Valid during July 1st, 2016 0:00 CET until October 14th, 2016 24:00 CET.
Cards on the following list will be closely observed and are potential candidates for a banning on October 15th, 2016.
- Demonic Tutor
- Fastbond
- Mana Drain
- Mishra’s Workshop
- Mystical Tutor
- Oath of Druids
- Tainted Pact
- Timetwister
- Tolarian Academy
- Yawgmoth’s Will
Cards from the following list are still banned but will be under testing for a potential unbanning on October 15th, 2016.
Changes
+ Dig Through Time
– Natural Order
– Sensei’s Divining Top
– Timetwister
Single card explanations
Natural Order
Natural Order comes off the list and will stay banned at least for the immediate future. The card has been subject to much discussion during the past two years, so we will not repeat the reasons for its ban. We will say though, the vast majority of the community and the council seem content with it being gone. Games are just much more enjoyable without the randomly powerful swings this card creates.
Sensei’s Divining Top
Just recently banned and now gone for a while is Sensei’s Divining Top. We have reasons to believe – and community opinion is backing us up here – that overall gameplay is improved or at least not harmed at all by the absence of the Top. Nevertheless, we will further monitor the performance of Control decks. Should they decline, a renewed discussion of SDT would likely become appropriate.
Dig Through Time
Power-level wise, Dig Through Time ranges just a little beneath other blue cards currently on the list (we’re looking at you, Mana Drain and Mystical Tutor!). Because of that, DTT falls off the list.
Timetwister
We introduce Timetwister to the banning watchlist. There are hints of Combo potentially being too strong (although the verdict if this true is still up in the air). We certainly would like to have a little control over some of the lower tier key cards those combo decks use, in order to retain the option of not having to completely axe Combo (for example by banning Tolarian Academy) but being able to modulate its power-level by cutting a good but not crucial card from the strategy.
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