Category: Banlist updates

Summary

• Bans and unbans: Mystical Tutor unban trial.
• Council Meeting: The council held a video meeting to start 2025, discussing the new website and player feedback.
• Player Questionnaire: The 2024 results show a strong format (4/5 rating) with strengths in deck diversity, power level, and community. Key concerns are power creep and design issues. The council plans to increase engagement and transparency.
• New Website: The new website (europeanhighlander.eu) is live. A Discord server (discord.com/invite/gGUzfYPEJf) is now the main hub for ad hoc community and council communication.
• Next Update: May 1st, 2025.

Bans, unbans, and trials

Effective from February 15th to May 15th, 2025:

• Mystical Tutor is unbanned for a 3-month unban trial.

Cards discussed

Mystical Tutor (4 yes; 3 no)

After discussion and a council vote, we have decided to trial Mystical Tutor. As one of the more reasonable candidates for unbanning, it provides a boost to spell-based combo decks and potentially control, offering a powerful new option for players to explore. While it does primarily benefit already strong decks and may not directly support struggling archetypes, we believe its impact is worth evaluating in practice.

This trial reflects our commitment to giving the community more opportunities to engage with powerful cards and see how they function in the current meta. During the trial we encourage feedback from players, both for and against, to help inform our final decision.

Tolarian Academy (2 yes; 5 no)

The council discussed the potential of Tolarian Academy as an unban candidate. On the positive side, it is a powerful card that could enrich the meta by diversifying strategies beyond goodstuff decks, supporting existing archetypes and potentially fostering new ones. However, the card’s history cannot be overlooked – it has consistently demonstrated problematic behavior, promoting unhealthy and uninteractive play patterns that can lead to non-games.

Sensei’s Divining Top (2 yes; 5 no)

While Sensei’s Divining Top is not inherently a very powerful card and represents a lower-hanging fruit on the ban list, it would not bring significant positive change to the format. Its impact is narrow, primarily supporting its own combo niche rather than offering broader benefits. Given this, the downsides outweigh the slim positives.

The biggest concern remains Top’s reputation as a time sink. European Highlander is already a slower, grind-heavy format, and tournament matches frequently go to time. Reintroducing Sensei’s Divining Top would only make event logistics more difficult. Considering these factors, we have decided against trialing it at this time.

A notable discussion point is Top’s interesting synergy with Mystical Tutor. However, we decided to focus on one card at a time rather than introducing multiple variables into a trial period.

Nadu, Winged Wisdom (no vote)

Based on player feedback, Nadu, Winged Wisdom was a topic of general discussion. On the positive side, it introduces a new creature-based combo deck that is interactable and aligns with the format’s power level. However, concerns were raised about its reliance on a design mistake, the potential for its lengthy combo sequences to fizzle (discouraging scooping compared to deterministic combos), its limited axes of interaction, and the subjective perception that it is “unfun” to play against. At this point no action is taken, but the council will continue to follow player discourse on whether or not Nadu is ultimately good for the format.

Survival of the Fittest (no vote)

We also talked about a potential Survival of the Fittest trial. On the positive side, SotF would strengthen creature combo and green creature-centric decks, increasing redundancy and enabling new and exciting play patterns. On the downside, SotF introduces a repeatable tutor effect for the card type that has been pushed most aggressively in power level over the past years, effectively turning every drawn creature into the best possible one.

One of the key concerns is Wizards’ print policy. Even if a potential trial led to an unban—something most of us disagree with—the increasing power level of newly printed creatures, with no signs of this trend slowing down, puts SotF in a precarious position, waiting for a single new printing to push it even further. Other concerns include pitch elementals, MDFCs, and adventure creatures, which allow Survival to tutor not just creatures but also spells and even lands. Additionally, its role as a repeatable Entomb in any green-based reanimator deck is a significant factor.

Taking all these considerations into account, we have decided not to trial SotF. We are aware that SotF has been downgraded in the Canadian Highlander points list, but given that European Highlander is a slower, more grind- and value-oriented format, our evaluation led us to a different conclusion than our Canadian counterparts.

Council meeting

The council kicked off 2025 with a productive video meeting, where we discussed the new website and reviewed player questionnaire responses. Our goal is to hold similar video meetings before each major announcement, ensuring thorough discussions and providing the community with a summary of key talking points afterward.

Player questionnaire

The 2024 player questionnaire has closed, and the results indicate a strong state of the format, with an average format rating of 4/5. Players identified the pillars of success as deck diversity and creativity, the format’s high power level, and its vibrant community. However, the key issue aligns with challenges faced by other eternal formats, namely concerns around general game design and power creep.

The council aims to increase engagement with the community. While there is a strong desire for more trial unbans, we are running out of low-hanging fruits in this area, so meeting these expectations regularly may not always be feasible. Discussions about specific ban and unban trial candidates will be included in our regular updates, ensuring transparency and keeping the community informed on these important decisions.

A more detailed summary of the questionnaire responses and council member Demppa’s thoughts will be shared in video format soon.

New website

The old website (https://highlandermagic.info) has faced increasing technical issues and extended periods of downtime, highlighting the need for an overhaul in both design and content. To address this, we are excited to announce that our new website (https://europeanhighlander.eu) is now live and fully operational. While the old website will remain accessible for the time being, it will no longer receive updates as we prepare to archive it.

The new website is accompanied by a dedicated Discord server (https://discord.com/invite/gGUzfYPEJf), providing a direct communication line between the community and the council. The server will be adapted to support additional features as the community begins to embrace it. Moreover, the Discord server will be the primary communication hub for the council internally, ensuring our consistent presence and our accessibility to the community. Our other existing social media outlets will be evaluated in due course, but we encourage the community to connect with us on Discord as the primary platform for direct communication and outreach.

Change in council

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Lutansy, who has decided to step away from the council. His contributions have been invaluable, and we deeply appreciate the time and effort he has dedicated to our format. While he is stepping back from an official role, we hope he and his community remain engaged, and we look forward to his continued presence in the European Highlander scene.

Next regular update

The next regular update will be May 1st, 2025.

Changes to the present banned list, effective 15.11.2024:

Banned

None.

Unbanned

None.

Unban Trial

None.

Explanation

Following extensive discussions we ultimately decided to leave the banned list in its current states. We do not see any major offenders in the allowed cards and the meta diversity is in a good shape. This can be seen in the various small-scale tournaments (for example FNMs) as well as the larger events that took place this year. Recent events (BBQ Masters Erfurt, Ylämaa III) feature aggro, tempo, midrange, combo and control decks in their top8s and good color diversity. While unban trials were discussed, no consensus was found what would be the best card for an unban trial. We look forward to continued discussion for the next announcement

Cards to watch

None.

New Council Member

Henri Särkkä (5 for join, 0 against, 2 abstain)

pyyhttu will leave the council and be succeeded by Henri Särkkä.
Pyyhttu has been a council member since 2009 and has always supported the community since then. A big thank you for the many years in which you have put in valuable time and effort.

With Henri Särkkä we are sure that we have gained a discussion-loving and committed member who will bring a new perspective to the Council. We warmly welcome Henri Särkkä to the council.

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Next scheduled banlist update: February 1st, 2025

Changes to the present banned list, effective 15.08.2024:

Banned

All cards that bring a sticker or an Attraction into the game are banned.

Unbanned

None.

Unban Trial

None.

Explanation

In compliance to the mothership at WotC we decided unanimously to ban all cards that introduce stickers and Attractions to the game. We did so to limit the differences to other, more commonly played formats with the goal to reduce the entrance barrier to European Highlander and to limit the obstacles for future Tournament Organizers. We decided against banning Unsets per se, since especially these “fun” sets allow WotC to introduce new and “outlandish” mechanics to eternal formats, which might not be feasible for regular sets.

Currently we don’t see major offenders in our format. Therefore we decided against any bans.

The current banned list has been shrunken significantly over the past years. Only the cream of the crop, like Power 9, Underworld Breach, Thassa’s Oracle, etc., remain. An unban and trial of any of those remaining cards would substantially impact our format. Since these remaining cards are so powerful, we can only test and evaluate their influence in a metagame, that has not been shaken by other, unintended factors. With the release of MH3 all eternal formats have been heavily affected and so is Highlander. The full extent of MH3’s impact on Highlander is still incalculable and might overshadow possible trials. Many of potentially powerful cards of MH3 have not been properly tested in Highlander, yet,  and there is still much to explore. A trial would blur the lines between the influences of MH3 and the influences of a potential unban. Therefore we decided to wait with further trials and monitor the current format.

Cards to watch

Currently we don’t see major offenders in our format. Please, feel free to give us suggestions of cards we should specifically monitor, in case you think there is need for action.

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Next scheduled banlist update: November 1st, 2024

Dalibor has been a long-standing member of the council that participated in shaping the format as a council member and a player. Due to lackluster activity over a long period, the active council members have voted with 5 yes, 0 no and 2 abstain to part ways with Dalibor. We wish him all the best in the future. We are looking for a replacement from the Slovakian community. So, please, send us your application, in case you can see yourself working on and improving our format!

Changes to the present banned list, effective 15.05.2024:

Banned

No changes.

Unbanned

Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Balance

Unban Trials

No changes.

Over the past years, many cards got tried out an unbanned. The currently banned cards are the cream of the crop and their trials might have huge impact on the format. We want the dust to settle after the Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath and Balance unban. Also the printing of MH3 will heavily influence our format within a month. Therefore we will take a break from the trials for this trial period.

Single card explanations

Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath (6 for unban, 0 for ban, 2 abstain)
Uro is a powerful threat in simic style midrange and control decks, that can mitigate a lot of the early pressure by aggressive decks. However, today’s highlander has more tools available to handle the titan. Exile removal became more accessible and incidental graveyard hate can more easily be included. Graveyard synergies and ramp decks heavily profit from the titan, but there has not been concerning observations to us in the trial phase. Therefore, Uro will be unbanned.

Balance (4 for unban, 2 for ban, 2 abstain)
Balance is a cheap equalizer that can relief early pressure and reset a game. Overall, we do not consider this aspect of the card as problematic. The key to abuse Balance is to break parity. This is only possible in dedicated (synergy heavy) archetypes, which are not well represented right now. Even in those decks Balance needs to be set up and the game has to be stirred into a game state, that actually benefits its caster. We think that the card enables some interesting deck building choices and pros outweigh the cons. Having an interactive game piece, that benefits setup, a controlling approach to the format and punishes creature-centric overaggression, is beneficial to our format and strengthens underrepresented archetypes. As such, Balance will be unbanned.

Cards to watch

Currently we don’t see major offenders in our format. Please, feel free to give us suggestions of cards we should specifically monitor, in case you think there is need for action.

Contact us

Next scheduled banlist update: August 1st, 2024

We decided that the watchlist in its current form will be removed. The high frequency of set releases demands faster reactions and the watchlist lost its purpose by being outpaced. This decision was support by 7/8 council members, one being abstain.
We replace the current watchlist announcements with ban and unban announcements, which will result in a 3 month periodicity.
Finally, we will include statements on cards that we consider ban or (trial) unban worthy in the foreseeable future.

Changes to the present banned list, effective 15.02.2023:

Banned

No changes.

Unbanned

No changes.

Unban Trial (3 months)

Balance
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath

Single card explanations

Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath (5 for unban, 1 for ban, 2 abstain)
Uro was initially banned on the 15/05/2022, following the announcement on 01/05/2022. Since then, a plethora of sets has been released and the overall quality of threats and answers has increased. Is Uro still over top and deserves a ban? Uro may just slot into already thriving decks such as Scapeshift, Lands or 4C Goodstuff piles. It may also enable UGx based control decks, for example Bant or Sultai. We want to see if Uro still deserves a ban and monitor its impact on the format closely. We hope it will open up the format for more controlling decks, and draw our conclusions if it doesn’t. It will be unbanned for at least 3 months.

Balance (5 for unban, 1 for ban, 2 abstain)
Balance has been on the banned list for quite a long time. We think that balance could act as a powerful equalizer for control decks, while parity can be broken in artifact or enchantment-centric decks. For now, it might be an interesting build around or inclusion for decks that are not widely spread, hence we want to give the card an opportunity to prove itself for at least 3 months.

Review of 2023

Following the COVID pandemic, the year 2023 saw many small scale and medium scale events. In addition, four larger tournaments took place: 2x Finland with 48 and 60 participants, 1x 46 players in Slovakia and  1x in Germany with 63 players. Across these tournaments aggro, tempo, midrange, control and combo decks made top 8 finishes. Everything from mono color to 5C decks were present. We are a comparatively small format in the MTG community, which means that player preferences have a large impact on tournament results. Given the results of 2023, we conclude that deck diversity and balancing are in an overall good state.

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Next scheduled banlist update: May 1st, 2024

Ban Watchlist

• Gifts Ungiven
• Oath of Druids (5 for unban, 0 for ban, 2 abstain)
• Urza’s Saga (5 for unban, 0 for ban, 2 abstain)

Unban Watchlist

No changes.

Changes to the present banned list, effective 15/11/2023:

Banned

No changes.

Unbanned

Gifts Ungiven

Single card explanations

Library of Alexandria (1 for unban, 4 for ban, 2 abstain)

Library of Alexandria was perceived as too powerful in most of the communities. Based on feedback, discussion and observations, we believe that the potential card advantage provided by it heavily outweighs the tempo disadvantage (or the “non-basic wastes scenario”). This trial has shown that the card is unsuitable to the format right now, for which it remains banned.

Gifts Ungiven (6 for unban, 0 for ban, 1 abstain)

Gifts Ungiven is a card, that takes potentially a very long time to resolve. Here, we received mixed impressions. On one hand, experienced players come well prepared and the tutoring does not consume a lot of time. On the other hand, just looking up “good stuff cards” or general inexperience may cause significant time loss. This aspect of the card may improve over time when players get more experienced playing with and against it.
Is Gifts Ungiven to powerful for the format? The trial has not shown any results that point to a higher power level compared to legal ≥4 mana powerhouses of the format. Potential abuses that have been under the radar for now could be a concern, but can also be reacted upon in the future. Therefore we decided to give Gifts Ungiven a chance to stay in the format.

New Council Member: Lukas Schulte

(4 for join, 0 against, 3 abstain)

Lukas Schulte applied to the council quite some time ago, and after several talks to him we think he will be a very good addition to the council and will help shaping the format in a good and constructive way, while keeping the opinion of the community in mind. We happily welcome Lukas Schulte to the council.

Contact us

Next scheduled banlist update: February 1st, 2024

Ban Watchlist

• Oath of Druids
• True-Name Nemesis  removed
• Urza’s Saga

Unban Watchlist

• Gifts Ungiven
• Library of Alexandria
• White Plume Adventurer removed

Unban Trial

(The following cards are on unban trial, starting 15.08.2023 for 3 months. The next change to their status would be on 15.11.2023)

• Gifts Ungiven
• Library of Alexandria

Single card explanations

True Name Nemesis

True-Name Nemesis turned out to be just another power-full three drop in our format. We do not see any capability of the card to be as game decisive as it used be 4-5 Years ago. As a consequence, it will be removed from the ban watchlist.

White Plume Adventurer

We’ve previously stated, that the cheapest Initiative threat is the most dangerous, which led to the ban of White Plume Adventurer. Without any errata to the Initiative or The Undercity, this effect on a three mana creature with reasonable stats and an ability that helps to defend the initiative is too problematic. For now, we do not see any room for an unban of the card, hence it will be removed from the unban watchlist.

Gifts Ungiven

Gifts Ungiven offers players the flexibility to search up value piles, a combo finish or simply the best four cards in their decks. In itself, this effect sounds extremely powerful (and probably still is), but is it still enough to warrant a ban?
The power-level of cards and our format has increased since the original banning of Gifts Ungiven back in 2011. As a consequence, the card has now to compete with a variety of cards in the same CMC slot. On top, interaction on the stack, the board and the graveyard have substantially improved in the last 12 Years.
Inspired by the feedback of the community that we received, the card will be available for an unban trial. Is it still too strong? Does resolving the card take too much time and makes it thus a bad experience for tournament play? We encourage everyone to experiment with the card and providing us feedback.

Library of Alexandria

There was a time when playing Library of Alexandria on the draw turn one was game decisive. In 2010, the card was banned because of its dominance in control mirrors and price tag. While we want the format to be as accessible as possible, most communities already allow proxies and we do not consider price tags as a reason for bannings.
The card still has the potential to dominate slower match-ups, but it comes at a significant cost. With the increase of power-level and speed, it became almost mandatory to have a play on turn 1 (be it a permanent or a spell to interact). These constraints also affect the mana base, as including only colorless mana producing lands has become a real cost.
Thus, we think that the card should be available for an unban trial. As in the case of Gifts Ungiven, we will appreciate everyone testing the card and providing us feedback.

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Next scheduled banlist update: August 1st, 2023

Changes to the present banned list, effective 15/05/2023.

Banned

• White Plume Adventurer

Unbanned

• True-Name Nemesis

Ban watchlist

• Birthing Pod removed
• Oath of Druids
• Oko, Thief of Crowns removed
• Urza’s Saga
• True-Name Nemesis

Unban watchlist

• Gifts Ungiven new
• Library of Alexandria new
• White Plume Adventurer new

Single card explanation

White Plume Adventurer

The tight grip that the Initiative mechanic has held over the midrange matchups of the format hasn’t loosened up since we initially put WPA on the watchlist. Since WotC hasn’t shown any interest in fixing the mechanic themselves (by nerfing The Undercity for example) we don’t see any other way forward than to take action ourselves.
We’ve previously stated, that the cheapest Initiative threat is the most dangerous and for this reason we are banning White Plume Adventurer.

True-Name Nemesis

The HL format is hardly the same it was back in 2019, when TNN was added to the ban list. While still being able to take over some games, he is hardly as fearsome as he used to be. As our own testing and the majority of the feedback we have gotten during the trial phase has shown that the merfolk is just another good 3-drop nowadays we have decided to unban True-Name Nemesis.

Birthing Pod

When we unbanned Pod in November last year we stated that “a three month trial period cannot show all effects on the meta and we will keep an eye on the development of the format with Birthing Pod.”
Another six months have passed since then and while Birthing Pod is in fact a strong card, it hasn’t lead to any initially unforeseen unhealthy play patterns. After this additional surveillance period we are now removing Birthing Pod from the watchlist.

Oko, Thief of Crowns

Today marks the 3-year-anniversary of Oko being introduced to the watch list. While the Planeswalker is still a very strong card and can sometimes be frustrating to play against, numerous answers have been printed since 2020 and what once seemed almost like it couldn’t be dealt with, can now be handled by almost any deck (Not more or less difficult than other Planeswalker anyway).
We do believe that there will be even more viable solutions to Oko printed in the future. For now, the Thief of Crowns has served his time on the watchlist and is free once more.
We are removing Oko, Thief of Crowns from the watchlist.

Gifts Ungiven

While Oko’s three years might sound like a long time initially, they do get dwarfed by the almost incomprehensible 12 years, that Gifts Ungiven has been on the ban list already. Most Highlander players never experienced a format with the powerful instant. Even nowadays, the council statement from the initial banning holds up:

The three most common scenarios with Gifts have been: tutor up the four best cards for any given situation (tutoring for overall quality), setup a strong graveyard based synergy, or pave a way for a combo win initiated during next turns. So in a sense, Gifts has been both a powerful tutor, as well as an instant draw on steroids at the same time in combo/control builds. When abusing this card, the most broken scenarios have been the ones where Gifts has been used to tutor up a suite of win conditions that in the end leave the opponent no way out.

While combo cards, graveyard synergies, win conditions and the overall power level of cards in general has gone up since then, one very important thing has also changed: The speed of the format.

We still recognize Gifts Ungiven as a very powerful tutor spell that can set up all kinds of shenanigans that weren’t even around back when it was first banned (Sevinne’s Reclamation / Unburial Rites+Fatty – Yes, you read that one right! The original Innistrad released exactly one day before Gifts Ungiven was banned, so HL players never got to experience that combo!) but we do at the same time think that the format might be fast enough today to not have it being dominated by it.
To have the potential to test Gifts Ungiven in a future Trial, we are adding the card to the unban watchlist.

Library of Alexandria

One-upping even Gifts Ungiven, this land was banned in 2010, almost 13 years ago, after being legal since 2008.
The two main reasons given back then were dominance in control mirrors and the price tag (If people back then knew what cards would be worth today…).
We do want the format to be as accessible as possible but card prices are no longer leading to bans.
As for the dominance in control mirrors (or other matchups): The same logic in regards to the speed of the format explained above with Gifts Ungiven applies here.
To have the potential to test Library of Alexandria in a future Trial, we are adding the card to the unban watchlist.

Miscellaneous

Every now and then players are asking if they are allowed to bring a wishboard. To make it clear for everyone, the homepage rules section will be updated: For rules purposes, the only cards a player owns during a tournament match are the ones contained in the deck they are currently playing.

Ban watchlist

• Birthing Pod
• Oath of Druids
• Oko, Thief of Crowns
• Urza’s Saga
• White Plume Adventurer new

Unban trial candidate 

This card is unbanned for the next 3 months until the next announcement.

• True-Name Nemesis

Single card explanations

White Plume Adventurer

Over the past few months the arrival of Initiative as a mechanic has shaken many eternal formats to their core (Vintage, Legacy and Pauper) and it has done so as well for Highlander. In a 1-v-1 singleton format the answers to the Initiative are few and the mechanic has started to warp our format. The Initiative might be one, if not the best thing to do for “fair” decks. Even dedicated midrange/goodstuff lists often get outvalued by a single Initiative threat. The sooner you get the Initiative, the easier it gets to “ride it to victory”, making the cheapest Initiative threat the most dangerous. Therefore, we decided to monitor the Initiative closely and to put White Plume Adventurer on the watchlist.

True-Name Nemesis

True-Name Nemesis was banned in October 2019. Since then, the format has dramatically shifted. Spell-based combo and control are close to non existent, while creature centric decks are ubiquitous. With TNN back to the mix our reasoning is, that TNN from a Goodstuff/Midrange/Tempo deck is “just another 3-drop threat”, whilst it is a much-needed roadblock for more control-ish decks. In non-control decks TNN is a resistant but stat-wise overcosted threat, that is often outclassed by its more aggressive counterparts and doesn’t generate card advantage (which most 3-drops do nowadays). In control decks it is a much-needed answer to Monarch and Initiative, while also being able to play offensive and defense. This trial is clearly risky. We are aware, that this might lead to an uprise of Tempo decks. On the other hand, it might establish Control as a force to be reckoned with and help to keep the Initiative in check. For the three-month Trial Period we are willing to take these risk and hope to shake up the format in new and interesting ways. As usual we rely on your feedback as a community to evaluate this Trial Period.

New council member

We are happy to announce our new Council member Felix (BourbKi), who has applied to join us and will from now on be part of this council. Felix has been known for his active participation and community engagement for quite some time. Beside of his current work on the recent local establishment of a local Highlander League in Berlin, he was particularly noticeable because of his always friendly and fair dealings with other community members. We are looking forward to work with Felix in the future.

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Next scheduled banlist update: May 1st, 2023