format. In Highlander, it is very unlikely to draw one’s own Jitte at just the right moment, unlike in other formats where this happens more frequently. As a result, the Aggro vs. Aggro matchup becomes highly luck-dependent, since an unanswered Jitte, even for just 2-3 turns, often creates an insurmountable lead.
Additionally, the council has recognized the issue of a metagame-dominating U/G Aggro-Control deck but wishes to give players the opportunity to address this development through their own deck-building choices. However, to prevent further stagnation of the format, additional bans will be made on January 1, 2006, if necessary.
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