Category: Banlist updates

  • January 2016 Watchlist Update

    January 2016 Watchlist Update

    Valid during January 1st, 2016 0:00 CET until April 14th, 2016 24:00 CET.

    Watchlist

    • Fastbond
    • Mystical Tutor
    • Oath of Druids
    • Natural Order
    • Mana Drain
    • Sensei’s Divining Top
    • Demonic Tutor
    • Dig Through Time

    Unban Watchlist

    none

    Single card explanations

    Fastbond

    Fastbond is found as a niche in Storm-decks and some Oath-builds where its performance is quite powerful. We will have a closer look at the tournament results during the next three month to value its impact to the meta and its function. If Fastbond is the key for combo decks to push those decks above the top, we will put it back to banned list in April.  

    Mystical Tutor

    Mystical Tutor stays on the watchlist for the reason already given. Besides the obvious mana efficiency (1-Drop + End of turn option and therefore no loss of mana in player’s own turn) and timing (instant), Mystical Tutor is able to find direct answers (in form of removal, discard, counter) or indirect answers (other tutors), in contrast to his “siblings” Enlightened and Worldly Tutor. Like many other tutors too, Mystical Tutor gains more and more options with each new set (e.g. Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Kolaghan’s Command). Furthermore it enables Miracle-spells quite cheaply. The potential of this card is undeniable and therefore should be observed.

    Oath of Druids

    Oath of Druids has been mostly introduced to the watch list because of its enormous potential, especially in decks like Eggs, TPS and many other Oath Control lists.
    Particularly its performance in the last big tournaments was remarkable. This card earns special attention and therefore stays on the watch list.

    Natural Order

    Natural Order stays under close observation. Although Natural Order doesn’t appear in many winning lists of larger events recently (e.g. MGM, Slovakian Cup) its impact is noticeable. We will analyze its performance and occurence mainly based on the reported results at mtgpulse.

    Mana Drain

    This card is uncontested the strongest representative of its kind. Even if this card needs more elements to exploit its full potential, it is in the worst case still a Counterspell, i.e. a 2-drop that prevent the opponents spell and has no disadvantages. However in fact Mana Drain repeatedly leads to absurd situations, that not only threw the opponent one turn behind, but give his caster a clearly advantageous position. Therefore Mana Drain is often felt as frustrating by many members of the community. Hence the Council has decided to take a closer look on this card.

    Sensei’s Divining Top

    Sensei’s Diving Top is still a controversial matter which is discussed in many formats and forums.

    The reasons for its ban or unban are well-known. We decided to discuss this card with the community once again.

    Demonic Tutor

    No other card polarizes as much as Demonic Tutor. Supporters describe it as format defining and detractors as potentially strongest card in the format, because it increases the count of each yet so powerful card to two. In fact our statistical analysis have shown that each deck, which plays black, also plays Demonic Tutor. Many decks splash the color only for this card. Its presence is unusually high for a non-land card. Therefore we will discuss in the next months, whether Demonic Tutor is a problem.

    Dig Through Time

    With Khans of Tarkir, WotC released several Delve cards, which influence our format decisively. The “cost reduction” by the Delve ability let especially these cards appear problematic, which generate a substantial information advantage. The most information is gained by Dig Through Time. In other formats this card is already classified as alarming and even if we are also aware that the power level of DTT is much lower in Highlander than in a 60 card format, which allows every card 4 times, we have decided to give special attention to this card.

    Other announcements

    Council

    Whereas  only Germany and Finland had larger communities in the early days of our format the Slovakian has become a quite important one in the last few years. So we have been looking for a representative in the council for quite a while now. After a closer look and the feedback from the Slovakian community we are pretty sure we’ve found the right candidate with Dalibor. He is a quite active member in the local community and has proven his dedication to our format already for a long time. He even travels hundreds of miles to visit the larger Highlander tournaments in Germany whenever he has the chance to and motivates other to do the same. Furthermore he has proven this insight in Highlander and other formats like Legacy already in many tournaments. We welcome Dalibor as new council member.  

    • ChristophO – Christoph, Germany, Hamburg, * 1983
    • Dalibor – Dalibor, Slovakia, Senec, * 1979
    • Dr. Opossum – Stephanie, Germany, Berlin, * 1987
    • Maqi – Thomas, Germany, Mannheim, * 1982
    • Nastaboi – Juha, Finland, Espoo, * 1982
    • pyyhttu – Tuomas, Finland, Helsinki, * 1983
    • Tabris – Jonny, Germany, Berlin, * 1984
    • Vazdru – Gerry, Germany, Karlsruhe, * 1975

    Reminder

    Legality of World Champion- and IE-/CE-cards

    If World Champion- or IE-/CE-cards, also known as gold-bordered cards, are allowed or disallowed for a given tournament, should be clearly communicated by the tournament organizer within the respective tournament announcement.

    If the tournament organizer doesn’t explicitly allow these cards for a tournament, players should assume the event to be sanctioned and only integrate DCI-legal cards in their deck.

    In order to avoid misunderstandings, please approach your local T.O. beforehand and try to make sure that your community is well-informed on how this matter is usually handled.

  • October 2015 Banlist Update

    October 2015 Banlist Update

    Valid during October 15th, 2015 0:00 CET until April 14th, 2016 24:00 CET.

    Changes to the present list, effective 10/15/2015:

    Banned

    none

    Unbanned

    Ban watchlist

    Unban watchlist

    Other changes

    Mulligan

    Scry-1 Mulligan (described here: http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=1115.0) will be part of the official HL Mulligan rules (http://highlandermagic.info/index.php?id=mulligan).

    Gold-Bordered Cards

    Back in October 2014, Wizards announced changes to Friday Night Magic events, according to which any format could be sanctioned. This was also covered in our forums. Sanctioning an event would require the Magic cards being used to be from tournament legal editions; more specifically, the cards with square edges or with gold-bordered backside/front would not be permitted as they would be considered proxies, which are not in line with the requirements of sanctioned tournaments.

    We want to make the Highlander format broadly available so that it can be sanctioned by tournament organizers if they so choose. Currently cards from these editions are permitted in Highlander:

    • International Edition
    • Collector’s Edition
    • Championship decks

    Beginning with the next banning season (October 15th, 2015), we put the decision whether to allow or disallow IE-/CE-/Championship-cards solely in the hands of the respective tournament organizers.

    In case the cards are not getting allowed by the tournament organizer, the tournament may be sanctioned as a casual-rated event through the WER (Wizard’s Event Reporter).

    Why do we do this?

    As a general rule, it is not permitted to sanction a rated tournament and at the same time allow proxy cards. (Magic: The Gathering tournaments sanctioned by the DCI allow the use of proxy cards only to replace cards damaged during play, e.g. water is spilled on a deck mid-tournament, causing some cards to be marked. That is the only exception.)
    “Gold” cards are considered proxies and this creates a complicated barrier for Highlander tournaments to be arranged as part of bigger, official tournaments, like as a side event at PTs or GPs. In the long run, we want to promote Highlander on a larger scale and we will therefore need to deal with potential impediments which will prevent Highlander from being accepted in broader non-casual environments.

    Also, we have been observing the trend of tournament organizers having themselves banned IE-/CE-/Championship-cards from their tournaments for varying reasons. We don’t want to hamper the work of TO’s, who through their dedication and effort promote Highlander as a competitive format. Instead, we want to empower TO’s to being able to make the decisions which best suit their needs.

    What this will mean?

    We want to emphasize again, that we are not discouraging the use of IE-/CE-/Championship-cards at all. Ultimately, since tournament organizers are the ones who make Highlander happen, we want to let them be able to choose the approach they prefer.

    Single card explanations

    Natural Order

    Natural Order was banned exactly two years ago (http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=959.0). The ban was partly justified with a meta full of green-based Goodstuff, Naya and 4c Blood decks, which almost all included the “Natural Order+Primeval Titan”-package. The meta has changed in the last two years and so Natural Order appeared on the unban watch list from time to time (http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=1045.0).
    Based on the results reported to MTGPulse in the last year (since Khans of Takir has been released) the metagame shifted towards blue-based control and -midrange decks. In fact beside 4c Blood there are following top entries on MTGPulse since KTK-Release:

    RDW 14
    Azorius Control 14
    Izzet Control 13
    Jeskai Midrange 11

    Actually there are not that many T1 decks, which are able to get any profit of the unban. Maybe 4c Blood could make use of it, but we guess it won’t be an autoinclude like in older days. As the meta changed, so 4c Blood did. Nowadays the Blood decks usually have a lower mana curve. Most of these play spells only up to CC 4, adding (if at all) just a few CC5-drops (mostly Thundermaw Hellkite). To get any advantage of Natural Order they have to add a fitting valuable high mana cost creature (e.g. Primeval Titan, Thragtusk).

    In contrast we believe the unban can push decktypes, which are actually underrepresented, like Pattern Rector (3 entries in the last year), Ramp (3 entries) and Elves (0 entries). Maybe some other hidden champions will appear, which can mix things up again a bit. Nevertheless we are aware of the power of Natural Order, so it is added to the ban watch list.

    Tolarian Academy

    Tolarian Academy always stays under close observation, as its potential as a key card for non-interactive combo is known.
    The game has slowed down with the introduction of the free mulligan and it is not as easy as it was under spoils conditions to sculpt a perfect hand, but with the tutoring power present in the format, building a combo shell around Tolarian Academy is perfectly possible, and we want to see, what kind of new archetype this possibly brings forth. Should it be harmful for the metagame, we have to think again about Academy. The latest developments regarding the Eggs deck demand a reintroduction of Tolarian Academy to the ban watch list.

    Fastbond

    We are aware of Fastbond being able to enable advantageous plays in a short time. However at the moment the card is not notably present in the decks, nor does it overperform in the big tournaments or the weekly events. (HL Cup Maintal -> occurrence: 2, Top 8: 0/ MGM#3 -> occurrence: 7, Top 8: 2)
    Since Fastbond was unbanned not so long ago and the next Edition contains two sets with land strategies (Landfall), Fastbond will stay under observation.

    Oath of Druids

    Like Tolarian Academy, Oath of Druids is mostly introduced to the watch list because of its enormous potential, especially in decks like Eggs, TPS and many other Oath Control lists.
    Particularly its performance in the last big tournaments was remarkable. This card earns special attention and therefore stays on the watch list.

    Mystical Tutor

    We have decided to put Mystical Tutor on the watch list.
    Besides the obvious mana efficiency (1-Drop + EoT option and therefore no loss of mana in my own turn) and timing (instant), Mystical Tutor is able to find direct answers (in form of removal, discard, counter) or indirect answers (other tutors), in contrast to his “siblings” Enlightened and Worldly Tutor. Like many other tutors too, Mystical Tutor gains more and more options with each new set (e.g. Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Kolaghan’s Command). The potential of this card is unmistakably and therefore should be observed.

    Sensei’s Divining Top

    SDT seems to split the community somehow: http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=684.60. There is obviously no way to please everyone by banning or unbanning that card. SDT has been never banned in the long history of highlander, but not many cards have been discussed that intensively.
    Sensei’s has been banned 4 years ago in Modern. The reasons for its banning also fits in Highlander somehow. Following topics were discussed quite controvertible:

    • time issue, especially problematic in tournaments or in hands of unskilled players
    • (un)fun factor, SDT sometimes leads to quite annoying games
    • skill rewarding, yes or no?
    • powerlevel, acceptable or still a huge swing T1 into SDT?

    Stoneforge Mystic

    In contrast to Natural Order Stoneforge Mystic seems to be an autoinclude in most of T1 decktypes.
    4c Blood will add it for Sword-Toolbox.
    UW- / Jeskai- / Esper-Control will add it for Batterskull and sometimes Sword of the Meek.
    The already top seeded archetypes would get a new powerful toy to play with, which makes things worse for those decks which are actually a bit behind and have no use for it.
    So Stoneforge Mystic won’t help to have a more diverse meta, but contributes to more similar games, which will often circle around Stoneforge Mystic and the way to handle the enemy Sword (SoFI vs Izzet, SoFF vs 4c Blood etc). That’s why we decided not to unban SM yet, but leave it on the watch list as it could may be a good moment in the future to unban the Mystic, when the meta changed a bit again.

    Entomb

    Entomb is put on the watch list. We are aware of the power of this card and the possibility that Entomb could push Reanimator and various other combo decks. Nevertheless the format greatly changed within the past years. Is Entomb too strong in the actual meta? Would its influence be disproportionate? Or might it have a healthy impact on the format? These questions can only be answered, when we pay more attention on this card in the future.

  • July 2015 Watchlist Update

    July 2015 Watchlist Update

    Valid during July 1st, 2015 0:00 CET until October 14th, 2015 24:00 CET.

    Changes to the present list, effective 7/15/2015:

    Watchlist

    • Fastbond
    • Oath of Druids
    • Tolarian Academy

    Unban Watchlist:

    • Natural Order
    • Stoneforge Mystic

    Single card explanations

    Watchlists have not changed since the last announcement on April 1st, nor the reasonings behind them.

    Other changes

    Scry-1 Mulligan

    For those who are unaware, Wizards have announced they are planning to experiment with a new mulligan rule for the upcoming Pro Tour Origins. If the experiment is successful, the new mulligan rule will be incorporated into the core rules of the game.

    At the moment, the official mulligan that Highlander Magic adheres to, is known as Free Mulligan and is based on the multiplayer mulligan, also described in the Comprehensive Rules, 103.4c.

    If the new scry 1 mulligan is to be taken into use by Wizards, then the comprehensive rules will be rewritten, which means there’s a high probability that rule subsection 103.4c is also affected.

    Most of the highlander players are more seasoned than regular players and will be able to handle the rules changes coming alongside the mulligan change. Players are therefore encouraged to experiment with the new mulligan.

    Since we have been streamlining the Highlander rules closer to the official rules over the past years, we are seeing this as a welcome opportunity to be proactive and test the new Scry-1 mulligan – at least until Wizards decides whether to incorporate it into the core rules or not.

    Starting July 1st, players may use the new Scry-1 mulligan if the tournament organizer permits and announced it before the tournament takes place.

    Basically you would mulligan like this:

    7
    7 again (Free Mulligan)
    6 + Scry 1
    5 + Scry 1
    4 + Scry 1
    3 + Scry 1
    2 + Scry 1
    1 + Scry 1
    0 + Scry 1

    We would like to hear your feedback on how the Scry 1 Mulligan performs for you and if you liked it or not.

  • April 2015 Banlist Update

    April 2015 Banlist Update

    Valid during April 15th, 2015 0:00 CET until October 14th, 2015 24:00 CET.

    Changes to the present list, effective 04/15/2015:

    Banned

    none

    Unbanned

    Ban watchlist

    Unban watchlist

    Single card explanations

    Fastbond

    Sometimes we try and see what will happen. Similarly to Wheel of Fortune, which was unbanned back in 2011, Fastbond has never before been allowed into our format. The previous argument against the card was its interaction with Crucible of Worlds and Zuran Orb, which together would generate infinite life and mana. Normally we don’t consider three card combos to be competitive, but in this case we understand that in the right deck type, all three cards can be effective enough on their own when drawn without the other parts, for example like in the new Academy/Eggs-combo deck. We expect Fastbond to find its way into various combo shells utilizing Draw-7 effects, Gush, Yawgmoth’s Will etc. and it might also create new dedicated Life from the Loam/Land-based builds.
    Furthermore, when we considered unbanning Fastbond, we looked at how much Exploration gets played (almost not at all). We then considered corner cases in which a land heavy opener with Fastbond and a bomb would lead to busted starts, but those have to be seen in practice first. Fastbond in a combo deck will create these kind of plays from time to time, but if that will be a disturbing factor remains to be seen.

    Tolarian Academy

    Tolarian Academy always stays under close observation, as its potential as a key card for non-interactive combo is known.
    The game has slowed down with the introduction of the free mulligan and it is not as easy as it was under spoils conditions to sculpt a perfect hand, but with the tutoring power present in the format, building a combo shell around Tolarian Academy is perfectly possible, and we want to see what kind of new archetype this possibly brings forth. Should it be harmful for the metagame, we have to think again about Academy. The latest developments regarding the Eggs-deck demand a reintroduction of Tolarian Academy to the ban-watchlist.

    Oath of Druids

    Like Tolarian Academy, Oath of Druids is mostly reintroduced to the watchlist because of its enourmous combo potential, especially in decks like Eggs, TPS and maybe Fastbond-Combo.

    Natural Order

    The banning of Natural Order wasn’t too long ago. We nevertheless have a gut feeling that Highlander has changed enough, so NO might not be as oppressive anymore as it was in the past.
    Running NO versus control was always dangerous because of counterspells. Control nowadays is considerably stronger than it was back then and failing to resolve NO might be backbreaking. Nevertheless, providing midrange with a powerful tool might be the right counter to the recently strengthened various flavors of control.
    PatternRector has slightly been on the decline lately, but might get invigorated through NO, together with some new additions like Heliod’s Pilgrim and Sidisi, Undead Vizier.
    Do you also feel that NO would be safe right now? Please tell us your opinion!

    Stoneforge Mystic

    The argument for unbanning SM is similar to the one for unbanning Natural Order. We have the feeling that through the slightly risen power level, SM might no longer be too strong. Not weak, don’t get us wrong here, but not as strong as to still warrant a ban.
    Low drops are stronger than they were before (Fleecemane Lion, TNN for example) and answers have gotten slightly better (Reclamation Sage comes to mind). A conjured Batterskull won’t get through Siege Rhino or TNN.
    Anyhow SM would actually be an autoinclude in lots of tier 1 deck (4C Blood, UWx-Control, Jeskai Midrange) and would strengthen their position in the current meta even more. With regards to the meta development we think it isn’t the right time to reintroduce SM yet.   

  • January 2015 Watchlist Update

    January 2015 Watchlist Update

    Changes to the current Highlander Ban- and Unban-watchlists: None

    Ban/Unban candidates and reasons for their nominations haven’t changed much since October 2014.

  • October 2014 Banlist Update

    October 2014 Banlist Update

    Valid during October 15th, 2014 0:00 CET until April 14th, 2015 24:00 CET.

    Changes to the present list, effective 10/15/2014:

    Banned

    • none

    Unbanned

    • none

    Ban Watchlist

    • Mystical Tutor

    Unban Watchlist

    • Fastbond
    • Stoneforge Mystic
    • Natural Order
    • Entomb

    Single card explanations

    True-Name Nemesis

    The community has adapted to TNN. In contrast to what one would think at first glance, games which involve TNN more often than not develop into interesting and interactive games.
    Furthermore players have found several good answers to TNN within the large Highlander cardpool. Even Khans of Tarkir brought another one with Crackling Doom.
    Overall, the card seems fair in the context of the Highlander metagame and most players share the opinion that TNN should stay in our format.
    Consequently we removed TNN from the ban watchlist.

    Tolarian Academy

    No broken combo deck took over the metagame and Stax did not return as a dominating and oppressive archetype. These were the two dreaded scenarios that might have convinced us to re-ban TA. Instead, the unbanning of the card enriched deck diversity. Among other things it enabled an interesting and new combo strategy (Eggs). Community feedback indicates that almost nobody wants it gone. Consequently, TA is here to stay and removed from the ban watchlist.

    Mystical Tutor

    MT established itself as a new mainstay to basically every blue based control deck in the format. It has proven to be very strong indeed. Among fetching up powerful finishers like Entreat the Angels, Terminus, Price of Progress, Ruination et al., it can find silver bullet answers, protects against midgame discard and is just overall a very versatile card for the cheap cost of just one blue mana.
    We want to further watch MT and decide the verdict on it at a later time.

    Entomb

    Entomb was banned due to its capability of enabling broken starts on the second turn in Reanimator builds (which were tier 1 rank at the time of the banning). These plays are especially dangerous on the play and usually leave the opponent with very little time to react, since he only has access to very little mana during this stage of the game.
    For openers like this to happen, a player would have to have the Entomb in hand, in addition to a second turn reanimate spell (e. g. Reanimate, Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, Exhume, Life/Death, Shallow Grave or Goryo’s Vengeance) which could happen relatively often.
    Nevertheless, there are answers to lines like this. Spell Pierce, Spell Snare, Mental Misstep, Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile and discard spells come to mind.
    It should not be forgotten however, that Entomb has other uses as well. It could be used in graveyard based control decks (e. g. Rock style decks with access to Life from the Loam or Recurring Nightare). It could be used to tutor for cards that are enabled by being in the graveyard (cards with Flashback, Unearth and so on). Overall, it might broaden the possibilities of deckbuilding, which is a good thing in itself.
    If Entomb was unbanned, its obvious first appearance would surely be in Reanimator and we would have to closely watch the broken opening plays it enables. But if those plays prove to be not that common or turn out to be beatable by today’s decks and if a new deck archetype is given birth by Entomb, then unbanning it would be justifiable. What do you think? We would like to hear your feedback about this topic.

    Fastbond

    Here is another potentially broken candidate. But upon closer scrutiny, we can see that very many things have to go right for Fastbond to be truly unfair. Even on turn 1, you have to have Fastbond, at least 3 lands and a 2 drop (or more lands and higher drops / a combination of several lower drops) to jump the curve. Your starting hand must have a very specific shape to really make Fastbond broken during the first few turns of the game.
    Let’s not forget that we have Exploration legal in our format and basically nobody plays it.
    What Fastbond does – and Exploration can only mimic that to an extent – is enabling infinite land drops and recursion with Crucible of Worlds (and Life from the Loam) and fetchlands/sac outlets. This can lead to game ending combos with cards like Zuran Orb, Horn of Greed and so on. But these are three card combos and those aren’t really that scary, are they? We dare say no.
    Fastbond would be a welcome tool for a possible land-based deck (like “Lands” in Legacy for example). It has good synergy with Gush and Yawgmoth’s Will (“broken” cards in our format which see almost no play, too).
    So, in order to provide players with more tools for brewing, we think that unbanning Fastbond would be a good thing. Do you think so, too? Please discuss and let us know what you think.

    Gifts Ungiven

    We removed GU from the unban watchlist because we felt that, although the card is very interesting and tempting, it would just be too strong in the current meta, mostly due to the increased power level of blue based control. Add to that the fact of Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise being printed and you can see why we deem it too dangerous to unban a card which tutors both of them and even helps to cast them at the same time.

    Natural Order

    The banning of Natural Order wasn’t too long ago. We nevertheless have a gut feeling that Highlander has changed enough, so NO might not be as oppressive anymore as it was in the past.
    Overall power level has risen slightly since then and many cards that answer TNN for example also answer threats that would enter the battlefield via NO.
    Running NO versus control was always dangerous because of counterspells. Control nowadays is considerably stronger than it was then and failing to resolve NO might be backbreaking. Nevertheless, providing midrange with a powerful tool might be the right counter to the recently strengthened various flavors of control.
    PatternRector has slightly been on the decline lately, but might get invigorated through NO, together with some new additions like Heliod’s Pilgrim.
    Do you also feel, that NO would be safe right now? Please tell us your opinion!

    Stoneforge Mystic

    The argument for unbanning SM is similar to the one for unbanning Natural Order. We have the feeling that through the slightly risen power level SM might no longer be too strong. Not weak, don’t get us wrong here, but not so strong as to still warrant a ban.
    Low drops are stronger than they were before (Fleecemane Lion, TNN for example) and answers have gotten slightly better (Reclamation Sage comes to mind).
    A conjured Batterskull won’t get through Siege Rhino or TNN. Overall, Equipment has been on the decline lately.
    Do think we should give the white little bugger another chance? Tell us!

  • July 2014 Watchlist Update

    July 2014 Watchlist Update

    Changes to the current Highlander Ban- and Unban-watchlists:

    None

    Reasonings

    Mystical Tutor

    As expected, Mystical Tutor made its way into UW and UR as a staple. It performs strongly, providing both archetypes with a reliant go-to play (be it Price of Progress, Bonfire of the Damned, Terminus or Entreat the Angels), but doesn’t seem overpowered so far. That being said, its potential as a combo enabler has not been unlocked yet and we want to further observe its role in the aforementioned archetypes UW and UR.

    Tolarian Academy

    Evidence seems to indicate, that this card is safe to stay. Its sheer potential though leads us to the decision to rather err on the side of caution and leave it on watch as of now.

    True-Name Nemesis

    TNN clearly has become a format staple, though most people seem to have adapted to it. Most archetypes have powerful cards that function as a solution to TNN, for example Golgari Charm, Phantasmal Image, Toxic Deluge and other Wrath-effects etc. Long forgotten cards like Marsh Casualties are seeing play now, which enriches the format and shows that it is ready to handle many threats, even ones as strong as TNN.
    Furthermore (and maybe unexpectedly), games which involve TNN only seldomly become “dumb” but more often than not develop an interesting tempo-oriented twist, where damage calculation, racing, chump-attacking etc. matter very much.
    Still, TNN is an absurdly strong, pro-active threat and therefore deserves a little more time under scrutiny – and consequently stays on watch.

    Gifts Ungiven

    The metagame still needs to develop more. There seems to be a slight shift in the direction of Blue-based strategies. This is surely in part of the recent unbannings and the release of TNN. It might also be because people want to try the new tools they got to play with and because Highlander players (on average) have a tendency to play more controllish strategies.
    We want to let the meta evolve more before we decide the verdict on Gifts Unigven.

  • April 2014 Banlist Update

    April 2014 Banlist Update

    Valid during April 15th, 2014 0:00 CET until October 14th, 2014 24:00 CET.

    Changes to the present list, effective 04/15/2014:

    Banned

    none.

    Unbanned

    Watchlist

    Unban Watchlist

    Single card explanations

    Sensei’s Divining Top

    We are aware that Sensei’s Divining Top is an autoinclude in many archetypes and its repeatable effect consumes more time than usual in comparison to other cards. Nevertheless, we feel that it is not quite strong enough and its in-game behavior is not quite distorting enough to warrant a ban.

    We encourage judges to keep a close eye on slow play and stalling issues. Don’t hesitate to call a judge when you feel that your opponent is taking too long to resolve SDT activations. We advise players to rather err on the side of calling one, than to feel bad when the game ends in a draw (which usually doesn’t serve any of the players involved).

    Tolarian Academy

    Tournament results indicate that, although academy-centric artifact decks are a viable option now, there is no dominance of the archetype. Tolarian Academy is a very strong card and enables very powerful plays, but you have to set it up correctly, which allows the opponent to interact and to disrupt your plans.

    We therefore think it is good for the diversity of our format to have Academy back. Nevertheless we will keep it on the watchlist because the sheer power level and the possibilities offered by Academy demand a continued surveillance.

    True Name Nemesis

    It seems that all the relevant arguments for and against a ban of TNN have been exchanged by now. Individual experiences and stances on the matter vary nevertheless. We have decided to gather more data on the subject and further investigate True Name Nemesis and its effect on the format.

    Mystical Tutor

    We chose to unban Mystical Tutor.

    This will give white Control decks a powerful new tool to enable its miracles and allows them to find silver bullets in order to solve specific problems.

    Furthermore we hope that the momentarily (mostly) absent Combo archetype will be able to make good use of the tutor. It should be noted that, at the moment, there are no fast, spell-based decks known in Highlander that profit more from Mystical than they do from Demonic Tutor.
    We are aware that Mystical Tutor offers very potent EOT plays that may decide a game rather abrupt (e. g. by fetching up a Price of Progress or Entreat the Angels). However, it can be argued that Demonic Tutor is even stronger in the late and mid game. This is why many players feel it is strange that Mystical was banned but Demonic Tutor never was.

    As is usual for unbanned cards Mystical Tutor will stay on the watchlist.

    Entomb

    We felt that the Reanimator strategy might need a little boost in power and discussed the unbanning of Entomb as a possible option.

    However, the line of “T1 Entomb, T2 Animate Dead/Exhume/Reanimate…” on the play is rather devastating and should win the game by itself almost always. In contrast to other cards like Careful Study, Faithless Looting etc. Entomb not only enables the reanimation spells but also allows the tutoring of the strongest target depending on the matchup.

    Ultimately, we felt that Entomb won’t lead to enjoyable games because of its arguably broken early game potential.

    Gifts Ungiven

    This led us to Gifts Ungiven. If we wanted to strengthen Reanimator we could possibly unban Gifts Ungiven instead of Entomb.

    Its effect is very powerful, but doesn’t come down on turn 1. The fact that it costs four mana means it can’t be used until the midgame, where the opponent has had time to develop its own strategy and is able to fight back. Furthermore, Gifts Ungiven requires serious thought and is a very skill-intensive card.

    In addition to that, it is a tool that not only Reanimator can use. It will find a home in other strategies as well, such as Control, but also Combo and blue Midrange strategies.
    Gifts is a “build-around-me”-type card that allows for powerful toolboxing outside of the green centered “GSZ-Eladamri’s Call-Worldly Tutor” paradigm and might give birth to new archetypes just of itself.
    Gifts Ungiven will undoubtedly inspire deckbuilders to tinker with new brews and to tweak their current lists, which is a good thing per se.

    We are aware though that Dread Return and Unburial Rites allow for some nasty Gifts piles which might be too broken considering the overall strength and multi-dimensionality of Gifts Ungiven.

    Of course, we want to hear your opinion on this matter.

    Mulligan

    It was last year October, when we stated – regarding the introduction of the Free Mulligan – that we would observe the new mulligan rule for at least six months.
    These six months have passed by now. The majority of the players seem to like the Free Mulligan rule better than the old variant.
    Nevertheless, there is a non-negligible group of players which prefers the old Spoils Mulligan.

    We said, if the Free Mulligan proved to be at least on par with the Spoils Mulligan, we would stick with the Free Mulligan. All things considered, this is arguably the case right now. We set three benchmark criteria against which the new Mulligan had to be measured:

    1) Metagame – The metagame seems to be as diverse as with the Spoils Mulligan. New decks have emerged, others have faded. It can be stated, that there hasn’t been a shift to an unhealthy, non-diverse meta.

    2) In-game behavior – Gameplay has changed to some degree. Games tend to go a little longer, tend to be a bit more swingy, some weight has shifted from the early game to the late game. Overall, the change in gameplay seems to be appreciated by the majority of players. It seems safe to say, there hasn’t been a drastic change between how games play out before and after the rules change – Highlander still feels like Highlander.

    3) Community opinion – As already mentioned, there is no unanimous consent. However, the larger part of the community likes the new Free Mulligan rule better than the old one.

    In accordance with what was said above, we will keep the Free Mulligan. However, we have an open ear to the community, we listen to your concerns. We will observe the rules change for a little longer to make sure, that everything witnessed so far hasn’t been a false impression. We will decide this issue without rushing things.

  • January 2014 Watchlist Update

    January 2014 Watchlist Update

    Valid during January 1st, 2014 0:00 CET until April 14th, 2014 24:00 CET.

    Changes to the present list, effective 1/15/2014:

    Watchlist

    Unban Watchlist

    Single card explanations

    We cover here the new cards that have entered the list, (True-Name Nemesis and Entomb). Reasonings for the past cards (Sensei’s Divining Top, Tolarian Academy and Mystical Tutor) have not changed. To review them, please the recent announcements.

    True-Name Nemesis

    True-Name Nemesis has struck Legacy reducing the deck diversity, but the situation is not that clear in Highlander. The card does not invalidate any of the strategies, especially combo, but it pushes the luck of early turns in creature match ups reducing the interaction on board. It does require specific removal, but so far we haven’t seen the card selections or meta to tie itself around this card. However, we want to add it to the watchlist should corrective measures be taken.

    Entomb

    Entomb has been regarded as one of best cards of various reanimation strategies, as it can in tandem with a two mana reanimation spell introduce the best selected second turn threat from a deck. However, Enbomb was not originally banned due to the few second turn reanimation spells of the format, but due to the increasing number of good reanimation targets that entered the format constantly, Iona, Shield of Emeria being the last one.
    We feel this may have been a wrong approach, and not enough peer review time from community was given to see whether the card is disturbing for the format. At the time when Entomb got banned, reanimator was not that heavily played, and this is still true. Also meanwhile, various graveyard based hosers (Deathrite Shaman, Scavenging Ooze) have been printed that see play.
    Furthermore along reanimator, Entomb is visioned to enable various other graveyard based decks (Hulk, Loam) and in this light it is positively reviewed to push deck diversity.